the birthday girl

Our little Valentine girl. I think her birthday day was a success.

 

  

It involved a little playing in the snow, a little (warm) hot chocolate, a little torturing the dog.... 

 

A little chocolate cake...

A little present opening...

She's so grown up.

Her mother's pearls may be a little big still, but I'm sure she'll grow into them before we know what's happening.

  

 

 

life is rich

 This week was busy. Amelia's birthday (pictures to come in the near future), Valentine's Day, and Cookie Day at the Capitol with a rally to support Missouri Midwifery. This is not to mention the usual kid care, ballet classes, visiting with family, and chores.

Clay and I prefer not to go out to eat amidst the madhouse of everyone else celebrating Valentine's Day. However, it is the first day that we "officially" started dating each other (in other words, Clay brought me a small gift and showed up at my then current abode, The Cabin, for dinner and a movie). This year we celebrated seven years together.

I managed to make a semi-fancy supper, completed mostly after the kids were settled in bed. It was especially nice since it was the first time we got to put my beautiful new white dishes to use. It almost felt like we were at a restaurant with candlelight, and no other people (bonus). The only downside to being chef and patron was that we had to eat our appetizers quickly so our supper didn't get cold.

Since I happened to be out of prime cuts of steak, I settled for stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. You can't go wrong when there is bacon involved. I tried this fabulous recipe, for the second time, and it was absolutely delicious, for the second time. It is courtesy of one of the many wonderful contributors in Hot Providence. The best cookbook to ever come out of Moscow, Idaho.


Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

 1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4-8 oz. feta cheese
1/2 C. sour cream
1 garlic clove, minced
6 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. paprika
12 strips of bacon

Drain the spinach and squeeze dry. Mix with the feta cheese and sour cream in a bowl. If the chicken breasts are too thick pound them out a little. Cut a pocket in each chicken breast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon the spinach mixture into the chicken. Press the pockets closed with wooden picks. Mix the flour with the paprika and lightly dust over the chicken. Wrap two pieces of bacon around each chicken breast. Place a greased rack in a baking dish and arrange the chicken so that they do not touch each other. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Our dinner menu included:
Salad with Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, Onion & Parmesan with Olive Oil & Lemon Juice
Artisan Bread with Olive Oil and Italian Seasonings
Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Apples lightly fried and sprinkled with Cinnamon and Pepper

Champagne & Raspberries for dessert.

What did you have for St. Valentine's Day?

saturday mornings

I realize today is indeed Wednesday, and not Saturday.

Sometimes it helps to have a little incentive to get through the week.

 One of those incentives is always our Saturday morning breakfasts.
It inevitably gives us a much later start on our "work around the home & farm" day every week. But it feels so good to lounge in bed for a few extra minutes, start with a cup of coffee (that the hubby makes), and eat a leisurely breakfast that always involves copious amounts of bacon.

 Saturday mornings are the main reason we have discussed the idea of adding a pig to the farm. And a milk cow, for the cream in our coffee.

William is a bacon lover, like his father. But the girls seem to have a stronger affinity for blueberries, especially in pancakes.

Margaret & William are designated helpers. Dropping in blueberries and even helping flip over the food. They eat it up. Quite literally.

I'm feeling better already.

springtime in the winter

This January has been a nice contrast to last January. Last year we were getting massive snowstorms, and I spent the entire month wondering if the midwife was going to be able to make it to my house for Amelia's birth. This January the daffodils and tulips are popping up in the garden.

There has still been plenty of chilly weather and cloudy, rainy days. I have still had to reach deep into my bag of tricks to stave off cabin fever in the kids. Blanket forts, cardboard box slides, artwork at the kitchen table, music & dance sessions, and more.

But we have also been taking advantage of those nice sunny days in between and going on lots of walks and outings. A big favorite with the kids is story time at the nature center with "Miss Ladybug". William is always requesting to go to the nature center and "listen to ladybug". Last time we combined it with a nice hike down to the lake, complete with a picnic lunch.

