Snow days

We normally receive a lot of snow in the winter, and we are fully prepared to weather out the storm with a fully-stocked pantry, full firewood pile and lots of food for the critters.  Although this year started out pretty mild, we more than made up for it this week.

Wearing ice grabbers was the only way I could get around outside after 2 straight days of freezing rain.  They kept slipping off my feet, just as I was getting confident and down I'd go! I got tired of getting bruises, so tied them on with baling twine. (reduce, reuse, recycle!)

The freezing fog is so thick, it's almost impossible to see the barns or house.

Due to poor planning on our part, the large doors on the barn open under the side of the barn, right where all the snow falls off the roof.  So if we don't plan ahead and park the rigs snow-plow side out, we have to dig it out by hand.  Guess what I did this week?  ;-)

Had to knock the snow off the greenhouse, but it's pretty strong and held up well under the weight.

A momentary break in the weather.

Our poor tree!  When we were able to get to town, we were shocked and saddened seeing all the downed trees.

The snow was too deep to play in.  The 5yo came inside within 3 minutes, she kept falling down into the deep snow, she declared it 'NO FUN!'

Where did the truck go?

In order to plow, I had to dig out the truck, chain it up in a snowdrift, then slowly drive to the barn to get the plow.  Only took about an hour!

Had to dig out the path into the barn....planning ahead would have been a good thing.

The BOSS.

Unhappy steer.

We were more fortunate than the rest of our neighbors, the electricity was out for about 4 days in the county, but we had more than enough from our wind generator and backup propane gen!

Free ranging and the library

I love to read.  When I met my husband, he was shocked at how many books I would fly through.  Since I'm frugal (and speedy) it doesn't make sense to buy books, unless I really like them, so I've developed a wonderful relationship with my library.  Since we live out in the boonies, we rarely get to the main branch of the library, and instead visit one of our local branches.  I love living in a small town and I believe in being a free-range parent.  As a child, my parents let me roam wild, ringing a large bell when it was time to come home.  I spent many happy hours in the woods behind our house exploring and letting my inner tomboy run free.  I want to allow my children the same freedom.  They know to be aware of the dangers around them, but I do not want to stifle their adventurous side.  Also, how will they become self-reliant with me hovering over them all the time?

I've shared my love for reading with my children.  When we visit the library, I barely have the truck in park and the kids are out and deep in the stacks, deciding which new book they want to bring home and playing educational games on the kid-sized computers.  The librarians are wonderful, not only do they know my children by name, they also know their interests.

Last night we visited the new $38 million main library for the first time since they opened it last July.  It is gorgeous, although the parking situation could be a lot better.  We didn't actually go to see the books or check out the new building, but we were attending an event, ironically for a caucus viewing party for the only candidate who is for liberty and freedom.  I was standing in the foyer, and my girls were eyeballing the inside of the library with hunger in their eyes.  It was just too pretty not to explore!  I told them to take a quick look and let them go.  They didn't get more than 10 feet from me when a security guard came flying out to yell at me that my children were not allowed to be in the library unless I was with them at all times!  What?  Really?  They have a whole floor dedicated to children and children's activities!  They cannot be there alone?  From their website:  The third floor is dedicated to children, with an innovative Early Learning Center and tween area in addition to the children's collection and program spaces. 

So I'm left not only feeling angry that the guard yelled at me in front of 20 people, but that my children weren't able to explore on their own.  I love hearing about their findings.  I also have to wonder why there were any security guards in the library in the first place?   I guess we truly are becoming a police state.

New Year's Resolutions

Last year I decided to make and keep some New Year's Resolutions.  I'm proud to say that I did!

I wanted to reflect on what I have accomplished in the last year.  Sometimes it feels as if the time goes by so fast, we hardly remember what we did.
1. Learned beekeeping
2. Learned to bellydance
3. Learned to milk a goat
4. Made goat milk cheese
5. Made goat milk soap
6. butchered our own meat (both beef and chicken)
7. learned to can pickles
8. learned to can tomatoes (in all different variations!)
9. stepped out of my comfort zone and volunteered for Ron Paul's political campaign as a county coordinator, which includes (gulp) public speaking and recruiting volunteers
10. taught my older kids how to play piano
11. Started writing this blog
12. Lost weight and reached my goal
13. took a picture every day for my 365project:  http://365project.org/daredevil229/365/
14. adopted a steer to raise for beef
15. raised our own produce
16. homeschooled the kids

Now to decide how to better myself in 2012!

