what's cooking in my kitchen

I would like to caution you all right now. If you are on a diet, or trying to loose weight stop reading now.  But if your hungry keep reading!  You may gain weight just looking at the pictures...Unless you like to drool on your computer then feel free. Brwhahahaha
But on with the weight gain and drooling!!!
Trifles anyone? I just love a good trifle, and that said I have three I'm gonna share tonight.  Excited hu?!

 Here is number one. It's called Red White and Blueberry dessert. It's simply wonderful, oh and the easiest one to make too. (If you want to be fancy put it in a 9x13 pan and build a flag on top with the berries). I just threw it in the trifle bowl. I was in a hurry to get it done so I could eat it!!! hehehe
What's in it? Simple. 1t vanilla, 1 t almond extract, 2pkg cream cheese, 1/4 c sugar. Beat these together. In another bowl whip 2 C whipping cream. Fold into cream cheese mixture. 1 qt fresh strawberries cut into chunks, 1 qt blueberries. Layer in pan or bowl. Keep in fridge.

Here is number two. The second easiest to make. I just made it up as I went along in my "planning" today actually. We had our family dinner with the in-laws.That's why I love trifles you can do just about anything you want to make one. It doesn't have a name, I just called it a Surprise Trifle. Basically because I was the one who made it up as I went.
 What's in it? Simple. Make a chocolate cake. Let it cool, and the cut into chunks. 1 large pkg of instant chocolate pudding and make it ahead, 1 C whipping cream. Fold whipped cream into choc pudding. Cut up a bunch of Reese's Peanut Butter bars. Layer in a bowl. Keep in fridge.

Here is number three. This one was the most time consuming because of what's in it. It's a Lemon Strawberry Trifle. But just as wonderful as the first two. If your into that sort of thing.
What's in it? This one was a little more involved, like I said. I made a homemade Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake. Yummy. Cool and cut into chunks. I only used half of the cake for this trifle and the other half is frozen. Then there is a homemade Lemon Curd. When that is cooled you add 2 C whipped cream. Cut up strawberries. I used a lot because I was asked by one of my kiddos to put extra in there, so I did! Layer in a bowl.  Keep in fridge.

I for one think they look great. I'm not tooting my own horn here, I've made tons of different trifles the past few years and found they are great for a pot luck, family get together or what have you. My trifle bowl is actually the Pampered Chef one. I earned it free at one of my parties a few years ago, and I have gotten plenty of use from it too!!  As you can see!
Have a great night all!!

what's cooking in my kitchen

OK, so something simple and easy. But they are so goooooooood. This was just part of the meal we had the other night. You'll have to come back and see what the main course was.
These bad boys

Garlic knots. MMmmmmmmmmmmmmm so good. A friend of mine had these and I just had to ask how to make them. Here is what I did!!
Now here is how to make them.

 Make pizza dough. I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman's first cook book. I love it, makes great pizza crust.

 Pinch off a piece after it's risen.

 Roll it out into a snake. Eeeewww or long dough string.

Tie it in a knot. Put in a pan and let rise. Make them a small or big as you want. Have fun with it!

I think I may have let them rise a bit more then I should have. Lost track of time. Imagine! Bake 350-400 until golden brown on the bottom, and no longer doughy.
Now for the yummy part.

Melt some butter, add some fresh garlic, E.V.O.O, parsley (or basil I didn't have parsley). Brush the butter mixture on the warm rolls. Shred some Parmesan cheese and sprinkle on top. Use your own judgement on how much of each for the topping. Like I said, have fun and make it like you like! Just a nice easy bread recipe that tastes great. Don't forget to come back and see what the main course was!
Have a great night all!

maggie's pedicure

This was not what I was going to post today, but I thought it was interesting, so here you go!
Well today we were able to get Maggie's hooves trimmed. I have never seen it done before, so I wanted to be around when it happened. It's not like I "go to work" I live at where I work, and usually am home. But I had some errands to run and drop my boy off so he could have a sleep over with his best friend/cousin for his birthday. His cousins, not my boy. Well I was rushing around town to get everything done. Thankfully it was early enough this morning and the stores were not busy. Phew. Shopping in the early morning or late at night is the time to go. Although the store is more stocked in the am. Anyhow...
Back at the farm. Maggie came right in when I called her. She only came part way for my husband, so I came to his rescue and she came right in!! Haha. I like to tease him about that. Well she got led out and put into this contraption.

