Springtime!!
How happy can a person be simply because the sun is shining and the temperatures are rising slowly but steadily to a lovely temperature? In fact; it was quite warm today and in the garden there was hardly any wind, so it was almost too warm to sit. Well… not really but I did say almost, right?
Initially I had planned to make blinis today but then since it was such a lovely day I figured I would rather spend the day outdoors then indoors, so instead I made a lovely salad with pinenuts, rocket and gorgonzola. Just the thing you need for a spring day.
Now…. don’t you think those little baby chicks above look absolutely adorable? About three years ago I had a photoshoot with babychicks very close to where I live and the lady who runs the chickenfarm Sabrahof send me an email a week ago that she had more babies in and if I wanted to come and have a look and take some photos again. These are used for stockphotography but it is so much fun to shoot these little darlings. Don’t you think they behave rather well (apart from the pooping they keep doing on my backgrounds…tsss… chickens!)?
And in case you were wondering; these are not meant for consumption. They are ooo, a breed I keep forgetting… and are mainly being held as pets by people who like to have one or two chickens. I will show you the grown up version in a bit as I think they are quite good looking for a chicken… 
I only know the Dutch name which is Sabelpoot… They are small and – as mentioned – very pretty. The little babies at the top are only two weeks old, the one you see all the one at the bottom of the post is three months old. They do grow rather fast!
In addition to these little ones they also have one of the largest chicken breeds which is a Brahma chicken. I really know nothing about chickens so don’t shoot me if it is NOT the biggest chicken race. I just thought it was. It’s really just a regular house these people live in but they have their shed completely filled with chicken and an outside area where a few of them walk around. But the majority is bred to be sold to other people who want to have a chicken.
But that was tuesday, also a lovely day, but today was really the highlight in terms of temperature. It was so warm in fact that I ended up cutting all the bushes in the garden. Last year, when we were completely cutting down most of the (overgrown) garden fence there was a bird with egg in the nest and ofcourse I could not possibly disturb them. So we sort of cut around the bird to leave enough foliage so they would feel safe, but that looked entirely ridiculous in the garden. So I finally got rid of the remaining part of that! It will grow back soon enough. I can tell that all the forget-me-nots are eager to get up and flowering; they are growing fast in this kind of weather. If you ever want a very cheap plant that will come back every year then choose forget-me-nots. I once bought a 1 euro pot of them and well, they are totally everywhere now. It only flowers for a year but then seeds abundantly. I don’t mind that they are everywhere as they are very easy to remove and they will come back the next year, no matter what you do, so couldn’t be easier. And in a few weeks time I will have a see of lovely light blue forget-me-nots everywhere. I am already looking forward to that!
Now on to my salad; as I said I should have made blinis but felt more like a salad in the end. It’s really a throw-whatever-you-have-together salad, but if you want to know what is in it here are the ingredients:
rocket or arugula
carrots, cucumber or any other veg you have left, slice thinly
cherry tomatoes
pinenuts
gorgonzola
Toss it all together and finish with a dressing of your choice. I used something resembling thousand island dressing. Lovely taste! I wanted to add bits of apple in there too as I think that would work really well in this salad, but I ended up forgetting to put it in and then eating the apple as it is. You gotta have your vitamins right? It’s a crazy week in terms of not eating home at all almost. Tonight I will be having dinner with a friend, tomorrow we’re having our cooking club Kort Lontje, then on saturday it is cooking course and then out for dinner again with friends and then finally sunday we will be home and possibly cooking too.
Salad
From left;Brahma chicken, sabelpoot 3 months and below little brahma chicks
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
I so much agree with you about the weather… I wasn’t aware of how fed up I was of the lousy weather we’ve had in Spain this winter… This year I was on the verge of hibernating like a groundhog!
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WOW! The baby chicks look really CUTE. Your pictures are always so fantastic. The salad looks so delicious and simple.
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Oooh! Cute little chickies! I’m happy to be reading on many blogs that Spring has arrived on the other side of the world…your salad is a great start to a new season!
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I just love the furry legs and the magnificent feathers on those chickens… how could you eat them???
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Aaawwww, those chicks are so cute! What a delightful salad!
