Winter hangs on

For just one week there, we had a breath, just a breath of coming spring, and then, BANG right back to winter. Ouch! It almost hurt more to have a tease of warm days and then back to very cold again.  But, at least the warm weather thawed out the ground enough so I could get some dirt moved into what will some day be my vegetable garden.



This is Brenda with little Deja

  Well, this is a bit of fresh air! This is little Deja, she is a foster child we had for one weekend. She came to us from the hospital, she was 3 days old, and she stayed with us until they were able to arrange for another foster family to care for her and her big brother.



Eggs!  It's fascinating to see all the different colors.

 We have started getting four eggs a day. It's amazing that we have been getting only one or two eggs a day for several months, even when we had 8 hens. Now, in the middle of winter, they have decided to start laying. Who knows the mind of a chicken? Maybe this is a sign of coming spring. I am hoping that at least one of the hens will decide that it is time for her to raise a family. I have four different breeds of hens, Rhode Island Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, Buff Orpington, and an Americauna. The rooster is a black sex linked breed (whatever that is).




Oatmeal pancakes.  If you have never eaten oatmeal pancakes, then you will just have to give it a try.  It's a bit of work to put together, but it's definitely worth the effort.

 Here's the recipe for oatmeal pancakes:
1 cup oat flour (I grind my own, but you can get it at the store)
4 cups milk (divided)
1 cup of one minute oatmeal
2 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Here's how I do it. First, I heat the milk in the microwave until it's almost boiling, then I put it in a pan on the stove, add the one minute oats and stir constantly with a wire whisk, because that keeps the milk from burning on the bottom of the pan. Then, when it starts to boil, I turn the heat off but leave it on the stove to keep cooking while I mix the other ingredients. Next put the oat flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix, then add eggs and oil and mix. Then, add the cooked oatmeal and then add about another 2-3 cups of milk and mix thoroughly until it is the desired consistency. I like it a little bit runny so that it cooks quickly all the way through, othewise it can be a bit wet in the center when the outside is cooked.

My mother taught me to test the griddle with a drop of cold water. When it is hot enough so the water drop dances around the griddle in little tiny balls, it is hot enough for pancakes.




The three not-so-little pigs.  In my opinion they  aren't pigs any more, they are hogs.





The time is drawing nigh for the next pig to make its way to the deep freezer. They are eating me out of house and home. It's time to cut my expenses. I had a friend's 14 year old son over a couple weeks ago who likes to work with me with the farm work and I was joking with him about the pigs. You know, they eat like pigs, they are making pigs of themselves, the big one is hogging the feeder, their pasture is like a pig sty, things like that. One advantage of the cold weather, their pasture doesn't smell bad when it's below freezing.

Mixed berry pie.  Long story.

Sunday we had a sort of ice and snow storm so church was cancelled.  So, I was stuck at home with a wood burning cookstove, a pile of firewood and a burning desire to cook something.  So, as I had one frozen pie crust and a bag of frozen mixed berries (straw, rasp, blue) I saw a mixed berry pie coming.  One problem, though.  Only one crust for a two-crust pie.  That meant (NOOOOO) I would have to make the other crust from scratch.  Well, long story short, I did actually get a pie crust on the pie (as you can see) on the third try.  I rolled it out as thin as I could, as I knew it was going to tough.  But, at least it tastes good, and that is half the battle.

Bean soup.

Wood cookstove project #2, bean soup.  I had cooked some ribs last week and saved the broth, and I wanted to make soup, so, one pound of dry beans (mixed beans) a bay leaf, one can of diced tomatoes, some dried minced onions, a dash of garlic powder, and about 4 cups of pork ribs broth.  Heat to boiling, then simmer on a wood stove all day, and even the little kids ate the whole thing!  I did have to add hot water to it from time to time when it got boiled down too much, but, wow! Yes!  I have hot water right there on the stove top!

Leftovers.  Oatmeal raisin cookies and Denver omelet scramble (from Taste of Home).

Wood stove project #3, oatmeal cookies, from my Betty Crocker looseleaf cookbook.  Even a bit too brown on the edges, they went fast!
Wood stove project #4, Denver Omelet Scramble.  I used my 12 inch cast iron frying pan, fried the potatoes, onions and green bell pepper first, then, when the potatoes were starting to brown I added the ham and eggs and baked it in the oven for about 20 minutes.  I know this isn't a surprise to those of you who use cast iron fry pans regularly but it still amazes me when something like this comes right out of the pan, just like Teflon!

The overflow.  I couldn't get all the berry mix in the pie, so I just cooked the rest in the oven and we had it with ice cream.  Yum!  The cookie sheet has the edges off of the pie crust, like my mother used to make, with sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on it.

Breakfast was oatmeal pancakes.  For lunch, Denver Omelet Scramble with oatmeal cookies for dessert.  Supper was bean soup and berry pie and ice cream for dessert.  Plus, it kept the whole house nice and toasty warm all day!  Who wouldn't want a wood cookstove in their house?

After a long, hard day of cooking for me I gave the Glenwood a good scrubbing all over with some steel wool and got most of the grease spots off.