Pumpkin Rolls

Yesterday was a good baking day. Here is the recipe for the Pumpkin Rolls I made. These are my husbands favorite. It is an old family recipe from his Grandma. His family always makes a pile of these at Christmas.

Pumpkin Roll

Filling:

1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese

2tbsp softened butter

1c. powdered sugar

1tbsp vanilla

Blend  together w/ mixer. Refrigerate while preparing dough

Dough:

3 eggs  

1 tsp vanilla

1c. sugar

2/3 c. pumpkin

3/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Beat together eggs & vanilla slowly. Add sugar & pumpkin. Sift flour, soda, & cinnamon together. Add to egg mixture. Mix thoroughly. Pour onto greased wax paper on greased cookie sheet. Bake 15 min. @ 375. While roll is baking prepare clean, smooth dish towel by sprinkling w/ powdered sugar. When roll is done turn onto powdered sugar towel & slowly peel off wax paper. Roll up in towel & let cool approx. 30 min. Unroll & spread filling all over & roll up again. Wrap in foil & refrigerate for 1 hour. Then freeze until ready to serve. Let set out 15 min. before serving. freeze unused portion

Nightie

I didn't get pics of the aprons I just made but I did take a pic of the nightie I made for my daughter. The fun part was, it cost me nothing. A friend had given me the piece of flannel, left over from a project she had done. The lace was given to me in a box of "project" odds & ends by my MIL. The daisy was leftover from another project. I didn't have a pattern but traced another nightie. I don't know how well it will show in the pic.But I think the best part was how happy my daughter was when I surprised her with it.

Snowy Blowy Day

It is a snowy, blowy , windy day here. It is snowing like mad and has been all morning. All of our tracks from this morning are already covered up. We've probably had 3 more inches today.

My husband comes home tomorrow. I am trying to get everything ready so the house is nice and clean and calm when he gets here. I have beans soaking to make chili for tomorrow. I have to actually make meals now that he will be home.  When it is just me and the kids I'm bad about cooking. We eat a lot of left-overs and soup. Today we're having mac n' cheese with left-over chicken. At least it's home made mac n' cheese and not from a box  Does that make it alright? And my kids love it, so I think I am safe.

It's hard to keep the house warm on days like this. Every time I open the door wind and snow blow in and make everything cold. I keep adding wood to the fire but it never seems to get any warmer. Maybe it's just me. I can live without the wind but I LOVE the snow. It is so beautiful. Everything looks fresh and clean. We've been thinking about buying cross country skis for everybody. We have a Rails to Trails path not far from our house and it's perfect for them. I have looked on e-bay and there are dozens for sale. I think we might try  to rent some to get the feel for it first.

I made matching mother/daughter aprons yesterday for a swap I am doing on the WellTellMe site. My daughter helped me choose the fabric and did part  of the sewing. My seamstress skills are nothing to write home about but we made them pretty with lots of lace and contrasting pockets. I wish I had thought to take a pic before I mailed them. Oh well. I am supposed to make another set for someone else. Maybe I will get pics of them.

It's time to get back to work and I think it's a good baking day. What sounds good?

Apron Giveaway

I did this once but it disappeared!  Lovin our Large Family is having an apron give away. Check it out at her blog. It's very pretty!

Visiting Daddy

My husband left on Tuesday for a business trip. He will not be home until this Wednesday. Do the math; that is 8 long days and nights without Daddy. So on Saturday when we had the chance to drive down to where Daddy was we jumped at it. We drove 4 hours through wind and snow and rain to spend Saturday afternoon and night with Daddy and turn around and drive 4 hours through wind and snow and rain to come home Sunday. That was 8 hours of driving for about 20 hours with Daddy. Was it worth it? You bet. Several of those hours the kids were asleep.

Our Vow Renewal

Last month we celebrated our 12th anniversary. Our original wedding wasn't much to write home about (we went to Reno) so we decided to do it up right this time and renew our vows. I thought I would share some of the pics.This is the  family (minus our oldest son who didn't make the ceremony).

This is me and the children ( notice the boys have matching boots )

The happy couple.The happy couple 12 yrs ago. My dress fit alot looser then.

Our beautiful cake made for us by one of the ladies of our church. (I had to change out of my dress...I couldn't breath)And last but not least, I can't resist showing off the beautiful flower girl dress I made for my daughter out $1 a yard fabric from Walmart. Can you say CHEAP?

It  was a very special day for us. I hope you enjoyed the pics!

JackRabbit Stew

My 11 yr old son and I made JackRabbit stew yesterday. We kind of made up the recipe as we went along. With the exception of a touch too much pepper it was pretty good. So we thought we would share:

Jack Rabbit Stew

1rabbit

1 potato (chopped)

1C chopped celery

1C chopped carrots

1/2 onion (chopped)

3C chicken broth

salt

pepper

1/2 tsp  paprika

1tsp worcestershire sauce

Chop up rabbit into small chunks. We used just the thighs. Put all ingredients into crock pot, stir. Cook on low for 6 hours. We used cornstarch to thicken the broth into a gravy-like consistency.  Yummy with fresh bread.

