Too Cute For Words

Duck Tales

2009 may have been the Year of the Ox for Chinese New year but it was the year of the Duck here at Crippen Creek. In last month's post we talked of the Muscovy ducks that we were raising and mentioned the addition of Norman the Duck to our flock. His picture garnered much attention and many inquiries. I mentioned some of his exploits on Facebook and Norman developed such a following that he almost had his own fan page. The first chapter in our story tells how Norman the Duck came to Crippen Creek in the words of his rescuer, Norm Sharp.

"This duck was abandoned in a fenced rain 'catch pond' in Oregon City during mid-summer. I noticed it was different than the wild ducks that come through and soon learned it could not fly. I assumed it to be domestic, most likely a cross. At the time I was learning a classical Brazilian piece on the guitar, written by Marco Perreira, called Marta. As I went through the catch pond area, early in the morning on walks I would whistle that song as I walked out of the neighborhood. The duck started swimming toward me when I would whistle Marta, and it would swim next to me until I disappeared. I began to feed it some duck food I picked up and it knew me and would approach closely when it heard the song. This continued throughout summer and fall, I, all the while threatening to capture the duck and call my friends Don and Kitty.

The opportunity came in this recent freeze. After several days of sub freezing weather, the pond was frozen virtually solid. At about 3AM, the 9th of December, my little peepers opened and I said to myself, enough. I waited until the most reasonable hour of 530AM, 17 degrees, and with salmon net and dog carrier in hand I went over the fence, dressed in black. The duck was in a small part of the feeder creek that was not frozen and had about a three foot circle of unfrozen water around it. I approached the duck and it jumped out of the water and I attempted to net it. We played chase on the frozen ice for about a minute until I managed to get the net over it. Once I grabbed it, it calmed down, like it knew me and completely relaxed. We went to the little kennel and it now became a part of the back seat of my Volvo.

It went to work with me that morning, as I called several rescue places with no luck, er, duck. Until.......................my friend Don was coming to Portland to catch a train. I surprised him at Union Station around 4PM and we chatted for a bit. Don needed a coat as he'd forgot his: I needed a home for the duck. We walked to the barnyard smelling car and viewed the duck. Don said it was a fine specimen.

I took the duck home that evening, made a cage out of the dog pen, some hay, and a cover (it escaped and was following me around the garage). It seemed agitated at first, then I managed to pat its' belly. It calmed, rested in my arms and I petted it for a long time. Lori, who had patiently helped, looked and said, "it's name is Norman."
It would have been Marta had it been a girl.

So, at 5AM in the morning the next day, myself and Norman were en route to The Inn at Crippen Creek Farm. When I arrived, I placed Norman in the lot with all the other ducks and chickens, who eyed him with suspicion (city duck vs. country). He tentatively stepped from the cage and entered into the world of Crippen Creek Farm. Several nervous looking white ducks were posed like gangsters, checking him out. He chose a solid tactical position, as Normans are prone to do, and returned the stares, sizing up the new locker room. The chickens cared less and acted like they were waiting for a bus downtown.

I did write an impassioned plea to the owners of Crippen Creek to place Norman into a semi-retirement status with the caveat that he behave and that his captor have visiting rights."



Norman the Duck Finds His Special Purpose

When Kitty and I returned from our North Dakota trip, we found Norman the Duck settling in at Crippen Creek but still trying to figure out his place in the flock. He was pretty much a loner (that should have been a red flag) but then noticed that he was making nice with our Kahki Campbell. Then one morning, it was like someone flipped a switch. Just as Navin R. Johnson in the movie, The Jerk, found his 'special purpose,' so too did Norman the Duck...as barnyard stud. Although he hung out with Campbell, it was the Muscovy hens that became the objects of his "affection." But there was just one little problem that I forgot about. We have one more Muscovy duck...Boris, the drake. I should have known from raising chickens that with only 3 hens, that 2 drakes is one too many. Now Norman the Duck turned his attention to Boris and challenged him for the pecking order. Although Boris is twice the size of Norman, he is younger and inexperienced and no match for Norman. Normally we do not interfere with pecking order squabbles among our livestock. It's just the natural order of things. However, Norman's challenges went beyond the pale. He had clearly established his dominance but tormented Boris, pushing him into the electronet fencing and and pecking most of the hair off Boris' neck.



