So back in the blogging saddle for 2006. One of the gifts we got for the kids was Sugar Creek Farm t-shirts. I had one made for myself this fall, just to try out the Zazzle website. This caused some dissension in the ranks. Now they’re outfitted like the little SCF farmers that they are.
My mother says I’ve outfitted them like little walking billboards.
And if you’d like one of your very own, you can go here 🙂
Molasses cookies are my favorite kind – the soft ones, not the crispy ones. I usually only make them at Christmas time. Because I work from home, having baked goodies around is only asking for trouble. And weight gain. But at Christmas, who’s counting calories?
Amish Ginger Cookies
(from Christmas-Cookies.com)
3/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. unsulfured molasses
2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. ground cinnamon
1-1/2 t. baking soda
extra granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and 1 cup sugar until creamy. Add egg and molasses; beat until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the extra granulated sugar. Place balls on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes until barely turning brown. Allow to cool for 1 minute on baking sheet and then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 4 dozen
Mother Nature has given us quite the show this week. I’ll send you over to The Farmers Wife to read her poetic description of the hoarfrost. Spectacular.
The pumpkin farm that gives us their unsold pumpkins for animal feed had another load of pumpkins for us last week. When Matt and Olivia went to pick them up they also came home with a box of popcorn ears and this nifty little sheller.
It sure makes shelling popcorn easier on the hands. And the popcorn, once popped, is the brightest white I’ve ever seen. The taste is superior. One of the girls commented, “This is even better than microwave popcorn!” Indeed.
This snow chick has her purse and is all set to take the sled to town. She’s one of Olivia’s creations.
Here is the winter version of my favorite tree. I snapped this on a frosty morning earlier this week, right before 8 inches of snow dumped on us.
Click to see the tree in fall and summer .
The pine trees were pretty impressive with their frosty showing as well.
I don’t know that I’ve ever posted a picture of myself on this blog, so here’s one I took of myself in the dining room mirror getting bundled up to go out and feed chickens.
I guess I finally reached the age where I care more about keeping warm than I do about hat hair.
Edited to add: you can reach me by email: kmiller70 (at) osage (dot) net
One of the questions asked at the Grow Your Small Market Farm class was, what’s your secondary market? Penny, our instructor, didn’t like our answer of “the sale barn”.
Of course she was right. And so we set about filling out applications, jumping through hoops, paying fees, getting inspected, and cutting red tape. All of this to be allowed to sell meat out of one of our freezers on the farm.
Of the 6 feeder calves we had for sale this year, we sold all but a quarter of one. So we had that quarter inspected and properly labeled by the locker, and now we have beef bundles for sale here at the farm, along with a few individual cuts!
Pretty cool to see our name and logo on a package of beef.
So if you’re within driving distance from us and are interested in a beef bundle, shoot me an email for details.
It snowed some more today. Just looking at the cows standing out in it makes me cold. The pigs stick indoors, only coming out to eat, but the cows prefer to eat their way to warmth. That crabby cow looking at the camera is Missus Hamilton.
The hay that’s spilled on the ground around the bale feeder won’t go to waste. Over the winter the cows will drop their “pies” on it, trample it, and mix everything together. Next summer Matt will haul it out of there and pile it up to compost. Come fall it will be spread on the garden.
