Happy 2013!!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

Boy, this new year has already started with a bang.  Many things have been going on around the farm.  Changes are good, right?  I'm going to cover everything, but will probably end up being in several different posts.  I'm going to start with Christmas Eve.

We enjoyed 2 Christmas celebrations with our families this year.  On Christmas Eve, my kids and grand kids came down to spend the night and celebrate.  This is a new tradition my girls decided they wanted to start this year.  We are kinda going back to the way our family used to celebrate Christmas when my kids were small.  And then the next weekend, Bill's kids and their families came down for our 2nd Christmas celebration.  (later post).

This is my living room prior to the arrival of the kids.  I promise, you don't want to see it after the invasion.  You can see Miss Palyn resting in one of her favorite spots.

You gotta have pictures of kids
playing at Christmas time.

I asked the girls what they wanted me to fix for dinner that night (being used to having hot ham sandwiches, potato salad, and baked beans), I knew this is what they would want.  Oh no, not my girls, they wanted my chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and ball beans (English peas).  Yes, in our house we refer to English Peas as ball beans.  So this is what we had, but I also threw in a platter of Chicken Fried Back Strap for the son-in-laws.  As for the dessert, we didn't have anything other than all of the goodies (will post about later) I made the day before while I was stuck here without a car (Bill's truck was in the shop) while he went down to Laredo with son Trent, and grandson Patrick deer hunting (will post later).  This was a last minute trip, so I stayed here and cooked.

Here I am mashing my famous mashed potatoes.  I say famous because this is one thing that my family and Bill's all enjoy.  They are very basic.  I just use Yukon Gold Potatoes, lots of butter (or margarine if that's all I have) and some Pet milk.  This combination just seems to make them so creamy and good.  I don't think there were any left.  I think everyone enjoyed their Christmas Eve dinner.  Total there were 9 of us here plus the GrandDog Piper, Libby and Palyn.

But WAIT!!!!  Let me tell you.  While I was sitting at the table fixing to get up and start clearing away the dishes, I was told by my daughter Amy that I couldn't get up until I see what was in my stocking.  I'm thinking what is in my stocking? NO IDEA!!!  So they went and got it for me to see.  Inside was this picture of Piper (Amy and Aaron's chocolate lab) and a small lime.  

This is my Grand Dog Piper with a very interesting sign around her neck.  If you can't read it, it says, "Only Child, Expiring July 2013".  In other words, Amy is pregnant!!!!  I'm gonna be grandma again!!!  I was so happy.  They had been trying for quite awhile.  I am so happy for both Amy and Aaron.  Oh yeah, the lime.  That was the size of the baby at that time.  Such a cute idea!!!!!!  

Okay, so after the excitement calmed down, we got the kitchen cleaned and the kids ready for bed to await Santa's arrival, Mandy got the french toast ready to go in the fridge to soak up it's goodness for breakfast the next morning, and the guys played a few hands of Cribbage.

(l to r) Aaron, Larry (Bill's brother), Bill and Ryan

The only one without a picture is Amy.  I took some of her, but she would probably disown me if I posted them.  She was feeling so bad that night with her sinus infection as well as being in the hospital the day before being dehydrated and throwing up (pregnant you know).  So maybe I'll catch a good one of her later.  I know we have a gender reveal party in the near future coming up, so I'll post then.

Again, Everybody, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Vanilla Wafer Cake

I found this recipe on Pinterest and just had to try it.  It turned out to be very good, especially with a cup of hot coffee.  Just saying....

Vanilla Wafer Cake

I was going to type in the recipe, but thought I would just send you the link to where I found it.  You might just find some more great recipes on this site.  Enjoy!!!  We did!!!

July 2012

Well, as I said in my prior post, my posts would be fewer and farther in between since starting work.  I guess I was right.  I'm just now getting a little organization going on.  Between housework, and grandkids, it's been a fast paced summer already.  But I wanted to post a few pics to let you know I'm still kicking and there is still lots going on around here at the farm.

