A testament to wisdom of wild creatures

A number of years ago, I recounted in this column an amazing happening I experienced shortly after moving to Sandpoint from the Coeur d’Alene area. It’s such a lovely story and the winter is so similar to the one we endured a few years back, I wanted to share it again. Coincidentally, it is followed by the same recipes I offered back then. Enjoy!

Herewith, “Memories of duck eggs and strange bedfellows:”

When I moved here from the Cd’A area in 1980, I bought a great log home on Smith Creek Road off Wrenco Loop. The five-acre property was exactly one mile from Wrenco and boasted a substantial outbuilding which had sheltered the original owners, Ed and Sally Fugle, while they built their house by hand with their own sawmill and on-site trees. I turned the outbuilding into a chicken house and with the gift of five chickens, began my sojourn as a landowner, crop-grower and wood-choppin’ Earth Mother.

Later, I received a lovely white mama Muscovy-type duck from a neighbor. She followed me everywhere and the chickens wouldn’t have anything to do with her, so she bedded and nested on the front porch, laying beautiful big eggs, which I liked better than the chicken eggs.

One winter in the early ‘80s, we had a really deep snowfall coupled with frigid sub-zero weather. Worried about Lucky-Duck, I made an ”igloo” of hay bales in a small fenced enclosure. It was two bales high and three bales wide, the “floor” covered with a canvas topped by a thick bed of straw. At one end was a cozy nest of fleece in a wooden crate. I covered the whole thing with a heavy canvas tarp and propped a heat lamp inside, joined to my house by a heavy 50-foot electrical cord. A foot-wide space between the bales made a door of sorts that Lucky could exit into the tiny fenced “yard” on sunny days.

She thrived nicely and laid her wonderful eggs for me daily. One icy morning I looked out the window and saw Lucky waddle out into her yard accompanied by a huge raven! They were of a size – and walked shoulder-to-shoulder – white and black – like the best of companions. The raven flew off and Lucky went back inside. Fearing that the raven had come to steal her eggs, I went out to check, and there was her daily big, bluish egg, waiting for me. OK, I figured the raven was just trying to keep warm.

Apparently he (or she) was, because at dusk, he flew back, croaking his arrival, and Lucky went out to meet him! Again, side by side, they retired to their warm nest. The raven stayed through the entire winter, their routine of parting and meeting taking place daily. I never saw his final departure. Lucky took the desertion with ducky aplomb, and the raven flew often over the property throughout the summer but never came back for any “visits” with his unlikely pal that I know of. (He did acknowledge my friendly waves, however, with a dip of wings and a throaty croak).

That incredible cold winter served to keep my heart warm with love for our wonderful animal companions. Wild or domesticated, they teach us the “right way” to live and constantly amaze us with their intelligence.

•••

In honor of Lucky (and Raven), I’m offering a couple of recipes featuring eggs. You’re welcome to use chicken eggs, of course, but the heavier albumen in duck eggs works to make lighter cakes and better meringues – so if you have fortunate access to any, use them especially for that.

Sweet Potato Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup pure cane sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups sweet potatoes (3/4 pound), cooked, cooled and mashed well

1 1/2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini (3/4 pound)

1/2 Tbs. crumbled dried tarragon or sweet marjoram (NOT oregano)!

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 2 muffin tins or line with paper muffin cups. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder/soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir sweet potatoes, zucchini, tarragon and cinnamon into the oil and egg mixture. Add the flour mixture and stir until blended. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes.

Warm Macaroni Salad

(Six servings)

1 pkg. medium macaroni or shells, rotini, etc.

½ cup mayonnaise

4 tablespoons cider OR white wine vinegar

3 green onions, finely chopped w/tops

1 medium-size sweet pickle, minced

1 cup thin-sliced celery

4 tablespoons chopped fresh fennel fronds

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets, not over an inch wide, steamed, drained

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, halved, quartered, chopped while still warm

While eggs cook (about 15 minutes) and broccoli steams, combine mayo, 2 tablespoons vinegar, green onions, sweet pickle, and 3 tablespoons of the fennel in a small bowl, whisking to blend; season with salt and pepper. Combine remaining vinegar, 1 tablespoon fennel and the half-teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl; mix in broccoli. Let stand while cooking macaroni of choice. Drain well, place in large bowl. Add eggs, celery, and drained broccoli combination. Mix in dressing, season with salt and pepper. Serve warm with your entrée of choice

Tip: To peel warm cooked eggs, put them in a pan covered with warm water. Crack underwater and carefully peel; place on a tea-towel to pat dry before chopping (damp eggs stick to paper towels).

Cover leftover salad loosely and chill for serving cold at next day’s lunch. By the way, duck eggs do take longer to cook than chicken eggs. Keep this in mind when hard-cooking!

(Editor’s note: For many years, Valle Novak has written gardening and cooking columns for the Daily Bee. “Weekend Gardener” and “Country Chef” became renowned for their humor, information and common sense advice on how to do everything from planting to cooking. While she recently retired, she has shared a number of columns to delight her many fans. This is one such column.)