3 Things to Share With You

#1



It's been nine days since I've had a Dr. Pepper.

That's practically an eternity.

No. There is no one else in my life.

I'm still madly passionate about his 23 flavors, and I adore the Doctor more than ever, but we had to break up for a while.  Too many 44 ouncers at ball games leads to an unhealthy symbiotic marriage.  I don't intend for our relationship to end in divorce, we just desperately need a little time apart to find a healthy balance. Our meetings need to be less frequent in the future.    


Besides, I've been jogging again, and if  I'm going to torture myself by pounding the gravel in my Nike's then I don't want Dr. Pepper to undo all of my hard work.  Running must not be done in vain. I've lost five pounds by not looking the Doctor in the eye.

Like I said, this is only a temporary separation.  Don't freak out.  I'm still a Pepper.


#2



After a long absence, I have a really delicious sourdough starter going. It feels so good to be back in the sourdough saddle again. It's been so very long since I've partaken of its culinary delights.

I've tried a ton of sourdough starters over the years, but this one might be my favorite so far. People can be very particular about their starters. I wanted one that didn't involve adding any yeast in it.  It uses plain yogurt to get that Lactobacillus culture going.  I'm thrilled with what has been developing in my crock on the counter-top.  I'm not opposed to using yeast in the actual bread recipes when needed, but it sort of feels like cheating if you use the packaged yeast to get the starter going, instead of culturing "wild yeasts". Besides, it's like a little science experiment on the counter-top for my kids to watch.  I'm pretty protective of it though. I think I'll name my starter "The Precious". (If you've never seen Lord of the Rings, then that was totally lost on you.)

I used this recipe from Williams Sonoma: Classic Sourdough Starter


Then, completely by accident, I discovered a pretty tasty, no frills recipe for sour dough rolls when I needed to feed my starter but didn't have the time to make a long, involved recipe with the cup of starter I took out.  I just used it in THIS recipe, and threw the ingredients in my bread machine on the dough cycle.  After it came out, I divided it into a dozen rolls. I let them rise for 30-40 minutes and baked at 375 for about 15 minutes. Totally easy, and Wowzers! The family gobbled them up! It was a nice change from my usual dinner rolls.  Next up, Pizza dough.




#3


We unknowingly blew a breaker in the garage that runs one of our freezers, and we lost the end of our beef, and about 20 pounds of frozen green chilies.  We're just sick about it.  Especially because we just sold our last fattened heifer for the year, and it was butchered last week.  :(


And the chilies....they don't come into season until the fall.  I use them so much in my cooking for soups, Mexican food, burgers, quesadillas, and pots of beans.  Now I'll just have to make due with the grocery store ones.


Modern technology is the pits sometimes.

Now I'm craving a juicy burger topped with cheese, bacon, and strips of  roasted Hatch Green chilies...and an ice-cold Dr. Pepper on the rocks to wash it down.

That's typical. Alway's wanting what we don't have.




Despite these setbacks, and my recent Dr. Pepper drought, I'm determined to make it a Happy Monday!

Nell

Easy 4th of July T-shirt Tutorial

After searching for patriotic shirts for the girls, and coming up empty handed, I decided to make some on the cheap!

I picked up two navy blue tanks at Walmart for $3.47 each.

Then I went to the craft department and picked up a package of iron-on canvas patches for $1.17.

Next, I typed out the letters USA in my Microsoft Word program.

I used the Cooper Black font in size 150, but you could use whatever looks cute, and adjust the size to fit the shirt.

After cutting out the paper letters, I pinned them on the patch, and cut each one out.

I had my daughter try the shirt on and I placed the letters in a spot that looked nice.  Then I had her take it off, and I centered the letters with a ruler.  Afterward, I just ironed them on. No sewing necessary!

That's it. Easy stuff!  I made a 4 layer flower out of some old flag material I had, and secured it with a button.  Then I just pinned it on with a safety pin so it's removable for washing.  Besides, I may just have the girls wear the flowers in their hair.  That's the beauty of the whole thing... it's changeable so we have options.

 Ta-da!!!

This shirt was made for around $4.00 and will be perfect for parade watching, popsicle eating, and fireworks viewing!

Pigs and Plants

Yesterday, I brought the camera along when we cleaned pens.  Hank and Beulah are really packing on the piggie pounds! The family has grown so attached to them and their hilarious personalities.  Pigs are so amusing to raise!  

 Beulah is always posing for the camera. Hank is too busy chillaxin' in his daily mud bath to be bothered with photography.

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We bring them a little afternoon snack every day. They LOVE Nilla Wafers! (Who doesn't like Nilla's?)

They also come running for their daily rejuvenating bath.  Hank and Beulah get really frisky when they're wet. They run around the pen at full speed, shake the water off like dogs, and roll in the dirt. Then they go straight over to eat their dinner.

After feeding time, the kids had all-star baseball/softball practice.  The sky turned this crazy color, and within 10 minutes of snapping this pic with my iPhone, lightning was striking all around us and everyone was sprinting to their trucks.  That's one way to end a practice early! We actually got a nice rain last night, the second shower we've had this week.

