Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Picture of the Day
This is a water catch tank that we use to catch water from our roof. The water is then used to water our garden and helps with water for the animals. This is a used 300 gal container.
Monday, February 7, 2011
A day at Shekinah Farm!
Well, today we had a busy, exciting and blessed day! We made fire starters, biscuits in the wood cookstove and we had babies!
Our usual routine this morning was pray together as a family, feed and manage the animals, clean the kitchen, make breakfast, begin dinner. Today's dinner is chicken soup and was made on the wood cookstove used as a slow cooker to simmer the soup all day long. Yum! I will make biscuits to go with it, my first baking in my wood cookstove! I will share it with you in a minute. But first, I need to make fire starters.
Fire starters are made in cardboard egg cartons filled with lint from the dryer (my mom and dad help save lint for us.) Then we pour hot wax over the lint and let it cool. Finally, we cut the carton into small pieces.
After the fire starters were finished we made biscuits for our dinner. This was my first time baking in my wood cook stove. Here is the recipe:
Angel Biscuits (adapted from Whole Foods for the Whole Family)
I am making biscuits to go with our chicken soup tonight. I have used this recipe for years and it is wonderfully fluffy and light. I make them a bit different each time according to time and what we are eating them with. In this recipe I'll suggest options and how those options change the recipe.
1 T Yeast
2-5 T warm water (not hot)
2 c warmed cultured buttermilk (I use 1 c kefir and 1 c milk, or you can put 1 T lemon juice into 2 c milk, let sit for 10 minutes if you don't have buttermilk)
1-3 T honey (use amount according to how sweet you want them. With soups I use 1 T, for breakfast biscuits I use 3 T unless I make them to eat with gravy. You can also use sucanant, turbinado, or other sweetener, adjusting according to taste preference. If you use dry sweetener add to dry ingredients)
6 c freshly ground flour (I use soft wheat, spelt, and sometimes a bit of hard red wheat for a change of flavor, sometimes I also add millet and flax for health and higher protein. You can also use ww pastry flour with germ and bran added as well)
6 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
3/4 cup butter (you can use half olive oil half butter or all olive oil to make spoon biscuits)
Disolve yeast in warm water, buttermilk and honey (omit honey if using dry sweetener).
Sift together 5 c flour, baking powder, soda and salt (add dry sweetener here if desired).
Cut in butter.
Add yeast mixture, kneading in last c of flour (for spoon biscuits just mix, no kneading required, dough should be wet and sticky.) Cover and put in fridge for 12-24 hours (to break down the phytic acid in wheat). Dough can stay in fridge for up to a week.
Roll out dough on pastry sheet to about 1/2-2/3 inch thickness.
Cut biscuits and place on a greased cookie sheet (or ungreased stone) and bake in a moderate oven, 350 for 15-20 minutes. (In my wood cookstove I have to turn the biscuits 1/2 way through the cook time.)
These biscuits do not have to rise before baking. If you make spoon biscuits, you can bring them to room temp before baking and spoon them right onto the cookie sheet. Makes about 24 biscuits depending on what size you make them. Great for any meal!
I was right in the midst of eating my soup and biscuit and Satch came in and said, "Get your coat, boots and camera, we have a lamb!"
So I set my bowl aside and ran out to the barn!
Yah has truly blessed!
Our usual routine this morning was pray together as a family, feed and manage the animals, clean the kitchen, make breakfast, begin dinner. Today's dinner is chicken soup and was made on the wood cookstove used as a slow cooker to simmer the soup all day long. Yum! I will make biscuits to go with it, my first baking in my wood cookstove! I will share it with you in a minute. But first, I need to make fire starters.
Fire starters are made in cardboard egg cartons filled with lint from the dryer (my mom and dad help save lint for us.) Then we pour hot wax over the lint and let it cool. Finally, we cut the carton into small pieces.
 |
| egg carton filled with lint |
 |
| wax melting on the stove |
 |
| pouring wax over lint |
 |
| egg carton, lint and wax cut into small 'eggs' |
 |
| fire starters in a basket ready for use at the stove |
After the fire starters were finished we made biscuits for our dinner. This was my first time baking in my wood cook stove. Here is the recipe:
Angel Biscuits (adapted from Whole Foods for the Whole Family)
I am making biscuits to go with our chicken soup tonight. I have used this recipe for years and it is wonderfully fluffy and light. I make them a bit different each time according to time and what we are eating them with. In this recipe I'll suggest options and how those options change the recipe.
