4-H

My niece, Kiersten and my nephew, Zach are both involved in their local 4-H club. I loved 4-H when I was younger but was never involved as much as they are. Lucky for them, they are growing up on a farm and have had lots of fun raising all sorts of critters. The largest being cows.

Each year they raise a calf and show them at the 4-H fair. This was Zach's first year. That is him over on the right --> Isn't he just the cutest thing ever. Every time I see him I turn into one of those freakish aunts that wants to pinch his cheeks. Sorry bout that Zach :)

Zach had a puny little calf so we all knew going in that he would not win for having a perfect calf. But what the calf lacked Zach was able to show around and he did an amazing job. Even when the calf decided to do his impression of Silver and the Lone Ranger. (Yes, I use to watch that show. Do not laugh) I wish I had a picture of that action but I don't. Instead I have a picture of Zach working hard.






Kiersten had a whopper of a steer this year. Moody as all get out. (listen to me talking as if I know much about cows) All 10lbs of Kiersten had to lay down the law to 911lbs Cranky Mccrankypants. If I knew more about doctorin, I would have slipped ol Mccranky a valium or 10. See that is Mccranky right there--> eyeballin me.









Kiersten went back into the ring for a second time and showed the sweet little calf of Zach's and she did a great job. All smiles and answered
the judges questions like a pro.









Even Kaileigh got in on the action and held puny little sweet calf.
This is when she decided she should have a calf for when she is old
enough for 4-H. or a pig.. or a goat.. or a sheep or or how bout a fluffy rooster! *sigh*

Babycakes, you got the cutest little babycakes!

Tonight, I let Sandra talk me into going to happy hour at Babycakes cupcakery in Patchen Village.
Talk into you wonder? Yeah, I am not a cake person. The thick icing compared to the dryness of a cake is blegh to me. My dislike of cake started early. My brother and I had a deal that he would eat my icing and I would take care of the green items on his plate at dinner. Odd duck? Maybe, but it was a good deal for me. My mother would actually cut me off on how much green beans or kale I was allowed to have at dinner.

Now, if it was one of my grandmother's cakes it would be a different story. She knew how to make a hillbilly cake. All from scratch. No measurements and it was all done in a buttered cast iron skillet. We would sit, wait and drool until the cake was out of the oven and then pounce on it like wolves. Zero icing. to get in your way and the cake was moist. mmmmm

Now back to our story. I was hesitant to go to a cupcakery. How much enjoyment would I, a known cake hater, get from this? Were they going to be all fluffy and pretty and then nasty and crisco-y? Armed with the idea that it was happy hour and the tiny cakes would be half off I decided to go along for the ride. I can splurge on some cake and if it is bad then point a finger at Sandra for years to come. Cause that is just the kind of friend I am.

We were greeted at the door by the super friendly cupcake lady. I can only assume she bakes, is the owner and knows what she is doing because she looks like I do when I bake all day.

I got 4 cupcakes: Key Lime, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Brownie and good ol Chocolate Fudge. So far we are sampling them slowly and the Key Lime was the first one to go. I must say that it was the best darn cupcake I have ever had. The icing was a smooth buttercreme(or is it cream. I hope cream) frosting and the cake was moist. Oh was it ever moist. The lime flavor was not over powering but was nice and subtle.

I will be back cake lady! You can visit Baby Cakes here too. Now go visit her.

Homemade Whities

Chuck is the kind of guy that will happily eat whatever I set in front of him. Never a complaint and very few requests. Easiest man to cook for ever. Whenever he makes a suggestion/request for food I usually jump on it. When he sounded the craving alarm for a round of homemade Whities I wondered how on earth I would make tiny steamed burgers. Alton Brown to the rescue again.

A few years ago, Alton made Mini Man Burgers. These burgers proved to be quite tasty and I doubt I will make regular sized burgers again. I altered it slightly but stuck mostly to his recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t kosher salt
1lb ground chuck
1 package Kings Hawaiian Savory rolls
sauted thinly sliced onions
various toppings of your choice (cheese, mayo etc)

Mix together the spices and put in a shaker. Slice your onions and saute them for about 5min or desired doneness. Set aside. Divide your beef into 8 equal parts and pat them out very thin. Think Whities thin here. Lightly oil your cast iron pan and slap your Whities on the heat, sprinkle one side with desired amount of spice mixture. Flip and sprinkle the other side with spices. Slice your rolls in half and fill with your way better Whities and add your toppings.

I really thing the rolls made all the difference. I have never been a fan of commercial buns.
Homemade onion rings would rule as a side. Or you could go and be healthy and have some corn or something. As a major bonus, these do not produce the *ahem* sliding. Not that I ever had that issue.

Thank you Alton for yet another great recipe.

I forsee a busy January

Chuck and I celebrated our 6th anniversary by taking Kaileigh camping with us to one of our favorite spots in Tennessee. It was an unusually warm weekend but we had lots of fun at the homesteader weekend fair they had going on. Kaileigh hung out with a quilter at her exhibit and stictched for a good hour.

We got an added bonus gift on Sunday morning by getting a positive pregnancy test. What a way to finish our anniversary weekend. After several failed trips to the ob, we *cross your fingers* will be seeing her on Thursday. Just to drive a few of you crazy, we will not be finding out the sex of the baby until he or she makes his/her slimy grand entrance. No exceptions. Sorry Kiersten :)

Prepare for a few more baby related posts in the future as I go baby craft crazy.

