Rain Rain Go Away!

What’s going on in our fields right now?  Well nothing today due to the rain!  We are still harvesting soybeans but the weather is making that difficult.  To harvest soybeans the field and the soybean plant need to be dry.  So if the air is damp in the morning or evening we can’t harvest and we can’t harvest in the rain.

The kids and I have been staying very busy lately!  Though we are only in the fields for a couple of hours each evening we find plenty to do.  Since farmers don’t keep a normal 9am-5pm day with weekends off, we have to keep everything going at home while Brad works in the fields.  The kids and I have been enjoying the extra outdoor work while the temperature has been tolerable.  We spend lots of time caring for the dogs, cat and horse, raking leaves, picking up sticks, and finding other outdoor tasks to keep us entertained during the day. 

But, the best part of our day is taking dinners out to everyone working in the fields.  We do our best to prepare a hot home cooked meal every day, pack them all up, and deliver them to the fields before they get cold.  Sometimes this is quite a challenge due to the drive time between fields.  The kids sure miss Brad during this time of year, but I know they are learning to appreciate hard work and what it means to love what you do!

Claire giving her Daddy a big hug at dinner time.

 

Yummy Donuts!

I try to eat healthy and exercise regularly.  But, donuts are my true weakness!  I have my Great Grandma’s fried donut recipe that I haven’t attempted since I’m a little intimidated by it!  I know there’s a quite a knack to making fried donuts and just haven’t had the time to dive into and master it.  But, I recently came across a baked donut recipe and thought that was more up my alley.  The donuts were very easy to make and turned out really great! 

Claire loves to bake with me.  I used to prefer baking by myself.  It served as my relaxing alone time.  But, now I really love Claire’s “help” and feel a little lost if she isn’t standing on a chair beside me at the counter. 

We enjoy taking any food to the fields, but yummy warm homemade donuts are the best!  Accompanied by a hot drink we stop and drop off our “love”.  I know I will always remember and cherish Claire’s sweet little voice saying “Look what we made you Daddy”, as she proudly holds up the donuts she just helped bake.  I know Brad will remember those moments too!

I hope you take some time to bake some “love” for someone special in your life!  Try the recipe below.  I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as we do!!

Cinnamon Apple Donuts

·         1 ¼ c. apple juice

·         2 cinnamon sticks

·         1 tsp. apple pie spice

·         2 c. flour

·         ¾ tsp. baking powder

·         1 tsp. baking soda

·         1 tsp. cinnamon

·         ¼ tsp. cloves

·         ¼ tsp. salt

·         1 egg

·         2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

·         ½ c. brown sugar

·         ½ c. granulated sugar

·         ½ c. water

·         2 tbsp. dry buttermilk

·         1 tsp. vanilla

Topping-

·         1 c. granulated sugar

·         1 tsp. cinnamon

·         ¼ c. unsalted butter, melted

Directions-

-          Simmer apple juice, cinnamon sticks and apple pie spice over low heat for 15- 20 minutes until reduced.  You will only use ½ c. of this reduction.  Cool in refrigerator.

-          Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves,  and salt and set aside.

-          Mix egg, butter, brown sugar, sugar, water, dry buttermilk, vanilla, and 1/2 c. apple juice reduction.

-          Add wet ingredients to dry.  Mix just until incorporated, a few small lumps may be in batter. 

-          Divide batter into greased donut pan or greased mini muffin pan.

-          Bake at 350, for 9-12 minutes (until test toothpick comes out clean).

-          Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

-          Dip tops of donuts in melted butter, then in sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Allow to cool another 10 minutes.

-          Store in paper bag.  Best same day. 

 

Can't Get Enough

Lately I’ve been doing something that as a mother I know isn’t right.  I’ve been snuggling and holding Cody while he naps.  I never do this!  My kids always nap in their beds….but, he is getting so big so fast and I know soon I won’t be able to cuddle him like this anymore L

I only hold him for his Thursday morning nap.  He and I hang out together while Claire is at preschool and the house is nice and quiet and perfect for a cuddle!  He is so fat and cute; I just can’t get enough!

 

Patchin' Things Up

2 small tears on the back of the vest.

My husband recently brought me his Carhartt vest with a small request.


 “I ripped my vest while cutting wood yesterday.  Can you fix it?” 

Sure, I thought, I can patch that!  But….while I do try, I’m not a very talented seamstress, lol.

