Blizzard Busy!

Sam and Farmboy

With bitterly cold weather and a blizzard warning in effect, we went to chop down our tree yesterday.

YIKES!
It was cold!
But they got 'er done!

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

At 5pm I finally had a chance to think about supper.
I knew beef was on the menu as we had found a couple of cheap center cut chuck steaks and had them marinating for a couple of hours.
I had bought a butternut squash with the intentions of making a squash risotto I saw on Barefoot Contessa, so even tho I had a late start, I got to work peeling and dicing the squash.
It was worth every second.
I'm a big fan of rice of any kind and a risotto is so creamy and tender and yummy and...
I think I have a new favorite risotto.
Don't be afraid of trying it.
It is time consuming, but easy-peasy!

Here's Ollie (aka Chunky Monkey) just lookin' so darn handsome!

Cranberry Orange Walnut/Almond Granola

1st thing this morning I made a double batch of Amazing Grace soap.
Smells divine and I can't wait to cut into it tomorrow!

Then I made a pot full of hot oatmeal and brought a big pan of it out to the chickens.
They will truly be "cooped up" for the next couple days as temps are too low to open their itty bitty door.
And I felt sorry for them.
Who wouldn't like a steamy bowl of hot cereal for breakfast???
(I had leftover risotto!)

Then....this afternoon I went into baking mode.

For gift giving I had thought I would make a double batch of granola and package it in those little cellophane bags you can get at the dollar store.
This recipe is SO easy and so very adaptable to anything you might want to add or subtract.

I would LOVE receiving a bag of this, wouldn't you?
That's what I thought!

Double batch Granola

8 cups old fashioned oats
4 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
4 cups chopped nuts, your choice ( I used walnuts and sliced almonds)
3 cups dried fruit (I used cranberries, tomorrow I will try dates and apricots)
1 cup oil (I used a combination of coconut oil I melted in the microwave, and sunflower oil)
3/4 cup honey
juice of 1 orange
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teas. cardamom ( my choice as I love the smell of it!)
zest of 2 oranges

Preheat oven to 325F

Toss the oats and nuts together in a large bowl.
Combine oil with honey and juice of the orange and pour over the oat/nut mixture.
Add the spices and stir with a wooden spoon until all the mixture is coated.
Pour onto 2 sheet pans or large roasting pan.
Bake, stirring every 10 min. or so, until mixture turns a light golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.
At this point I add the coconut and the orange zest and bake another 8 min.
When I take it out of the oven I add the dried fruit. (if added during the bake time the fruit has a tendency to dry out or burn)
Let cool and package in individual cellophane bags or a large ziploc.


Till next time....

Keepin' Christ in CHRISTmas,
Cindy

Mission: Accomplished

Wonky crocheted tree

I had the whole weekend before me, and amazing things planned.
So...what did I actually get accomplished?

I got my teeny crochet hook out and whipped up a few of these wonky trees, found on Dottie Angel's sweet blog!
Easy peasy, and that's saying a lot when it comes to ME doing handwork!
Now a little forest of them are scattered around my nativity set.

English Toffee Candy

Last week I made Seafoam, one of my favorite candies.
This weekend I tried my hand at toffee, and oh, my, word.
So easy, and SO good!
But be careful! The stuff is so dang hot!
Stop on over to Faithfulness Farm for the easy-peasy recipe!

2 cups leftover heavy cream from Thanksgiving

I had all this cream in the fridge, and it only stays fresh for just so long.
I had read on someone's blog (sorry, for the life of me I can't remember where I saw this)
that you can use your food processor to make butter.
So...that's what I did!

Buttermilk

After the cream "seizes", the chunk of butter will separate from the buttermilk.
Pour it off, then add 1/2 cup ice water to processor to "wash" the butter.
Process for a few seconds.
Drain, then repeat till the water pretty much remains clear.
Mine took 3 "washings".

Sweet cream butter!

I ended up with over a cup of butter, to be used on only the finest toast or to fry a couple of our farm fresh eggs in!

So, all in all, I got quite a bit done, and managed to watch White Christmas, Christmas in Connecticut, and a myriad of other silly, made-for-TV Christmas movies.

It was wonderful!

Now I am off to the grocers to stock up for what is predicted to be the WORST winter storm of the entire season.
Starting tomorrow night and moving right through to Thursday, we are expecting freezing rain, then lots of snow, then 40-50 mile per hour winds with sub-zero temps, then more snow!

YIKES!

How is YOUR week shaping up?

xoxo
Cindy

Hunkered down in West Michigan

Beau, waiting to get chained up

We woke yesterday to a foot of snow on the ground.
Our very 1st snowfall of the season and it was a whopper!
Continued to snow nearly all day long, so you can only imagine what I did!
I hunkered down.

Shrimp Fried Rice

1st...I began suppers meal preparations by cooking up a mess of rice and then spreading it out on a cookie sheet to cool and dry out.
You want cold, dry rice for your fried rice...otherwise it becomes a soggy mess.
Took the shrimp out of the freezer.
Defrosted a bag of carrots/peas.
And sent Farmboy to the grocers for some scallions! (cause I don't go out in this stuff)

I have been using a recipe for Fried Rice, from Pam over at For the Love of Cooking for several months now, and it is the BEST!
Not at all greasy, and easy-peasy too!
Yesterday I took it up a notch and added some raw shrimp as the main protein and it was SO good!

There WAS a nice sized container with leftovers that were SUPPOSED to be my lunch for today, but son got into it in the late night hours, and all I have left is the empty, dirty container in the sink.

