Sunday, March 21, 2010

guineas, breakfast bake, goats

Have you ever had guineas, who after living with ya since last summer, all of a sudden decided to leave home? We had 27 Pearl Guinea's, and 20 of 'em have now taken residence across the road from my inlaws. Just some homes and some woods over there but much better guinea digs here. Why have they moved on? Randy at Chicken Boys says he had some guinea's who did that, in fact, they were able to bring them home and yet they returned to the other place.

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Over at the Noble Pig, I made Cathy's Savory-Breakfast Bake this afternoon. Be sure to view her photo's and recipe of the dish. Over the years, I've made similar versions (never made it at breakfast time though), and they all turned out great, one of those recipes that's difficult to screw up. Like me, for you folks with an abundance of fresh eggs - it calls for 10 eggs.

Below, is not Cathy's but the most basic Breakfast Casserole recipe. I've also heard of replacing the bread with hash-brown potatoes which Mike has also requested.

Ingredients
1 pound bulk pork sausage
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
6 slices white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
In a skillet, brown and crumble sausage; drain and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs; add milk, salt and mustard. Stir in bread cubes, cheese and sausage. Pour into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
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Have you ever heard of or tasted Swiss Batter Bread? We don't have much in Boone but we do have Stick Boy Bread Company. One of their artisan breads is Swiss Batter Bread. The ingredients on the bag read: bread flour, buttermilk, swiss cheese, eggs, sugar, butter, baking soda. whew wee, what delicious stuff. I found this recipe online.
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup water
1 package active dry yeast
3 eggs
3-1/2 to 4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
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Clara says if I don't keep my camera out of her rear end, she's just gonna hold on to her babies. (She isn't due until Thursday).


We got the trailer up to the house.


TootleLu and Gabbi in the food dishes again, obviously we aren't very good disciplinarians.


Cahoot is going to be a Daddy, of Clara's babies and Cali's babies.


MilkDud will be the Daddy of June's babies this summer.


We haven't used Pappy yet (but he says he's ready for action).


The 6 goat girls plus Sundance, a wether.

14 comments:

Melodie said...

I think I will try the hash brown version of this it looks good and we have sooo many eggs! The picture of TootleLu and Gabbi make me laugh out loud! Can't wait to see those baby goatie pictures soon!

Nekkid Chicken said...

Doncha love guineas? I affirm since we have kept them, we haven't seen a tick.

Don't tell Randy that you have a camera in Clara's Hoo Haa again.

He made me giggle the last time.

That dish looks so tasty

Alison said...

Oooo, Clara, you look amazing! Look at those curves! You are gonna be some kind of mama, I can tell. I can see why Joanna can't keep her camera off you. ;)

Louise said...

Man, Clara, that is one wide load. Bet she can't WAIT until Thursday.

Boozy Tooth said...

Humph. Ungrateful Guineas. Whatcha gonna do?

Thanks for the awesome breakfast casserole recipe. Looks yummy. I'm expecting company in May and I think I'll make this for them.

PS: The goat photos are always a pleasure. So happy you, Mike, and The Moat made it home safely!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness.. Clara needs some privacay. *giggles*

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

Foothills Poultry said...

All the goats look great, but Gabbi is still my favorite.

~~Matt~~

Callie Brady said...

mmmmm... that bread sounds sooo good. Must try that! Love your pic of the goats! Hope your guineas come home. After the latest fox attack Kristine said she would like to get something that would make a lot of noise when the fox shows up. Guineas? Do they warn of predators or do they just make noise all the time. Maybe we should get some geese? Our dog can't be everywhere. Thanks for the recipes.

IsobelleGoLightly said...

I like the light in the last goatie photo! Very pretty! I'm hoping that when the Guinea eggs that my lady is getting this spring hatch that the Guineas will fly far, far away. hee hee

John Going Gently said...

you know what I think about guineas and I ONLY HAVE THREE!!!
lovely birds..... you must be butted that 20 have scarpered!

Mom L said...

OH, poor Clara!!! Looks like quads!! But all the goats are gorgeous...

I've had a version of that breakfast casserole and it was amazingly good. A friend fixed it when a group of friends stayed at her house.

Nancy in Iowa

Mary Humphrey said...

Clara - wowsers! Valentine, one of my boer does, looked wide like that as well. She had twins, that's it. She began to look normal, sunk in after she had kids, but I looked at her yesterday (just a few weeks after having the kids), she looks huge again. I think some of those gals are just plain old double-wides!

Love seeing the kids stand in their dishes. Wonder why goats do that. They love to stand in things, and on things.

Have a great day, Joanna.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Guineas must be very fickle. I had no idea they'd move on if they discovered something better. Where do they typically roost at night?

Wow! Clara is huge! Almost unrecognizable as a goat from the back, too. gah! Poor thing.

~Lisa

Anonymous said...

I love the breakfast casserole but my husband likes his sausage and eggs separate, the old fashion way.

Just seeing the picture of it though makes me want to bake one up.

We have 17 guineas and they wander all over the farm but so far haven't wandered off lately. The ones we had a few years ago did go down the road to the neighbors but came back. The critters around here like hawks, coyotes, and such had us down to 2 guineas until we hatched the ones we have now in the incubator.
Hopefully your guineas will come back home too.

The goats are looking good!
Pam