April 2021

An ongoing project these first few months of 2021 has been the installation of a chicken coop in our back garden. It is still a bit too cool to receive our small flock of four Polish breed hens and we expect them in a few weeks as the weather warms up.

Waiting for warmer weather to welcome the birds has given me the space to do more research, learning things to consider in the layout and design. I’m going down a rabbit hole into chicken husbandry.

I’ve expanded the design of the run and am currently installing removable fencing to allow more free-ranging outside of the run while keeping them contained and safe.

Contractors started last week, digging out the soil under the coop and the run so they can install layers of gravel and sand separated by hardware cloth to keep the area clean, well-drained, and the predators out.

We can’t have a discussion about the birds without the bees.

Jeff and I took a full-day, hands-on beekeeping class with The Beecharmers in Davis.

Our sites were set to keep bees in 2007 with Jeff’s father on a spare lot adjacent to his home in South Napa. Unfortunately, his father passed away that summer as we were planning and learning about beekeeping.

Last month we hosted Nick Kovaleski and other friends on the back patio, sharing wine. Nick is a beekeeper on the peninsula, south of San Francisco, and we revived the idea of keeping honeybees.

Our back garden space is pretty tight. We want to get all our questions answered and “bee” good neighbors!

#ILoveMyWife Podcast

Stay tuned!

Jeff and I had the pleasure of hosting Kelli and Anne for a virtual wine tasting a few months ago. Kelli is a successful travel and marketing expert, and Anne is a successful singer and songwriter. Together they have a podcast titled #ilovemywife.

Yesterday, we joined them in their virtual studio to chat about wine, food, travel, and music. There was no shortage of laughs. Not surprisingly, Jeff’s language will either give the episode the explicit content rating or they will be giving their bleep button a workout.

It airs this Thursday, April 29th, across all podcast streaming platforms. Check them out on Instagram @ilovemywife.

Incredibly easy to prepare, chicken liver mousse is rich and delicious as a first course or a snack with a glass of wine. I’m thinking rosé, but our red blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon would work equally well.

The high ratio of butter to chicken livers makes this mousse light, silky, and creamy. The hefty addition of bourbon gives sweet spice notes from the heavily charred American oak and makes for a heady finish.

I’d like to hear your comments if you make this recipe.