Laughing Wind Farm

Our Menu For The Coming Week

B: Sausage and cheese muffins and bacon

L: Peanut butter Plus Fajitas, veggie tray w/dips

D: Crock pot tender beef and bean stew, cornbread, tossed salad and choc. layer cake

Tues.

B: H’made granola bars, yogurt and fruit

L: Tortilla sandwiches

D: Pizza night! Ice cream sandwiches using large h’made choc. chip cookies

Wed.

B: French toast and bacon

L: Sandwich loaf and selection of fruit

D: Baked lime chicken, rice, peas, salad, rolls and apple turnovers

Thurs.

B: Oatmeal w/shredded apples, raisins and cinnamon and toast

L: Hot roast beef sandwiches

D: Grilled steaks and burgers (inside on Foreman grills), salad, corn on the cob (using frozen kind) and

Fri.

B: Fried egg and sausage sandwiches (english muffins)

L: Pizza potatoes, veggie tray w/dips

D: Turkey club sandwiches, steak fries, coleslaw and fruited jello w/whip cream

Sat.

B: H’made bagels w/cream cheese and fruit

L: Leftover buffet

D: Spagetti Carbonara, Cobb salad, parmesan breadsticks, feta cheese salad and fruit cocktail

Sun.

B: H’made bear claws and fruit

L: Cold cut sandwiches and chips

D: Crockpot roast w/mushrooms and carrots, garlic dill new potatoes, salad, h’made Challah bread and pineapple upside down cake

2 New Recipes...

Chedder Sage Bread

*Absolutely delicious as bread for grilled cheese!

1/2 tsp dry mustard
3 tbls fresh sage, minced
3-3 1/2 cups flour (I prefer bread flour, but all purpose will work just fine)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp coarse black pepper
1 cup milk
3 oz shreeded sharp chedder
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tbls sugar
1 tbls oil
1 egg
2 tbls butter

Dissolve mustard in 1 tsp. warm water. Comine 3 cups flour with salt, pepper, and sage. Warm the milk.

In a large mixing bowl combine the milk, yeast, sugar, and oil. Stir or process to combine. Add the egg and mix well. Add mustard and flour mixtures, adding more flour as necessary so mixture forms a stiff sough and comes together in a ball. Incorporate cheese into dough.

Turn dough out onto floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary, about 10 minutes.

Put dough in a lightly buttered bowl and turn to coat top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour. Punch down, shape in a loaf, put in buttered loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, another hour.

Heat oven to 375. Melt butter. Brush loaf with melted butter and bake until loaf is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cool on rack.

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40 Min. Hamburger Buns

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt

3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 1 dozen

Enjoy!

It's COLD here!!!

I'm such a weather wimp LOL.  Guess I spent too many years aclimating to the hot Phoenix weather.  This is our 2nd winter here and it's still such a shock to see 5 degrees on the thermometer.  When I woke up (at 2:30 a.m. Yikes!) it was 19 degrees and as the morning has progressed the mercury is falling. We're supposed to have some snow showers sometime today.  The dc will love it, the excitement and novelty of snow still hasn't worn off for them.

Catalog heaven!  Dh brought in a nice little stack of catalogs from the mail when he came home from work this morning.  McMurray Hatchery (we just put 24 eggs in our incubator), a seed catalog (hard to imagine a garden when I'm huddled in front of a nice fire w/hot cocoa), NG magazine and one of my favorites....Victorian Trading Co.. I adore anything Victorian as does my almost 12 yr. old dd.

We started our new school year a week ago and my oldest twins (3 next wk.) have joined us.  They were chomping at the bit to become "official" and I've started them on the SL pre-k curriculm.

As you can see I'm back to blogging and also blogging over at homeschool blogger.  I'm experiencing template frustration over there as I accidently cut out my counter and cbox and can't get them back up and running again...when I add the code and "save" the change doesn't stick.

Now to go check out some blogs and see what everyone else is up to :)

Blessings,

Tam

I Rarely Post

Homesteading by the Sea

Our Menu For The Coming Week

Mon.

B: Bagel & cheese bake and fruit selection

L: Sandwiches – choice of fillings (sliced beef, turkey, chicken) and chips

D: Grilled Hawaiian Chicken, grilled corn, fruity rice, rolls, Waldorf salad and apple turnovers

Tues.

B: Cheesy brunch roll-ups

L: Tuna pasta salad and fruit

D: Calzones, garlic/parmesan bread sticks, feta cheese salad and choc. sundaes

Wed.

B: Sausage & cheese muffins and fruit

L: Pb&j sandwiches, pretzels & dip

D: No Peek Casserole, angel-hair pasta, zesty carrots and lemon pound cake

Thurs.

