Cookies with Mom

Saturday I had the opportunity to help my mom decorate some Valentine cookies for her adult Sunday School class. It was a blast! She found a new icing recipe that dried shiny and tasted fabulous. The colors turned out so vibrant and beautiful. Baking and decorating cookies is one of my favorite things to do, but SO time-consuming. If my mom hadn’t baked the cookies the day before we would have been decorating until midnight!

My talented and beautiful mother writing on the cookies.

They were soooo pretty! I’m glad there were enough for me to eat a few. 🙂

 

Gingerbread and Chocolate Pudding

One of our favorite desserts growing up was what we called “Gingerbread and Chocolate Pudding”. My dad especially LOVES it. In fact, I think he thought of the idea in the first place! I know it’s an unusual combination, and may even sound gross, but I assure you, it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

I remember the first time I mentioned it to my hubby, Matt, he thought it sounded terrible. He changed his mind as soon as he tried it! Now a couple of years into our marriage it warmed my heart to have him request that I make this dessert for him last weekend. I won him over!

The best part is, this is a very easy dessert – both the gingerbread and pudding come from box mixes. There is something so homey and delicious about this combo. It is a must-try in my opinion!

Gingerbread and Chocolate Pudding

• 1 box mix of gingerbread cake (we use Betty Crocker)
• 1 large box chocolate pudding (NOT instant. You need the cook kind so that you can serve it warm.)

Prepare and bake the gingerbread according to the box directions. Remove from oven to cool.

Prepare chocolate pudding according to box directions. Let cool slightly then serve warm poured over pieces of gingerbread cake.

I would love to know if anyone has ever heard of or tried this dessert before. Anyone? Thanks for reading and taking time to comment!

It’s TEBOW Time!

Alpine Hills Brookings Tebow

I am by no means a football expert……let’s be honest, when I watch a football game the only part I really pay attention to is maybe the last two minutes! In spite of that I do know enough to realize that the Superbowl is over, that Tim Tebow didn’t play in it, etc…..but at our farm it’s still Tebow Time!

This handsome Brown Swiss bull was born to our cow Timeless (here’s a photo of her winning 1st Place 5 year old at the KY State Fair in 2011) a couple of weeks ago. His sire is the NGG bull, Brookings. While we wouldn’t have cried if he would have been born a girl (ha ha!) we are still excited to have such a handsome young bull with great genetics at our farm to raise up as our future herd bull.  Keeping with the “T” theme of his mother’s name, we decided the that name Tebow would be quite perfect for him. We would be thrilled if he became even half as famous as his namesake one day. I mean, there are some similarities……big, strong, and STUBBORN…….

I have experienced his stubbornness head on. This calf was so big and strong when he was born that it’s hard to believe that he didn’t beat Timeless to death while she was pregnant with him! Teaching him to nurse from a bottle was quite a challenge for the first few days of his life. He wanted that milk sooooo bad, but he couldn’t figure out how to get it in his belly,  so he basically just slammed himself into the person trying to feed him, hoping that he’d get milk somehow! I fed him a few times during these few days before he figured things out and it was the hardest workout of my life. Try wrestling an incredibly strong, insanely energetic 115-120 pound bull calf sometime – it’s an experience you’ll never forget! In the end though, I’m proud to say that these wrestling matches (aka “feeding time”) resulted in a score of TEBOW = 0   SHELLEY = 1. I won! 🙂

It didn’t take long for Tebow to get the bottle-feeding thing down. Within a few days he was drinking like a champ without beating me up in the process. I love my job.

The Farmer and His Wife…..Take a Cruise!

Last month, my hubby surprised me by telling me he wanted to take me on a vacation, preferably a cruise – in, get this, TWO WEEKS! Wow, was I ever shocked! Of course that’s the way it goes with us working on a dairy farm. If we can get away (which we are blessed to be able to do occasionally since we share the workload with Matt’s parents) it’s usually on rather short notice.

We had never taken a cruise before so I jumped online right away to learn as much as I possibly could about cruises……so much to figure out! In a few days, we were able to find the cruise / flight combo we were looking for and book our 3 night cruise to the Bahamas leaving out of Miami, FL. Ahhhhh, we were sooooo excited! Much to my surprise I had no anxiety about being on the ship, even though the stories of the wrecked Costa Concordia filled the news. The flight to Miami was the most stressful part – I have flown probably 10 times in my life, but I’m just not a fan, UGH.

Hard to believe that it’s already over and we’ve been back 3 weeks now. Overall it was a very good first cruise experience and we are so blessed and thankful for the opportunity to go on this trip!

Here are some of my favorite photos:

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Logging Again

Last week I posted about our sawmill experience here on the farm but I didn’t get a chance to share my photos and video of loading the logs that we were able to sell. Making our own lumber has turned out to be a rather SLOW, but very rewarding experience! I can’t wait to post photos of the final product of what we (and by WE, I mean the guys of course!) build with it. 🙂

The logs we sold consisted of mainly walnut (seems to be a very high demand for it right now) and some white oak. The process of loading them on to the log truck took the guys all day and looked a little dangerous to me! Still, it was pretty interesting to watch.

My father-in-law, Dean, and bro-in-law, Daniel, having way too much fun!

Uncle Ellis operating the tractor while Dean and Daniel help with the unloading! 

Cupcakes for a Cause

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to make some cupcakes and donate them to a local cake auction supporting Teen Challenge, a home for troubled young men and women. I was a little short on time so I decided to make cupcakes as opposed to a layer cake. I had been inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest and knew exactly how I wanted to decorate them (my decorating inspiration was actually used on a layer cake, but it worked on my cupcakes quite nicely as well!!!) They look gorgeous and were really not that hard – you don’t even need any special decorating bags or tips!

