Lisa Steele's Blog, page 7

Cardamom Vanilla Swirl Braided Bread

This variation on a traditional swirl bread has braided layers of cardamom, vanilla and sugar to sweeten it.
If you've never had bread flavored with cardamom, you're in for a real treat! I love to substitute cardamom for recipes that call for cinnamon. I find the subtle flavor much more to my liking. 
For this recipe, I started with a traditional, basic cinnamon raisin swirl bread recipe and subbed in cardamom for the cinnamon, added some vanilla bean paste, and ditched the raisins.
Then just for f...

9 Best Herbs for Chicken Immune System Health

These nine common herbs can help to support backyard chickens' immune systems and keep them healthy naturally.

Herbs of all kinds provide some pretty amazing health benefits for both people and poultry! 

But if you are specifically looking to add some herbs to your backyard chickens' diet to support their immune system and keep them as healthy as possible, you can't go wrong with these nine common herbs.

By incorporating some beneficial herbs that specifically target the immune system, you're provi...

Fancy Rolled Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

There’s something so satisfying about rolling and cutting out cookies. This basic sugar cookie recipe will be a holiday show stopper, but it's a nice everyday cookie as well. 

When I was assembling recipes to be included in my first cookbook, I knew that I wanted to include a great sugar cookie recipe. 

Sugar cookies are my husband's favorites (right after peanut butter cookies!), and not just for Christmas either. He loves a good frosted sugar cookie any time of the year! These cookies are actual...

Chickens not Laying Eggs? Don't be too Quick to Blame their Feed

There are lots of reasons why chickens don't lay eggs. What you're feeding them could be one reason, but it's not the only one. And not for the reason you think.

If you raise your own chickens and haven't heard the latest chicken feed conspiracy theories swirling around social media (and tiktok specifically) about flocks of perfectly healthy chickens suddenly not laying eggs, you're likely living under a rock. 
Or in the woods of Maine. 
Oh no wait, that's where we live - and I keep hearing murmuri...

9 Reasons Why Eggs Are So Expensive Right Now

The avian flu can't be completely blamed for high egg prices at the supermarket. There are other factors coming into play.

The avian flu, otherwise known as bird flu, is sweeping the country again (still?) and being blamed for the current record-breaking prices for store bought eggs. 

But this isn't the first time that commercial laying flocks have been decimated by the avian flu. And in the past, those losses haven't pushed egg prices up so high. There has to be more to it. So what's going on?

Why...

What do the Codes on an Egg Carton Mean?

Whether you want to be sure you're choosing the freshest eggs, the most local eggs, or just want to understand the words and numbers on an egg carton, here's how to "crack the codes".

The tops of egg cartons read like veritable billboards these days. Shouting things like "Free-Range",  "Vegetarian", "Hormone-free" and "Farm Fresh". Unfortunately most of these terms are misleading at best and meaningless at worst. 

Most of you probably check the top of the egg carton for those key words that mean s...

Toasty Holiday Strata

The versatile strata is a great recipe that helps you use up holiday leftovers.

The cousin to bread pudding, a strata is more eggy, less custardy, and usually savory instead of sweet.

It’s a great recipe to have in your repertoire, although it’s not so much a recipe as a method to use up leftovers - especially after the holidays.

Save the ends of your loaves of bread of all kinds (slightly stale is fine too!), uneaten dinner rolls, leftover vegetables, and meat. Pretty much anything that's in the f...

5 Reasons to Feed Cayenne Pepper to your Chickens

Adding cayenne pepper to your chickens' diet in the winter has some pretty spectacular benefits. 

Like most birds, chickens do have a decent sense of taste, but with a few limitations.  While they have taste receptors for "bitter", "salty" and "sour" like we do, they lack the receptors for "sweet" and "spicy".

So they can (and will) happily eat all kinds of spicy foods without a problem. 

Cayenne Pepper and your Chickens

Spicy foods your chickens might enjoy include:

jalapeno pepperschili pepperswhol...

Mimosa Bourbon Cider Shrub

A lazy Sunday afternoon in Maine in the fall calls for a crisp, sparkling, cider-based cocktail while we enjoy the football game. This one I'm calling the Mimosa Bourbon Cider Shrub.

If you've never had the cocktail version of a "shrub", you're in for a treat! 

A shrub is technically a "drinking vinegar". It's basically a syrupy liquid created by mixing vinegar, usually apple cider vinegar, with fruit juices and sugar.  Sort of like a vinegar simple syrup. 

Then that fruit-infused vinegar is added...

5 Best Fall Treats for Chickens

When your chickens are molting in the fall, they'll appreciate these protein-packed treats!

Every fall like clockwork, your chickens will start to drop their feathers. 

The timing of the annual molt is tied to days getting shorter. That lack of daylight signals to chickens (and ducks) that it's time to grow in nice new feathers to help them stay warm through the winter.

Protein-Rich Fall Treats for Chickens

Since chicken feathers are around 90% protein, it requires lots of protein for them to not on...