I will be perfectly happy if this weather keeps going and we avoid any severe winter weather. I am rather partial to those flowers popping up around the yard.

 

 

 

 

it's the little things

 

Painting my fingernails (for the first time in ...6 years?) a shocking red, to see the delight in my daughter's eyes.

Blueberry pancakes & coffee (in my favorite cup, covered in marine creatures).

Scanning & restoring piles and piles of old family photos.

Pony rides in the backyard.

Red wine.

G.K. Chesterton Father Brown stories.

 

winter beauty

It is hard for me to get excited about winter any more. Everything in Missouri turns drab and brown. All of the water troughs freeze and chores involve carrying buckets (and more buckets) from the bathtub to the animals in the early morning. Ice and snow make for treacherous driving conditions, and getting into town can become an ordeal. And it takes about half an hour to make sure everyone is bundled up sufficiently for a daily walk, so we can all try to shake off our cabin fever.

I guess I have grown up too much. Or maybe that is just part of winter in the mid-west. My childhood winters in Canada were so much more exciting. I am not sure how much of that was because there were more winter activities available, or because I was a happy-go-lucky kid and typically everything that is troublesome for adults is an adventure for children. 

I don't remember it being a hassle to put on ten layers of clothing before going out to build snow forts. Back then I was light enough to dance on the crusty top layer of snow without falling through, and hikes through the woods were like skipping through a fairy land. Freezing my toes off while ice fishing maybe wasn't my perfect cup of tea, but I sure enjoyed the hot chocolate and roaring fire afterward. Sledding, snowball fights, skiing, rosy cheeks, warm pajamas... winter back then was magic.

I need to remember that magic. Remember to see it as an adventure and encourage that in my kids. 

The other day I was sorting through pictures from my camera and came across these shots from a rainy, wintry hike in November. Many months ago when winter was still a novelty (sort of). It was a good reminder for me that there is beauty in the cold. Usually better viewed from inside, while sipping on hot tea and wearing fuzzy socks. But nevertheless, beauty. And adventure.

bird ornaments

Google "felt birds", or type it into pinterest, and you will find a plethora of tutorials and picture ideas for this craft. Add mine to the mix. I had a lot of fun making a few simple versions of these bird ornaments using felt, buttons, stuffing, string and a hot glue gun. There are so many different things you could do with these birds.

 

 The owls and cardinals were my favorite.

 

They made a nice addition to our Christmas tree this year. And I may have even handed out a few as gifts. Next time I make them I might take the extra time to sew around the edges. And a friendly word of advice: Make sure you hang the string from the top of the bird so that it is balanced properly once it is hung. A couple of mine tip forward, ever so slightly...

bucking sheep

Clay and I have thrown around a lot of ideas for building up our little farm empire. A vineyard, making maple syrup, sleigh rides, Christmas trees, an Orchard and cider press...

We've also been exploring ideas for utilizing the empty cement silo behind the barn. So far the options have been to use it as a roosting spot for free range chickens, housing the vineyard wine equipment, and more. My personal favorite was to put a platform on top, maybe with a hot tub and a telescope? Or we could always opt for the house option, like this one, except above ground:

But I think our best idea was just hatched last night.

It all started with William's current obsession with horses and cows bucking. Every game somehow involves him riding a bucking bull and falling off. All the toy horses have been renamed from Sackett to Chico, after Chico's lengthy display of galloping and bucking around the field on Saturday. As a result Clay and I have joked about letting him enter a muttonbusters competition at a rodeo.

And then I got the brilliant idea. We could breed champion bucking sheep. Sell them across the country for all of the muttonbusting competitions. Then we can advertise: "Visit the Vineyards & Orchard at Cross-D Ranch - Home of the Champion Bucking Mutton Baa-dacious, Never been ridden by any children aged 9 and under".

I have always wanted the job of naming bucking bulls. This would be my chance. We could start with sheep appropriate variations of some PBR's finest:

Baa-dacious
Rammer
Little Bucks
Slick Woolly
Kids Rock
Ewe-nabomber
Trou-baa-dour