Farm Chick Friday

It was very fun being one of the featured “Farm Chicks” on this week’s Farm Chick Chit Chat Facebook page, and welcome to those of you who found my blog by following their suggestion. 🙂

FCCC featured another great blogger this week, and I think she’s just fantastic!  I hope you’ll pop over and visit with Emily at http://oldbrodbeckfarm.blogspot.com/.  Emily is a very talented photographer and horse-enthusiast.  Check out Old Brodbeck Farm to learn about this family farm that has been passed down for many generations, and the chickens, horses and goats they keep there.  Make sure you tell Emily I sent you!

Looking back, I realized I need to play some catch-up and be sure to include a few blogs that were featured at the end of 2012 on FCCC.  One of my absolute favorite blogs to follow is http://farmhouse38.wordpress.com/.  Kate at Farmhouse 38 is an incredibly talented photographer and artist, and writes some hysterically funny posts about her backyard chicken adventures in her suburban homestead.  Kate’s blog is real eye-candy, and I’m sure you will LOVE it!

Farm Chick Friday

Wow, where the heck did this week go??

It’s Friday, and time to check out 2 more of the awesome bloggers contributing to Farm Chick Chit Chat!  This week I encourage you to visit with Mandie who runs Louise’s County Closet- you can check it out here: http://www.louisescountrycloset.com/

and after you’ve seen all the awesome goodies available through Mandie’s site, be sure to visit with Sonja and all the animals at Lally Brock Farms.  Sonja specializes in handmade goat milk soaps and other products- check them out!

http://www.lallybrochfarms.blogspot.com/

Happy Reading!

Farm Chick Friday

In all the excitment over having my article on alpacas published in the premier issue of From Scratch magazine, I completely forgot about last week’s Farm Chick Friday post. 😦  I feel terrible about it because these ladies are truly awesome and their blogs are really worth checking out!  I hope you’ll take some time to visit with them, because I guarantee you will enjoy their blogs.

Shanyan blogs about her adventures in homesteading in a suburban backyard at:http://backyardhomesteadadventure.blogspot.com/

Sheila shares thoughtful and heartfelt musings on slowing down and enjoying the homestead lifestyle at: http://hope-farms.blogspot.com/

Lisa is a well known and recognized authority on chicken and duck keeping, and you can count on her sage advice to keep your flock happy and healthy. Check out: http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/

Happy reading!!

Farm Chick Fridays

It’s Friday again, and time for another edition of “Farm Chick Fridays”- where I plan to share links to blogs from my fellow contributors to Farm Chick Chit Chat.  Each week, FCCC spotlights 1-2 of the bloggers, and I wanted to share them with you here as well.  Take a moment to visit with this weeks featured blogs on Farm Chick Chit Chat, they are really great ladies!

Tina is also blogging about her first year of chicken keeping at:
http://ttackanderson.blogspot.com/

Carol blogs about her experiences in homesteading and homeschooling at:

http://everythinghomewithcarol.com/

Happy reading and tell them I sent you over to say “hi”!

-Renee

Farm Chick Fridays

In the spirit of the “new year,” I am planning to start a new project here: “Farm Chick Fridays”- which will feature a links to the wonderful blogs created by my fellow contributors to Farm Chick Chit Chat.

I am so thankful to be included in this great group of bloggers, and am sure that you will truly enjoy visiting their blogs and getting know these ladies.

Check out this weeks featured blogs:

http://maplegroveplace.blogspot.com/

http://www.backyardfarmingconnection.com/?m=1

cookie swap

Traditionally, my absolute favorite cookie of the Christmas season are the “Butterballs” my mother has always made (and only makes at Christmas). It’s a yearly race to get to my parents house the day she announces she has baked them to see if I can get a few before my father eats them all (they are also HIS absolute favorite).

Mom always scolds us both for eating them up as soon as they are done, and we always just reply that she should not make us wait for one single day each year! These cookies also go by the moniker “Russian Tea Cakes” or “Mexican Wedding Cakes” and normally feature either walnuts or pecans. My kids, however, have not yet acquired the taste for walnuts or pecans, so I was pretty excited to find this version of the classic cookie using orange zest in place of nuts. They smell wonderful and got a thumbs-up rating from my kids.

