Turkey Eggs

My neighbours turkeys were laying eggs, so much so, they game me an 18-pack to use up. They were so wonderful I went back 3 times for more, and will continue to do so until they stop laying. Most people don't even know that turkeys lay consecutive eggs, let alone that theyre edible! Upon doing some research I found out that commercial turkeys are butchered long before they reach laying age. If a farmer would keep a turkey until it was laying, the eggs are significantly more expensive from a production standpoint. Turkeys take more space to keep and eat more food than chickens. But then turkey eggs are also 2x the size of chicken eggs, resulting in 50% more calories and 4x more cholesterol (slate.com). If you are worried about the higher calorie count, turkey eggs are absolutely wonderful in baking! The yolk is double the size of the white and the yolk is very stiff. Turkey eggs are also great for scrambled eggs and apparently the shells are great for using in an easter egg display. Today I can finally testify that turkey egg whites make a beautiful meringue - double the size (as shown in my pie below!). If you have the opportunity to get turkey eggs from a local farmer, do so without hesitation. They're completely interchangeable with chicken eggs (except I think theyre better).

Preparing for Spring

I don't think theres a person around that doesn't appreciate the signs of spring. The earthy smell as snow melts, listening to the eaves dripping, feeling the suns warm rays earlier every day! Well, those lovely signs of spring haven't happened yet, but that's ok for now because as soon as they do, the work begins. This year, starting seedlings indoors, incubating chicks and tapping trees for maple syrup all collide at the same time. I cant deny that Im looking forward to it though. In the last few weeks before the thaw starts, Ive got to finish the last of my sewing projects (curtains for the chicken coop, my spring jacket), my knitting projects (a pair of adult slippers, baby slippers and a couple more dishcloths), purchase some new pails for collecting sap, finish the trim work on the chicken coop and do the last of my garden planning - to name a few. My wish list for this year also includes a couple muskovi ducks on the pond and a pig with a pen - both of which will probably be put off till next year, seeing that my garden is priority this year. The seed order will be in any day and when the weather is warmer, my 2 cherry trees and my strawberry plants will be shipped as well. I have been priveledged to have a smorgasbord of exquisite meats in the past couple weeks, supplied by my farming neighbours, including 2 plump tame partridge, a buff Orpington rooster, and 2 pheasants! The partridge were once again oven roasted with bacon fat, garlic and rosemary. The rooster will be turned into honey garlic chicken pieces and the pheasants will be roasted with an orange glaze. We eat altogether too well! Enough of the blogging and on with the projects, spring will "sprung" before we know it.

Monday is a Sausage Day

Well my long awaited adventure of making sausages was finally accomplished today! Everything fell into place to make it possible: I got my KitchenAid meat grinder and sausage stuffer for Christmas, I finally got around to buying some sausage casings, our freezer had an excess of pork and venison roasts AND I had a day off. There was also an extra pair of hands that were willing to help out! So that made today sausage day. Yesterday I got my meat thawing and my casings soaking in the fridge. I thawed 13 lb. venison and 7lb pork (ratio of 1/3 pork to 2/3 venison). The meat was still partially frozen today, but that worked out fine because the meat grinder works better with half frozen meat. I got everything set up - then set to work. I cut my meat in 1/2" strips then fed them through the grinder on the coarse plate. I put the meat through a second time to get it well ground. My extra set of hands showed up at just the right time. We added our spices, which ended up being: 1/8c. salt, 1 1/2 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. sage, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. mustard seed, 1 tsp. black pepper and 1 tsp. oregano. Mixing the spices into the meat is a chilly job (which is a good thing - you don't want your meat getting to room temp. while your working). Its recommended that you use 20% fat in sausages, but since I was using venison they were much leaner. Pure pork sausages would have plenty of fat. Getting the casing on the horn correctly is important, the first batch got double cased because the first end had overlapped under. Any youtube video gives a pretty accurate idea of how to use the sausage stuffer attachment. I picked up on it quickly, you just have to go at the right pace and make sure your sausage is even. We didn't have any trouble with the casings breaking. We made a long "rope" of sausage, then twisted off the links afterwards. Its important that the links are twisted good before cutting so your casings don't ride up. We simply bagged the sausages and froze them - keeping out enough for supper. This batch made about 32 sausages. They tasted great pan-fried, with enough zip in them but not too much. They are a dryer sausage, but they slice through with no crumbling. I would recommend making sausages to everyone! Its very satisfying to know exactly whats in them and exactly where they came from! Now if only the bbq wasn't buried in snow...

                                                                           And Voila!