Happy New Year!!!

Toffee!

I started making toffee last year.  I was never a fan of it until I made my own....and now it's a favorite.  I like that I can make all different flavors very easily by varying the type of chocolate and nuts.  I even experimented with crushed candy-canes!  The recipe is really easy,  I got it from King Arthur Flour.

I've tried putting the toffee down first, then topping it with the chocolate and nuts, but prefer to put the nuts down first, then the chocolate, then pouring the hot toffee over it.


1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) butter*
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 cups (8 ounces) diced pecans or slivered almonds, toasted
1 pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (chocolate chips are an easy solution here; you’ll need about 2 2/3 cups)

*If you use unsalted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon salt.
In a large, deep saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar, water and corn syrup, and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil gently, over medium heat, until the mixture reaches hard-crack stage (300°F on an instant-read or candy thermometer). The syrup will bubble without seeming th change much for awhile, but be patient; all of a sudden it will darken, and at that point you need to take its temperature and see if it’s ready. (If you don’t have a thermometer, test a dollop in ice water; it should immediately harden to a brittleness sufficient that you’ll be able to snap it in two, without any bending or softness). Pay attention; too long on the heat, and the syrup will burn. And what a waste of good butter and sugar that would be!

Chocolate Truffles

Years ago as a new mom unable to get more than a couple of hours of sleep, I was glued to the Food Network and one of my favorite shows was Good Eats with Alton Brown.  One of his shows was dedicated to truffles.  I had enjoyed them once at a craft fair, but they charged $2 a piece, and while they were good, I couldn't bring myself to buy a whole box.  Needless to say, Alton's show piqued my interest and I tried his recipe with great success.  I decided to send some to my family and now every year my gift list gets longer.  I make about 8 different varieties using different liquors.  My favorites are cointreau (orange) and peach schnapps.  Needless to say, these treats aren't for children!

For the ganache, I use Ghirardelli's 60% cacao chips and unsalted butter.  I cut the butter into pieces and add it to the chocolate.  

 Heat it in the microwave in 1 minute intervals, stirring in between until mostly melted.  

 Meanwhile, in a saucepan add heavy whipping cream and light corn syrup.  Stir and heat until hot but not boiling.  Add to the chocolate mixture, letting it set for 2 minutes before stirring in fully.  

Add the liquor of choice, stirring it in completely.  

 Refrigerate for a few hours.  

 I use a cookie dough scoop for uniformity and scoop out the balls of ganache onto wax paper lined baking sheets.  Refrigerate again for a few hours.  

I use gloves at this point, roll the balls between your hands to firm them up.  

 Put them back in the fridge while getting the semi-sweet chocolate ready.  

Heat about 2/3 of your semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler, stirring until melted, then add the remaining 1/3 chips (this is my step to avoid tempering the chocolate).  Stir until melted.  

Using a chopstick, spear one of the ganache balls, dip it into the chocolate and twirl the ball while using your gloved finger of your opposite hand to smooth the chocolate over the ball.  

 Sorry I couldn't get a pic of myself doing this (oh, for that 3rd hand!!)  

Put the truffle onto the wax paper, push it off the stick with your 'twirl' finger and use the chopstick to push a little excess chocolate over the hole the stick left behind.  You should have a nicely covered chocolate truffle!  

To differentiate the different flavors, I decorate with different pretty toppings.  I use ground cocoa, powdered sugar, nonpareils, chocolate jimmies, chopped nuts, etc.  You need to decorate them almost immediately after placing them on the tray, as the chocolate coating will harden pretty quickly.  Obviously, the cocoa and powdered sugar won't, but the sprinkles and nuts will just fall off.  (You don't have to top them after every one, I decorate 3 truffles at a time).  After you're done with a tray, place in the refrigerator overnight to firm them up completely.  I love this time of year, it's cold outside and I put the truffles in containers and place them in a cooler on the deck.  This serves 2 purposes, it keeps the fridge clear and most importantly, reduces the temptation to snack!

