Farm Weekend: Fry Jack and Chicken Surgery

While the rest of the country is getting pounded with cold weather, here in the PNW we are basking in a very early Spring! 55 degrees, sunshine and everything is popping up in the garden. Our hens are laying much faster…today was our second three egg day! One dark brown, one light brown and a very pretty pale blue. We are so curious what color Mary (our youngest, not yet laying) will add to the collection.

This weekend we made another batch of fry jack. Wow, this Belize breakfast is going to be added to our normal weekend rotation of special feasts. The goal for this batch was to taste our honey. We brought back 3 different types of honey from Belize, and added one from a past trip to Grenada to round out the Caribbean taste test. Each one was so unique! Not at all like what you find in a traditional American grocery store. And all really good. The fry jack was beyond amazing.

How could we top that morning! Surgery!

This poor adopted flock of chickens has had it’s share of challenges. I keep trying to tell Matt that raising chickens is not usually this challenging. They were just not well taken care of at their past home and we are dealing with the consequences. This time around it was our head hen, Helen. We noticed a lump on the side of her toe, and did the obvious: Google search. We came to two conclusions: it was bumblefoot (worst case) or just an infection (possibly better). Either way, it needed to be taken out. I will spare you the details, but the rest of our Sunday involved watching YouTube videos of chicken foot surgery, sanitizing a bunch of tools, and team Frugé getting the job done. Matt was the official doctor while I was on patient holding duty. Good thing…I nearly passed out mid-surgery. Lukily I knew it was coming and lay on the floor to recover before it getting bad.

I am happy to report that Helen is back with her flock, looking happy as always, and cleanly re-bandaged with clean dressings as of this afternoon. She has even laid an egg! What a trooper.

It was a long, exhausting day, but we feel really good about how we are caring for our chickens. It has been quite the learning curve, and we have had to really test our comfort zones, but in the end it is all worth it.

Those 3 eggs we collected today were like thank you prizes.

Tales from Belize: B’s Deli

Our first drive through San Pedro was in the back of a taxi. We worked our way through the maze of one way streets, past the main round about and proceeded north out of town. There were many things to take in, but one detail stuck out in my memory: a little red food stand that was upgrading it’s front waiting area with fresh, white gravel. And then I forgot about it.

A few days later, Matt and I were on a quest for fry jack.  If anything sums up our trip it is the discovery of this delectable food: Cheap, delicious, filling and uniquely flavored to Belize (at least in my mind). What is it, you ask? Picture a cross between Indian fry bread and an elephant ear. Sometimes plain (dipped in honey or sugar) and sometimes stuffed, with exciting combinations like egg and ham or beans with chicken. Sometimes the stuffed jacks are filled then fried, other times just folded over the filling after the dough is golden brown. All are good.

We had sampled fry jack at other places but were in search of the San Pedro version. We were walking along and saw a small red food stand with a handwritten butcher paper sign indicating that our desired breakfast was made fresh inside. B’s Deli. We stepped up, ordered one, and had a seat. Only after we were sitting there playing peek-a-boo with an adorable 2 year old did we realize this was the same place that had only that week added the gravel floor.

The fry jack did not disappoint. Fluffy and golden and stuffed with chicken and beans. What a breakfast. When we asked how much, $2.50 came as a surprise…Belize dollars. $1.25 for that delicious plate of fried fresh goodness. We were coming back.

The next day we brought mom and dad. Four fry jacks all around (this time two of ham and egg and two of chicken), more peek-a-boo and full tummies afterwards.

Now the next morning was our final day on Ambergis, so of course we had to make one last trip. You can never have too many fry jacks! We walked up and the woman at the counter was happy to see her repeat customers. We told her that her fry jack was THE best and she asked us if we wanted the secret. She wrote down her recipe and invited us inside to learn how to make them.

We found space in the back of her tiny deli…the whole building was not more than 8×12, and learned the secret to her golden puffy dough. It was only then that we learned how lucky out timing was to eat her fry jack…she had only been open 5 days!

If your adventures take you to San Pedro on Ambergis Caye, go visit B’s Deli. It is located on the North side of town, across the street from a bicycle shop almost at the bridge. Look for a red building with white gravel. The bubbly woman cooking there is great to talk to, her adorable “hurricane” daughter will bring a smile to your face, and the fry jack is delicious. I cannot wait to have another.