Derby Deviled Eggs

Spring comes late and unpredictably in our part of the world. One sign of spring for sure is the annual Running of the Roses in Kentucky. No matter how cold, wet and rainy it is here in western Massachusetts, The Kentucky Derby happens every year, never fail, on the first Saturday in May. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been going to Derby parties, first with my parents and sisters, and then throwing a party or two of my own. I love the tradition of the Derby – the hats, the flowers, the magnificent old grandstands at Churchill Downs, the beautiful silks on the horses and the jockeys and the singing of My Old Kentucky Home.

When we moved here, I needed to find someone else who might be keen to celebrate this rite of spring. Lucky for us, my friend Kay who also grew up in NJ had grown up in a home where her mother threw a fabulous Derby party. We’ve been celebrating the Derby with Kay and her husband Mike for many years now. We do low-tech, low-stakes wagering and winner takes all.

Mostly it is about the food and the mint juleps that afternoon. Kay is an amazing chef and we always look forward to what she prepares. Every year she asks me bring my deviled eggs. I’m not the most fabulous cook but I try. Evidently I make a mean deviled egg because they are instantly gobbled up. There’s something so sinful about these little boats of flavor.

Kay has been clamoring for my special recipe for Derby Deviled Eggs. This past weekend, I was having a dinner party in honor of The Farmer’s birthday. I made up another batch of Derby Deviled Eggs to test out all my proportions. (That’s one reason I don’t post recipes here on my blog – too much trouble with testing and re-testing recipes). Here it is for Kay and for you:


Perfect Boiled Eggs

Here’s how to make perfect hard boiled eggs every time. I learned this trick from my Aunt Marilyn. Put a dozen extra large eggs in a large pot. Fill it with cold water. Put it on the stove and bring it to a boil for a minute. Turn it off and let the eggs cool in the water. When the water is completely cool, peel the eggs. You’ll have perfectly cooked eggs, without that nasty green edge that sometimes happens when you overcook hard boiled eggs.

Derby Deviled Eggs

1 dozen extra large eggs
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons sweet relish
3 Tablespoons mayonaise
3 Tablespoon capers packed in vinegar and drained
Several dashes of Tabasco sauce, depending on how devilish you want your eggs
Good handful of fresh chives
Paprika

Egg Note: Fresh eggs from my chickens always cause peeling problems. They're just too fresh to peel. Chicken farmer that I am, I always purchase my eggs for deviling at the store because they peel easily.

To Devil the Eggs:
1. Peel the eggs. Cut in half and put all the yolks in a medium sized bowl.
2. Mash the yolks but not too much – I like them a little chunky but, of course, this is a matter of personal preference.
3. To the mashed yolks, add mustard, sweet relish, mayonnaise and capers. Mix through.
4. Using a spoon, fill all the egg boats with a generous scoop of filling. I usually will have a few white boats left over which the dogs gladly accept as a snack.

Snip the chives into ¼” pieces leaving 24 of the tips about 3” long. Place the eggs on your serving platter. Spear each egg with a chive tip. Sprinkle the rest of the chives all over your eggs and plate as decoration. Watch them disappear!

Sheep in Massachusetts, Wales, and Spain

Our sheep are looking like they are living in Ireland. The grass is so green and lush and almost electric looking at different times of the day as the light shifts, shines, and fades.


I just finished a fabulous book by Horatio Clare called Running for the Hills. It is about a young boy and his brother growing up on his mother's sheep farm in Wales. The writing is so beautifully phrased and the story is brilliantly told. If you have a fascination for farming and escaping the rat race, I highly suggest it. Even if you don't, you will still love it. I didn't want the book to end. Interesting review here.


These sheep are so quietly grazing somewhere in a lobby of a building. How funny they are constructed of phone cords and rotary dial telephones. There's a whole flock of them here. I think they may be in Spain but perhaps someone can tell me. Via Make:blog.

Finding Green

We had a big job to do this past weekend which ended up taking the better part of three days. The sheep were in constant jailbreak mode and something had to be done. From the photo above, I can hardly blame them. The supplemental hay just wasn't doing it for them. It's spring, and they demand green grass. The Farmer hitched up his trailer and started to attempt to move all 200 sheep complete with many little lambs to a neighbor's field that is large and full of plenty of grass for the sheep to eat.

His first attempt, with Nessie's help was quite successful - the sheep didn't realize what was happening and about 25 hopped on the trailer. He was hoping the rest would continue partcipating in the project but they were on to him. The next batch numbered about ten and he became frustrated. I could tell he needed help.

Off Phoebe and I went to see if we could help. Phoebe is our Border Collie who really doesn't want to be a sheep dog. She decided long ago that her calling was as my companion and chicken herder - she has never wanted much to do with sheep. We got her when Julia was almost a year old and the breeder chose her for us because she wanted a pup that would be good with a small child. Things were busy back then and we had Paisley, our first Border Collie who was full of natural talent and lived to herd sheep. With dogs, there is always a pecking order and Phoebe naturally became subservient to Paisley. Our life was quite crazy back then, crazier than now and The Farmer never got to properly training Phoebe - it was always just easier to take Paisley out and get the job done lickety-split.

