Raspberry Custard Desert

I forgot to post the recipe for this desert from the other weekend. It was delicious but has to be served hot. You can substitute any type of berry.

Baked Raspberry Custard

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup whole milk

3 large eggs

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon course salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups raspberries (about 9 ounces)

Melt - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In oven, melt butter in a 9 inch pie plate about 6 minutes.

Blend. In a blender, combine milk, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla. Add melted butter and blend mixture until smooth, 30 seconds.

Bake. Distribute berries evenly in pie plate and pour batter over top. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar and bake until slightly puffed and just set in middle. 20 to 25 minutes. Heat broiler and broil until top is deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm.

Tadpole Central

Whew! Busy weekend. Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. 70 degree weather in April? Crazy global warming. This weekend, we planted two crabapple trees, a tulip magnolia tree, six lilac bushes, spread two more bags of grass seed and planted more seed for the vegetable garden. Tim continued to haul more rock for the vegetable garden. I put up a second birdhouse. Tim weeded the existing cutting garden. There were Blue Birds flying all over.

We went to a party at two friends of ours that live in Roxbury, R and B. I have known R. for twenty years - we were neighbors in Winston-Salem, North Carolina years ago. Tim and I were cornered again by our local bee hive expert who was buzzing around drumming up hive business. We would love bees but I heard that they attract bears. I am scared to death of bears.

The tadpole eggs had all hatched. There were thousands of little black spermatozoa swimming in the pond. Most of the eggs that floated on the surface of the pond had hatched but then we noticed these large jellyfish-shaped pods with eggs on the bottom of the pond. R. told us that those were probably bullfrog eggs. There were a couple transitional frogs swimming among the tiny tadpoles - it's all very interesting but all the leftover frog placenta floating around had me grossed out.

Tim and I love watching the birds at the bird feeder out our kitchen window. However, our neighbor, M., informed us that the feeders actually attract bears this time of year. That feeder was dragged down to the basement within seconds. Tim pouted all afternoon.

My favorite moment of the weekend was on Saturday. Tim and I enjoying cocktails, walking around the garden talking about how well the garden was doing and our plans for the future. That is when Tim and I are at our best. Of course, I also forgot to mention the hilarious tap dancing on plywood in the basement but that is another post.

You are my obsession!

There are very few things I obsess over any more other then Tim, the house, garden and our cat. However, my latest site du jour is www.mypetchicken.com. I can't get off the site! I want a chicken coop so bad. I can't decide between a cochin, a wyandotte, an australorp, a belgian bearded d'uccle bantam or a buhma. They are all so beautiful. I have always loved birds. I have a neighbor who lives around the corner and has them running loose all over his property and they are adorable. I would have dogs, cats, goats, llamas, fish, horses, bees, birds, frogs -you name it, if I could help it. I feel animals make a home. I have always had dogs, birds, fish, mice so this is nothing unusual. However, this site makes it look so easy. I also love eggs. I could eat eggs every day. Next to roasted brussel sprouts drizzled in olive oil and pizza - they are one of my favorite foods. Okay, grilled sweet potatoes with maple glaze sauce are up there too. Maybe also eggplant parmesan. Regardless, I can't stop obsessing over chickens. Now the tadpoles freaked me out this past weekend, so does anyone out there have some gross chicken story? Tim isn't having any part of this so I need an intervention. If anyone can give us some tips that would be great. Help me!

Cooking, gardening and tadpoles

We were really looking forward to this weekend. We haven't been upstate for 3 weeks. With work and a vacation trip - even lying on an exotic beach in the sun with cocktails - all I could think about was Bovina and the house and garden and getting the summer started. I would probably have been much better just vacationing in Bovina but Tim thought we really needed a week with exotic cocktails and tanlines.

By the time, Tim and I got up to the house and unpacked and changed into sweats and made cocktails and turned on the tv and collapsed on the sofa - we were exhausted - I just wanted to curl up next to Tim and pass out. All I could think about was that we were finally back in our house - I felt so complete and safe.

We worked all day in the garden. Tim hauled rock for the new vegetable bed. I hauled dirt from the pile of soil we had delivered this week. I also poured concrete for the birdhouse pole in the center of the bed. We worked on the garden and then moved onto other projects. I installed the brackets onto the kitchen island and hung sconces and hauled up furniture from the basement.

We planted seeds for the garden - asparagus, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, shasta daisy, hollyhock, and lots of other seeds. We both can't wait to get the garden going. Already, we had bee balm, scotch thistle, lenten rose and lots of other perennials coming up.

Tim was wiped out from hauling rock but he pulled off an amazing meal Saturday night. Tim whipped out the April issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food mag and we had barbecued shrimp, sauteed zucchini with lemon, and a raspberry custard for desert. It was amazing and we both passed out in front of the tv on Saturday night before 8:00 - just exhausted.

We watched several movies - Blow-Up, Astro Boy, September Issue and Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3D (Tim's netflix list).

When we inspected the pond, there were frog eggs and tadpoles everywhere. I know nothing about frog birthing - but that's a lot of tadpoles! I drank coffee and watched two ducks that have adopted the pond swimming early sunday morning before Tim was out of bed.

It was just a great weekend and we both felt so grateful and refreshed.