I did manage to practically fix the vest.  Even if it doesn’t look the best that’s fine with me considering it is just a work vest.  I simply slipped a patch between the lining and outer shell, then sewed over the rip with the widest zig- zag pattern my sewing machine will do.  Only time will tell if my patch job was adequate, lol.

Good as new?

While having a few quiet minutes to myself during the vest project, I thought….”what else in my life needs patching up?”

 Of course there’s the pile of work jeans, and kids clothes that always need a quick mend, but what more important things need to be mended?  I thought of a few relationships that need to be mended.  Relationships where communication was lacking, feelings got pushed aside and buried, and life just moved on without addressing what really mattered.

I am sure everyone has these sorts of relationships that could be patched up.  After all, I’ve found that practicing good communication is one of the most difficult things to do in life.  So I decided I will make a change; attempt to fill those relationships with more meaningful conversation than “what did you do today, or what’s the weather supposed to do this week….”  I’m going to put my heart back into it!

I challenge you to do the same.  It isn’t always easy to start that healthy communication link, but much more fulfilling in the long haul.

Time For A Change!

Change is a good thing!  That’s what I kept telling myself as I pushed back the tears while I told my boss of 10 years and a mentor of 20 years that I was resigning from my position at his veterinary clinic.  When I finished my education as a licensed veterinary technician at MSU I never imagined in just a few years I’d be quitting my job to stay at home!  When I started working as a technician I was “the job”.  I loved spending all my free time reading veterinary magazines, I eagerly took on extra shifts, I was overly excited for veterinary conferences….the list goes on and on……I loved my job! 

Then things changed over the years.  I still loved my job while I was there, but my free time got prioritized differently.  Brad, a serious boyfriend at the start of my employment as a technician, later became my husband.  I had new priorities and interests as his wife….a farmer’s wife.  My free time was now consumed talking about what piece of equipment we needed to buy before the end of the year, or the ever changing grain market prices, or the WEATHER, lol.

Then things changed again.  Brad and I became parents to Claire and then Cody 2 ½ years later.  At that time I had taken on more responsibility at the veterinary clinic and also within our farm. 

Yes, my life was busy and sometimes chaotic.  I like being busy, but was it too busy?   I always go above and beyond with any of my tasks in life, and I had too much on my plate for that to happen any longer.  I was spreading myself too thin to be a great farmer's wife, mother, and veterinary technician.

When I enrolled Claire into preschool it hit me….. “Where has the time gone!?  How is my oldest child old enough to be in preschool already?”  I realized even though I was working only part time at the veterinary clinic that I still had too many other priorities in my life to continue working outside of our family.  It was a hard decision, but it was time for a change.

My life had changed.  My heart had changed.  My interests and priorities were so different from where they were 10 years ago.  I will forever miss my relationships I developed at the veterinary clinic with pet owners and with coworkers.  But, after just a short month with my new “stay at home mom” title, I know I will forever cherish the time I am spending with my kids and husband!  Being able to have picnics under the shade tree in our back yard, or being able to go for ride on the ATV all together as a family when Brad comes home in the evenings, or having the kids deliver warm cider and donuts to everyone in the fields during harvest….these are the important things, the memories I will hold onto and cherish.

 

I am so blessed to have gone to college, loved my work in the veterinary field, and maybe go back to it someday?  But, I am more thankful for my opportunity to be at home being a farmer’s wife and mother……where I feel my place in life truly is!

Wicked Winter Calls For Comfort Food

I really do enjoy winter, but this winter has been a doozy!  Typically winter allows us to enjoy snowmobiling, skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing, but not so much this year.  We started the winter with a wicked ice storm.  The ice storm was more destructive than any I can remember.  We were very fortunate and didn’t lose our power, but many people in the surrounding counties did lose power for several days.

No sooner did the ice melt and we got dumped on with snow!  Frigid temperatures, blustery winds, and deep snow made taking care of chores outdoors difficult.  Thankfully Brad does all of the outside chores while Claire, Cody and I stay cozy inside J  But, even though I’m not working in the bad weather it still is difficult to get out of the house to run errands, and after a while we all go a little stir crazy!

The good thing about this weather is it gets me in the comfort food mood!  One of my favorite dessert brunch foods is monkey bread.  I have seen many variations of this yummy bread, but this is my favorite and dangerously easy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

·         24 Rhodes Frozen Rolls, thawed but still cold

·         1 small box of non-instant butterscotch pudding mix

·         ½ c. pecans, chopped

·         ¾ c. butter

·         ¾ c. brown sugar

 

Directions:

·         Cut rolls in half then roll in dry pudding mix.