B: Denver omelets, bacon and home fries

L: Smoothies, cheese selection w/crackers, pepperoni bread

D: Chicken tortilla pie, refried beans, nachos w/avocado salsa , h’made mint ice cream on top of brownies

Fri.

B: Peanut butter granola, toast & fruit

L: Blts and fruit selection

D: BBQ pork sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, veggie tray w/dips and frozen pink fruit salad

Sat.

B: Pancakes and sausage links

L: Leftover buffet

D: Ground beef chow mein, stir-fried veggies, fried rice and cookies

Sun.

B: H’made cinn. rolls and fruit

L: Ham & cheese sandwiches, veggie tray w/dips

D: Crockpot roast beef w/mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes, salad, h’made Challah bread and Black Forest cake

Blessings,

Tam

Another favorite summer dessert of ours....

PEACH AND BLACKBERRY CRISP

1-1/2 pounds peaches (about 3), pitted and cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges
2 cups blackberries, picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
3/4 cup coarsely chopped lightly toasted pecans
peach and brown sugar ice cream or vanilla cream as a topping (optional)

In a large bowl toss the peaches and the blackberries gently with the cornstarch, the lemon juice, and the granulated sugar until the mixture is combined well. In a small bowl stir together the flour, the brown sugar, the oats, the salt, the cinnamon, and the nutmeg, add the butter, blending the mixture until it resembles coarse meal, and stir in the pecans. Spread the peach mixture in a 13- by 9-inch (3 quart) baking dish, sprinkle the pecan mixture evenly over it, and bake the crisp in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is golden. Serve the crisp with the ice cream.

Blessings,

Tam

Camping in the Appalachians

Sunday On The Farm

It’s a beautiful, clear and delightfully cool morning. I’m sitting out here on the deck w/coffee and my laptop. Normally I don’t like to type on it but it’s so quiet and peaceful right now that I’m going to stay out here for a bit. Brock and Scooby love it when I come out here early in the morning because they get to run off and play w/the Anatolians for a bit. For those new to this blog: Brock is my English Mastiff overgrown pup, Scooby is Alex’s gangly Great Dane pup (my dad gave him to Alex for his 6^th b-day in May) and Aslan and Antoine are our Anatolian shepard LGD dogs. Brock and Scooby are inside dogs and the Anatolians stay outside working.

Yesterday afternoon and last night was busy w/the arrival of new baby animals. Our female rabbit had 7 healthy babies (we bought a doe that had already had 1 litter successfully therefore giving us newbies a better shot at a good outcome) and our expecting goat had Twins. Our little "herd" has expanded wonderfully. We’ll probably only be keeping the girls, have to make a firm decision in a couple wks.

A few days ago a lady asked me about meat chickens and I told her what I knew of the "crosses". Well, I’ve been thinking about it ever since and have decided that instead of waiting until after winter is over I’ll go ahead and see about getting some now. The amount of chicken we go through is unbelievable and currently we’re still supplementing w/store bought.

Plans for today include:

*before 9a.m. routine

*normal daily maintenance chores

*Aja, Tony, dh & I off to church – early service

*depending on weather, work in the garden

*finish cute little outfit for Arissa

*dds will be making pizza dough to put in freezer

*playtime w/the Littles

*board game or 2 w/middles before dinner

*go out for coffee w/dh after dinner

*spend some time w/teens

Blessings,

Tam

Our Menu For The Coming Week

Mon.

B: French toast w/fried apples

L: H’made hot pockets and fruit

D: Chicken Fricassee (chive dumplings cooked in w/it), mashed onion potatoes, broccoli w/cheese sauce, salad, and peach cobbler

Tues.

B: Apple banana breakfast crunch

L: Sandwiches – choice of fillings and selection of fruit

D: Pizza night!

Wed.

B: Fried egg, sausage & cheese on big country biscuits

L: Sandwich loaf and veggie tray w/dips

D: Pork Chops w/Fresh Tomato, Onion, Garlic And Feta , garlic mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus and raspberry crisp

Thurs.

B: Crockpot granola, toast and fruit

L: Egg salad sandwiches and chips

D: Creole-style skillet dish, bread sticks, salad and cookies

Fri.

B: Fluffy baked eggs w/roasted veggie hash

L: Pb& j sandwiches (tortillas instead of bread), pretzels w/dip

D: Burrito supreme casserole, mexican rice, jalapeno corn and Ambrosia

Sat.

B: Pumpkin Maple biscuits

L: Leftover buffet

D: Parmesan Orzo & Meatballs, cheesy breadsticks, feta cheese salad and nutty choc. chip snack cake

Sun.

B: Blueberry & Cheese coffee cake and fruit

L: Sandwiches – selection of cold cuts, veggie tray w/dip

D: Crockpot roast w/mushrooms, carrots & potatoes, salad, h’made Challah bread and pineapple upside down cake

Blessings,

Tam