Feathered Friend Friday

Welcome to our series "Feathered Friend Friday." Every Friday I write a post with interesting facts, photos, or funny stories about our chickens and guineas. If you need to catch up, you'll find all the Feathered Friend Friday posts here.   

Since it is starting to get dark earlier and earlier each day, I have been making time in the mornings to hang out with the chickens. When there's plenty of daylight left in the evenings I usually spend more time with them after work, but around this time of year my chicken time shifts to the mornings.

First up, I make sure there's plenty of food in their feeder and they all get started with a big breakfast. This gives me a chance to check out their lovely, fluffy bottoms!

Duchess and Sylvester patiently await their exit from the coop after the breakfast rush.

It's fun to watch them peck and scratch around the run to see if they can find any bugs to munch on. Clearly breakfast is never enough!

Of course Cam has to crow his head off to make sure everyone knows he is there.

If I'm lucky, some of them will come over to say hi and hop up on my boots.

Still crowing, just in case I didn't realize he was standing on my leg

After a while, Sylvester gets bored with the chickens and heads off for another adventure.

I love mornings with the chickens. It's a really great way to start the day!

~Tammy

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Dried Leaves

Earlier this week, David was cleaning up part of the woods since it is a mess after logging this summer. I went to check his progress and found a big branch with beautiful bright red leaves just waiting to be scooped up. I grabbed the branches and headed back to the house.

Since collecting and drying leaves is one of my favorite fall crafty things to do, I pulled off the best looking leaves and brought them inside to dry. Basically all I do is place the leaves in wax paper in between pages of a big, heavy book. Usually it takes about a week for them to be pressed flat and ready to use.

I love to collect leaves from different places that are important to me. When I was young, I'd collect leaves from my grandmother's house. More recently, I have dried leaves that I saved from our first home. I made a garland out of those leaves and every fall it goes up on our headboard (mentioned in an earlier post here).

Aside from drying the leaves, I think the branches make great decorations as well. It's a good way to bring the outdoors in and add a touch of natural fall decor to your home.

I'm not sure how long the leaves will stay good inside, but it will be beautiful while it lasts. As long as the cats don't get to it first!

~Tammy

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Scalloped Tomatoes With Croutons

Fall is pretty much in full swing around here, but our basil and other herbs are still hanging on. Our tomato plants even continue to produce! David picks the tomatoes every few days, so for now I remain on the lookout for creative, yummy ways to use up summer's final harvests.

My search for tomato-based dishes led me to a recipe online for scalloped tomatoes that includes basil and homemade croutons. It sounded delicious so I decided to give it a try.

Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups bread from a French boule in a 1/2-inch dice
2 1/2 pounds chopped tomatoes (cherry tomatoes work really well)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup thinly slivered basil leaves, lightly packed

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high. Add the bread cubes and stir so that they are evenly coated with oil. Cook cubes, tossing frequently, until toasty on all sides, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are toasted, add the tomato mixture and cook them together, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the basil. Pour into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish (top with Parmesan cheese if you'd like - I sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top). Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Top with panko bread crumbs if you wish for additional crunch.

Let me tell ya, this was GOOD. The flavors and juiciness of the tomatoes get intensified in the oven and the croutons soak up all the yummy goodness. It's the perfect dish to carry summer's extended harvest into the early fall season. I'm sure I'll be making this again and again.

~Tammy

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Wedding Weekend In Alabama

Over the weekend we traveled to Montgomery, Alabama for the wedding of one of our best and oldest friends. David was in the wedding, so we drove all day Friday to get there in time for the rehearsal at 5:00 Friday evening. Even though we forgot our suitcase and had to backtrack, we somehow made it to Alabama with a little time to spare.

The rehearsal dinner was delicious and a lot of fun. The table settings had a nice southern touch with the mason jars. And, of course, there was sweet tea!

 
After dinner, I was excited to see a cute dog roaming around the back yard!

Being the animal lover that I am, I was excited to see Fred the dog. Then I saw a cat running around and got to get some play time in with him as well. He was so cute and looked like a cross between our cats, Jasper and Fitz.

On the wedding day, Fred dressed for the occasion with a bow tie.

The wedding was in the evening, and everything somehow became even more beautiful when the sun went down.

After the wedding, some people had the crazy idea to jump into the pool, fully clothed. I almost wanted to jump in, too! The ambiance was perfect.

Towards the end of the night the boys got silly. Who knows what they were pointing at!

It was nice to get away and have a change of scenery for the weekend. We had such a blast. Everyone was so gracious and we felt really welcome. I was loving the Southern hospitality!

Congrats, John and Samantha!

~Tammy