After Paisley died, we knew we had to find a new dog that would really help with the sheep. We got Ness hoping that she would have talent - but she was just a pup. Miraculously, with Paisley gone, Phoebe started taking interest in the sheep and the sheep started to notice her. They started moving for her and she started to enjoy it a bit. It was clear that she was much happier to work when I was around - she feels more confident, I think.

Nessie is now almost three years old. She's got more power and enthusiasm for working sheep than Phoebe but together they have become a little team. When they go to a field together, the sheep definitely begin to move. Their working style is different - Nessie works in closer with Phoebe staying back. They both will lay down on command and things get done quickly. They seem to be more efficient when they are both working together. They're very far from being much of a talented team (like the dogs of Dave Kennard - read about his fabulous dog Mist here) but they sure are helping us out moving lots of sheep around.

Several trips with a trailer full of sheep were needed to get the flock onto their new pasture. As you can see, there wasn't much to eat on the old pasture. Here the sheep are coming over the rise with the dogs behind them.


Each load was between fifteen to twenty-five sheep. When they got to the new pasture, they hopped on out and start eating, as if nothing happened.

Over the course of three days, we had almost all of them moved. This is always tricky because nursing lambs get separated from their mamas no matter how hard you try. By Sunday, there was about fifty sheep left to go. The ones that were left were the most stubborn and wild including The Jumper. ("The Jumper" can jump any fence, no matter how high and she is constantly where she shouldn't be. She makes good lambs so we keep her around and try to put up with her quirkiness.) We knew it would be a challenge. The Farmer set up the fences to form a funnel so that we could crowd them all closer to the trailer. Lucky for us, David and Debbie, Mark's brother and sister-in-law, were around and they helped the three of us and the two dogs capture the last hold-outs. We must have been a funny site - 4 adults, 2 dogs and a child circling the band of rogue, wet and bedraggled sheep.

They're all much happier now - eating lots of fresh green grass.

Phoebe and Ness were definitely the stars of the weekend. It would be impossible to move this many sheep without a good dog or two around.

We've had a lot of dogs in our lives, between The Farmer and I, including four Border Collies. Every one is completely different with their own personality traits and habits. We have loved them all for their quirkiness and constant devotion. If you are new to my blog and you love dogs, you may enjoy an essay about Paisley here.

Jailbreak

For the past week, the phone has been ringing early in the morning. When it rings that early in the springtime, it is usually one thing – the sheep have escaped their fencing and they are grazing on greener pastures. Traffic jams ensue usually including the school bus. Even in the country, people drive too fast, talk on their cell phones simultaneously and don’t pay attention. I guess when they come upon lots of sheep in the middle of the road, it may make them slow down some… at least I hope so. Definitely good for water cooler conversation.

The Farmer’s brother and sister-in law are extremely patient. Our sheep winter in our greenhouse barn across the road from their dairy farm. I guess they are used to people stopping by and telling them the sheep are out. We also have pastures for grazing near our barn but not enough grass for the number of sheep we have. In early spring, the grass hasn’t really started growing at any great rate. It is a challenge to keep the sheep fenced in. Even though they have plenty of food to eat including hay for supplemental food, they always want what’s outside their fence. It's all about the food for sheep.

This was the scene this morning as I arrived with the two Border Collies. The sheep were having a grand old time on top of one of David’s fields.


When they see the dogs coming though, they know we mean business. All of a sudden the entire flock of 200 creatures begins to move, dogs pushing them. They all know where they are supposed to be, they just don't want to be there.

Then it was time to increase their present fenced-in pasture. We wound the woven wire electric fence up through the woods and through a pine grove. They’ll probably stay put for a day but I’m sure we’ll be getting another call tomorrow.

May Day

Little glimpses around our farm today on this glorious May Day 2008. We didn't deliver any May Baskets but I'm delivering you some bits of spring tonight.

I let the chickens out every morning at this time of year. They eat bugs and worms and love to take a good dust bath. In a few weeks, I'll have too many plants in that I won't want them to eat so their hours out of the coop will be a bit less. They are enjoying every moment of freedom from morning til night.


Otto is Lily Pons' last year's handsome kitten who somehow has managed to become a big strapping cat. (He's the one we kept from this litter of five red striped tiger kittens.) He still is as sweet as they make 'em and really the only cat I have managed to have sit still for me for a photograph. He is loving the daffodils this week.


I have no idea what this shrub is but every spring it lets out a scream of a wonderful pinkish-salmon bloom that I gather by the armload and bring inside. After it's all over, you would have no idea that the homely shrub could be so beautiful.


I love these little purply-blue grape hyacinth blooms. The raindrops hanging onto the sides of them kind of look like little glass baubles.