Cranberry Orange Scones

It had been ages since I had made scones, and quite frankly, many of the recipes I have tried have been a bit on the too dry side.
Not these!
Moist and crumbly with just the right amount of sweetness, they were wonderful with my morning coffee yesterday.
I got the recipe out of my Cooks Illustrated Family Cookbook.
The down side of these scones is the recipe calls for 1 cup of heavy cream.
YIKES!
So....I only ate one of 'em.
And....I picked the smallest one.
So righteous of me, right?

Once again, my day is full of endless possibilities, and I am chompin' at the bit to get going.
Maybe today I will bake some Christmas cookies?
Or stitch up another apron from a doozie of a skirt I got at Goodwill?
Or make some chai tea concentrate I got the recipe for over here at Noble Pig?
Or make another batch of lye soap?
Ha!
Maybe I will just do it all!!!

Then again, maybe I will do one or two of these, then spend the afternoon watching White Christmas and Holiday Inn!

What are YOUR weekend plans?

xoxo
Cindy

By the dawn's early light...

7AM, cozy by the fireplace, His Word in my hands

What a glorious new day, full of possibilities and challenges!
Mine for today will be to make a double batch of soap, using some new fragrance oils I just received in the mail.
Mmmm....Amazing Grace, patterned after Philosophy's fragrance, and Beach, which smells like the Bobbi Brown fragrance.

For supper tonite, some homemade beef and bean burritos with guacamole and salsa.
I found a recipe for guacamole from Rick Bayless that is our family favorite, and with avocados on sale for $1 each, I worked the burritos into the weekly menu!

Today, December 3rd, just chock full of great things!

What's on your agenda?

xoxo
Cindy

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Prego....it's what's for supper tonite

If mama never told you there'd be days like this, mama was a tad negligent!
I've had 3 very busy days in a row, and this mama is too pooped to do anything but pop the lid on that sweet jar of spaghetti sauce, add 1/2 cup of red wine and a couple of links of chorizo sausage all chopped up, heat, and serve with some pasta.
As much as I am an advocate of made from scratch meals, there are times when I simply cannot bear the thought of another 15 minutes on my feet.
That is when Prego or Kraft somethin' or other comes to the rescue and I simply sit back and relax.
I don't do it often, but I am ever so glad for the back-up.

What are YOUR "go to" easy-peasy meals?

PS....I draw the line at corn dogs....YUCK!

xoxo
Cindy

Christmas at the farmette

Christmas Mantle

I usually go all-out with Christmas decorations and lights and garlands, etc,
But....this year is going to be a bit different.
With knee replacement surgery coming Jan. 8, I want to be able to get thru the holidays with as little time on my feet as possible.
And since I am the one who does the majority of the decorating, that means I had to decide to pare down a bit.
The mantle is NOT where I began!
I put my itty bitty elves here and there, strung my twinkly white lights and created a brand-spankin' new garland for it!
Made out of cast off wool Goodwill sweaters and felted in my washing machine, I cut out rectangles and strung them on cotton yarn.
I then crocheted trees, snowflakes and rounds inspired by The Royal Sisters, and stitched them on the rectangles.
That was not enough.
I got out my ample supply of granny-chic buttons and found just the perfect "ornaments" for my work.

In the next week or so we will head to the "farm around the corner" and chop down the perfect (in OUR eyes!) tree.
And I think that will be about it around here. No garland strung willy nilly around the porch columns or stair rails.
No snowmen or santa collection displayed.
Just the tree.
The mantle.
And the nativity.
And that is enough for me.

Here at the farmette things are not as they usually are, and tho I typically keep my private life sorta private, I would ask that if any of you are prayin' folk, that you would keep our family in your prayers.
We are facing some very difficult challenges here (no worries, Farmboy and I are just fine!!!) and would greatly appreciate prayer from the Body.

xoxo
Cindy

More nifty, thrifty gifties

Apron

I began collecting vintage sheets and pillowcases this summer to re-purpose into aprons after I saw it elsewhere.
The sheets cost me anywhere from $1.99 to $2.99 and you get an enormous amount of fabric!
I've also used them for summer blouses...
You know, the ones that look like they are straight from the 70's with the little pouffy cap sleeve?
Or how about a toddlers dress?
Or a summer nursing blanket for when you are a nursing mama and it is just too darn hot to hide your nee-nees under a sweltering blanket?

Dishrags or Washcloths

If "I" can knit or crochet a REALLY simple dishcloth, anyone can do it.
I just do a basic knit/purl stitch, or crochet the whole thing in double crochet.
The cotton yarn cost me $1.69 or less, and i can get two dishcloths from each skein.
If I pair that with some of my homemade soap and tie it up real pretty, it would be a sweet hostess gift, yes?

Linen napkins

Now, I paid $1.00 for 9 at a thrift store for these spotless, vintage napkins.
I can leave them plain, or if I want, I could stencil the recipients initial in the corners.
Not sure where these are going yet, so for now they are plain.
Dang!
I would want THESE for myself!!!

FRESH AND PURE

A bar from my very first batch of homemade soap, ready for gifting.
Mine don't cut real pretty, but I kind of like the rustic look, and I am certain the recipients won't mind.

You'll find the easy-peasy soap making instructions back in one of my October posts.
There's still time to make a batch for gifties, as it needs to cure for about a month.

I hope these thrifty little ideas inspire you, as so many of YOUR ideas have inspired me!

xoxo
Cindy