July 4th
The grandson Jordan was here for his 2nd two-weeks for the summer.  He is here mostly every 4th of July with us.  Larry, Bill's brother had his 3 grandkids here also for a few days.  I got volunteered to take them to buy fireworks this year.  We were very picky on what we bought, nothing that could start fires in the pasture and things that they all could do safely WITH adult supervision.  I think they had fun.  We all sat out on the patio and watched them play with fire.  NO one was hurt and they had a good time.

Here they are playing with the black snakes.  Jordan, Ryan, Meghan and Chase.

This is Larry's grandson Ryan, is he not a cutie.  Look at those eyes.

The kids also played a little bit of the All American sport of baseball for this 4th of July Celebration.  It was just us few here, but we celebrated.

July 14th
This was a very busy day for me.  Once a year the Texas Association of Quilt Guilds has a Rally day and this year it was in Mesquite.  Beings that I had never been and wanted to check it out, I had to figure out a plan to go.  It was also the weekend I needed to take Jordan back home to his mom.  So I carefully coordinated with my daughter Mandy for Jordan to stay with her while I went to the Rally and then back to pick Jordan up and take him home.

Once I got back to Mandy's to pick Jordan up, we took the boys and Miss Bella over to Ryan's uncles pool (close by) and let the kids swim for a bit. 

I think they had a lot of fun, while we were there sitting and sweating.  Luckily there was shade.  Makes me wish we had a pool here at the farm.

And I didn't want to leave Miss Bella out.  She was there in her Texas Rangers finest.  Mandy put her feet in the water, and she didn't like it a bit, so she just watched.

This was a long day for me.  I got home about 9:30pm that night. 

July 15th
Today was the day Bill decided it was time to let the calves we had this last year find a new home.  In other words, they went to the Decatur Livestock Auction.  With us getting pretty much no rain this summer, there just is not enough grass for them to eat.

July 21st
Bill's son Trent and his family came down to visit.  Trent attended a shooting competition out on 51 between Decatur and Gainesville, plus it was Trent's birthday.  We celebrated with dinner at Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes in Decatur and then back to the house for dessert and fun taking pictures.

Ashlie and Baby Owen (the Great-Grandson) came to celebrate too.  Here he is with his PawPaw.  We have to watch PawPaw though, he tries to sneak certain food goodies past mom. 

I had asked Janet what was Trent's favorite cake flavor and she had told me that he liked lemon and cream cheese frosting.  So I jumped on the computer and off to Pinterest I went.  I found this recipe for Cream Cheese Lemon Bars.  It was a hit I think. 

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars:  1 box lemon cake mix - 1/3 cup butter or margarine - softened - 1 egg - 8 ounces cream cheese - softened - 1 cup powdered sugar - 1/2 lemon - grated - 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon - 2 eggs - 1 teaspoon vanilla

More of July to come.

Chili and Jerky Makin'

Once a year for the past few years Bill and most of his hunting buddies with significant others get together with their venison and antelope and make some awesome chili and starting last year they have been making jerky also.  Hunting buddy Larry graciously lets everyone invade his home and pretty much take over.  Everyone brings their dehydrators and electric cookers and lots of food and mass production starts.  Then it's bagged up and distributed.  This is a whole day process while all have fun while things are simmering in the pans.  They play washers, eat, drink, play washers, eat, drink, well, you know the drill.  Now this is what the men do...  Once everything is pretty much started, some of the women (ah, me included), kinda disappear from site and head north to Choctaw for a few hours of fun.  Then by the time we head back, most of the cooking is just waiting to be cooled off and packed for the trip home to everyones freezers.  A fun day is had by all. 

This is the best picture I could conjure up of Mr. Larry.  He is the sweetest and most gracious man.  And there with him is Ms. Lindie, his significant other.

Here are Tanner and Danny playing a little game of washers.  I've heard this can get pretty serious, but haven't witnessed any knock-down drag-outs yet.  All are very friendly games.

