Americaunas or the Crazy Eyed Girl!
When Are Eggs a Work of Art?
Or Just Food, or Just Work? Jake Molina starting young...
When is food less about what we put in our mouths and more about a work of art? In a third world country there is no doubt about the answer, but here in the States, for some people, the answer is harder to discern. It’s not only how we present our food, but increasingly, where we buy it and where they bought it! (Think egg recall…) My mom, one of the world’s best cooks, can take a pot off the stove and plunk it on the table. God bless her, she did it for three meals a day for 25 years, and I am proof that we never went hungry. I, on the other hand, think first about what flowers I can pick from the garden, what china they go with, then what food would look good on that china! I’m glad I have the luxury of being able to think that way.
As the world becomes more and more aware of the origins of our food, I’m happy to say at age 11, Jake Molina, the nephew of my friend and Gracehill Wizard Extraordinaire, Julie, has started raising chickens. We are the grateful recipients of the product thereof! Jake’s mom Dawn says, “I don’t know if ours could be called free range chickens because they are not always free to range. We have lots of coyotes and neighborhood dogs that want to eat them. They have their big yard to roam and scratch in, but we only let them range when we are outside. They definitely could be called cage free though!” Beside the Americaunas, Jake also has Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Reds, Silver Laced Wyandottes and Golden Comets. They hope to get some Black Copper Marans that are prized by French chefs. Ooh la la! (Americanized version. My sister the French major says they would say, Oh la la la!)
In little ways, with our herb garden, veggies, and fruit we pick locally, we are trying to bring fresher food to the table. You all know my love affair with blueberries. I’m lucky the three couples who checked in a few days ago for four nights liked them also. I made a new recipe, Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast in a 9X13 pan which I posted on my recipe page with a photo. This year we’ve put about a 100# in the freezer, but will continue using fresh for another couple of weeks. In the past two weeks, my five attempts to make a decent blueberry cobbler have been dismal. It’s nice that I have wonderful friends, who tell me otherwise, but alas, they are lying through their teeth, and I am moving on to try other things… blessings, mizkathleen@ Gracehill Bed and Breakfast
Click on the link for a video taken in the backyard of the 
