Blooms and Birds

Hi There,

So my "Sunday Night Post" is turning into a "Whenever-I-get-a-few-moments" Post.  The way it is with a baby.   Also, I noticed that I haven't been giving my posts any titles.  It seems a little hokey to do so...like titling a phone conversation.  Not sure why I feel that way about it.  I don't usually title emails, either.  Anyways, I'm not promising any kind of consistency when it comes to this blog.  *aka:  YAY for not writing cohesive college term papers anymore!



In the Yard: 

I'm starting to see a few more blooms around our yard.  Some of them have been recently installed by myself...I just can't help it;  I need to see some color! However, we haven't started up the lawn mower quite yet.  And we all know that the smell of freshly cut grass is one of the hallmarks of spring....we'll get there.   

Here is my "Spring" front porch color:

The pot on the left includes - Heuchera 'Lime Marmalade', various pansies (which I'll pull out when the summer heat makes them look scraggly.), and some purple Alyssum 'Easter Bonnet Violet'.
 *  I picked out the Lime Heuchera because I thought it looked like fresh lettuce...very spring!

The pot on the right includes a few hand-me-down succulents from my parents.  Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum) that I accidentally tried to kill by leaving in a plastic bag on the back patio all last summer without watering.  I was busy having a baby... Anyways, a few survived and I threw in a pot sometime last fall.  The rest is some kind of sedum that Dad gave me.  I'm hoping to yank out the invasive sedum (find another location) as the Hens and Chicks recover and cover the whole pot surface.  I've always wanted a pot packed tight with H&Cs as a patio table centerpiece.

My bulbs seem to be behind those in the neighborhood.  Finally, some color!
PS-Does anyone have any ideas as to what I can put in this western exposure bed when the tulips expire?  I had a couple of scraggly (yes, that is the 2nd time I've used that word today...) roses that got powdery mildew so I yanked them out.  I'm not a huge fan of roses.  I mean, the flowers are nice, but the plants are kind of homely.  Hope I didn't offend anyone.  *smile*

In the House:

Because our bathroom project is on hold for a couple of weeks while Steve builds a shed on my parent's property, I was kind of at a loss as to what to put in this section.  I've decided to include my few and far between crafty projects.  Despite my upbringing, I'm a little lacking in the "crafty" department.  However, when I got pregnant, I decided to cross stitch something for my growing belly.  This is not the first cross stitch project I've started, but I'm happy to say it is the first one I've actually FINISHED!  It only took me over a year....  It just needs to be ironed and framed.

In the Kitchen:

Chicken Roasting Day

I roast chickens at least two at a time for a number of reasons.  Firstly, I have a strong aversion to dealing with raw meat.  For someone who is in the kitchen as much as me...I realize this is weird.  I'm working on it.  I worry about sanitation, too...and usually spend the day bleaching the entire kitchen.  That's actually the main reason for cooking more than one chicken at a time.  It saves me from cleaning more than once.
Another reason for multiple chicken processing is the smell.  There is nothing like the homey smell of a chicken roasting...but my method creates that... PLUS some smoke and a chickeny smell that permeates everything for at least 3 days.  The next morning, it's not so pleasant. 
I buy whole fryers on sale and then try to roast them before they get stuck in the freezer and stay there for months on end.  It's MUCH easier to pull out a bag of fully roasted chicken pieces to add to a weeknight meal than it is to remember to defrost a chicken and cook it up.  I usually don't think that far ahead.
And the LAST reason for multiple roasting is to produce multiple carcasses to make chicken stock.  I LOVE making and using homemade stock!  That will be next week's "In the Kitchen". 



Okay!  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Then, I melt one stick of butter per two birds.  I use salted butter here because I think roast chicken is ruined most often by not adding enough salt!  You know those pre-roasted chickens at the grocery store?  They're good, right?  ...they're salty!  Even with salted butter, these will be nowhere near as salty, just GOOD.  Promise.   

Pat dry two fryer chickens.  This is critical for crispy skin!  If you have the time, it's even better to stick them in the fridge and dry them out over night!  Notice how one is bigger than the other?  hmmph.  That's what I get for buying them in a two-pack at Costco.  Oh well....

Preparedness is key to this recipe!  Pre-mix 1 tsp freshly ground pepper with 2 tsp salt.  (Remember, this is for two chickens.) 

After massaging both the chickens with the salt-pepper mixture, place on their sides on a V-rack in a roasting pan. Then pour the melted butter over all surfaces of the chicken.  It will seem like a lot of the butter just drips down into the pan.  I know many recipes call for rubbing "softened" butter all over the chickens...but I NEVER have "softened" butter.  Plus, the birds will be basted halfway through cooking AND the drippings make the absolute best pan gravy. 

Roast for 25 minutes on one side, then flip the chickens onto their other side, baste with drippings, and roast for another 25 minutes.  Then flip over so the breast side is down and roast for another 30-40 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 170 when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh.  Breast side down?!  For us, I'd rather have moist chicken breasts than a pretty presentation.  I usually just take the meat off the bone anyways....

Look how crispy and succulent!!  YUM!

When the chickens are cool, I remove the skin, take the meat off the bones and store in freezer bags.  I stick the bones in a pot and get ready to make stock!  (Next week's post)
We had Chicken Caesar Salads for dinner that night.  If I am careful, we can stretch the shredded chicken to last five or six meals. (or about three meals for two people per bird).  Any way to save on our grocery bill helps!