Boris the Muscovy Drake

Norman the Duck Goes to Duck Jail






We are not mean to our animals and we do not allow mean animals a long stay at Crippen Creek. Before decapitating or relocating Norman, we decided to see if rehabilitating his was a possibility. So we incarcerated Norman in the chicken tractor for several days. Hoping that a few days of solitary confinement would allow Norman to reflect on the error of his ways, we released him It took him less than 30 seconds to find Boris and pounce on him with a vengeance. So it was back in the slammer for Norman until we could figure out our next course of action. I didn't think a mean duck would taste very good so he was spared that fate. In the meantime, our beloved Campbell died and her death will remain a mystery. Norman had an airtight alibi and there was no sign of a predator.

Norman the Duck Gets a New Home




We had to make a decision soon about Norman's future. Turning him out in the wild did not seem fair since he couldn't fly and keeping him penned up surely would have brought about the wrath of some animal quackavists. So I turned to our good friends Jessica and Sunrise Fletcher. They have an idyllic pond on 40 acres at Lucky Mud with no competing ducks. Fortunately they agreed to adopt Norman and he took to their pond like...well..... like a duck takes to water. (sorry about that last line...I couldn't resist). Thus ends the saga of Norman the Duck.



Norman on the pond at Lucky Mud

Future duck tales will be about their preparation and consumption.

If It Looks Like A Duck

If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck but doesn't quack like a duck, then it's probably a Muscovy duck. Last summer when I first entertained the idea of raising ducks, I found that the most common breed available for meat was the white Pekin. This is what stores sell as Long Island Duckling. When you think of duck as being fatty or greasy, this is the duck in question. This is the duck of choice for commercial purposes because they gain weight rapidly and are ready for the market in 7 to 8 weeks. Just as we reject the Cornish Cross hen because it also was bred for rapid weight gain, we decided against the Pekin.

After consulting with one of my favorite chefs, we decided on the Muscovy. The Muscovy is the duck of choice in finer restaurants as it is prized for its lean meat and rich flavor. Of course, just like the chickens that we raise for meat this breed of duck also takes twice as long to reach market weight of about 8 pounds.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the Muscovy does not quack like a duck. These ducks make quiet hissing sounds or breathy squeaks. They have amazingly large feet and sharp claws which enable them to perch in trees or on rooftops. And they have a face you will never forget. Wart-like growths called caruncles surround their beaks and eyes. Most of the ducks we are familiar with are Mallard derivatives. We have two ducks that fill that bill(pun intended). One of them is Campbell, a gift from Sarah and Conner (not to be confused with Sarah Connor of The Terminator) of Diggin Roots Farm. Campbell has been raised with the chickens and has been a good egg layer until recently. Our most recent addition is Norman the Duck who may be a story unto himself one day.

We raised 16 ducks this year with the intention of butchering 13 of them. Three lucky ones will get the chance to breed. We butchered 6 of of them a few weeks ago with the help of three guests that wanted a hands-on farm experience. We are always happy to show guests how their food gets from farm to table. By unanimous agreement, the next 7 ducks will get processed by a professional. It was the plucking that did us all in. Even scalding and paraffin was of little help.

You can expect to see duck making an appearance on our menus in the coming year, most notably as duck confit in cassoulet.



3 day old Muscovy Duckling




16 week old Muscovy Ducks



Plucked Duck



Muscovies perched on the roof of the chicken coop




Khaki Campbell



Norman the Duck


What is your experience with duck? Have you raised them? Plucked them? Have you ever eaten Muscovy Duck?

Perfect French Toast

Whenever we go to a bed and breakfast inn, we have high expectations for breakfast. I don't necessarily expect something exotic and it certainly does not need to look like 10 chefs got together to assemble it. We like common dishes prepared uncommonly well. That is the criteria we use here at Crippen Creek when we plan meals for our guests.

We start with the best local ingredients possible and then prepare it with heart and soul. Whenever I am dissatisfied with a particular dish, it sets me on a search for a better technique or recipe. That was the case with French Toast. For months now I have been searching for the Perfect French Toast. My criteria for French Toast consists of thick slices of bread saturated in a sweet batter, a golden and slightly crispy exterior with a moist custard-like interior. The finished product should fall somewhere short of bread pudding.

