Mountaineer (BWF Part III)

Remember this handsome boy? A little hairy, a little dirty, a little stinky...Ok, Ok, alot...anyway.... Guess who his stylist is?! This sweet girl named Cassandra, who just happens to be on Groomer Has It!

Look at him after, so shiny, so clean, so soft, and so happy!
Check out the show, I haven't seen it myself...ha...we cool authentic country people only have "antenna tv" but I did meet her last week when groomed Mr. Neer.

You'll have to excuse me now, I have to get back to my motherly duties...#2 is making a bologna, parmesan cheese, cool whip roll up. Barf.

Brushes with F.A.M.E part II

Ok, so originally part II was going to be about my DoG, but I'm bumping him to part III! Don't worry, you won't have to wait long.

Part II

Remember how the other day we talked with Cindy about her going to see Martha Stewart? Well...I'm going too see her too! Please forgive me for being a copycat-thunder-stealer! I'm so excited! I wrote in for tickets for her Mothers Day show last week and my mom and I were invited!

I'm nervous about leaving my littlest baby, but I'm sure she'll be in good hands for a couple of days...so somebody...in my family....had better...step up....and volunteer....for overnight duty....a.s......a.p.....Maybe my Maneatin' sister will do it if I make her a cheesecake.

My husband is not very happy about us going to the CITY...I think he's watched too many episodes of C.S.I. He's probably just nervous I'll step off the plane, get noticed by a gorgeous millionaire hotel tycoon who falls madly in love with me. Don't worry honey, when this happens, I'll just politely explain to him that I'm already in love with an Anglo Saxon/Polish American Environmental Consultant from Deerfield, with whom I have children and a happy little home, and have no need for his fancy Rolls Royce motorcar, diamonds, town house and that platinum Amex he's handing me. I'll just tell him I'm perfectly happy with a $1,000 credit limit on our Cabelas Visa. Oh M'love, SmOOch.

Herbed Meatball Soup

We always have such an abundance of ground beef, so luckily Danny could live off of hamburgers daily. The rest of us need some variety! This soup was perfect Sunday when the temperature had dropped 40 degrees overnight.

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 large white onion

zest of 1 lemon

4 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon instant or granulated tapioca

salt & pepper

6 cups low sodium chicken broth

Buckwheat Soba Noodles (from the chineese section of the grocery store, try them, you'll love them!)

fresh or dried oregano, thyme, parsley

In a big bowl, put your hamburger, pork, half of the onion, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, tapioca ( I don't know the purpose of this, but add it anyway!) lemon zest 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper or red pepper flakes or a shot of hot sauce..whatever you have to give it a little kick. Wash your hands, take off your rings and get in there and mix 'er up. Refrigerate 1 hour.

In a large stock pot with a little olive oil, cook the rest of the onion and garlic. Add the broth, (I didn't have broth so I used powdered chicken soup base) beef consume, 2 cups of water 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried. 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Some pepper. Keep on medium heat.

Take the beef mixture out of the fridge and put in your big old bouncy kitchen aid mixer and give them a good whirl, about 3 minutes medium speed. Do not put it on high. You will find bits of raw meat on your ceiling, in your tea, and in your kids hair. And you probably will not have enough left for your soup. Make small tight balls (don't laugh) and brown in a skillet, oh yeah, you'll need a hot skillet with some olive oil. Don't brown all the balls at the same time or you'll end up with a mess. Just about 10 at a time. Add them to the soup to finish cooking. About 5 minutes before serving add 2 bunches of soba noodles broken into 1 inches pieces, these only take about 3 minutes to cook.

Daisy had 2 bowls for supper and one for breakfast.

Sassafras

Each spring, for as long as I can remember, our family goes to the woods at Papa T.T.'s to dig dogwood sapplings and sassafras roots.

There's a tree back there, not very big around, but very tall. Etched in the bark are initials, names and dates & hearts of lovers dating back to the early 1900's. The tree has grown so much, some of the older letters are hard to make out. Someone made their mark 4-12-09, just 5 days before we were there. How they know about the tree, or how they even got to it, I don't know, but it's really a sight to see!

We used to swing from the grapevines as kids. Mason, still being a kid, had a go at it for old times sake.

Goats

Spring time at the farm means lots of babies! Lambs and calves were everywhere. I love how they find a spot where the sun is shining, lay down & soak it up.

This was the only goat curious enough to come see me and #1.

The cows were all up on the hill, finishing eating, while their calves were all together down below playing. I couldn't get close enough to take a picture.

Brushes with F.A.M.E Part I

Me: Hi Sister-In-Law!

You: Hi Bess! How are you today!

Me: Great! Yes, I know I have too much time on my hands (yeah right) but I thought we could tell the world your big news! !

You: Oh! Ok! I'm going to be on Martha Stewart! In NYC! Isn't that exciting!? April 30th, it's a special baby episode, and all the audience members are expecting!

All of you: Very Exciting! Wow! Have a great time!

Me: By the way, did your husband make you supper last night? A few nights of him cooking and I'm sure you'll have your new kitchen very soon! Come visit me sometime!

Escape!

Much to #2's dismay, a chicken was wandering around the yard while she was trying to play on her swing set.

This chicken was making her very nervous.

She finally comes in the house screaming,

so #1 goes out to protect her from the little beasty.

Apparently the picky little hen didn't like her coop,

or her apartment,

so she thought she'd go scratching around the flower beds.

Maybe she and Mr. Know-It-All got into a fight. You know how it is with those relationships where the male has like 25 wives. Like in Siam. What's that called? The opposite of monogamy? This is the reason I don't let the girls watch The Bachelor.


Anyway, at this point,

Mountaineer was barking like mad because, well, the chicken was out of her pen, why wasn't he aloud out of his? Why is she so special?

Just because she lays eggs?

So what! I bark at the neighbor & his cat!

And I make sure that man in the little white truckish looking thing with the blue & red stripes that likes to beep his horn doesn't come in the driveway!

Can that wimpy, feathered fowl do that?

Huh? Huh?

Caving

Oh M’love. This is a small tribute to your underground life. I finally see your passion and love for this crazy, dangerous behavior. I promise to support you, as long as you promise to come home to me every Sunday night unscathed. ~Smooch.

Caramel Pie....The Best Pie On The Planet

Caramel Pie

All you need is:

3 cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk

Pre-made Oreo Cookie Pie Crust

1/2 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream

I know this sounds weird, and scary and completely against what cooking skills you have acquired in your life, but please just trust me.
Put the 3 UNOPENED cans of milk in a large stock pot filled with water. (you can take the labels off first) Bring to a boil and boil for 3 hours. The cans will not explode, but keep an eye on it because you'll need to add more water during the 3 hours. Pour off the water and let the cans sit for about 20-30 minutes. If you open them now, they WILL explode and you will be cleaning caramel off the ceiling. Spread the contents of the cans into your pie shell.
Refrigerate several hours or overnight. The pie will set up and turn nice and brown. Before serving whip up the whipping cream & spread over top...don't use cool whip, it makes the pie much too sweet, and believe me, it's sweet enough. If you want to make it pretty and fancy, you can sprinkle some shredded chocolate over the top.