 Aren't you glad you don't have to go in one of these to get your pedicure?! I'm assuming. I've never had one before! Hahahaha
Then

Then these belts go around her and give her a hug. No it doesn't hurt the cow in any way. Maggie looks like shes giving me the harry hawk eye saying "I'm so embarrassed, and how dare I take her picture of her like this."
Then this

He uses a cutter of some sort and off come the extra hoof that needs to be trimmed. I'm glad I had the camera in front of my face so the flying hoof didn't hit me in the face, one piece hit my forehead though.
Then

The back. Their legs get locked into the metal with a chain. That way they can't kick.
That's it. Then they are let down, and put back out in the pasture. Safe for everyone. Only took about 5 minutes. Dandie didn't get hers done, she's not big enough, and her hooves are fine.
Now aren't you glad you know how a cow gets a pedicure? I am. I thought it was cool to watch how it was done.  Makes me want a pedicure now!!! ;-)
Have a great day all.

projects

Oh boy do I have some posts coming your way! I've been busy with lots of life!!!

Anyways, I'm excited about this

Why? It's a baby blanket. Nice dark sage green color.  The pattern is called Tile. ooooooooo

Obviously I've been working on it for a while, because it's big. Not quite done yet! But the reason I'm excited is because it's the first blanket I'm SELLING! whoo hoo  I was asked to make a baby blanket for someone, and I said yes. Gave them a price I would do it for and tada! They picked out the color and pattern, but I told them the ones that I could do. It's for a boy. Just kinda exciting for me. I don't know if it will lead to the sale of more but that would be fine too! Just had to share.
Have a great day all!

oooooooo lala

Raise your hand if you like to be pampered!! (Raising my hand).

 That said I'm not a girly girl. I don't mind getting dirty, and usually have hay chaff in my hair, or down in my clothing. I only wear a dress on Sunday to church, or some other dress up occasion, but with some grumbling. I do like to wear make up. And I love my flat iron for my hair. I mean love it!!! It does amazing things to keep my hair under control and not look like I was caught in a frizz storm. Only took me many years to figure out the secret of nice even straight hair, thanks to my SIL. I paint my toe nails in the summer. I wear earrings. Who doesn't like a little pampering once in a while?!
 Now what makes me say ooooooo lala??? I'll show ya.
It's this

What is it? You wonder? Looks funny.

It's homemade body scrub!!! It's called Brown Sugar Boy Scrub!! OMW!! It's amazing. Smells good too, but the best part is it makes your skin so soft!! I've used it and wanted to share it. These things are so expensive in the stores, so I looked it up. I like to save money, and use natural products! Well the one I chose was the Domino Sugar one. You can eat everything that's in it, I didn't, but you could. Better still I had everything in my cupboards to make it, and usually do! Bonus!
Here's the recipe if you like things like this. It's well worth the little amount of time it takes to mix it up. I mean workin all day on the farm, and you stink like poop, and sweat. Who wants to go to bed smelling like that? Not me. Just hop in the shower and tada!! Silky smooth skin ;-)

**Not sure if it would affect allergies and all that. It's got nuts in it, so use your own judgement there.**

Brown Sugar Body Scrub
1/2 C finely ground almonds
1/2 C finely ground oatmeal
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C almond oil (or olive oil)
1 t vanilla
Ground up almonds and oatmeal in a blender. Add rest. Mix well. Want it to be like a paste. Too dry add more wet. Too wet, add more dry.
Put in a jar and use in the shower!

