Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Day Update

So what are you up to?
I've been taking care of some very active puppies. It won't be long before Dwight will have them "gofering".
Meanwhile they "go home" on command and haven't had an accident since Saturday (knock on wood or I'll find it with my bare feet).
Daisy is very fat-and I hope the girth we have for her still fits. I'm hoping to ride soon.
Blue and Bailey are doing well-they are very excited that deer season is over so they are free to run rabbits. Bailey is due to have pups on February 7th. She doesn't look to awful big just yet.
Aflac and Huey are nesting-maybe baby ducks by Easter? I bought three more hens to bring the total up to 11. I'm hoping the new girls can provide blue eggs. The rooster doesn't know about the new hens just yet. Speaking of which, I need to name him. He's really getting pretty-as far as roosters go.
The fish are steadily eating the plants and are doing well.Lots of snails.
We're expecting snow this weekend.
I get the joy of working six days this week and that pretty much sums it up for me.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Recipe 5 Rasberry cake with lemon icing

for the cake:
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

for the buttercream:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
zest & juice of 2 meyer lemons
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar

to make the cake, preheat your oven to 320F. grease and line four 6" cake pans or two 8" or 9" cake pans with parchment paper and set aside.
cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing after each addition.
add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and mix until mostly combined. add the yogurt and mix until combined.
beat the egg whites to medium peaks and fold into the cake batter. fold in the raspberries.
divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
to make the buttercream, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. add the lemon zest and juice and salt and mix until combined. slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. mix on medium speed for a couple minutes until light and fluffy. if your buttercream is softer than you'd like, you can either add more sugar or chill it for 30 minutes.
to make a four layer cake, slice each cake layer in half. spread with buttercream and top with another cake layer. continue until all layers are used. spread the cake with remaining buttercream. store finished cake in the refrigerator.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Another recipe for Adults

Cinnamon Toast Shots

one part Rum Chata
one part Fireball Whiskey
pour over ice
and get your Sunday on

Friday, January 23, 2015

Earning kibble

I've got it! I know how the puppies can earn their keep. It all came to me this morning. You take the two of them after they've been let out and place them in the bed with someone. After that person has received their limit of two hundred doggie kisses, she can turn her face into the pillows. This will require that person to be on her side or laying on her stomach. At which time, the work begins. The puppies will run up and down her back a couple of hundred times giving an organic massage. Earning their kibble. This will continue until a wrestling match stops the massage or until something bites you on the ass.

Recipe three Potatoe Soup

Ok, I got this recipe but I changed it up a little bit because I really didn't want to peel and dice five pounds of potatoes. Five pounds seemed excessive for two people any way. The soup came out just fine. Hubster and I agree the recipe is a keeper and great for the cold weather. Super easy supper.
This is enough to feed us three times each-very healthy portions.

Kate's Potato Soup
2 pounds of peeled and dice potatoes
1/2 small onion finely diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans of chicken broth
4 ounces of cream cheese

Blend the cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, and broth together in a crock pot. Add the potatoes and onions. Cook eight  hours on low or five hours on high. To make it a little thicker, mash potatoes at the end of cooking.
You could sprinkle bacon bits, grated cheese, or green onions on top.

Thursday

This is what I feel like leaving the building Thursday night to start my weekend.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Recipe TWO Strawberry brownies

1 box strawberry cake mix


2 eggs

1/3 cup oil



Mix ingredients together and spread in a 9" x 13" pan sprayed with oil or greased. The mix will be thick, not thin like a cake mix and you will need to spread it thin - it does rise when baked. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 18 minutes. To test if they are done, insert a toothpick in the center and it should comes clean.



For a pink glaze, mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons milk or water and pour it over the brownies while they are warm. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Winter travels

This is the Big Piney view off of 123

This is the bridge that picture was taken from

Another view of the bridge-it's near Fort Douglas

We saw some deer

And the big town of Snowball, Ar

View of the Buffalo River from the 65 bridge near Grinder's Ferry


All in all, we rode 157 miles.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Recipe 2015 number one



So the new recipe for January was Chicken Enchiladas in white sauce.
Pretty easy to make, and I liked it, but the hubster hated it.
The directions said to melt three tbsp of butter with 3 tbsp of flour-stirring frequently. Add two cups of chicken broth and one cup of sour cream. That's the white sauce. Then oil a 9x13 pan. Mix two cups of shredded chicken, one cup of mexican cheese, one cup of salsa and three tbsp of green chiles(I cheated and just used one can of rotel)-mix this and spread on the tortillas (ten) and put in pan. Cover with the white sauce and one cup of mexican cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

rub-a-dub-dub

Rub-a-dub-dub. Four dogs in the tub. Actually, there's a little bit of a knack to it so not all of them at once. First of all, the temperature has to be warm. Very warm, but not hot. Then you have to soap up Dixie (ladies first you know) and be prepared to listen to Oscar bark until it's his turn (will be glad when his balls drop and his bark is not so high pitched). You're supposed to let the shampoo sit on them for 15 minutes, but I've never got that far. They love when I rub them down and massage their little backs. The soap and water are a minor inconvenience. So Dixie comes out and gets towel dried, then it's Mellie's turn, and then Oscar. We have to stop after Oscar gets out of the tub. When he was much smaller I made the mistake of wrapping him up in a warm towel and carrying him around like a bundled baby. It's something he expects when he gets a bath. So I have to carry him around until he's good and dry and has been properly burped. Then we have to chase Loki and to catch him and give him a bath. Much watch Loki closely because he will escape the tub with the soap on if you turn to sneeze.
And that is how I clean four dogs. Yes, the bathroom heater is on. No, they don't want to go outside in the snow to use the restroom now.

Friday, January 2, 2015

2015

Another year! I've tried not to make resolutions for the entire year but take it little by little. I'd like to lose ten pounds in January-and that may sound a little aggressive, but it's just taking off the sweets I put on during November and December.
Once again, I'd like to try a new recipe every month-looking back it just looks like I tried one last year. I only posted one new recipe but I'm sure I tried more than that. I made sweet potatoe casserole, a carrot cake, alfredo sauce, new biscuits, etc. I just have to get better at posting.
I think I should also post my pinterest fails.Consider it my community service. I may save other people time and money.
Let's consider my most recent pinterest fail:
SNO dough
That's right-there's directions to make glittery snow play dough and I followed the directions to a "T". First batch came out ok, but it smelled funny. Toss to the trash and start over. So I made it again. Second batch smelled funny too so I added a little essential oil-and it smelled much, much better BUT it turned it a little yellow and there's just nothing good about yellow snow.