Recipe found here http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zduck47.html

Best Way Mallards

~ 2 whole mallards, skin on (I am not using the ones without skin)
~ 2 apples
~ 2 medium onions
~ 1/2 cup water or wine
~ 1 can cream of mushroom soup
~ 1 can cream of celery soup
~ 2 bay leaves
~ garlic salt
~ black pepper
~ lemon pepper seasoning
~ long grain wild rice

Cut an apple and onion in half and stuff them into one of the ducks. Repeat process with other duck.

Place them in a crockpot and season liberally with the garlic salt and pepper. Season to taste with the lemon pepper.

In a bowl, mix the water and soups together. Pour mixture over the ducks.

Add the bay leaves and cover.

Cook on low 6 – 8 hours or until meat starts separating from the breast plate. Remove.

Strain the juices into a sauce pan and thicken with flour or corn starch for gravy.

Remove the meat from the bones and discard the apples, onions and bay leaves.

Serve over long grain wild rice with the gravy on top.

This was soooooooooooo good! I added a little cooking Sherry and only ended up using one apple and one onion. I could barley fit half an apple and half an onion in each.

You know how I said the mallard had been pardoned well....

I changed my mind. So the deed is done; the ducks are in the fridge and it only took most of the day. We are never doing ducks again! De-feathering them was a giant pain in the rear! I had to take the tweezers to them... and then I ended up just skinning 2 of the mallards and one of the Pekins. I can't wait to cook them though! I found some really good recipes and I will be sure to post the recipes and how they turned out. 

So far I have 19 chicks, 1 egg pipping and 2 eggs not doing a thing. All of the chicks look like Black Australorps, but I know at least a few of them are mixes.

So, yeah that about sums up the town zoning board meeting tonight. The zoning board decided that it wasn't their issue and that because it was agricultural that we needed a approved site plan not a variance. So the site plan application has to be in by Tuesday so we can appear before the planning board next month. Well at least this is a step in the right direction... right?

The one thing I am concerned about it that the codes guy said this is setting a president, that now anyone that wants to own farm animals in the town has to have at least 7 acres and an approved site plan, or at least that's how it was explained to us. So now what happens to all those people in the town that have a half acre and a small flock of chickens? This is such a mess, I think the town really needs to look into how to handle small farms, backyard homesteaders, and urban chickens owners. This is not something that is going away, more and more people want to raise their own food, even if that just means a small veggie garden and a couple egg layers. Local government has to learn to adapt to the local, homegrown food movement, because we are here to stay.

So the Zoning Board meeting is tomorrow.... good news is that we have about a dozen contingency plans if the variance doesn't go through :) I can be a conniving little bitty when I what to be. I just hope the variance goes through and that’s the end of it; of course knowing my community as I do I doubt this will be the last we hear of the psycho hag and her minions.

Egg Update: 22 of my 27 eggs are developing! ;)

So the lady who said that there are restrictions on our property just won't give up! She is telling people that no matter what she is going to make sure we are not allowed to keep our animals on the property! Jees, really she doesn't even live by our property and we never even met her before this, so what is her issue!?