Massacre at Coop Corner

Massacre at Coop Corner. Our forces, led by Chief Wahoo, were attacked by an unknown invader. Casualties=3 on our side, 0 on theirs. The troops are demoralized. Time to regroup and determine a better defense.

This is what Caleb is calling the mess he found yesterday. He, Don, and Opa were out in the trees behind the coop and found 3 chicken carcasses, with Chief Wahoo up to her eyeballs in one of them. We doubt she's the one that did the killing, though. I think she was just taking advantage of a yummy situation. It really is a bummer because these chickens are so big now...it would've been much less of a loss if they'd been killed before they consumed so much food!

The good news is that they've been able to get out of the coop in the last few days. They stay out of the deeper snow, but they can do quite a lot of scratching and pecking in the shallow snow and exposed earth in the trees behind the coop and along the property edge. I think they are enjoying the change in scenery.

In other news, our cookies turned out great. Here is the recipe:

Almond Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
5 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs and extract; mix well. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into sugar mixture. You can use dough hooks if needed. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out on floured surface to 1/4-1/2" thick. Cut out with cookie cutter. Bake 6-8 minutes, depending on size of cookie, until edges are golden.

We halved the recipe and it made quite a few. Also, we learned that this DOES NOT WORK with Rapadura sugar. I had hoped to make it a little more nutritious, but it really needs to be white sugar. Unfortunately, I did not take a single picture. I'm lucky I was organized enough to get them made at all.