Christmas Day

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas

from all of us here

at Blessings Farm!

YOU 

are
LOVED! 

Magical Swing

When I was a child...

I longed for a Tree swing..

there is something SO magical about a tree swing

BUT

I had a swing SET

in the far back corner of my suburban yard...

it was metal, with stripes, and I played on it and played on it 

it was VERY fun

but NEXT to it, we had an Apple tree

and I longed for a Sing on THAT

but apple trees are NOT the sort of tree you do that to

so..

I have NEVER had a tree with a swing..

until NOW

Magical?  

YES!

HUGE selling point right?

YEP

The Blessings LOVED this!  

The told all their friends about it!

They would swing on it often,

Like I had dreamed of doing as a child!

They even got ME to swing on it

and IT was grand!

well.. 

after a storm a few weeks back..

and I am certain ..

MUCH wear and tear...

I am sad to share with you

that on of the ropes broke

and my  OUR swing IS no more..

so..

we grieve

&

are on the hunt

for MORE wonderful spots to 

put more wee swings

different... equal.. but NOT the same

It is WINTER here on the Farm...

and while I am falling in LOVE with each season thus far here.. 

I am chilled..

and preparing for Christmas

but my thoughts wander to buggy days in the summer

when berries are RIPE

and 

ready for me to eat..

I LOVE BERRIES!

so..

I started looking at some of the fun photos I took of the house this past summer

when I noticed for the FIRST time

THIS berry

is NOT the same as THIS berry

there is a DISTINCT difference

though ..

they both tasted FABULOUS

and grow abundantly...

wow..

so exciting!

now.. to discern exactly WHAT each one is..

I think the first MAY be boysenberry

and the second.. black raspberry

thoughts? 

Why Machine Man?

WHY do we call the Papa of this clan

Machine Man?

He really LIKES machines...

he builds them, 

precision ones..

talks about them,

a LOT

fixes them,

and has friends JUST as excited about it as HE is..

we've traveled and seen a LOT because of this passion..

of BUILDING Machines..

Machine Man is awfully good at what he does..

It's rather... one of his passions..

do you have a passion?

 I wanted you to see what sort of thing THRILLS him..

he just emailed me this video

it is NOT a video of Machine Man..

but something one of his "Machine Buddies" sent him

that he HAD to pass on to us.

This is the type of thing HE thinks about, and gets excited about..

In fact, he emailed this to C.S. & the Princess..

because EVERYONE simply MUST love Machines the way he does!

and I have to admit, this is PRETTY darn cool..

check out this video to see 

what GETS Machine Man excited,

I think you'll understand our Nick Name for him

(it's 9 minutes, so grab a cup of coffee, and the kids, it's educational)

The video is on the worlds TINIEST 

V12 Engine

Cooking Nutritiously, ON a Budget, the Blessings Farm way

LOVE to eat!

do you?

most people on the planet LOVE to eat, 

and given some flavor, and nutrition 

makes that daily chore a BLAST!

but HOW to cook for the farm

cook nutritious

cook for a variety of dietary needs

when I have NO "real" kitchen?

I don't

I cook ahead of time...

I freeze or can my foods 

bringing them to the farm ready to heat and serve

Planning and preparation are HUGE...

for example, IF we are making C.S.'s Chili,

then

did I also pack corn bread, or tortilla chips to go with it?

what about all the toppings?

some sour cream perhaps, chopped scallions, some sharp cheddar shredded?

Planning Meals ahead of time is tricky at first

but getting a handle on my Menu's really makes

 an imprint on my budget.

a good imprint!

Some days, like today i just make an EXTRA large quantity of a soup or stew 

some for this evening's meal

some for the freezer to be eaten later

So I thought it might be fun to journal some of those recipes here!

Today's is a Personal Favorite

Beef Stew

please note that I have many variations on this,

and it works EXCELLENT with Venison..

oops.. is that Salt in the wound?  

one more hunting trip this season..

maybe then?

anyhow, here we go!

starting off with a Mirepoix

which is French for the combination of carrot, celery and onion

I cut most of my carrots a bit small, leaving some a bit larger...

for texture...

and I cut my onion in 1/2 moons.

they look SO pretty in the stew that way....

but I highly recommend chopping finely IF you have onion fearing children in the house!

I saute this over med/med low heat till translucent

then, I add some finely sliced garlic..

not crushed, I slice mine...

but if YOU make this, do it How you like it! 

here is a nicely diced rutabega

and one small diced turnip

and about 5-6 large baking potato's 

I sliced mine in a different shape... instead of dicing... 

it really doesn't matter 

but I was in the mood for a quarter circle..

this is lemon salt...

