Puppies, Poultry, Pigs and Prizes

Well, it's been a pretty big week here on the station. It started with the arrival of two gorgeous little black and tan kelpie puppies. Meet Meg (in the front of the picture) and Larry, so named because when we decided we needed a couple more dogs we rang our 'go to' man Larry, and in a matter of hours he and his daughter Megan had found us some puppies. Larry and Meg will be outside dogs but they are still babies and need a bit of smooching, so here they are having a cuddle in the lounge room. Already in just a week they have 'grown legs' and are much more adventurous, confident and independent. No doubt they will soon start digging and wont be quite so cute!

The next big event was the discovery of the first eggs from our new chooks in the laying box. This was a huge surprise because we bought these girls at 12 weeks old (or so we were told) which means they are now only 16 weeks and to be laying so early is very unusual in my experience. I've never had chooks lay before 19 or 20 weeks before....maybe, like humans, chooks are maturing earlier these days?

The asparagus is really taking off now which is great timing because asparagus and egg are a classic combination, whether it be freshly steamed spears dipped in soft boiled egg or a more sophisticated dish of steamed or grilled asparagus dressed with a combination of finely chopped hardboiled egg, chopped parsley, finely grated lemon rind and crispy fried breadcrumbs (right).

Our pigs are getting bigger everyday, enjoying the weeds in my garden, and this week the time had come to thank and say goodbye to two of them.  This week I am planning to make bacon....not the kind of bacon you find in packets at the supermarket, it will be salt cured and made without nitrates and therefore wont be pale pink but a pinky brown colour and it will be delicious! I haven't yet decided if it will be smoked in our homemade, 44 gallon drum smoker or left as is. This will be the subject of my next post. 

The week ended in a frenzy of baking in preparation for the local Agricultural Show. Apart from the fact that I enjoy baking, my main motivation is that without contributions from locals there wouldn't be much to look at in the main pavillion.  Sadly the number of exhibits was a bit low this year but on the up side this meant it was fairly easy to bag a few prizes :) The highlight of my day was that my scones seemed to really impress the judge. At the risk of giving away my secret, the recipe I use comes from one of my food heroes, Stephanie Alexander in her 'Cook's Companion.'

Stephanie Alexander's Prize Winning Scones

Ingredients

500 g self raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

100 g butter

300 ml milk soured with a squeeze of lemon

Method

Preheat oven to 220 deg C and grease a baking tray. Mix flour, baking powder and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add milk and pulse until just combined. Turn out on floured bench or pastry mat and bring mixture together, quickly and gently kneading with your hands. Pat dough out to about 3cm thick. Cut into rounds and put close together on the tray. Brush tops with milk or dust with flour. Bake for about 15 mins, then cool on a wire rack.