Bit of a baking day today-too cold for outside work

Eggs - Total to date: 267 - Day 118

KoKKo 89 (86grms) 29.11.2005 Personal best weight
Adelaide 89 (80grms) 26.02.2006 Personal best weight
Ginger 89 (78grms) 22.2.2006 Personal best weight

I was up and out and feeding the chooks at 6.30am I just couldn’t sleep, so might as well be up and out.

We have such thick hard frost - that is lying on yesterday's frost, so it is concrete hard.

In the chicken pen it was like walking across a frozen moon surface pitted with solid deep holes - no flat bits anywhere! It never really thawed out yesterday so I couldn't rake it as I would usually do. They still manage to scratch it about though.

As usual they were already up and in their enclosed run, waiting for breakfast and a warm drink. Layers mash first, then pear cores – you should see them chase about with them in their mouths.

A bit of a baking day today, as we need some more bread, I have a hankering for flapjacks again too – as we have eaten all those Dove biscuits that Haruko’s parents brought us from Japan.

Yesterday my books arrived in the post, and HFW River Cottage Family Cookbook. It had such rave reviews and I really wanted it before Christmas – but decided to wait a while and got it for less than half price.

Today we have fresh salmon for lunch so I am off to find something different to do with it in the cookbook. I cook it lots of ways, but nice to have a change......Back later.

I found a nice recipe for fish cakes so have been preparing them.

I have just got back in from giving the girls some more broccoli leaves - I am so glad that I have a fresh supply from my lottie and they last for ages in the cold garage.

They just dive on them as soon as they see me with the cabbage cage - they jump up and down trying to get bits as I walk to the corner to hang it up. I bounces tantalisingly on the bungee and one of them usually manages to pull a bit out then they scrabble amongst themselves and chase each other about trying to pinch it – and I get to hang up the bungee in peace. Daft as a brush sometimes.

I only went out to get some parsley and a bay leaf - they were sun bathing in their personal poly-tunnel the covered run, but as usual as soon as they heard the crunch, crunch of my feet on the path they rushed to the gate – knowing that I could not resist them.

I came back in took my coat and boots off, went into the kitchen, then realised that yet again I had got side tracked with the chooks and had to tog up and go out for the bay leaf and parsley!

I have just sneaked away from the kitchen to start typing this up.

The recipe is very simple and smells lovely.

I called for some black pepper corns – so I decided to use some mountain pepper berries. My son bought me these when you went to Australia. Exotic spices from the Aussie desert and rain forest, there are recipes enclosed which I will try in the summer season, but am experimenting with them for now. There are packets of Lemon myrtle, Bush tomato, Mountain pepper leaf, Wattle seed, as well as the Mountain pepper berries. I expect some of my visitors that live in Australia and the US might be familiar with these – but they are all interesting to me – and I am really looking forward to experimenting with them.

Just off to dunk the fishcakes into the mixtures and will be back this evening.

Got things to do this afternoon.

The girls laid three eggs for me again which I collected when I gave them their greens. - Forgot to mention it earlier.

2.30pm update
This fish cakes were lovely - will post some photos later if I can. Just had a phone call and I have a delivery of pork coming a little later this afternoon. So I will be working like crazy making things with it.

I might just make lots of sausage burgers for quickness with all different flavourings. Will keep you posted on that one.

This particular pig was a Gloucestershire Old Spot - which has been looked after in the traditional and had a good and happy life on a local farm that specialises in rare breeds, with Tamworths too, and different rare breeds of chicken. They also have some Herefordshire cattle - so that so something else to look forward too later on in the year - it is nice to know exactly where and who your meat is coming from and that the animals have been looked after and have had a good life.

I had time to finish my baking and clear up - cooked the girls the peelings we had left from the potatoes, and they got mixed with the lovely fishy flavoured milk and a few wholemeal breadcrumbs - that was their warming supper.

Too tired to type any more tonight - so will do so tomorrow