And, miracle of miracles, my garden plants are starting to finally grow! Just last week, I was lamenting about how sad the garden looked, but a few showers from heaven have turned everything around!  In just 5 days, my squash went from having 3-4 teeny, tiny leaves, to this:

One of my garden boxes.

(Still not impressive, but I've never seen anything grow so quickly!) Rain is like a magic growth tonic. Maybe my garden will have a fighting chance after all!

FYI: I washed the truck on Monday morning with clear blue skies and 95 degree temps.  Within 3 hours, my truck was getting rained on. Go figure.  It's not the same as a conventional rain dance, but washing the truck seems to have the same effect. When you've gone as long as we have without rain, you'll take it however you can get it, and be grateful no matter what it does to your shiny truck!

Having a Thankful Thursday!

Nell

Grandma's Treats

Every grandmother is remembered by at least one food item frequently found at her house.  When I was a kid, my granny had a bottomless bowl full of plain M&M's on the coffee table at ALL times.  No matter how frequently my brother, cousins, and I raided it, the bowl would always runneth over with chocolaty goodness. She must have gone through a hundred bags of candy when we were around.  We'd  fill our pockets with chocolate for sustenance before heading out to play in the field behind the house and before catching tadpoles in the ditch. Good thing M&M's melt in your mouth, not in your... pockets.  My mom would never have allowed us to eat our weight in chocolate, but Granny always spoiled us rotten!


Yesterday, as we walked through the grocery store, I figured out one small thing that my children will remember finding at their grandma's house. Sweet, gorgeous Ranier Cherries.  When we walked by them in the produce department, my kids begged me to buy some for them.  But at $5.99 a pound, I said, "No Way, Jose'!"  Their response... "That's OK, we'll have some at Grandma's house!"  Yes, my mother-in-law stocks this little luxury fruit every year around the 4th of July. It just wouldn't feel like Independence Day without them sitting in a little bowl at Grandma's house.  Ranier Cherries are like the caviar and fine wine of the fruit world, and each one is to be savored for it's sweet, juicy goodness. My kids know that Ranier's aren't just any old cherries, they must be eaten slowly to get the most flavor out of every plump little fruit. When they're gone, they're gone, and it will be a whole year before we taste their deliciousness again. 

 Photo: Gilbert W. Arias/Seattle Post-Intelligencer / SL

The first time my oldest child ate a Ranier cherry, it was purely by accident.  He was just a little thing, and he grabbed a handful of cherries with his chubby little fist at Grandma's house while I wasn't looking. By the time I figured out that he had a cherry in his mouth, he had swallowed the whole darn thing, pit and all! Being a nervous new mom, I was sure he was going to end up with some sort of blockage from the seed that required a trip to the ER.  I didn't rest easy until the cherry pit ended up in his diaper the next day.  I wised up a lot by the time child number two and three came along.  I watched them like a hawk around the cherry bowl, and pitted everything before it went into their little mouths.

I can most assuredly say that with every one of my kids, when it came to Ranier Cherries, it was love at first bite.

Thank heaven for grandmas who splurge a little so their grand-kids can experience a bowl full of the finer things in life.

A Chore That I Hate Worse Than Folding Socks, And Other Stuff.

Today I thoroughly cleaned out the chicken coop mansion, and I've come to realize that I've finally found a job I hate more than laundry.  Blech. 

Afterward, I weeded the garden for a while. Right now, all of my vegetables are in a holding pattern.  Let's be honest here....they look rather smallish.  They survived the frost of Memorial day, and have endured the hot, dry winds of June without perishing.  They aren't growing much, though.  When the monsoon rains start falling, then we'll be in the vegetable business. Summer rains will make the garden really take off.  Until the moisture gets here, I'm just trying to keep things alive with the hose.  

So all of you bloggers with lush, bountiful gardens overflowing with the fruits of the earth should just keep your green stinkin' pictures to yourself! (Not really. I was just lashing out with envy. I'm sorry.) My green bean plants have two freakin' leaves right now.  My giant pumpkin plants have a whopping four. At this moment, during this dry and barren season, one thing comes to mind, and it's a line from the good ole'  FFA creed:

" for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny."

That's right, I feel the pain!!! I'm in the hours of discouragement.

In other news:

This evening, my baby and I went over to the pasture to observe cows for signs of being in heat.  

 It was a gorgeous evening to sit in the grass and watch the cows. For the first time in a while,  the clouds started to roll in.  It even smelled like rain.  Our monsoon season is trying to get here, and the first few weeks usually bring clouds, dry lightning, and wind, but very little rain.  Once they get rolling though, we get a good storm nearly every day.

My girl and I found a lovely spot to sit and watch from a distance, but within minutes, curiosity began to take over the ladies.

Before we knew it, we were surrounded. Since we synchronized the cows, the vast majority of them were coming into heat this evening.  They'll be artificially inseminated first thing tomorrow morning.