A box full of the different truffles is truly a wonderful sight!

Ingredients

• 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup brandy or other liquer
• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, and/or toasted coconut, for coating truffles
• 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Meet the critters: Cows

After we had the chickens awhile, we knew that our next step would be a dairy animal.  Since I'd had a bad experience with goats, I knew that I didn't want them....and besides, I'd always heard that their milk tasted funny.

Our neighbor had a wonderful jersey and they were nice enough to share her milk with us.  The cream was wonderful.  I was able to make ice cream and butter and the kids loved the milk.  So of course, we had to get our own cow.

We found a jersey due to calve within the month, and brought her home.....well, not all the way home, since we didn't have a barn to put her in or a pasture for her to roam.  The kids got to name her, I tried to help them with suggestions, but they each picked out a name and we combined them into:  Flower-Bob.  It was February, there was still snow on the ground and the ground was too hard to put in posts.  Our wonderful friends kept her at their house and did calf checks on her all night long just in case she had the baby early.  Eventually, my hubby built a barn, and we brought her home, and within a week, a bull calf was born.  We named him T-bone....and we knew what his future would be.

Flower-bob was a great mom, we tried the calf-sharing method, where we separated them during the day, milked her in the evening and then put the calf with his mom at night.  This did nothing to foster his trust in us and we also never got around to dehorning him....oh, and we botched his banding (to make him a steer).
So he grew into a very large, horned, and angry bull.  He was pretty smart.  Using his horns, he would pop off all the electric fence insulators, drop the electrified fence to the ground and walk over it to wreak havoc on the ranch.  His favorite game was to chase after a very pregnant me.  We had to take him to the vet for castration and then wait at least six months for all the testosterone to leave his body, otherwise the meat would have a strong (unpleasant) flavor.

We had him butchered in February.  It wasn't an easy thing to do, having raised him from birth, but man, does he taste good!

We had Flower-bob artificially inseminated that summer using sexed semen.  The next spring, she had a little jersey heifer we named Clarabelle.  After her birth, we kept them together long enough for her to drink Flower-bob's colostrum and then we separated them.  We bottle-fed Clarabelle and immediately dehorned her.  Instead of being distrustful, she now thinks she's a very large human....she loves attention and still has fond memories of her bottle, as she chews on anything made of rubber (mostly my barn boots).  She really loves my hubby, as he was the only one able to get her to drink from a bottle at first.

Now Clarabelle is old enough to be bred and we AI'd her with long horn semen, since she is still a little small, and long horn's have long, skinny calves.  We had Flower-bob AI'd with the last straw of sexed semen, so she will have Clarabelle's sister in June.

Since we don't have another steer, we adopted one in May from the local dairy.  They cull all the steers and sell them really cheaply.  They even dehorned, banded and bottle trained him!  The kids named him Meathead.

We brought him home and housed him in the goat barn where he made fast friends with the Nigerian buck born 2 weeks prior.

Flower-bob and Clarabelle weren't too happy with the interloper and they pick on him, so he gets free run of the ranch, which means he mostly follows me everywhere and stands outside the back door moo-ing for me to feed him.

Pickles!

This year was my first year making pickles.  I've never had enough cucumbers to make into pickles, but the greenhouse really performed well this year, I picked about 3 5-gallon buckets full.  I used the Seedsavers heritage pickling cucumbers.  Have I ever told you how much I love my greenhouse?

The first batch I made were sweet pickles.  I couldn't decide on a recipe, so I took a shortcut and bought some Mrs. Wages mixes. 

I used my mandoline to slice them uniformly, then packed my hot jars and processed in a boiling water bath. 

The eldest loves pickles and has been asking for weeks to try them.  I was a little nervous having never made them before (and cheating by using the mix which did NOT smell like sweet pickles when I made them!!)  I took a bite and LOVED it, the girl?  She was expecting dill pickles and was completely disappointed to find that they were sweet and 'yucky'.  The hubby and I really enjoyed them, though!

The next batch is going to be kosher dills.  I am going to do a mix of slices (for our homegrown hamburgers) spears, and slices to go with sandwiches.  

 I hope they pass the 7 year old's taste test!