The Corral

Enjoying the simple things in life...

Hello my dear, dear friends... I hope this evening finds you all well. 
I have had some things on my heart that I want to share with you tonight, some news from my husband that makes these things even more real to me.  On this roller coaster ride of life we don't know what the next turn will hold... whether we will be plummeting into a valley or climbing a high mountain... It is uncertain, it is sometimes frightening... but we as children of the Living God have a safe and secure end to all of this twisting and turning. 
My husband has just informed me that he may be losing his job come Tuesday.  It is a sudden blow to our family.  It is scary, but it is not something that our God, Jehovah-Jireh, The One who Provides, can't handle.  He is able.
So my mind is how we can be even more frugal minded than we already are.  Suppers can be made a bit more cheaply and stretched a bit farther, I have my website that I am trying to sale some things and my Etsy.  We don't do a whole lot of extra-curricular activities so that is not a big thing.  I try and limit my trips to run errands... maybe instead of once a week I could make it once every two weeks.  And these things are well and good... BUT... I don't want them to cloud my focus.  I don't want them to dampen my spirit and choke my joy. 
Things that are precious to me, things that are simple and lovely and good... I am going to focus on those...
God's sweet promises
A good morning kiss from my husband
The early morning snuggle time with my children
The rain on the roof
Freshly picked vegetables from the garden
Hearing my children pray
Seeing kindness from my kids to their siblings or others
The strong arms of my husband
Snowflakes
Beautiful skies painted by God's own hand
Piano Music
Laughter
Open windows and a gentle breeze
Candlelight
Church hymns sung acapella
Warm soup on a cold and dreary day
My husband reading the Bible to our family
Homemade gifts
Flowers
Smiles
Hearing, I love you Moma
These things and more are the real and true things, the things to be treasuring... not the material, not the temporal...
We trust that through this valley God will be glorified... that He will be lifted up.  That He holds us with His Almighty Hand and we can be at peace knowing He will never let us fall.
God be with you dear ones.

Barak Obama

I found this website when I was searching Barak Obama a little while ago http://muslimsforobama08.com/index.html I think he would be a great president, don't you?? NOT!!! Well I G2G!

APRONS RULE!

Awhile back someone askd me to post a few pictures of my many gingham aprons. Here are a few.  love the ones with the "Chicken Scratch" worked in them.

Oven Fried Chicken

Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 cup corn flake crumbs or bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten or 1/4 cup milk
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In pie plate, combine crumbs, thyme, oregano, paprika and salt. Pour egg whites into second pie plate. Dip chicken in egg whites, then into crumb mixture, coating evenly. Place chicken in greased shallow 1 quart baking dish. Drizzle butter over chicken. Bake, uncovered, 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Moist Chocolate Cake
 
2 C. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa
2 C. sugar
1 C. vegetable oil
1 C. hot coffee
1 C. milk
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
Favorite Icing:
1 C. milk
5 T. flour
1/2 C. butter softened
1/2 C. shortening
1 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
Sift together dry ingredient in a mixing bowl.  Add oil, coffee and milk; mix at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat 2 more minutes, batter will be thin.  Pour into two greased and floured 9" cake pans or 2 8" cake pans & 6 muffin cups.  Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes.  Cool cakes 15 minutes before removing from pans.  Cool on wire racks.  Meanwhile for icing combine the milk and flour in a saucepan, cook until thick.  Cover and refrigerate.  In a mixing bowl beat butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla until creamy.  Add chilled milk/flour mixture and beat for 10 minutes.  Frost cooled cake.