The kids call this calf "Big Shot".  He's currently getting double milk from both his heifer mom, and a cow who lost her calf this year.  Lucky fella!  He's a huge calf, but so very gentle.  He ALWAYS comes up to say hello.

We left the pasture, and headed west just in time to see the most brilliant pink Arizona sunset. I wish I would have pulled off the road to preserve its beauty in a picture.  Thankfully, I live in a place where EVERY day the sunset is a postcard waiting to be captured.

Gearing up for another busy weekend,

Nell

On the Home Front:

Happy Monday, lovely readers! 

Blogging has been scarce around here because last week was insanely busy.  It was so hectic that my husband and I had the "talk"...the one where we re-evaluate our activities and threaten to quit everything so we can just raise cattle in the quiet countryside, sipping iced tea on the porch in our rocking chairs as the sun goes down.

Since we have a good 25-30 years before retirement age, and three active kids, I just don't see that happening anytime soon.  The good news is, we got through the madness unscathed.  Here's the run-down of our week.

On the Cow Front:

Last week, we moved cows and ran them through the chute to start the breeding process.  We artificially inseminate our ladies around here, and it involves a three step process over a week and a half.  

Our nine year old daughter was the photographer that day, and subsequently, we have 23 photos of extreme close-ups to the rear-end region of various cows, and not much else. LOL!

 OK, I think you get the point.

Moving on now....

On the baseball front:

Last week, our boy had a week-long baseball clinic. On top of this, our three children had a combined total of NINE baseball games for a grand total of 60 whopping hours spent on the baseball field!!!

When I look at this picture, it feels like my boy has grown up over night. I remember when he was still in diapers dragging a plastic bat around the house, and breaking things by throwing himself pop-flys in the living room. This year he was drafted up to majors. Although he was the youngest on his team, he earned his starting position on the in-field, playing first, third, and pitcher.  He also made the all-star team.

Our oldest daughter played her last two regular season games last week.  She transferred over from baseball to fast-pitch softball this year.  

Even though it was her first year playing softball, she pitched and played short-stop, also earning a position on the all-star team!  It took us a while to get used to the world of  girl's softball. The constant chanting in the dug-out, girly socks, and funky rules made this season a hoot to watch. Girls are so, so very different from boys!

It was also the last week of Tee-ball. My husband coached our baby's team this year, and everyone was hitting well without even needing the tee. Way to go, coach!

Our baby was such an intense player! Just look at her form!

We ended the season with a pizza party and prizes on Thursday night.

Bottom line: Regular season is now over, and all-star practice begins tonight.

On the church front:

Our girls had Vacation Bible School last week, and my nine year old got top honors, winning a Bible, and ribbons for saying the most verses. 

On the 4-H front:

We taught the girls to make pajama pants in our beginning sewing class on Friday.  They were so easy to make, and very comfortable!

We also had our annual 4-H Barn Dance and Silent Auction on Friday night. It was the most fun I've had in quite a while! There was a live band, and people from ages 2 to 92 were out dancing the night away. Our son had a baseball game so he couldn't make it. Bummer for him!  My husband twirled me around the dance floor all evening, and our girls danced with some handsome young gentlemen. 

Cute  little phone pic!

 There's nothing quite like a good old- fashioned barn dance!

We rounded the Father's Day weekend off with church, lunch and a movie at the theater. It was a great way to end a hectic week!

Dreaming of nap-time,

Nell

 P.S.- Thanks for all of the sympathy and allergy medicine tips.  I'll be visiting my health food store this week for some local remedies. I'm hoping that these allergies will go away completely when the wind stops blowing and we get a good rain. There's just so much junk in the air right now. Thankfully, our rainy season is just around the corner. 

A Pity Party for One

There is a nano-second just before you sneeze when your head contorts involuntarily and looks to the heavens, your mouth opens into an awkward angle, your brow furrows, and your eyes begin to water.  You totally look like a dork. Perhaps you even try to look towards the light to bring forth that sneeze that just won't come.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

Well, I've been in that pre-sneeze mode for 6 full days now.

Six days!!!


Six days of walking around looking like I'm in extreme facial pain.
Six days of itchy, watery, red eyes.
Six days of little microscopic fairies tickling my nose with teeny, tiny little feathers.
Six days of feeling like I've inhaled pepper.
Six days of people asking me if I'm alright because it looks like I've been mourning the loss of a dead pet.

I've had it with this junk!

My allergy medicine is powerless to stop this evil sneezing madness.

It's Chinese torture to feel like you have to sneeze all week.  Absolute Chinese Torture.

(Are the Chinese still known for their superior torture techniques? I'm not up on the latest.)

Anyway, I am in agony.

If it were socially acceptable to twist up two pieces of Kleenex and stick them up my nostrils, I would be the first to sport the new fashion.

If I could put Cocoa Puffs up my nose to stop the madness, I would.

It's sheer misery.

Feeling a bit dramatic today, Nell? Why yes I am.


I'm off to buy stock in Kleenex,

ACHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!