Jammin’

Today is one of those days. It’s chilly and raining outside and all plans for putting in new fence were put on hold for a job that could be done inside.

These decisions are always ultimately left up to the hubby, because if he really wants to get something done, the weather won’t stop him.

Well, today he decided it was time to make jam, Rhubarb Jam. YUM!

But this made me feel a little sad, ya see, I work part time from home for a small business, updating their website and social media sites.

Today happened to be a day I needed to work, so I wasn’t going to get in on the yearly jam making, except for drooling over the mouthwatering sweetness that would waft down the stairs.

I had already pulled some of our rhubarb just after Mother’s Day and made a few little cobblers to deliver to my mom and some others on the way.

Kayla pulled the majority of the rest of ours last night, and Chelsey picked some of our neighbors’ this morning.

At lunch time I came up from the basement to make Fajitas. I had taken a Beef flank steak out of the freezer and settled on a Pinterest recipe from one of my favorite cooks, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.

I whipped up the marinade and sliced the peppers and onions last night and combined them with the flank steak to marinate overnight.

I cranked the stove to high, added the peppers and onions to the pan and in 5 minutes flat I had the house smelling like a Steakhouse! Man it smelled good!

While I was cooking, Chelsey washed and trimmed the Rhubarb. Dan set the table and shredded the cheese and we called Reed for lunch and sat down to try the new recipe.

It was pretty good and I think this recipe is a keeper.

As we put the leftovers away I dreaded leaving the kitchen. I absolutely hate days like this when I would rather be doing what the rest of my family is, especially when they’re in the kitchen!

Uhhh…  to the basement I went.

I could hear the progress upstairs as I clicked on the keyboard below.

Chelsey chopped the Rhubarb while Dan did the cooking at the stove. After it was cooked down, he added sugar, pie filling and jello, and Chelsey pureed it and poured it into the jars.

Kayla got home in the middle of the afternoon and jumped in to help.

By 5 I couldn’t wait any longer for a taste. I headed up the stairs to see what progress they had made. I noticed that the sweetness of the jam cleared up all signs of the Fajitas I had made for lunch.

Cherry, Strawberry and Blueberry flavors had been created and I couldn’t wait to try my favorite, the Strawberry Rhubarb!

There were quite a few jars on the table and they had set a few of the big jars aside for the neighbor who had shared their rhubarb.

Reed, the official taste tester, sampled some of the Blueberry and his eyes got big and he “Mmmmmm’d” how good it was.

Chelsey and Dan told me that Reed had wanted to try a chunk of rhubarb earlier. He popped it in his mouth, made quite a face, and ran to the trash to spit it out! Ha ha!

Here are some pictures of them working on one of the last batches.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This is where, “Food, Family, Farmin’ and Fun” come together on rainy, Spring days in the kitchen… Jammin’

Just “friends”

I have a feeling I’m gonna need to ask for forgiveness at the end of this post. But don’t give up on me yet… just keep reading 🙂

It’s been a few days since I’ve shared anything about life here on the farm. And I’m trying to narrow down all the thoughts and directions this post could take.

It’s been a flurry of activity, mixed with cold and wind, just like outside today. A lot can happen in ten days around here.

Heck. A lot can happen in ONE day!

Since my last post, Valentine’s Day came and went. We had a special delivery at our house and this time the flowers weren’t for me.

See, usually it’s a toss-up between which daughter Dan can coerce to run to the nearest flower shop to pick up a beautiful bouquet for me. It’s become a bit of a family joke, and one I look forward to hearing about each year after the delivery.

However, this year proved to be a little different.

A bouquet of twelve RED roses arrived without a daughter’s assistance! In fact, it turned out to be FOR one of our daughters… and for the single one, too!

Rose Bouquet

Hmmmm…. now, what do you think ol’ dad thought about that?!?

When I got home from work and saw those beautiful roses, I had a big smile on my face! And Dan… Well, he just shook his head.

First, he had to break the news that they weren’t for me, which I imagine had him feeling a little guilty.

So, assuming they were for Kayla, our youngest daughter, I asked who were the roses FROM then?

“Cody”, he answered, “her…. ‘friend‘.”

Hmm… I could just imagine how the thoughts had rolled through his head when those roses had arrived…

  1. Roses?
  2. RED roses?!?!?
  3. AND a box of chocolates!!!
  4. AND A TEDDY BEAR?!?!?
  5. WHO IS THIS GUY?????????
  6. CODY????????
  7. CODY WHO?!?!?!

Kayla’s voice rose up when she said over and over… “Dad!!! We’re just friends!!!” to which dad replied, “Well, I can’t remember the last time I got RED roses from a ‘FRIEND!'”

Ha ha. I just laughed and shook my head, all the while smiling. And I imagine Kayla had turned just a shade redder than those roses!

She had escaped to work that day and later left for a trip with one of her best buddies.

While she was gone that weekend, I enjoyed the treat of fresh flowers in the house, even if they weren’t mine!

When she got home later that weekend, we all teased her pretty good. Dan wanted to know a little more about this “friend” and Kayla got the message that maybe it was time we meet this “friend” of hers.

A few days went by and we were talking during chores about the upcoming rodeo in Waterloo. Usually we all get to go, alternating chores with the girls so that some of us go on Friday night, and some go on Saturday.

Kayla nonchalantly mentioned that Cody would be coming over Friday night. She tried not to smile while she looked at the ground.

We looked at each other and all busted out laughing!