Here are a few more of our friends that we get together with for this fun-filled day.  Allen, Bill Paula, Kima, Amy, and Sandy.  Can you tell from the picture that this place belongs to a hunter? 

This picture is of a couple of great guys I know.  In the forefront would be Mr. Marshall.  He makes this "BEST" grilled stuffed bacon-wrapped jalepenos around.  Don't tell anyone, but one of the main reasons I always show up is because of his masterpieces.  I think that is all I ever eat.  And, might I say, I do eat my share.  Now for that guy in the background.  This would be Trent, Bill's son, my step-son.  I have to admit that he is a pretty good guy.  He is very supportive of his dad and is always here when needed.  He himself has a pretty-good knack with the grill spatula too.  Now if he could just show his Dad a few more pointers..

I've saved the best pictures for last.  Trent's son, Patrick came with him this year to get his first start with the jerky makin' process.  So him and Bill (PawPaw) spent the day going over the steps that make this awesome stuff.  Bill is pretty good with the jerky gun.  Can you tell from the pictures who Patrick takes after?  Is it not amazing the resemblance these two have?

A fun-filled day for EVERYONE!!!



Pioneer Woman Cooks

Well, I told you I would get it as soon as it was released.  Maybe it is a couple of weeks later, but I got it in the mail today, Pioneer Woman's new Cookbook.  After perusing through it real quick, (I've got to go take my Government final soon), I see that I have already made a few of the recipes in it.  It's going to be fun seeing what other great things she has waiting for me to try.

Her show on the Food Network is in reruns now, which is great because I didn't start watching until this season, so I have a whole nuther (is that a word?) season to watch. 

Guess I better get and get this final over with.  Woo! Hoo!!!  Now to decide, do I take Algebra for Summer I semester or just blow the summer off????  Hummm decisions, decisions..... With the oldest grandson, Jordan coming off and on for a few weeks this summer and the new granddaughter, Miss Bella making her entrance into our world next Tuesday (planned), and then her brother, Lucas needing some of Gigi's attention too, will I actually be able to handle Algebra too?  It's only for 5 weeks, but 4 nights each week.  Gonna have to give this a little more thought, but it would give me a whole semester off the end of this journey I decided to embark on.  If all goes as planned, I should graduate with my Associates of Science Degree next Spring.  Everyone, pleaseeee cross your fingers for me, and a little prayer here and there wouldn't hurt either.

Coconut Lemon Glaze Cake

There is a new show on the cooking channel called Trisha's Southern Kitchen.  She cooks the kind of foods I grew up.  Down Home Country Cooking.  On last weeks show she made this Coconut Lemon Glaze Cake and I knew right then I had to make this.  I love coconut and from the way it looked, I knew I would love it.  Here is picture of her cake.

I printed off the recipe and made sure I had all of the ingredients and made my own.  Wow!!! The flavors are great.  You can so taste the lemon and coconut.  It is a very rich cake also, so I can only eat a couple of bites at a time, but Bill and Larry loved it.  I just keep a fork close by and grab a bite when I walk by it.  I told Bill to just cut his slices from the other side.  Here is a picture of my finished product.  It seemed like there was way to much coconut for the icing, so next time I will probably cut it down quite a bit.  But will definitely be making it again.

Miracle Whip Biscuits

Have you ever heard of such a thing?  Well I hadn't until Bill's brother-in-law Dave told us about them.  They have become a frequent visitor to our table.  The recipe is so easy it's scary.

Miracle Whip Biscuits
2 cups self-rising flour
4 Tablespoons Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/2 cup milk

Stir and drop on cookie sheet and back at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.

As you can see I stirred until it got clumpy.  The recipe says drop by spoonfuls, but I did that the first time I made them and didn't like the way they looked. So from now on I kinda mash down and use my hands to make little patties.

It makes a mess on your hands because the dough is still pretty sticky, but it washes off.

