I tried the Twists

There were 4 very happy men (DH, JB and my two bros-in-law) at my house this afternoon. They all managed to arrive just as the Twists were coming out of the oven and boy did we enjoy these yummy treats along with a cold glass of milk! I had to restrain myself from having seconds as we have yet to have dinner. The Twists were just a late afternoon snack and probably will be dessert and if there are any leftovers, a delicious breakfast pastry! Plain Ol' Vanilla has the recipe on her blog. I highly recommend trying it!

Yummy Garlic Butter Bread Sticks

The other day I tried a new recipe for bread sticks and I have to say they turned out very yummy. I found the recipe in the recipe book that came with our bread machine.

Butter-Rich Roll & Bread Dough

1 cup Water

1 Large Egg

3 1/4 cups Bread Flour

4 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

3 Tbsp. Dry Milk

1/4 cup Butter

1 1/2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast

-Place ingredients in bread machine and select the dough cycle

-Once dough cycle is completed put dough on lightly floured board. Divide into 24 pieces for 16 inch sticks (I prefer to do only 18 sticks.) Roll each piece of dough into thin 16 in. lines. Arrange lines about 1 in. apart on greased baking sheet.

-Allow to rise 30 minutes.

~Here is where I changed the recipe. Instead of brushing with 1 beaten egg white and 1 Tbsp water and then baking it. I baked it at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

-Once out of the oven I spread garlic butter over the tops. They were delicious!

Garlic Butter (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (or a mixture of dried basil, oregano, & thyme)

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground paprika

-In a small bowl, combine softened butter, minced garlic and Parmesan cheese. Season with garlic salt, Italian seasoning, pepper, and paprika. Mix until smooth.

Note: Go light on the garlic salt and you might want to substitute it for garlic powder.

Enjoy!

Spring Buds

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More Calves

Since our calf and one of my bro-in-law's calf died, we have been on the look out for two more calves. My DH's cousin and girlfriend went to an auction to pick up some calves for another cousin and for us. Here are the two new bottle calves. (Do you see the llama checking the calves out?)

We also had our cousin buy us a 350lb. bull calf (the back & white one).

All the new calves are down at my bro-in-law's house. After the two younger ones are weaned off their bottles we will move ours up to our house.

Our Family Keeps Growing...

Meet Misty, the newest addition to our family! Misty is a 21 year old Arabian Mare who's previous owners needed to downsize the amount of horses that they had. This couple had rescued Misty many years back and it was with mixed emotions that they decided to find her a new home.

Misty is an incredibly well trained horse. In addition to neck reining she is also knee reining trained and voice trained. (Knee reining means the rider can give Misty commends without having to use the reins just pressure from one's legs. The key to remember is the harder one squeezes with one's legs the faster she goes!) Misty has also worked cattle on a ranch, packed on trails, and done barrel racing. She is a very personable horse and loves to be loved! So far she is settling in to her new surroundings nicely and my DH and I are looking forward to taking her out on the trails!

The Laundry Basket

I have to laugh as I think back to a little incident that my DH and I had several months after we were married. There are so many things one learns about each other once you live with them everyday. The laundry basket was one of those deals that showed both of us how we think through and do things differently. Here is the laundry basket that my DH had before we were married.

It's not the biggest basket but it works to hold laundry. It also became a frustration to both my DH and I though neither one of us knew it until a much later conversation. It only seemed to take three days worth of clothes before it reached the top, hence by the end of the week it was beyond the top.

DH's frustration: My wife doesn't ever seem to do laundry. That laundry basket is never empty or maybe one day a week it is. I don't quite understand way she would allow it to build up so much. Maybe taking care of the house is more work for her than I thought!

My frustration: The laundry basket fills up so fast and I don't want to be doing laundry every three days. There may come a point in time where that is the case but right now I would rather do all the laundry on one day of the week and be done with it. Plus I don't like that our laundry is on display for all who uses the bathroom to see.

So this kept up for sometime before we had a conversation and both came to realize that yes I did do laundry and yes the basket fills up to fast and maybe we should be on the look out for a bigger basket!

Well about a month later we found a basket that we both thought would work. I didn't realize until buying it that it says storage on it but my DH reminded me that we are storing our dirty clothes in it. Good point!

We are both very happy with the new laundry basket that 1) Is bigger then our orignal laundry basket, 2) Has a lid, 3) Is a perfect size to fit where our old laundry basket it was, and 4) Has taken out the frustration of laundry piling up. Yes, laundry still gets done and I try and get it all done in one day but now its not so much of an eyesore or issue!

You tell me what one you think is better! There's quite a difference!

Outdoor Projects

Yesterday was such a lovely day. It was in the 60's and the sun was warmly shining. It was a day where it would have been painful to be stuck inside so my DH and I worked on outdoor projects instead.

My DH's project was putting the skirting around part of the foundation of the house. Here's a picture of the finished project on the front of the house.



And here is a picture of part of the side skirt that has just been stained.


My project was to add the woodchips to the front flower bed. In the first picture you can see what it looks like before and let me just say it looks a whole lot better now with the woodchips!

I'm so thankful that we had a beautiful day to work in the yard and we were able to get things done around the house! The warm weather sure makes me look forward to more warm spring days and summer!!!

A Small Project

Well, I pulled out the sewing machine for the first time since I got married and worked on a little project. I'm not that creative but there has been something that I've been wanting to make for awhile, so the other day I did it. I made shoe warmers. Since living in a cooler climate I have discovered how chilly it is to put one's feet into cold boots. I would keep them in a warmer environment but the dirty, mud and varies animal presents stepped on doesn't allow for that! I got the idea to make little rice bags from a Christmas gift given to me. (Thank you M. Family. I heat my rice bag up and sleep with it at the foot of my bed every night!) I made mini rice bags that can fit right inside of a pair of boots! I can't wait to try them out! I'm sure they'll beat cold feet.

Two Days Later...

this was the sight that greeted my eyes!

My DH said it's not uncommon in March to have snow, rain, hail, wind, and sunshine all in the same day. That sure proved to be true today!

What a Beautiful Day!

Yesterday was just a lovely day. The sun was shining in the blue sky with the white puffy clouds dotting the sky. When I went out in the afternoon I couldn't help but take some pictures. Here's a few...

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