Washed white as snow

It is snowing and I am SO glad. I am always happy when it snows. I love the beauty. But this morning I have practical reasons to be thankful: the new snow is hiding our mess from butchering. We butchered a steer on Tuesday and our barnyard looked like the scene of a slasher film.  For some unknown reason, they dragged the steer about 60 feet from where they shot him and there is a blood trail 2 feet  wide and 60 feet long. Not to mention the 6ft  by 10 ft  spot where they bled him out. Gross. I thought I was going to have to look at that for weeks. Now it has all disappeared under clean, fresh snow. Kind of like our sins. I am always amazed when the Lord gives me a "visual" like that.

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Ps 51:7b

Post Script to Bad Days on the Farm

This afternoon, in between deep breathing, counting to 10 and declaring early recess, I came up with this list:

Top 3 Reasons to Homeschool

1. Your children are always with you

2. You are your childs main role model

3. Your childs attitude will reflect your own

Top 3 Reasons Not to Homeschool

See above.

Bad Days on the Farm

It's funny, last night and this morning I was turning over in my mind the post I was going to write this morning. It was going to be humorous and silly. About some of the aspects of farm life people don't think about much. But then my morning kind of fell apart and I'm going to write about that instead. In the scheme of things, if this is my worst day then I am truly blessed. But right in the middle of everything going wrong it's kind of hard to focus on that.

It is cold here. It was 4 degrees when I went out to feed. The ground is frozen solid and so is everything else. Including the outlet pipe on my washing machine. But I didn't know this until I stepped out the backdoor into a flooded mud room. So I pull out the mop and grab the big towels and start to soak it up. Of course the dogs and the baby want to help(translated: GET IN THE WAY) and I'm really not in the best mood now. The washer is still full of water so it weighs a million pounds as I'm trying to push it out of the way and get the water underneath. I pull on my boots and run outside to see what I can do. The outlet pipe has a big chunk of ice at the end so I start beating it with a wrench to clear it out.

As I am doing this my son informs me that the "puppy room" is flooding. The "puppy room" is so called because my husband raises Labs and that is where we keep our puppies when we have them. Right now, we have the 2 outside dogs in there because it is so cold. So I run out there to check and water is gurgling up from the drain in the floor and there is about 2 inches of water on the floor and more coming in. I admit, I said a bad word. I run back to the house and tell my son to move the dogs up to the outdoor kennels where at least they aren't in standing water and I go back to hitting the pipe with a wrench.

I have to admit right now I really dislike my husband. He is gone for a week on a business trip. He is staying in a hotel where nothing is frozen. He is eating food he doesn't have to cook off dishes he doesn't have to wash. He is conversing with other grown ups and he has no children or dogs with him. It's not fair. And it does seem like everything falls apart when he is gone.

So now I am sitting here with the back door open so I can HEAR if the wash water backs up. Giving my son advice on how to chop up and season the jack rabbit he and his dad shot. Sharing with all of you my morning. Trying to breath deeply and calmly and focus on getting back to our day. It's 12:37 and we haven't even started school.

Maybe tomorrow I will post the silly story about Gross Things on the Farm. Today was given over to Bad Days on the Farm. Maybe not bad. Maybe just Hard. Hard Days on the Farm? Messed Up Days on the Farm? 

Okay, now the dog is out running on the road. Days on the Farm. Anybody wanna buy a farm?

Snowplow Driver with a heart of Gold

This morning, as I was bringing in the milk from the barn, I could hear the snowplow coming. I heard it slow down, stop and then honk the airhorn. I looked, and there was the snowplow stopped in the road waiting for a bushy tailed tree squirrel to cross the road.  The snowplow just sat there while the little squirrel scampered across the snowy road and made it to safety on the otherside. Then the plow drove slowly past. I smiled all the way in to the house.

My Little Man

My little man (17mths) has been very busy this morning pulling ALL of the pots and pans out of the cupboard and matching up the lids. He likes to take wooden spoons and spatulas and "cook". So he was busy with this and I was busy with my chores when my daughter asked 'Is D. supposed to have oatmeal in his pots?" "Huh?" Apparently while I was "busy" and brother and sister were doing school, the Little Man helped himself to a scoop of oatmeal out of the bin we keep it in.(we buy rice, oatmeal, sugar, wheat, and flour in bulk & store it in big plastic bins). He had sprinkled his oatmeal into 2 or 3 pots and was busily stirring and mixing up a master piece. As I came to investigate his activity he finished stirring, plopped the lid on his pot. picked it up, clutched it to himself upside down and walked off,  trailing oatmeal all the way.  Oh well. That is what the vacuum is for I guess. And he was so happy .

The Snow Fort

We had our first homeschool lesson in engineering. We built a snow fort. And tested it's strength with a battle.

The snowfort under construction.The fort under seige.The battle is lost. And so is the fort.