After a few minutes in the oven we have great tasting homemade biscuits.  Yum ! Yum !

Give them a try sometime.  You'll get hooked just like I am.  Also, I would like to add, this recipe may be out on the internet somewhere else, but I'm not taking the time to look it up.  I'll just enjoy and thank Dave for the recipe.

Update on the Remodel

Alot going on these days with the remodel project.

Jeff (another son-in-law) our HVAC man, has been busy getting the central heat and air hooked up back in the back.  Lots of crawling in the attic.  Not my kinda job.  This means we will have two separate C/H systems now.  No more limited air conditioning in the summer time in the East Bedroom.  I know Amy and Aaron will appreciate that.

Jeff does this for a living, but as of Monday this week, he got a big promotion and he is not gonna have to do that much anymore. 
CONGRATULATIONS to JEFF!!!!!



Let's see what else has been going on. 

Bill and Ryan tackled the taping process.  I don't think this is one of either one of their favorite jobs.  But, alas, it had to be done. 

Then, we had to call in the Big Dogs to help with the Bedding part and getting it nice and smooth.

Mr. Larry Hawkins, (long time hunting buddy of Bill's), came down to assist with the bedding process. 

We so appreciated his help with this task.  It's so nice to have friends you can count on when needed and it's always nice to have family and friends "in the business".  Of course, we took him out for a BIG steak dinner afterward to Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes in Decatur.  We even let Jeff and Ryan tag along.  Luke came to visit again and we even let him join us.

Speaking of Luke, while he was visiting me again this week. "SMILE", he helped me in the kitchen.  I had to get those guys something sweet to eat for the coffee break.

It's called a Cream Cheese Cake.  At least that is the name I have on my recipe card.  I got this recipe way back in the early 1980's from a friend.  It is very rich, but very, very good.  Here's the recipe if you want to try it.  Sorry, I thought I took a picture of it before it was gone, but don't guess I did.

Cream Cheese Cake
Ingredients:
Crust:  1 box of Yellow Cake Mix, 1 stick of butter, and 1 egg.
Mix together and press into a 13" x 9" pan or pyrex dish.
Topping:  8-oz softened cream cheese, 3 eggs, and 1 box of powdered sugar.
Mix well and pour over cake mixture.
Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees, or until brownish on top.

Enjoy!

One last note, I just want everyone to know, that "WE" do our share to support the Girl Scouts of America.  These cookies came all of the way from Laredo with Bill's brother Larry's daughter, Tiffany.  She is Troop Leader for her girls.  Go Girl Scouts!!!

My daughter Mandy was in Girl Scouts when she was in grade school and even Jr. High.  She enjoyed it so much.  With a 'little' help from her Dad and I, she won the top prize for cookie sales for 3-4 years in a row.  I remember a TV, phone (oh, the phone), and alot of Girl Scout camping gear.  Hummmm, let me just show you. 

This is the picture that went in the Newspaper.

That's all for now.  Have a Good Day!
Gaila
 

So Easy! English Muffin Bread

I found another recipe on Pinterest that I had had to make.  This looked so good and then I looked at the recipe and found out that it was so easy too.  And, I just happened to have all of the ingredients in my pantry.

Mixed it all up, let it rise over by the stove for about an hour or so, it filled the bowl.  Then I punched it down and divided into the 4 loaf pans.  I didn't realize I had 4. 

This was the worst part.  The dough is very sticky and dividing it was a challenge.  Boy, those Pampered Chef load pans in the middle look really bad, but they are supposed to look like that.  They say the worse they look, the better.  I let them rise for another 1/2 hour or so, then into the oven.  

I can't believe how wonderful they turned out.  We've eaten one, one went home with Ryan for Mandy to try, and one went home with Jeff for Terri to try.  Hope they enjoy.  Would love comments from them.  One more to go.  I put it in the freezer wrapped in foil and into freezer zip-loc bag.  But, I think it will not be there long.