Most recipes call for some sort of hearty French or Italian bread but I find their
crust to be too tough and the crumb too chewy. After all we are trying to come close to the bread pudding stage.

My internet search became a daunting task. Lacking the time and resources of America's Test Kitchen, I needed to become proficient at perusing a recipe and deciding whether a particular recipe might fit the bill. After dismissing hundreds of recipes, I bookmarked several that seemed to have potential.

There was one in particular that called to me and I finally got around to trying it out last weekend. Voila! The Perfect French Toast! I discovered the recipe on a blog called Breakfast At Tiffany's.

She calls it Coast Toast and near as I can tell, it comes from a restaurant in La Jolla, CA known as The Brocton Villa Restaurant.

I followed the recipe exactly except for the bread. Our friend Jon Peterson is fond of saying, "there's not a lot of traffic on the highway of the 'extra mile'." So we went the extra mile and made brioche, which turned out to be the absolutely perfect bread for French Toast. Here is the recipe for the French Toast and if enough readers post a request for the brioche recipe, I will do a future blog on that.


A Golden Loaf of Homemade Brioche









Brioche French Toast with a custard-like interior



But what about you? What qualities do you like in French Toast and do you have a favorite restaurant that makes a great French Toast?

How To Weigh A Pig

Don't be too hasty to dismiss this post as useless information. We never dreamed that we would need to know this but here we are needing to weigh our pigs and without a scale. It wasn't so bad when we first got them. Pick them up and guesstimate their weight at about 35 pounds.



35 lb. weaner pig

But what do you do when they get to this size?



First, you have to measure their girth.



Then you measure their length.



So here's the formula: girth x girth x length divided by 400 = the weight.
This particular pig had a girth of 46 inches and a length of 50 inches putting it's approximate weight at 265lbs. That's a good market weight and so at this very moment these dear creatures are on their way to hog heaven.



dressed and ready for the butcher for cutting and wrapping

That's all we will be raising and processing this year so if you missed out and are interested in half of a pig next year, let us know and we will put you on the list for next Spring. Till then you will have to settle for coming out to Crippen Creek for pork dinner.

Autumn Leaves

"The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold."
-Johnny Mercer




The first day of Autumn made a grand appearance yesterday. The sugar maples are turning.





The orb weavers have set up shop on the garden fence.



The pumpkins are ripening.



I think Squashzilla the 37 lb. Hubbard Squash is ready.



Early autumn is such a schizophrenic time of year. On a beautiful day like this, all the outdoor chores of mowing, woodstacking and weeding call but all of that great harvest that you worked so hard for all summer has to be put up. No wonder farmers raised such large families. Extra harvest hands are always welcome. We will make it worth your while.

Garden Update

Country living has presented us with many challenges and high on that list of challenges is gardening. When we are perusing the seed catalogs in January, it's easy to get carried away with visions of a garden that could feed a small town and end up ordering more seeds than we could ever hope to plant. As planting time draws near it takes a great deal of resolve to resist planting too early when it feels like Spring is here. Last year we boasted of growing prize winning eggplant, a feat that would be all but impossible without our hoophouse. Oh that wonderful hoophouse that was going to give us a head start on this year's garden, was destroyed by a January snowstorm. So we rebuilt it in early Spring only to have a sudden windstorm destroy it 3 days later. We are hoping that the 3rd time is a charm. We are pleased to report that the hoophouse is holding up and this year's garden looks like our best yet in spite of getting off to a late start. We have harvested a few tomatoes, over 100 pounds of potatoes and several batches of the best looking basil we have ever grown. The eggplant is prolific. The strawberries were sweet and plentiful. The garlic was dismal and we have not figured out why. The tomatillos were a bust. Who knew that you needed two plants? The broccoli raab came and went too quickly but escarole is coming on strong. This is definitely our best looking garden to date and Kitty has done it almost single-handedly.

Garden 2009




Escarole (Italian soul food)







Green Beans ready for the freezer









Ratatouille




Pesto Genovese





And how did your garden fare this year? Do you have any good tips on growing garlic?