This was dinner tonight - the finale of an asparagus packed day.
Spring has come incredibly early to Wisconsin this year. All kinds of records are being broken, and even though it may be a sign of climate change it's hard to dislike such an early spring. I'm still on a tight budget, but I splurged on this bundle of asparagus at the market on Saturday. $4 seems like a steal for the joy this vegetable brings. The flavor and texture of fresh local asparagus is out of this world - even better since I stay away from unseasonal vegetables all winter and this is the first real substantial crisp vegetable of spring - it's the stuff February dreams are made of.
I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for a 3 day business trip, so today I decided I needed to eat the asparagus before the day was out. It was sold to me as a pound, but a very heavy pound. I was home alone for much of the day, and with no one to help me, it would take three meals to eat this sucker. I was glad to do it.
Breakfast started with two of my chicken's eggs, local cheddar, and asparagus in a simple omelet. I just love how dark yellow the eggs are..... I've been feeding the girls weeds from the garden to give them the nutrients they need to make their beautiful dark yolks. I'm getting way more eggs than I can eat now and they make wonderful gifts for friends and family.
No doubt about it, I am not the world's greatest omelet maker. As usual, this one was not extremely aesthetically pleasing, but the flavors were just perfect. I had it with toast and apple butter. I'm almost done with the last jar of
apple butter... it will be missed.
Lunch was leftover chicken noodle soup (made Friday night) with fresh asparagus added as the soup reheated on the stove. I'm at the tail end of a medium-bad head cold, so on Friday I pulled the chicken broth I made from my
dear little Puff out of the freezer and cooked it with some onion, noodles, and leftover chicken meat seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and basil. The asparagus added just the right touch...... I think it makes a quite a pretty picture too. Thank you again, Puff.
Here's dinner before it hit the grill. Willow Creek Farms pork chops wrapped in bacon from the same farm, and asparagus. Stanley was the grill master for this meal, and it turned out just perfect. We grilled the asparagus for just a few minutes and added some butter at the table. That was all it needed. Something as delectable as fresh spring asparagus really doesn't need any fancy flavors - it's better without them.
A few garden and chicken pics, just to keep you updated.
This row of peas I planted two weeks ago has broken ground! We had some much needed rain over the weekend, causing everything (including the weeds) to pop. The potatoes still haven't shown themselves, but I bet they will sometime this week. I think I found some carrots that have germinated, as well as a lot of salad greens and beets.
The peach tree is just finishing its bloom. It's hard to say, but hopefully we'll get peaches this year, and hopefully no one will steal most of them
like they did last year!
This little cherry tree on Ben and Erica's garden plot is also just finishing it's bloom. Mmmmm.... I can't wait for cherries!
What's up, chicken butt? I've been letting the girls out to free range in the backyard in the afternoons. They love it! Blondie (pictured above) makes a bee line for the pile of leaves and other yard waste in the back of the yard. She could scratch and peck at things in this pile for hours. Seeing her little fluffy butt bobbing up and down as she pecks is just about the cutest thing ever.
I find myself being mooned quite a bit when the girls free range. Here's Red Hen showing off her derriere.
The Welsummer still hasn't regrown all of her feather's from the winter pecking she experienced. It's not getting worse, and it doesn't seem to bother her, so I don't worry too much.
Cute chickens hunting and pecking.
Here's one of the Black Copper Marans. They seem really fluffy this spring. They look great!
Where's the Wheaten Marans? She left on Sunday to her new home. It may be my imagination, but I feel like the five other girls are relieved. There was still a little pecking going on, and now they can relax and know that it will stop.
I'm getting plenty of eggs with just five hens. Here are the first four today - the other Black Copper Marans was laying hers when I took this picture. Maybe they aren't as dark and unusual as the Wheaten Marans', but they are beautiful nonetheless. The two lightest ones come from my two Sussex: Red Hen and Blondie. The medium brown one is from the Welsummer, and the darkest shiny one is from the Black Coppers.
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My dinner tonight started with a beautiful piece of grass-fed steak from Black Earth and four spears of luscious local asparagus.
I cut the steak into strips and seared in using high heat in my cast iron skillet.
When the steak was cooked medium rare, I turned the heat off and threw in the asparagus. The case iron keeps its heat for a while, and the residual warmth was just enough to lightly cook the asparagus. I like it almost raw, more warmed than cooked really.
A quick vinaigrette of local sunflower oil, apple cider vinegar (Unfortunately not local - I still haven't figured out why none of the local orchards make vinegar.....), salt, and fresh pepper. 
Toss it all together, and dinner is served. Though it's been chilly this week, there's no doubt that the season of heavy meat and potato dishes is over, and salad season is back. All local except for the cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. Delicious!
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