Ohhhh, Kayla. She was trying so hard not to smile but her face just couldn’t contain it!

She laughed too and looked at us all and said “Stop. Just stop. We’re just friends!” And we just laughed some more!

Dan and Chelsey tried winning tickets on the radio over and over that week for the rodeo, but with no luck. One morning, they heard the winner’s name come over the radio… “KEVIN FROM FAYETTE!”

Later that morning, our neighbor Kevin called to tell Dan the news. Last year we won tickets so we figured it was his turn.

The week went on, and Thursday night Kevin stopped over at Chelsey’s. He offered them the tickets to the rodeo, which she happily accepted.

However, by morning she had decided that meeting Kayla’s new “friend” would be more fun than the rodeo, so she passed them on to Cozie and Chase, who took Reed with them that night.

Chase, Reed and Cozie at the rodeo!
Must’ve been dark at the rodeo! Chase, Reed and Cozie

After chores, I worked on frying catfish while the girls helped me get the homemade garlic fries made. The brownies were fresh out of the oven and the sweet corn went in.

You would have thought that Chelsey had a new suitor arriving, as much as she checked out the window for Kayla’s new “friend” to drive in!

The dogs barking sent Chelsey to the window once more as she announced in an excited voice that Cody was finally here!

To be continued…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello, Dolly!

Some things you just can’t plan any better. This was the case a few weeks ago.

My friend Sabra and I headed to Minne-sooo-ta for a girls night out!

Now I gotta tell ya. The definition of girls night out has drastically changed in the ohhhhh, say… last five years.

We’ve…. matured. Okay, we’re old!

No more heading out to the bar for these girls! That being said…

We’ve graduated to… (drum roll please)

“Dinner Theatre!!!”

Yes, dinner theatre.

There was a little bit of mystery as we were led into the room full of tables and people in the theatre. We were booked to sit at a table of six, not knowing who the other four would be.

As we sat down, we commented to the two ladies already sharing an appetizer, that we had wondered who we would be seated with?

The lady kitty-corner to me shook my hand and laughing, said how great it was to meet someone with such a great name… just like hers!

I extended my hand to the other stranger at the table and said “Well, you must be Sabra, then?” Ha ha!

Nope, Brenda, she said. And that was all it took to break the ice!

Me, Brenda, Melissa and Sabra
Me, Brenda, Melissa and Sabra

As the night went on we had a great time getting to know these two, telling where we were from, what we do for work, how big our families were… etc.

We talked quite awhile about our kids. Sabra and Brenda both have two kids, and all have names starting with A!

I told of my three girls, followed by Reed, and Melissa also said she has a son, although older, married and expecting his first child with his wife.

It wasn’t long before we were showing pictures of our families.

All of us also enjoy going to concerts, and talked about all the shows we’ve seen! We laughed over who our first concerts were, and who we still want to see.

As the lights dimmed before the show began, we were already trying to decide when we could get together again.

We had a great night out!

And it wasn’t just because of the delicious food, or the awesome show… we met two fantastic ladies that turned out to be our newest friends!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking One for the Team

Family is pretty important to us, and we’ve always tried to support our girls in whatever they are a part of.

Whether it was 4-H, church, sports, FFA… You name it and we were there. (Maybe a little late, but we were there, ha ha)

Last Fall, Chelsey joined the Fair Board. We have been hearing how they are working hard to get everything planned and booked for the upcoming fair in August. Sounds like she’s been attending lots of meetings and doing her part to help where she can.

She mentioned to her dad during milking the other morning that she was working at BINGO this Sunday and that we should come.

So yesterday he told me about their conversation and he said he was like “Yeah, right. BINGO isn’t my thing.” (I can just see him shaking his head like “No. Way.”)

Besides, I’m sure he already had made his own plans… a Sunday afternoon nap!

And knowing that’s not the kind of thing he would get excited about, I asked him if we were going… and he says “I guess so!”

I couldn’t help but laugh!

And so he asks me if I was going too? And I said “I guess I’ll have to take one for the team too.” 🙂

We rounded up the troops… Cozie, Reed, Kayla (and a friend), Chelsey’s husband Jason, Dan and I… and we headed to the fairgrounds to play BINGO!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Well, we didn’t win. But we did support Chelsey and the Fayette County Fair!

And we know that THEY win when all of us do our part!

Saturday on the Farm

Today turned out to be one of those days that livestock farmers hope to get in January. A day to haul manure!

It’s been warming up this past week and today it made up into the 40’s. That means that the housework waits and we spend the day in the skid loader and tractor, cleaning out our lots.

This morning after chores we worked at home and got the Monster pile in the cow yard hauled out. I loaded with the skid loader and Dan spread it in one of our nearby fields.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Dan’s sister, Teresa, stopped in around lunch time so we got to take a nice break. We haven’t seen her for almost a month so it was good catching up with her, and hearing how her Christmas and New Year’s went.

While we were in the house I made some goodies for the Community Awards Banquet tonight. I made a cheese tray, a beef stick tray, and a batch of snowballs. They will be served during the Hor d’oeuves portion of the evening.

Last year I worked at the Chamber and helped put on this great event. Community members nominate volunteers in 5 categories to be honored at this Banquet. It’s a great honor for the volunteers and also a fun social night out.

image
Dan and I at the Awards Banquet

We were also happy to see a good family friend of ours be honored, Lester. He is a very giving person and does a lot for the community.

image
Lester was so happy and humbled to be honored

Hats off to you Lester! And to all of the others who were honored tonight!

A good day, all in all.