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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Family and good food

That's what the holidays are for us. We had our family Christmas dinner today when we all could be together. I had roast turkey breast and cornbread stuffing. A ham fixed in the crock pot with crushed pineapple, brown sugar and pepsi cooked on low all night. We also had corn from our garden, green beans, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, gravy and cranberry sauce. I had made some snack foods yesterday to keep everyone happy while they waited for dinner. We had peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, bourbon balls, cheese ball, fruit and fruit dip. Everyone ate their fill and then took a nap.
I cleaned up the kitchen a bit and went out to turn the chickens out for a bit and rake my mulch back into place that the chickens had scratched all over. We put a timer on the light in the chicken house to extend the amount of light the birds needed so they would continue laying through winter. It seems to have helped some. I life I have learned that most birds and animals have more of a survival instinct than do humans. The pullets will pick the corn out of the scratch feed when we give it to them. The corn is higher in starches and sugars that help the birds produce body heat and stay warm in cold weather. When I was growing up we always had chickens and dad would feed them nothing but corn all year long. They didn't eat much in summer but in winter they did and I never knew of one succumbing to the cold weather. And his hens always produced plenty of eggs all winter long. A well fed animal will survive the harshest of conditions where as a poorly fed one will succumb to the elements. I think that is the way God designed them. That's my take on it.
There are people in the kitchen again so it must be time for seconds or thirds. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella

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