February 18, 2013

got into the 40's again today...but breezy and no sun...

forecasted freezing rain/snow for tomorrow....

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Ross' side of the business has been crazy busy (AMEN!!!)

so after another long day today, I wanted to have a nice

hot dinner waiting for him....I needed to use some beef

from a couple nights ago and so I made a Shepherds Pie...

have seen it in cookbooks, but never tried it....so i didn't use

a recipe...I just made it up as i went along...

Shepherd's Pie :

4 large potatoes (cooked and mashed...but don't add milk)

2 eggs

4 Tbsp butter

mash your tatars and then add the eggs and butter.....grease a pie pan and spread

half of the tatars to make the bottom crust.....

heat the beef and gravy for just a couple minutes....add that to the crust...add your veggies

on top and put the rest of the tatars on top of that....

bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.....brush melted butter on top and put back in
the oven for about 10 minutes....let it set for about 10 minutes before serving...

Attention Miller Family......this is the standard Sunday after church meal all in 1 pie...lol

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 knew that Ross would also like a salad, so as I was putting

that together.....I realized that there wasn't any Italian Dressing....

so I whipped some up.....here are the ingredients needed.....

the recipe is on August 28, 2012

it makes 2 bottles full....

Pleasant Dreams!!!



February 14, 2013

Happy Valentines Day from Ross & Wendy Valentine...

we are not normally bothered with celebrating Valentines day

on February 14, because it is always Valentines day for us....lol

with that being said.....we also don't normally exchange gifts or

cards on this day either.....this is what I awoke to....

not fair Mr Valentine...but you know how

I LOVE a single Yellow Rose!!!

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today is also our Chocolate Lab Jasmines

13th birthday!!!

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got to 40 degrees again today but no Sun....and it

was a bit breezy...some sleet and snow is supposed

to arrive tonight and then COLD temps are back...bummer!!!

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I had meetings all night...But Ross had

chicken breast, baked potato and steamed

green beans waiting when I got home!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

February 13, 2013

it got to 40 degrees today and sunny!!!! We will take it!!!

the chickens all came out of the coop...first time in a couple

months.....I am sure they were glad to stretch their legs...

we have been averaging 16 - 18 eggs a day......today we got 22!!!

Well done Mamas!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!



February 11, 2013

this is my Great Grandpa Berts financial diary pages for February 1913....

what they sold or earned for income:
48 1/2 lbs of butter = $16.51

86 dozen eggs = $21.92

52 bushel potatoes = $33.80

1 qt of milk = $.10

1 month salary  = $50.00

1 bushel onions = $.50

1 bushel apples = $.85

so $123.68 came in

what they purchased or paid:
groceries (not specific) = $6.69

  feed  = $9.25

baker = $1.35

papers = $4.15

sleigh repairs = $2.25

1,710 lbs coal = $4.24

Preacher Salary = $2.00

Dr. for Allen = $1.50

Lodge Dues = $2.00

Memorial Window = $3.35

Door Hangers = $4.75

Labor (E. Reimer???) = $1.00

Meat Barber = $1.15

so $43.68 went out

 

OK...Lots of oddities on this months entries.....let me know

if you can answer any of the questions for me....

 

* not sure what PAPERS was/is , but $4.15 is a lot of money                    

* sleigh repairs....very cool ....they lived in Pennsylvania                             

* my grandpa (Allen) was born in June so an 8 month Dr Checkup maybe?

   * Memorial Window.....(Cindy can you tell me if one of those windows in the

                                   church was partially purchased by Bert & Alice)

* Door Hangers...we have seen this before....not sure if it is advertisements.

* Meat Barber....you got me on this one...I googled it but nothing came up..

 

Thanks for your help....................Pleasant Dreams!!!

February 10, 2013

had a wonderful day at church today....take a

listen to Pastor Bob's preaching at www.h-hcc.org

we had our All Church Meeting right after the service

was over...kind of like a State of the Church review

of 2012 and looking forward to 2013...love my

church family.

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got home and saw a Pineapple amongst our fruit

bowl that needed to be cut up.....then the long pause

while Ross waits for me to say....I think I will make.........

 Pineapple Upside Down Cake....I realized that

I never made this recipe last year...so here yo go...

Pineapple Upside Down Cake :

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)

pineapple

maraschino cherries

melt the butter in a glass dish, add brown sugar....mix together....add the pineapple pieces on top...in whatever pattern you desire.....add cherries if you wish.....

used a yellow cake mix that I found in the cupboard...poured that on top and placed  it into the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.....when done...tip upside down on your cake plate and let it cool...then remove the glass bakeware.....Perfect every time!!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

February 9, 2013

beautiful sunny day....the East Coast got hammered with

a huge snow storm...up to 3 feet of snow.....we were at

1 yes One degree this morning....crazy cold but the sun makes up

for anything.....  :)

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Ross made breakfast.....hash browns.....made with our potatoes...the last from

our potato box.....we planted them on April 10, 2012 and picked

them on October 12, 2012...we leave them in the basement cellar...the

rest will be used as our seed potatoes for this year.... 

bell peppers, garlic, bacon, onions and pepper to taste....

eggs from the coop and ham from the hog



gotta LOVE a real fresh from the farm hardy breakfast !!!

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any sunny day during the winter means outside projects.....

first job.....clean out the chicken coop....

this is a YUCKY YUCKY job...but all part of the chicken

mamas having a clean, healthy environment to live and lay in.

here is the back part of the coop with some of the old straw gone and

some of the nasty rolled up and ready to be removed....

and now with fresh straw back in.....

Reggie the Rooster giving his girls a pep talk....

the front part of the coop....the feeding area....

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second job.......filling up the wood rack on the

back porch....everything is so much easier when the sun

is shining and their is no wind.

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third job....making dinner...normally friday night is Pizza night,

maybe we will change it to saturday night for 2013....

tried a new dough recipe....

Italian Pizza Dough : yields 2 pizzas

5 cups flour

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt

4 1/2 tsp yeast

mix all of these ingredients together......add 2 cups warm water and 6Tbsp of olive oil together and pour into the dry ingredients......mix until it is moistened...don't over mix it....let it rest 10 minutes.

sprinkle corn meal on your pizza stones....cut the dough into 2.....roll them to extend over the pizza stone...

add cheese into the extra dough before you roll into a crust...roll the dough docker

over it to create holes in the dough....bake at 375 for 5 minutes.....add all your

favorite toppings and cook for an additional 20 - 25 minutes...

 we have found our new Pizza Crust recipe...it tasted Amazing!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

February 4, 2013

we are still here.....just took some time away....we are back and ready

to experience some new things at the farm in 2013.

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the weather has been snowy for the last week....which is fine with us,

we will take all the precipitation we can get!!!!

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we are looking into BEE KEEPING.....will keep you posted

on how that goes.....we have wanted to do it for years....so

we will get started in 2013 and see where it takes us.

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the chicken mamas are doing GREAT....they were born in March

of 2012 so this is their first experience of cold and snow....we

are averaging 18 eggs a day....so we can't complain!!!

I have been logging in our INCOME and EXPENSES under

the Chicken Tab....if you want to see the entire process....

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Looking forward to the adventures that await us in 2013....

Thanks for being with us for the AMAZING ride!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!