Berry Almond Flower Cupcakes

I used a Pillsbury white cake mix for my cupcakes. I considered making the cake from scratch, but I figured that a time crunch wasn’t a good time to start experimenting with cake recipes! 🙂

You could use a store-bought frosting if you wish to speed things up, but I chose to make a  half batch of my mom’s Almond Butter Cream Icing to frost the cupcakes with. I knew the almond flavor in the icing would be a perfect complement to those almond slices on top!

Berry Almond Flower Cupcakes

24 Cupcakes

Raspberries

Blackberries or Blueberries

Almond Slices

Almond Butter Cream Frosting:
1/2 cup Crisco solid vegetable shortening
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 – 2 Tbsp. milk

• Make cupcakes according to your recipe or box mix directions.
• Wash berries and lay and paper towels to dry.

TO MAKE FROSTING:

1. Put shortening and  almond and vanilla extracts in mixing bowl. Cream together.
2. Add powdered sugar by spoonfuls to mixture.
3. Add milk and beat well (I used the wire whip attachment on my stand mixer to acheive a slightly lighter texture.)

DECORATE:

1. Frost cooled cupcakes (this recipe doesn’t allow for an excessive amount of frosting on each cupcake. If you like more frosting you may want to double the recipe).
2. Place a berry in the center of each cupcake.
3. Place almond slices around each berry to create a “flower” (as pictured).

You can also use blueberries instead of blackberries like my inspiration pin used. I just chose blackberries because hubby likes them better. 🙂 Super easy and beautiful!

Chicken Biscuits for Breakfast!

I had about 20 minutes to make breakfast before the guys came up from the barn this morning……..yes, they are extremely spoiled! Ha! Between my mother-in-law and I, they get a hot breakfast every morning. Of course, when they’ve been working since 4:00am, they’re pretty ravenous by the time 8:30 rolls around!

I was tired of the usual bacon, ham, or sausage deal when I opened the fridge and remembered that I had some chicken breasts that I needed to use before they went bad. Thus, the birth of the chicken biscuit! I didn’t measure out my ingredients so here’s my best estimate for the recipe. 🙂 They were delicious!

Chicken Nuggets for Chicken Biscuits

1 1/2 large chicken breasts (cut into chunks)
1 egg, beaten
2 heaping tablespoons flour
1 heaping tablespoon powdered sugar
Salt
Pepper
Crisco Oil
Biscuits of your choice

1. Start heating approx. 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom of a small skillet.
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2 inch (or smaller) chunks.
3. Beat egg in small bowl.
4. Stir together the flour, powdered sugar, salt and pepper in another small bowl.
5. Dip chicken chunks into beaten egg.
6. Roll chicken chunks in flour mixture.
7. Fry floured chicken chunks in oil until deep golden brown and cooked through (approx 10 – 15 min depending on size).
8. Serve on your favorite biscuits!

Naming Contest: Help Us Name Our Holstein Heifer!

I first started doing Calf Naming Contests on our Facebook Page almost 2 years ago! They have always gone over very well and we’ve consistently seen a great response! It’s always so fun for me to watch as all the great name ideas come pouring in for our cute little calves!

Today I am excited to announce a Naming Contest for this adorable Holstein heifer! We are asking for names beginning with the letter “I” for this one. 🙂 You can submit your name ideas here on the blog, or on our Facebook page through Wednesday, February 8th!!! Thanks for your participation! 

"Please help name me!"

Click here to view pictures of all of our 2011 Calves.

Sawing Logs!

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The guys at our farm, Alpine Hills Dairy Farm , are always getting into some kind of new project! (As if taking care of and milking 70 cows twice a day wasn’t enough!) In January, we logged portions of the farm intending to sell the Walnut and Ash trees to a company. In the process we cut down some red and white oaks that we later found out that the company would not buy from us. Perfect opportunity for us to try our hand at making our own rough cut lumber! A friend rented us out this awesome saw mill and the guys were soon at work. I quickly realized that fresh cut lumber is one of the most beautiful, earthy smells in the world. I love it! We will soon be using this lumber in a project that will enhance our facilities for our Spring Dairy Tours and Country Pumpkins Fall Festival – can’t wait to make the formal announcement about that! 🙂

Watch the sawmill in action!

The Unlikely Cow Lover

You may think that I’m referring to myself here as the unlikely cow lover. While yes, I love cows (especially the calves), and YES that is unlikely, I’m actually referring to someone else whom we met the other day.

My husband and I were driving back to Alpine Hills Dairy Farm  with a trailer load of cows and calves we had just purchased. It had been a busy day and we realized around 2:30 that we hadn’t had lunch yet. We stopped at a fast food establishment (I don’t dare mention the name for fear of getting someone in trouble, ha ha) and practically took up their entire parking lot with the truck and 24 ft. cattle trailer. Fortunately, there was no one else there so us taking up the whole parking lot was no big deal. Eating out or making any kind of stop while driving that rig is quite challenging and obviously drive-thru’s are completely out of the question! Side note here……my hubby totally impresses me with his driving skills! He pulls that huge cattle trailer and maneuvers and backs it without batting an eye. It amazes me! Anyway, back to the story.

As soon as we walked into the restaurant we were greeted by two workers who excitedly asked us if we had cows in the trailer and proceeded to tell us how much they LOVE cows. It was pretty hysterical! After we ordered our food, the one girl followed us out so she could peek into the trailer and see them. Matt opened the side door and let her see the calves and get her picture taken with one. She was completely ecstatic! While I’m not sure she should have done that on work time, it sure made us smile to see someone so passionate about cows. Made our day. 🙂