Happy May!

New Member of the Gang

It’s been a crazy few weeks for me. Upon returning from Detroit, it was spring vacation for Julia. I don’t even try to get any type of professional work done when vacation time rolls around. We took a bunch of day trips to The Carle (did you see the write-up on it in the most recent Home Companion?) and Boston. It was a rather uneventful week but Julia and I had a great time spending time together. The Farmer was very busy doing all his farming things – when the weather finally warms up, there literally aren’t enough hours in the day.

We had ordered a new ram back in January after we had heard about him on the “shearer’s grapevine.” The "SGV" is a great place to find new additions for our flock because sheep shearers know flocks all over New England. We picked him up from a small flock owner in New Hampshire. He’s a Border Leicester which is a new breed for us. He’s very tall and has an open face (no top knot between the ears like the rest of our sheep have). He came with the name Big Boy. I've always thought that Border Leicesters in full fleece were quite handsome

The Farmer subscribes to Farmer’s Weekly from the UK. It’s one of his only indulgences because it is quite pricey to get it stateside. But every week, when it arrives, we lose him to the pages of all things farming across the pond. He really likes it because there is “sheep coverage” every week and it’s real farming sheep information, as opposed to many of the sheep publications in the States which cater to hobby farmers with a flock of twenty sheep. From the pages of Farmer’s Weekly, he has learned that many hill farmers in Scotland commonly use a Border Leicester ram for producing some very nice ewes that do well on hill pastures. So that’s why we ended up with “Big Boy.”


The only glitch with Big Boy is a small one. He was shorn after we decided on the pick-up date. The shearer found he and all of this farm’s sheep had sheep lice. He was treated at his old place but now we have to quarantine him in separate quarters on our place awaiting his second treatment the second week of May. I feel bad for him because he is lonely but it’s better than getting our whole flock infected with sheep lice – something we really don’t want to have to deal with….

In two week, Big Boy gets to meet his new family. In the meantime, he’s living the highlife with hay and corn in his very own little fenced in yard. He’s quite friendly (or just plain lonely). Every time we walk out the door, he baaaaahs and we talk to him.

Diego in Detroit

I was in Detroit a short while ago taping Knit and Crochet Today at Detroit PBS. While there, I was lucky to find a new friend. Karen Kendrick-Hands, Owner of City Knits in The Fisher Building, became my fabulous tour guide. How lucky was I? Karen knew that I would love seeing the Courtyard of the Detroit Institute of Arts. With barely a minute to spare before going to the airport for my flight to Hartford, Karen and I flew in quickly to look at one of Diego Rivera's famous murals. Wow, was I blown away. This link will take you to the two major walls of the murals. Below, are images of some of the smaller sections of the mural which I was able to capture.

The murals were funded by Edsel Ford and painted between 1932 and 1933. They were very controversial and were almost destroyed. Thank goodness they weren't! Edsel Ford is portrayed in a section of the canvas along with William Valentiner, the Director of the Detroit Institute of Art.

Throughout the murals, there are many famous Detroit industrial leaders captured in fresco including Henry Ford. There are also many regular people portrayed as they worked for the auto, airline, and pharmaceutical industries which were based in Detroit. Rivera believed that art should be for all people and through his painting of murals, his work did indeed reach many people.

The murals were painted in the traditional fresco technique which means that each section was painted with pigments on freshly spread plaster. The painting had to be completed while the plaster was wet so that it would seep into the wall. This makes the frescos waterproof. Rivera's assistants would mix pigments, apply plaster and then he would paint a section at a time. It is said that he liked the pressure that this technique put on him - making him more spontaneous and creative each day.

Here are some of the photos I was able to get on my very quick visit. There was a film which I wish I had time for - maybe next time! If you want to learn more, I suggest this book by Linda Bank Downs which tells about the conception, creation, and execution of the Detroit Industry Murals.

This is one of two images of nude women with their arms full of fruit and wheat honoring the earth and agriculture of the State of Michigan. Evidently, in 1932, these nudes were rather controversial.


This image is of a pharmacist filling pill bottles surrounded by women typing in a typing pool.



An infant in a bulb surrounded by roots and layers of earth. This is said to be a possible testament to Rivera's wife Frida Kahlo and the baby she miscarried while they were in Detroit.



This image shows a surgeon removing a brain tumour.



I couldn't resist adding this lovely image of sunflowers and a crow.


It's amazing how beautiful Rivera could make subjects that would not seem visually beautiful look. That's the thing I came away with most - if composed beautifully and with feeling, almost anything can become a thing of beauty.

Tonight I am going to watch one of my favorite movies Frida and see if there is any mention of the murals he painted in Detroit.

The Detroit Institute of Arts is enormous. There looks to be so much to explore. If I ever get back to this city again, I'm going to try to add an extra day to explore this magnificent collection.

And thank you so much to Karen for making my trip to Detroit not all work but some cultural enlightenment!