Catching up

I have at least 5 Everyday Food recipes to share about, but first a little bit of family business post:


I got my hair cut and colored- a little fix of the at-home dying and cutting jobs I have been doing myself . . . this summer I want to take it back to the original dingy, dirty blonde that I won't have to do anything to upkeep ; ). This is the best it will ever look- so I documented it. She had flat irons I will not be investing in. I guess I will post a picture of my baby bump (more like a mountain) soon per requests.

Our free rare breed chick they threw into our order turned out to be a rooster. When he started cock-a-doodling last weekend it was super funny and sad. We have suspected for a while "Leah" was a "Leo" and would have to go. Stephen suggested eating him- and even Odessa knew that this was a possibility although she has held him from the time we got him as a chick. Stephen is so good about making sure the girls understand that part of having animals like chickens means they may die and you might be the one to kill them. But I opted to try selling him.
However- this picture does not do him justice, his tail feathers gleam green in the sunlight (yes, when we have sunlight) and he is fluffy and can puff out his neck feathers when he runs at you- protecting his ladies from the evil forces of . . . the people who feed them. Anyway, I always had this fear that one of the many Asians or Latinos that live around these parts might want him for cock fighting. Yes, I saw lots of cock fighting roosters in the Philippines and also the many different razor weapons they attach to the roosters claws - whoever loses usually is dinner for the winner's owner.
I posted him on Craigslist for $10 which is a lot for a rooster- some people give them away, but I got an email that night from a Vietnamese guy from Burien. When I asked him some questions he said the rooster was going to stay at his friend's house who also had a rooster. "No way" I thought- not selling my rooster to you. Luckily I had posted 3 of the laying hens (at least they are supposed to start laying by the end of the month or next month) at the same time. A super nice lady who has a farm on Vashon Island (short ferry ride from West Seattle) wanted to add to her 4 layers. So perfect. Oh and by the way, she was looking for a rooster, but would pick one up on Vashon for free- everyone had too many roosters to get rid of. I called her after agonizing about the Vietnamese guy and offered her Leo for free with the 3 layers. And so all 4 chickens went off together on Thursday to live a happy life on the farm. I was so relieved. And we even have her address in case we want to go see them sometime. Nicest lady ever.

Stephen was getting the girls out of the tub, I was making dinner and the State of the Union was blaring. All of a sudden I hear this live clapping coming from the living room. I peak in to see Ada- she has come right in, climbed up on the couch, is acting like she is listening attentively and clapping whenever everyone else does. She was SO SERIOUS and it was SO FUNNY.
She could not have been happier to get to watch TV long after PBS kids was over . . .