I use organic lemon peels layered in Kosher Salt

I need those peels for some recipes

and the lemon salt for others..

neat flavor!

Thanks to Shauna at http://glutenfreegirl.com/ for the fabulous posts mentioning this idea!

Turmeric!  Cancer fighting, inflammation fighting WONDER spice!

LOVE love LOVE this!  

it has a distinctly different flavor than it's counter part

 "Hungarian Paprika"

and still different than that "hot"

it's wonderful!

have you tried it?

it's a new favorite here

I even added to my Pazole the other day!

ooo and one of my FAVORITE grains

Quinoa

pronouced 

KEEN - wa

Once considered the Gold of the Inca's 

this gem of a food is rich in Magnesium,

and even folate

it is excellent for high cholesterol

migraine sufferers

high in antioxidants

and wonderful for the cardiovascular system of post menopausal women

it's also HIGH in fiber, and excellent for Cancer Patients or those hoping to Prevent

I bought mine at Costco... 

but I have often gotten it through my co-op

when I cook with it, it sprouts, and gets all curly

do you see those darling little curls?

that is my Quinoa!

Ok.. so HOW?

I saute the miropoix

when it's all beautiful and translucent

I toss in my sliced garlic

THEN

I add my rutabaga & turnip 

stirring about

only when I am JUST about ready do I add the Quinoa

this time I added 2/3 cup

I stir about

and add my beef broth

while THAT comes to a boil

I chop up my stew meat 

(I only needed about 1 lb, this may have been 1 1/2 )

and  I brown it in a good cast iron pan

I want it seared and brown

not gray and boiled

so drain if it's too juicy

be certain to get a hot pan to start off too!

I season with my lemon salt, pepper, smoked paprika & tumeric

then...

I toss this into the stockpot boiling away...

i am NOT done with that cast iron pan though

I add some of the stock to the pan and whisk the "goop" on the bottom.. 

scraping and getting it super cleaned off.. 

Then I pour this into the soup..

DELICIOUS!

simmer for a couple hours 

stirring occasionally

seasoning a pinch more of this or that

as YOU like

simply WONDERFUL!

hopefully, we won't eat it ALL, 

and I can freeze some for the Farm!

Exploration Hike with Cousins!

confession time

(clearing my throat)

This past trip... 

I did not accomplish much of ANYTHING..

did not build anything

sand anything

scrape anything (do dishes count?)

did NOT paint anything,

saw anything

nail anything

do much OF anything

well..

anything that you can photograph..

I DID cook, but I pre-made all the meals BEFORE the trip

because we still live in the MOCK kitchen..

so 

really I didn't accomplish 

anything 

anything that you can look at, and say... 

"accomplished"

nope..

My brother CAME!  

it was a rather social trip...

Machine Man and Opa DID chop down some things.. 

LIKE

that really weird 6 ft tree stump directly in front of my house...

(do you see that tall thing on the FAR left... that TALL Stump?

next to it is a beautiful maple)

Yippee!

it's gone now..!
Not the maple, just the creepy stump

and some other stumps just layin' about

It was a hunting weekend,

and cousins weekend!  

Machine Man, C.S. were hunting,

there was food

and Princess & I did do some shopping for Christmas 

But that doesn't seem like it counts.

What we DID do, that was SUPER fun

was take our little explorers on a good 

EXPLORATION HIKE

ok.. sometimes it was more of a run than a hike

here the Blessings are showing the Cousins 

the bones of a coyote

fun right?

ever discovering things

i don't think they even NOTICED how beautiful this view is..

they just see the faint images of 

a trail that needs remembering

a little attention and this trail will be simply gorgeous!

my wonderful nephew has discovered a GREAT 

deer rubbing

and they all WANT Uncle Machine Man

to PLEASE PLEASE explain

why he hasn't got a deer yet?

here we are at the "EDGE"

see the groovy old forgotten car ?

it's in our neighbors yard..

and the tales of HOW and WHY and WHEN 

have already begun to be spun...

love this tree.. so sad it was probably struck by lightening..

kids thought it was SUPER

apparently this is THE thing to do...

touch the bubbles?

yep.. we ALL have to take turns..

parents: bring muck boots in the Spring, 

I have a feeling we will have VERY messy children!

pretty Queen Anne's lace

rabbit fur.. 

more evidence of coyote issues...

did you know it's SHOOT on SITE here ??

neighbor came over to make CERTAIN we knew that..

hmmm

a different edge to our property.. 

looks like my fence needs a wee repair

blissfully pretty!

ginormous foot prints of ???

frost in a hollowed log

blessings on a bluff

ending in Christmas Tree forest :)

fun!