Family Traditions

Wowzers! I must have bored ya'll to tears yesterday with my Lacto-Fermented lecture... sorry about that, I thought I had more on board with me. :) haha
I thought I would tell you tonight about some things we do around our house... some of our habits, of our traditions.  Some so fun they have been adapted to other households we are in contact with.
We like to sit around the table at supper time.  I feel it is important to sit together, this is the heart... the family meal, the time to talk, to listen, to hear what is important to our family.  Around the dinner table we play
High and Low
So here is how tonights High and Low session looked...
Mom: So Abram whats your High/Low?
Abram: My Low (in Abramish) Popa Ronnie took away the excavator. (My Dad parks his equipment in a field beside our house... when he moves it to go to a job Abram is distraught)
My High-the good supper.   (the reason supper was so good for him is that we had applesauce to go with it, the child LOVES applesauce!)
And so we go around the table from youngest to oldest including Moma and Daddy until we share our best and not so best times with each other.
Like I said, it is a contagious thing... our nieces have taken it home and they now do it, a friends children took it and now they do it... and so on.
Another thing we sometimes do is have *Movie Night*
Oh, this is a grand thing.  Moma makes popcorn, the lights all get turned off, the curtains are all pulled and we watch a movie (usually one from our collection). 
We had movie night tonight because we are still recovering from our bought with a stomach bug.  Everyone got comfy and we watched Nim's Island.
Sometimes we even try to get the FULL movie experience by making our own commercials... My Cameo has a now infamous commercial that we all giggle about when it is brought up...
~~~Slim Jim... It's GOOD for you!~~~
Just say that and we all roll. :)
So what about you guys? Do you have some family traditions that you want to share?  Some special things that you do for fun...  If so let me know... I would love to hear from you.
And Dear Marcy and so many others... So sorry it has taken me all week to get this out for you...

3 cups all-purpose flour plus additional flour for kneading 2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
2 packages active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening

Place 1 1/2 cups each all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, the toasted wheat germ, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, preferably a heavy-duty one with a paddle attachment, briefly mix together the ingredients.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the shortening. Add the milk and sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is very warm, but no hotter than 120 or 130 degrees. With the mixer at low speed, slowly pour milk mixture into flour mixture until blended. Increase to medium speed and beat mixture for about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup each white flour and whole wheat flour and beat 2 minutes more. Add 1 cup white flour and beat until dough comes away from sides of bowl.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface about 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. (Use very little additional flour.) Place in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise in a warm place until double in volume, about 1 or 1 1/2 hours.

Gently punch dough down and divide dough into four equal portions. Divide each portion into fourths and allow dough to rest just 5 minutes. Form the small portions into balls and with fingertips fold edges under to form even circles. Place on lightly greased baking sheets, about 2-inches apart and with fingertips flatten each bun to a 3-inch circle. (If you prefer the sides of the buns to remain soft, place them closer together. Then as the buns rise the sides will touch.) Cover with a towel and set aside to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Adjust rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees at least 20 minutes before baking. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and buns sound hollow when tapped lightly. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing. (Or cool and freeze, well-wrapped, for up to 1 week.) Makes 16.

To form hot dog buns: Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll out each portion to a rectangle about 14 x 5 inches. Cut about eight 5 x 2 inch strips from each rectangle. Between the palms of your hands, roll each portion into 6-inch long buns. Place buns, about 2-inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover loosely with a cloth towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake as directed for hamburger buns.

Variations
Wheat Berries: Add 1/3 cup wheat berries and a dash of salt to 2 cups boiling water. Cover saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow to cool, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Drain and dry them well. With wooden spoon, stir wheat berries into dough before kneading it.

Walnuts: Toast 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts in a 325 degree oven about 10 minutes. Cool and with a wooden spoon stir into dough before kneading it.

Olives: Coarsely chop 1/3 cup pitted, oil- or brine-cured black or green olives. With wooden spoon (or paddle attachment and mixer at low speed) stir olives into dough before kneading it.

August in Pictures...

I'm going to play catchup with some pictures now that my camera is reading my memory card again.

Here is a Hoosier cabinet passed along for my cousin.  It was my great grandma's, and I'm excited to be the one to acquire it.

My latest library books!

What's living under our house.  I call him our "Army Pig."

One of the many moths that flutter around our four o'clocks.

More herbs for winter use.

A fun little home in Michigan on our way home from a wedding.

Me (left) and a friend, Sarah in Lawrence, Kansas.

Last night I was home alone while Randy was visiting the chiropractor for a back injury.  So, the critters and I decide (well, I decided they really had no choice) to do a photo shoot.  Here is what we came up with.

Ash playing ball.

Koal just being entirely too cute!

Thai, "on you mark, get set....."

Rooster on the run!

One of our ewe lambs, Minnie, keeping cool by the stock tank.  We don't name all our sheep, but this little girl was a bottle baby.

That pretty much sums up August for us.  The garden hasn't been all that impressive.  Luckily, there is a farmer's market right across the street from where I work (I'm headed there today).  So, I can stock up on fresh produce from other peoples good fortune.

Oh, and the fall weather came and went here.  We are back into the mid-upper nineties for the rest of the week.  It was good while it lasted.

Have a wonderful day!

Black Eyed Pea Soup Recipe

Black Eyed Pea Soup Recipe

1/2 pound sliced bacon
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced green peppers
2 cups diced onions
1 can beef broth
2 cans whole tomatoes
2 cans black-eyed peas

In large Dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp; remove with slotted spoon, drain on paper towel. Add celery, green pepper, and onion to bacon drippings; saut until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain off excess drippings. Add beef broth to Dutch oven; bring to boil. Add tomatoes and black-eyed peas; bring to boil again, then lower heat and simmer 30 minutes. Serves 10.

Baked Potato Soup Recipe

Roasted Sweet Potato and Andouille Sausage Soup

I found this online. I have got to try it. Soups are my favorite food.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Andouille Sausage Soup