No love allowed: meat chickens

Almost on an impulse, I brought home 7 meat chicks last week.

It started a few months ago when I found myself avoiding making dinner whenever chicken was on the menu.  The boneless, skinless chicken breasts that we were in the habit of buying seemed more and more spongy to me, and didn't resemble at all the lovely hens that were decorating our backyard.  At all. 

So I contemplated meat chicks, chickens that are bred specifically to become tasty dinners.  They only need about 8 weeks to grow to a good butchering size, which is a bonus because our little backyard homestead is already over our city's chicken limit.

So with strict instructions not to name these birds, not to love them, not to even cuddle them too much, I surprised the family with 7 fluffy, yellow chicks under the brooder lamp in the kitchen last week. 

Now that we're one week into this meat chick experiment, I realized I shouldn't have worried.  There is no love.  The cuteness only extends as far as the fluffiness, which is quickly being replaced with dingy white feathers.  There is too much odor to allow for oohing and ahhing.  And the spunky scurrying that we had with our eggs chicks has been replaced with unattractive laying around, sometimes with their heads resting in the feeder.

There is no love.

The Music Man asked me what breed I bought.  "This breed," I said, as I pulled up a Google image of a Cornish Rock.

Seven weeks till dinner time!

Destination: Chicago

The Music Man has been taking his 8th grade choirs to Chicago for 5 or 6 years now, and this year we got brave enough to go with him.  One hundred singers, 40 parents, 6 staff, 3 charter buses, and us 3 family members make for an eventful weekend trip.

We boarded the Spirit of Chicago for a lunch cruise.

And danced!

We visited Millennium Park,

including the Lurie Gardens.

We walked across the street to the Art Institute.
 

We met up with some long, lost friends at the Shedd Aquarium

and saw some beluga whales,

some grumpy fish, 

and some amazing jellyfish.

After that, it was to the top of the John Hancock building

 for a fun performance.

The next day was for visiting Navy Pier, including the ferris wheel

and the indoor gardens.

Chicago, we hope to see you again! 

Seven!

Someone has just turned seven over here.  Well, she's been seven for a few weeks now, but we're all still getting used to it.

The theme?  Sea creatures.  Not that she particularly loves any animal that lives in the sea, but a few months ago we came across an idea to make a little terrarium in a jar, plop a plastic sea creature in there, and presto you have a mini ocean garden.

We happened to have, oh, a million extra jars around here, so this craft we could manage.

By the way, when did birthdays start having themes?  When I was a kid, the theme was cake and a few presents.  Every year.

Back to the sea creature theme.

We invited seven friends.

   
 


We had Pin the Arm/Leg on the Octopus.

Go Fishing For a Fabric Fish.

   

Red Pepper with Hummus Octopus.



And Sea Creature Cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, little sea creature!

Pickles, my first real attempt at wild fermentation

I should have known I was in for an adventure when I saw the book title:  Wild Fermentation.

As luck would have it, I came upon a $4 crock at a thrift store and mini cucumbers on sale at the grocery store on the same day.

So for the first time in my life, I found myself making a brine, dunking some cucumbers, garlic, and dill, and then walking away.  For 5 - 7 days.

They turned out way too salty for our tastes.  But we just soaked them in plain water for a day or so and they mellowed out nicely.  Can I try that with my dog?

Now, if my house will ever get to 70 - 80 degrees and stay there, I'd like to try making kombucha!

Another reason to visit the Matthaei Botanical Gardens

We've been visiting the Matthaei Botanical Gardens for as long as I remember.

My mom took my brother and me as kids,

we had our firstborn's baby pictures taken there,

and now we try to go once a season.

The indoor tropical conservatory is a soothing respite from the cold, gray winter.

photo taken by Abi, age 9

And the sprawling gardens outdoors are a creative place to spend a summer morning.  They have beekeeping workshops, plant sales, and walking trails.

There are photo ops at every turn.

 And now, their gift shop is carrying My Detroit Garden!

Thanks, Matthaei, for supporting my little book!