The following is taken from “Tales from Heritage Farm” written by Wenda and Randall Grabau.
The Dawn of a New Day
Part 1
“Cock-a-doodle-doo———God-is-good-to-you——!” This abrupt, piercing chorus trailed off, not without ruffling more than a few feathers.
Brilliant pink and subdued rose washed the eastern sky as the twitter of the first morning bird began her melody. The warbling broke the silence of the night and dulled the zinging of the cricket’s chatter. A hush fell on the drone of the frogs down at the pond. A new dawn was breaking.
Frieda tried to turn her back to the rush of noise that aroused her. She covered her ears under her own wing and then, “Cock-a-doodle-doo——God-is-good-to-you—!” broke into her consciousness again. She winced at how loudly the rooster, Maximillian, was crowing.
Roosting in the hen house had grown to be a rather cozy arrangement, snuggling up to feathers on all sides. Lights went out when the sun went down, only to return as the sun did each morning.
It was hard work scratching out a living each day. Twice a day the farmer visited her to replenish her water supply and fill her trough with fresh grain to peck at and consume. Even with his grain delivery, Frieda scratched and pecked most of the day (except when she tried to sleep in late on a lumpy bed of straw.)
“Cock-a-doodle-doo——God’s-so-good-to-you——!”
“Honestly, Frieda,” said Hildy from the perch beside her. “That rooster must think he is God’s gift to chickens. What a conceited blow hard!”
“Oh, I don’t know, Hildy. He seems pretty normal to me.” With that Frieda hopped from her roost, ruffled her feathers and straightened them. Up she jumped onto a nest that the farmer had supplied. Making a few turns to find a comfortable spot, she finally nestled herself on the clean straw.
“Now, what’s bothering you today, Hildy? There must be something. Come on, out with it,” urged Frieda. (She was a motherly type.)
Huffing and sputtering out her troubles, Hildy listed all of the things she expected to encounter that day. “I’ll hunt and get pecked by Annie. I will peck and be nipped by Dolly. After scratching a while, I’ll get chased and jabbed at by Little Red. Once I lay my big brown egg, Sophie will pick on me. A hen’s lot in life is a weary one. I’ve been cooped up all my life and nobody likes me,” she wailed.
“I do,” said Frieda.
“Yeah, but you don’t count,” she answered caustically.
“Oh,… I see,” retreated Frieda.
A brief moment of silence passed…
What is behind Hildy’s complaints? Can Frieda recover from the insult just launched at her? Is Maximillian really a blow hard? Join in on the story next time to find out.
NOTE: Any resemblance to persons in this article is purely coincidental and not intended to reflect on any one person… or chicken.
Spice’n Crumb Banana Bars
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
1 ¼ cups sugar
2/3 cup Land O Lakes butter, melted
¼ cup buttermilk*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 medium (2 cups) ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Powdered sugar, if desired
Heat oven to 350°F. In a large mixer bowl combine sugar, butter, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Add bananas; continue beating until well mixed (1 minute). Add flour, baking soda and salt. Beat at low speed until moistened (1-2 minutes). By hand, stir in blueberries. Spoon into paper-lined muffin cups. Bake for 24-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan. Cool. Just before serving, sprinkle tops of cakes with powdered sugar.
Yield: 20 snack cakes
*1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to equal ¼ cup can be substituted for ¼ cup buttermilk.
Recipe credit: Land O Lakes
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