Bodine: The Rhode Island Red Rooster

Bodine is the rooster to the right

Looking to the east. There is a huge pond just beyond the trees

Caprese salad made from my friend's garden's basil and tomatoes. It was as good as it looks

My caramelized plum tart

Cheese plate with yummy Roquefort and caramelized onion cheddar

My friend's newly remodeled kitchen

One of the Mom's finally moved to her farm this spring after spending almost 2 years remodeling it. She has a vegetable garden. A farmer rents out some of her fields for corn (which did not do well without rain). She has a large pole barn. The house itself sits on top of a hill and has a wraparound deck. Aside from her 3 indoor cats, she just acquired a pharaoh hound and 5 chicks. She wants fresh eggs but the chicks don't come with any guarantees to what sex they are. They are now teenagers (in chicken years) and 3 of the 5 are clearly roosters. The chick provider will trade a hen for a rooster. The biggest rooster rules the roost, Bodine, named after Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies. He is big and pretty but stupid. I was warned that he would charge me and peck at my toes as I tried to take his picture. He didn't but the second in command rooster did. The roosters all got to go as they are loud and she wants unfertilized eggs. They are free range but are in the coop at night safe from the raccoons and coyotes.

The food was yummy. The main dish was shrimp tacos. They seemed to like the caramelized plum tart. A couple of weeks ago, the WSJ had a 2 page discussion concerning plums. In the author's opinion, plums are a much superior tasting  fruit than peaches. Maybe he hasn't had Michigan peaches. He did mention that caramelizing them brings out the flavor. In some of the recipes, the plums were paired with rosemary and in another lavender. In this recipe I used, the only spice per se was lemon zest, I used tart pastry instead of the recommended puff pastry. The plum preparation involved several steps: cutting them in half and depitting (although these plums barely had a pit); letting them sit in sugar to draw out excess fluid, caramelizing on the stove for 40 minutes, then baking. One was supposed to serve with vanilla infused creme fraiche. I made a sauce of Greek yogurt, excess caramel sauce and sherry. I was going to buy Michigan peaches Wednesday for my dessert but the season is over. I could buy California ones at the store but I figured plums were more fall like.

A pleasant evening sitting on the patio, sipping wine, laughing, gossiping....love the Moms.