Orange Snowballs

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup Confectionary sugar + 3/4 cup sifted for rolling

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

2 cups Flour

1/8 tsp salt

Blend together the butter, orange zest, salt, vanilla and 1/2 cup confectionary sugar until creamy. Blend in the flour. Take small amounts of dough and roll between your palms to create 1” balls. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are golden. Remove from oven, let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, but while still warm remove and coat each thoroughly with confectionary sugar. I do this by filling a bowl with the sugar then dropping a few cookies in at a time and using a spoon to roll them around and cover them with the powdered sugar.

* adapted from A Very Merry Cookie Party http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0811866750

Baker, baker… bake me a pie

It’s apple month over at Farm Chick Chit Chat, and to get everyone excited about the new blog we are having an “apple pie recipe-off” to gather everyone’s favorite apple pie recipes.

Confession: I hate making pie. I mean, I LOVE to bake…, just not pie. I think it has something to do with the fact that both my mother and mother-in-law are amazing pie bakers….I have pie- envy. Generally, I won’t even make more than one apple pie a year because, honestly, everyone would rather eat one of theirs

So, with that I give you the best recipe I have… which is mostly just a copy of my mom’s. But to start a good pie, one must have a great crust- and here I have a dilemma. Do I use my mother-in-law’s or my own dear sweet momma’s??? See what I’m saying?? I honestly can’t say which is tastier. My hubby will of course vote for his mom’s (and in a dimwitted moment once actually said that to my mom!!!), so I naturally usually make my mom’s

How about this- I will give you both and you decide. Settle the matter for me, please!

Mom’s Recipe for pie crust
1 stick softened butter
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
Dash of nutmeg
3 tbsp cold water

In a large bowl use a pastry cutter to blend the flour, butter, salt and nutmeg. When crumbly, add cold water slowly and mix until a doughy ball forms. Divide the dough in 1/2 and roll out on a floured surface. Makes 2 crusts.

His mom’s pie crust recipe
3 cups flour
1-1/2 cup Crisco
1 tbsp cider vinegar
5 tbsp water
1 egg

Blend flour and Crisco together in a bowl with a pastry cutter until crumbly.
In a small bowl, mix together egg, vinegar, and water. Mix all together lightly to create a very sticky dough. Divide into 3. Roll dough out on floured surface. (makes 3 crusts)

Okay, so on to the filling:
6-8 peeled chopped apples (Macs or Galas are our preference)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl stir together apples, sugar, and cinnamon and transfer to pie dish onto bottom crust. Add top crust and pinch together in whatever manner suits you ( I usually use a fork). Sprinkle crust liberally with sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce temp to 350 and continue baking for 30-40 minutes until crust is golden.

Welcome, Farm Chick Chit Chat!

I am so excited to be included in the new Farm Chick Chit Chat blog! Please be sure to follow the link to check it out- you will find a wonderful community of fellow bloggers with an interest in farming.

As I have said before, fall is by far my most favorite season and I am thrilled that it is finally around the corner! We have been trying to pack in as much activity as possible into the last couple of weeks to close out the summer, and the kids head off to school this week. I cannot believe our baby is starting school this year…and am much sadder about it than I had expected to be. The backpacks are packed, pencils sharpened, and new jackets hung by the door! I don’t know about the rest of you, but the start of the school year always feels like a new beginning to me- more so than New Year’s. Time to start new routines, get busy with the knitting projects I’ve had on hold all summer, and a renewed interest in cooking and meal-planning.

My family welcomes fall as the return of “mom’s baking!” season…and to kick things off I thought a cake would be perfect to celebrate back-to-school. I found this “harvest celebration” cake in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook a number of years ago, and it has always gone over well.

For the 1st day of school, I tossed a beef stew in the crockpot and once both the kiddos were off on their awfully big adventures I baked them this cake 🙂 The flavors really seemed perfect to celebrate the new school year.

While the recipe calls for 1 hour of baking time, I had to bake it for an extra 15 minutes…. Not sure why but it could be due to my substitution of applesauce in place of the oil.

Harvest cake (originally from Gooseberry Patch)

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup oil ( I substitute applesauce)
2 cups flour
15 oz can pumpkin
1 apple- cored, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional- I skip them)

Combine sugar, brown sugar, baking soda , salt and spices. Add in the oil ( or applesauce if you prefer), vanilla and eggs. Add flour slowly- beating in a bit at a time. Stir in the pumpkin, apples and nuts. Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Pour batter into pan, bake at 350 degrees for an hour (or until cooked through). Let cool and frost with icing if desired. Serves 10-12. We skip the icing and eat it more like a bread. It’s delicious!