Snow in the High Desert

We have had much snowfall in the last few weeks. I thought I would share some pics of the fun we have had in it.

This first pic is my family before we set out to snowshoe on a Rails to Trails path near our home.Yours truly before the hike.The trail is long and the snowshoers are weary.

A Blessing in Disguise

"It was a blessing in diguise."  "The Lord works in mysterious ways." How many times have we heard those words? Usually after we have been through something unpleasant. Have you ever stopped to think, though, about things that really were blessings in disguise? Usually it isn't until much later that we can see this. I thought of one of those instances this morning. A minor and shallow occurance to be sure, but at the time it sent my little world spinning.

I have always kept hens. To me there is something soothing in spending time with chickens. Just watching them peck and scratch is somehow therapeutic. My husband has often found me in the henhouse after we have had a "disagreement". So my hens are perilously close to being pets to me. The hens I keep have always been Bantams. I am a small person so I like small animals. Bantys, ponies, Jerseys, I find them less intimidating than their full size counterparts.  Being so small and consisting mostly of feathers, my little hens never layed through the winter. The eggs would trickle to a stop soon after freezing weather arrived. We would be stuck with pale, flavorless store eggs until spring. Enter my blessing in disguise:

Late last spring one of my husbands hunting dogs got into the yard, early one morning while everyone was still asleep. To make a long story not quite so long, there was a chicken massacre. I opened the curtains that morning to look out on small lifeless bodies strewn between the house and the barn. I was not happy. The few hens that were left were not happy. Egg production came to screetching halt. I really could not afford to replace the hens that I lost and was depressed by the whole experience. A week or so later a dear neighbor offered me several young pullets from her flock. They were a mix of Aracauna, Barred Rock, and Rhode Island Red, all full sized chickens but I was desperate. I gratefully accepted.  They have grown into beautiful hens but had not started laying before freezing weather hit. I figured we were stuck with store bought eggs until spring. And then 2 weeks ago my children came in with one egg. I thought, "Wow". The next day it was 2 eggs, and so on and so on, until now we are getting 6 eggs a day. One of the hens even lays green eggs! So now instead of a styrofoam carton of pale store eggs, I have a bowl full of fresh, tasty, green and brown eggs from my BIG hens. The moral of the story is: if the dog hadn't killed my hens, my neighbor would not have given me her full sized pullets, and I would not have fresh eggs in the dead of winter with a foot of snow on the ground. God is good. It was indeed a blessing in disguise.

The Diamond Ring

For many women the ultimate gift would be to receive a diamond ring (or earrings, or a bracelet, etc.) from their husband. My diamond is brown and white and weighs about 800lbs. She is a 4 year old Jersey cow named Moddy. Now for some background on my diamond.

When I was a little girl, maybe 6, my family went to the county fair. In the dairy barn was a little brown and white jersey calf.  Oh My! I fell in love. From that point on my hearts desire was to have my own brown and white Jersey. And from somewhere in my juvenile brain came the name "Moddy". As I grew my dream grew  with me. I took to writing stories about girls with calves named 'Moddy". Sometimes, in the story, the girl would find an abandoned calf (if only!) or a neighbor would give her a calf. I still have one of those stories put away somewhere. My parents tried once to fulfill my dream but finances were always an issue growing up and I'm not sure they really relished the thought of taking on an actual cow . We had horses and ponies and goats and chickens and rabbits. I think a cow may have been too much for them. Fast forward to adulthood.

I married. Started having children. We had horses and ponies and goats and chickens and rabbits. But no cow. My husband knew of my silly dream and at various times we had talked of getting a cow but circumstances always seemed to conspire against it. Until October 2005. A friend from church worked at a local dairy. Sometimes the dairy would cull a cow for one reason or another and sell them at a reasonable price. We put out the word that we were looking.  And one day we got the call. We hitched up the trailer and drove out to the dairy not really knowing what to expect. Would she be old ? Would she be ugly?(some Jersey's are not brown and white but more brown and black and I SO wanted her to be brown and white) Would she be mean? After all, I was going to have to milk this thing. Well, the dairyman took us into the barn and there she was. Young, and pretty, brown with white legs and a white belly and a few white spots. No black on her at all.  My dream cow!

Fast forward 2 years. I love my cow. She is sweet and (most days) easy to milk. She gave us a beautiful heifer calf last February and has raised 4 "foster" calves for us. Her milk is delicious and healthy and we get more than enough for us, her calf and to sell to friends. All through my childhood and young adulthood I fantasized about having a cow and everything to go with. Gallons of fresh milk, cream, making my own butter (I know, I have a weird fantasy life). Sometimes , especially when it is  less than 10 degrees outside, I question whether or not I REALLY want to milk my cow. But once I am out there and it is just Mod and me (and the turkeys and the geese and the annoying kitten) I enjoy the quiet and the simpleness and the time to talk with God.

So that is the story of my "diamond". How my husband made my dream come true and provided us with milk, cream and butter at the same time. Who could ask for a better man?