What a glorious time with Family!

I feel so thankful to spend time with my niece and nephew 

my brother and my father

Family is a true gift from God

Views I LOVE!

There have been a few views I have loved..

ok.. MORE than a few

This was in Lyon France

LOVE this RED walking Bridge

The stairs we walked down nearly every day

and yes..

that means we walked back up them

oh how my calves got into shape!

LOOK at that gorgeous view!

here we are in Bavaria with WONDERFUL Family!

walking the mountainside

because God IS that amazing

and HE made EVERYTHING

and let us see this too!

Wine country in the South of France

PINCH me Pretty!

We actually Stopped the car on the side of a 

VERY narrow

VERY twisty turn-E road

for me to get this shot

LOVE this sweeping view 

Paris!

you've seen the Eiffel

you've seen the Arch

but this ...

 I LOVE this walk!

sunny sunny Florida

Rainbow and ALL!

There are so many more views that I have seen in my life

but I must share these

because I have to say,

in my humble opinion 

These two Views from the farm fits RIGHT in

with the best of them all

and it's a wonderful feeling to have found 

a slice of the planet 

that sort of fits you

LOVE IT!!!

Farm House Sink

Here's a sneak Peak at that KiTCHen sink for ya

it's NOT the FULL view

I can't be giving you the FULL view yet

with all the fancy shots and that

that would mean coming in close

and THEN you'd learn

that the sink is straight like an arrow

and our wall is NOT

and we have to build a shelf ON to the sink to make it bridge it to the wall somehow

you'd 

ALSO see how I haven't caulked yet

and all that ...

so 

Reader opinion

I think I want to paint the trim White..

thoughts?

(perhaps Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint Old White)

thoughts???

Craft Fair for those Wacky Blessings!

Yep..

when NOT at Blessings Farm

they still do things they will readily tell you

they'd RATHER be doing AT the farm

and getting ready for the Craft fair was definitely one of them!

One Craft WAS done at the Farm

ONE has a funny story

and ONE is plum delicious and adorable!

Wanna step inside the blog for a minute and catch a bit of Christmas spirit?

These we named Mello Men

aren't they ADORABLE

inspired by 

a desperate HUNT on Pinterest for delicious ideas

I just KNEW this would be AFFORDABLE

FUN

and 

DELICIOUS!

and I was right!

The kids had a BLAST making them

we melted the bittersweet chocolate with a wee bit coconut oil in my fondue pot

and dipped the mello's in

they are on these NEAT-O lolli-pop sticks we found at JoAnne's!

fun right?

We got the groovy sprinkles on Sale at Aldi :)

We also got the mello's there and the darker chocolate there too!

aren't they pretty!

see how shiny they are

after we decorated them

we put them in the fridge

to chill them out

and then packaged them

aren't they cute 

standing there like little soldiers stuck in boxes?

This is the VERY wonderful project Buddy made..

because the project he was GOING to make

he LEFT at Blessings Farm

and I had to TRY to come up with something 

that was

NEARLY as Terrific and Wonderful

as THAT in JUST a couple days you see..

and THAT is a LOT of pressure for a mom to live up to...

especially as I am NOT one of THOSE mothers

who will DO the project FOR The child

and pretend the child did it

I had to find something 

Buddy COULD do

that 

Buddy WOULD do

because BUDDY is and ARTIST

and that means

he can be temperamental about certain things

adding to the STRESS of the "sitUation"

IF you catch my meaning! (wink wink)

THIS is what I came up with

(and YES, I tied the ribbon! doesn't it look FABULOUS?)

It really is VERY sparkly..

The photo isn't showing JUST how sparkly it is

These are the "hard wood" puppy sticks

to keep your pup from gnawing on your furniture

give 'em a bone

or one of these

hand whittled by the Princess

Puppy tested 

(Thanks to Cinder)

and Puppy approved

here is THEIR presentation AT the 

Annual Home School Craft Fair 

See our Artist Buddy preparing his display : )

Princess

the very SERIOUS Business Woman

more of the Fair and display

oh.. these are IN the sleigh..

see how NICELY Princess wrapped them up!

The whole evening was a HUGE success!

All the students did and excellent job!

Thankful to be part of such a wonderful community