Is it over yet? Seriously is it over?

Well when we last spoke we talked about the chickens. That deed has been done. I now have 5 beautiful chickens to roast in my freezer. We are thankful for that!

We also ordered new baby chicks in fun varieties! We got anything from Speckled Sussex to Auracauna! They will come to us in April hopefully when the yard has melted (we got another foot yesterday thank you very much) and the coop has had its spring cleaning. We have a brooder area inside the coop and therefore the little fluffers will only be inside the house for a week before getting shuffled out to the brooder area. This,w e have found, also makes the transition to full coop MUCH easier with the larger hens. (Also, I suspect our trouble makers are now in the freezer.)

Also, our incredibly sweet Roo, Mike the Jersey Giant has taken a turn over to the dark side where he now is in the KILL THE HUMANS camp. This is not acceptable. Hopefully he will get over himself or he may find himself ruling a different roost or joining the freezer camp. Can't have a 15 pound rooster coming at you. NOPE!


The family has been sick, with cold after cold. Hopefully we are on the way out of that now, Harry has caught my cold (sorry hun) and Noah has had to have surgery (noah the great dane puppy) but other than that we are ok!

Yesterday to combat the sick and to make people smile I found a quick recipe online for coffee cake which my family loves. Since I am now trying to make everything from scratch, I had to bake it myself! I found this recipe. I really dig it. I would say though the cake is a bit dry so don't overcook it (i suspect i may have).

Image by Cool Librarian via Flickr

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.
2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender to the size of small peas.
3. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg well, then stir in the milk and vanilla. Add the egg-milk mixture to the flour mixture all at once. Stir carefully until just blended.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Drizzle top with melted butter.
5. In a small bowl mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of cake. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.