Have a great night all!

goats, goats, goats

SO the sun is trying to come out and dry up all the clouds and fog in the air. My neighbor told me yesterday in between the down pours we got about 3-6 inches of rain the other night. That doesn't include all the rain we got over night last night, and thunder and lightening! WOW some amazing sights and sounds last night. Thankfully they didn't last all night. But most of yesterday was rain and thunder storms. Chores were lots of fun, in all the rain...ya.
On inspecting the gardens this morning after chores it's not all bad. The tomatoes and peppers took a bit of a beating. I need to stake them up. I covered some roots to some melons. Some onions need to be replanted and about 2 rows are under water. I didn't dare go in the garden just along the edge, I didn't want to sink in and do more damage. So, we shall see how it drys out, if it does with any more rain that might be coming. Part of me doesn't even want to look at the weather reports. I just don't know if I really want to know. But I'm hopeful...

Well onto more fun and exciting things. We went to a goat show. Say what?! I did say it was fun. One of my kiddos is just crazy about goats. She wants one sooooooooooo bad. We did have goats at one point, but gave them to my sister. They tend to not like wide open fields with nothing but hay. They don't do well with that. So for now we can't have goats. One of my sisters has goats and was showing one of them, so we went to check it out. At the time we were there they were not showing, maybe lunch break. We waited around for quite a while, and only saw some does showing. We had to leave before she showed because we had tons of things to get done on the farm. But she said it was late by the time she showed. She did well too!  Here are some pics!

 My sisters buck. He didn't like that she was walking away, and leaving him!

 Some beautiful does.

 Goat pile. I thought they were cute, and my girl liked them.

I love the color markings of this Alpine doe. Just a beauty!

Some kiddos saying goodbye to a sweet little doe. They liked her too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

gardening time

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OK I feel slightly better now. Not really. We planted our gardens the other day. It was beautiful out! Nice and sunny! Our little seedlings were doing so well. That night we had a light rain! Ah perfect. Then I look at the 10 day forecast and now I want to not have planted our gardens. Basically they are calling for rain, rain and more rain, oh and some thunder storms for the next 10 days. Fantastic! Now where is that sarcastic font? It's poring out there. I have a feeling one of our gardens will be a wash out. It's low enough and if this rain keeps up it'll drown the seeds. I'm concerned about the tomatoes. I have 30 plants! I really need them to do well, we want to save some seeds from them, and I need the tomatoes. I'm just praying that it really doesn't rain that much, and things will look better. I'm just not really wanting to look at the 10 day forecast again for a few days! I'm trying to look on the bright side of things. Here are some pics of the gardens.

 Ah the wonderful tomato! I love tomatoes!! I'm not one for going barefoot in the garden, or ever. I don't really care to have the dirt in my toes. My hands, that's another story. I love dirt under my fingernails and covered in warm dirt. During canning season my hands are usually stained from what I'm canning. Carrots and beets are the worst. I don't mind though. I know, I'm weird. I'm ok with that.

 More tomatoes. I have 8 pepper plants too.  I just really hope they are not green peppers. Yuck. The pic on the package was purple, so I'm going with that.  The rope is so I can keep the row straight. Drives my husband crazy if they aren't. I just laugh.

 My loves. Planting carrots. My boy every year gets his tractors and plows and plays in the garden with them. He's over there in the tomatoes. The hay field looks amazing. Too bad it's not ours to hay.

One of the kiddos took a picture when we were planting onions. I zoomed it and cropped it and just got our hands. I love this picture.

 Here is garden one. It's the one we started in, and over the years have gotten bigger. And now we have..

Garden number two! This one has never done amazing. We piled the manure on it over the winter to let it compost down, put more manure on it, and tilled it all in. The soil looked so different afterwards. So we are hoping that the manure works.The rototiller, corner of the horse fence, and bike add to the pic don't you think?!

Oh and with the wool, I was asked a couple time what we do with it. Currently nothing. I have a spinning wheel that my husband bought me, and yes I spin wool and love it, as do some of the kiddos, one gal in particular. But I'm hopeful to getting it washed, I could, but really don't want to. A friend lives down the road spins wool and has offered to help me with the washing of it, and maybe I'll take her up on it. I just haven't gotten around to it. When/if I do I'll let you know and snap some pics. I have worked some of the wool "in the grease" and it's beautiful!
 I have more posts of what I've been up too. So come on back! Have a great day all!!