Greek Salad Love: Part Two

For the last year, I have been filling my family full of Greek salad. Then I started to notice that I was picking around the lettuce a bit to get to the good parts. Finally it dawned on me that hey I am an adult. I can make my salad the way I darn well choose. Forget the lettuce! I want the good bits!
I have made a few changes to the original recipe but both certainly have their places at the dinner table.

Ingredients
4T extra virgin olive oil
2T lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4t dried oregano
1/2t kosher salt, plus 1/2 t salt reserved
1/4t fresh ground black pepper
3-4 roma tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
1 English or regular cucumber, quartered, seeded and chopped
1 green, red or combo bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion chopped finely
4oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup green olives, drained (for the love of gawd, use good olives)

Use 1/2t reserved salt and mix with cucumber. Place in colander and allow to drain. Combine first six ingredients and set aside. (I usually triple the dressing and reserve part for future use.) Allow time for the flavors to blend. Plow through the chopping of all of the veggies and crumble your feta. I prefer to crumble mine with a fork. Feta fingers will not be tolerated. Give your cucs a good shake(I do not rinse them) and toss everything together. You may make the original recipe and add chopped lettuces but I like it just fine this way.
If you do not finish it off during your meal then make sure you eat it by the next day. Or else it will be a soggy mess and make my heart sad at the wasted goodness.

The current sprogling, also known as Reggie by his/her daddy, *ahem* loves Greek salad just as much as I do. He or she has decided that I should be a vegetarian for the next 6months. So if you have a fav veggie dish then please pass it on. A recent get together had me surrounded by a plethora or veggie dishes. Including Sandra's pineapple weird dish*. I have no idea what the name is but it is the oddest thing I have ever seen placed on the table. While it wins the weirdest dish award it also wins an award for oddball goodness. Please to be sending me that one mmkay. :)

*I really should say weirdest good thing because I have seen some nastiness flopped on the table.
*cough* rocky mountain oysters *cough*

I'm Mad as H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

On Sunday, October 20th, 2002 Chuck and I went to a park in Indiana. We strolled down a hiking trail as the leaves were falling. Chuck was unusually quiet as I chattered on. Normally, I am content to hike quietly but not on that day. I come from a family of talkers. The quiet disturbs us greatly. I knew it as well as Chuck knew that at some point on that hike he was going to pull out a big fat ring box and ask me to marry him.

After our hike, we were happy to share our news with everyone and never with a thought that in this country some people do not share that same right as we do. This is what has me so mad today that I am steaming. Why is that our country has limitations on who can marry whom? Why should the government decide who I can fall in love with and marry? Don't even bother to bring up religion here. Our government should not base any laws on any religion. Our country was created by people who wanted freedom. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that anyone can govern my right to marry.

Wandering off now to stew and plant more veggies until this nauseating feeling subsides. Maybe one day this country will grant that all people regardless of sexual orientation can enjoy marriage. They too should be able to have health care for their spouses, visit them in the hospital as next of kin and make difficult decisions if need be and stand up before all of their friends and declare their love for one another legally and without fear. Maybe if the U.S would step forward and say that enough is enough.then all of the hate would begin to fade. Equal rights for everyone!!

Manly Shirt Remake

I have two favorite tank tops and they are getting old. Sadly showing their age by fading from a nice dark black to that nasty faded blackish brown with a hint of purple. Not pretty. I have looked high and low for replacements for them but have failed on every shopping trip. I have to admit I am slightly picky on the tank top front so it makes perfect sense that I continue to look. Lemme sum up: I like a tank that is fitted but not too fitted, wider straps to hide ye old bra straps and a slight give so as to not accent the chest so much that I frighten small children. Oh and not too thin or have one of those stupid built in bra shelf. I hate that.

I recently saw a crafty blog that repurposed a mans dress shirt into a dress. Props go out to whoever that was. I am too tall for that kind of action though. I would look like Tom Cruise in Risky Business. So I kept that bit of creative inspiration in my little head until I thought of a great project. Chuck has several polo knit shirts that he wears to work but the collars give out long before the rest of the shirt. The shirt is the perfect size to repurpose into a tank top! Score!

I started by laying the polo shirt out neatly with the tank top right no top of the sacrificial shirt. Line up the side seams on both the shirt and tank. I wanted to keep the bottom hem that was already on the shirt to keep it as simple as possible.








I measured out a 1/4" seam all around and cut the new neck line and side seams. Remember to retain the bottom seam or heck, create your own hem. You can see part of my rough outline from my magical disappearing ink pen if you look closely.

I then sewed up the raw edges on the neck and side seams.







Flip what remains of your manly shirt over and use the back side for your straps. I cut out 2 12x3 pieces. You can do whatever width or length you want.

Fold the 3" fabric down into a 1" strap. I liked the thicker strap. You could do halfsies if you wanted. Sheesh ignore my man hands in this picture please. Iron your folded strap to make it a bit easier to sew. I sewed two seams down each side of the strap to make sure it kept its form.


Position your straps on your shirt and tack it on. Then try on your new tank top and see if the straps are where they should be. I skipped this step and went straight for the sewing machine. Bad idea. I had to rip the seams and readjust my straps.

This was my first try and I learned alot from it. Sewing knits has always been a fear of mine but I did just fine. The new tank is not perfect but it will be a great tank to do yard work.