Cheers,
Rosa
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I love the photos! Lovely salad and cute chicks and chickens.
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I love your fresh and delicious looking salad! And those chiks really are the cutest things! Their feet look too big for their bodies in the first picture.
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lOVELY PICS AND AWESOME PRESENTATION!!!EVERYTHING IS SOOO COLORFUL!
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Gorgeous little chicks, can’t wait to wake up my kids to show them. I love the pine nuts in the salad……can never add enough crunch to a fresh salad!
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Those chicks are gorgeous…..absolutely so!
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Happy Happy Spring! You are breathing fresh air into my otherwise cold morning in Edmonton Alberta Canada through your words and images. Although, it was beautiful spring weather last week… it snowed on Wednesday and Mother Nature is busying herself with upsetting the balance of Nature in our corner of the world for a day or two. BUT, Vanja and I are headed to London later today, and hopefully we will hit warmer air there… thought, rain, I know. And you must have your share of that right now, too.
So, Spring has Sprung… and beautifully here.
Valerie
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Ohmagawd so freaking cute!! Those chicks have the power to melt hearts, I swear…!
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Ooooo so very, very cute the little chicks!!
We had a salad yesterday, with honey-mustard dressing!
Yes, the weather is coming for nice salades.
Love every picture.
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Happy happy Spring!! Beautiful pictures, Simone!!
Your salad sings to me!! Yummm,…
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Well this takes the cake for CUTEST post ever, the yummy salad is just a bonus!!
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Delicious looking salad. You are right, perfect for a spring day! Those chicks are adorable – and the adults are beautiful.
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so gorgeous! I remember having little chicks in year two they were so soft, yet you picked them up and you felt all their tiny lil’ bony bodies! Mmmm…even after a very large breakfast that salad looks delish.
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Springtime is indeed cause for celebration! I love the pictures of the little chicks! In the Philippines we used to have kids parties and the giveaways would always be little chicks – they were so cute but now that I think about it – how cruel to give kids that don’t know how to take care of little animals a helpless chick! Oh but enough of that – let’s talk about the salad! It looks delicious – I love the combination of gorgonzola and pinenuts!
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The chicks are absolutely adorable and they are screaming spring! That must’ve been so much fun! And this salad is perfect and so inspirational as husband has declared that Monday starts his diet. For a long time. So Jamie needs to start whipping up diet food. Thanks, Simone, for the inspiration!
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Ooh, I just love little baby chickens. They are so stinking cute!
The salad looks yummy too!
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My parents used to buy me chicks every Easter and I loved them. Unfortunately most of them did long before they became chickens. They are so cute though…
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Spring is finally here and your lush salad is the perfect way to usher it in.
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oh, the cuteness of it all. pictures like these are what give me pause when i’m about to bite into my fried chicken…
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Happy Spring! So glad it’s finally here (although now it’s rainy and gray). The salad looks so pretty: love the cherry tomatoes.
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Such cute chickens! A pity they have to grow into hens.
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I love chicks! That is one thing I miss about not being on a farm.
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Woman, you’re making me drool. Salads are just what I need at this time of the year — when the dark days have almost past and the hope of fresh summer produce loom large. Great chick shots too! You’re just about ready for Easter
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These chickens are so cute and good looking… don’t mind to keep for pets..
Hope you enjoy the warm weather there right now as all of us here are struggling to cope with the heat, the hottest of the year is April which is coming soon like tomorrow :-<
Anyway, I like your salad and the photos, as usual
Sawadee from Bangkok,
Kris
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OMG, wayy those chickadees are way to cute and the photos of them are awesome. Love your light and fresh spring time salad too. Just glad there’s no chicken in this particular one lol
Anyhoo..I was hoping you took part in this month’s DB challenge, but any post by you is always a feast for the eyes and mind
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They are sooooo cute!! I want them home! At least for Easter…
And the salad, yum. What a great combination, gorgonzola and pine nuts! This is such a lovely post full of spring. It’s actually pretty ugly weather in London at the moment but I hope the weekend will be sunny.
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I hope you have a wonderful Easter with some gorgeous spring weather! Lovely photos!
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