·         Place coated rolls in Bundt pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

·         Layer pecans on top of rolls.

·         Sprinkle remaining pudding mix on top of pecans.

·         Combine brown sugar and butter.  Heat in microwave until syrup is formed.  Pour over rolls.

·         Cover pan with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

·         Let rise until double in size or until the rolls are at the top of the pan.

·         Remove plastic wrap and bake at 350 for 15- 20 minutes.

·         Cover with foil and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes.

·         Immediately after cooking invert rolls onto serving plate.

·         Enjoy!  And try to eat just 1 roll J

I thought it would be fun to look through the recipe and figure out exactly how each product ties back to agriculture.  Where did all of those ingredients come from?  They came from the grocery store…..but how did they make it there?

Ø  Pecans grow on trees.  Today the USA produces between 80- 95% of the world’s pecans.

Ø  Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk.  It takes 10 quarts of milk to produce 1 pound of butter.

Ø  Brown sugar is produced by combing sugar and molasses.  The molasses and sugar come from sugar cane.  Sugar cane is a stout fibrous stalk that can grow to be 6- 19 feet tall.  In the USA sugar cane is grown in Florida, Hawaii, Texas, and Louisiana.

Ø  Pudding mix is made up mostly of gelatin and sugar.  Gelatin is a protein that comes from animal bones or connective tissue and has been used especially in desserts since the 1400’s.  Butterscotch flavoring is made after combining brown sugar and butter.

Ø  Frozen bread dough is made up mostly of flour, sugar, butter and yeast.  There are a variety of flours, but most are made with wheat.  Wheat is a grain grown in many parts of the world including the USA.

So there you have it…now you can picture where all the monkey bread ingredients are coming from J

What's Going On In Our Fields Right Now?

When I started this blog almost a year ago, I did some research to learn how to drive readers to the blog.  The number one thing I came across was to post consistently and frequently.  Through my research I read that posts should be done as often as you water house plants if you want to keep your readers “alive”.  Well, I apologize to you readers….if you were house plants you sure are hearty or desert loving plants because I haven’t been regularly “watering” you with posts, ha-ha!  I feel like this fall and beginning of winter has been a whirlwind and unfortunately my blog posts have been lowest on my list of priorities.

So, what’s going on in our fields right now?  Harvest is finished!  So that means that nothing is going on in the fields right now…. YAY!!!  Some fields have been plowed and will lay that way until spring field work.  Other fields are not plowed, but also lay untouched until spring.

I am so excited that harvest is done!  This year harvest seemed to drag on.  We had our fair share of rainy days which slows up harvest significantly.  Even though we had a few bumps in the road I am thankful of several things after this harvest season; here are just a few J

#1:  MOST IMPORTANTLY…. my family remained safe and healthy during harvest.  I know there are a lot of jobs that are hazardous, but according to the CDC, “Every day, about 243 agricultural workers suffer a lost-work-time injury. Five percent of these injuries result in permanent impairment.”  Not only remaining safe is a challenge, but after working such long hours, with no “weekends” as a break many times a person just runs their body down and gets sick, but everyone made through harvest unscathed, and for that I count my blessings!

#2:  The grain bin and dryer are up and operational.  The grain bin and dryer are crucial to our operation.  The construction was quite a big project and didn’t wrap up until after harvest started so that was stressful….but it is done now! J  Here are some pictures of the progression of the grain bin being built.  Over just a few days it was up, but then took quite some time before it was operational.

 

 

 

 

#3: We had bountiful yields!  We don’t have any irrigation systems on the ground we farm so you can only do so much to help the crop along throughout the year; aim for optimal planting times, apply fertilizer, control pests, etc.  But, we still rely on Mother Nature.  This year we couldn’t complain about how the plants matured and the crops yielded!

#4:  Styrofoam take out containers are easy to find!  I know this sounds a bit silly, but these handy containers make my life so much easier when trying to get meals out to the fields.  Getting hearty dinners out to everyone I feel like is essential to keep things running as smooth as possible.  The first year I took food to the fields I tried doing so in nice plastic containers I wanted back, or on paper plates, or wrapped in foil….I tried everything and nothing is as handy as these containers J

#5:  And lastly, but most motivating, is that we will be able to do what we love again next year.  We will learn from hurtles this year, and continue with practices that worked well.  I feel blessed to be doing what we love and raising our kids to work hard, reflect on the good and bad, and persevere!