1 T Yeast
2-5 T warm water (not hot)
2 c warmed cultured buttermilk (I use 1 c kefir and 1 c milk, or you can put 1 T lemon juice into 2 c milk, let sit for 10 minutes if you don't have buttermilk)
1-3 T honey (use amount according to how sweet you want them. With soups I use 1 T, for breakfast biscuits I use 3 T unless I make them to eat with gravy. You can also use sucanant, turbinado, or other sweetener, adjusting according to taste preference. If you use dry sweetener add to dry ingredients)
6 c freshly ground flour (I use soft wheat, spelt, and sometimes a bit of hard red wheat for a change of flavor, sometimes I also add millet and flax for health and higher protein. You can also use ww pastry flour with germ and bran added as well)
6 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
3/4 cup butter (you can use half olive oil half butter or all olive oil to make spoon biscuits)
Disolve yeast in warm water, buttermilk and honey (omit honey if using dry sweetener).
Sift together 5 c flour, baking powder, soda and salt (add dry sweetener here if desired).
Cut in butter.
Add yeast mixture, kneading in last c of flour (for spoon biscuits just mix, no kneading required, dough should be wet and sticky.) Cover and put in fridge for 12-24 hours (to break down the phytic acid in wheat). Dough can stay in fridge for up to a week.
Roll out dough on pastry sheet to about 1/2-2/3 inch thickness.
Cut biscuits and place on a greased cookie sheet (or ungreased stone) and bake in a moderate oven, 350 for 15-20 minutes. (In my wood cookstove I have to turn the biscuits 1/2 way through the cook time.)
These biscuits do not have to rise before baking. If you make spoon biscuits, you can bring them to room temp before baking and spoon them right onto the cookie sheet. Makes about 24 biscuits depending on what size you make them. Great for any meal!
I was right in the midst of eating my soup and biscuit and Satch came in and said, "Get your coat, boots and camera, we have a lamb!"
So I set my bowl aside and ran out to the barn!
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| First lamb is a boy! |
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| another lamb is coming can you see the little white tips on the hooves? |
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| second lamb is a girl |
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| Leah is cleaning her up |
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| Leah and her twins! |
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| Finally, on her wobbly feet! |
Project of the week... (or month!)
Still working on the propane plumming... getting closer! Need different parts.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Co-op order pick-up date change
Hey All!
Due to the possible bad weather this week, I probably won't be able to pick up our order on Thursday. That means I will probably pick up next Sunday and deliver on Monday.
Due to the possible bad weather this week, I probably won't be able to pick up our order on Thursday. That means I will probably pick up next Sunday and deliver on Monday.
Picture of the Day
As promised, here is the picture of the other popcorn popper... this is the one we use regularly!
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| Yum, Popcorn! |
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Shabbat Shalom!
Well, I did it again, got too busy to post a picture and say, "Sabbath Peace" to everyone yesterday.
We have been busy this past week. Grandpa had to go to the VA twice for his annual 'I'm healthy' appointments. Shelly had her usual therapy day and I spent two days trying to work on co-op orders. We are waiting on the bucket order shipping totals and discussing options.
Shelly had an interesting day on Thursday! She stayed in the house to do inside clean up while I went out to do chores. When I came in she had an odd look on her face. I wasn't sure what it was but in a few minutes she shared that she was cutting cardboard for the cook stove and cut my table cloth. She had cut through my plastic table cloth, through the cloth table cloth and into my oak table underneath! She was so worried that I would get mad... I didn't, just hugged her, explained that she should have cut the cardboard on one of the blocks of wood, and asked if she learned anything. She said she learned not to use the box cutter on anything except a block of wood. Tables are just things, if worse comes to worse, I would use the furniture in my house to supply heat for my family, a few scratches won't matter!
Shortly after that incident, I had to take Grandpa to the VA. While waiting I called the house to see if Shelly was ok. She said the fire had gone out on the stove. After the morning incident, I suggested she get Ricky and ask him to re-light the fire. When I got home the house was full of smoke and smelled like sulfur. I asked if Ricky had just been in messing with the fire, Shelly's reply was no. Upon further questioning I found out that Ricky had left the box of matches on the top of the stove and they caught on fire. Poor Shelly was here by herself with a box of matches blazing on the stovetop. She responded quickly and put the fire out and removed the matches to the burn can and I walked in the door at that point to find the smoke filled house.
Shelly was a bit shook up so we decided to do something fun. We made blueberry muffins. We didn't quite have enough flour to make them so Shelly pulled out the wheat grinder and began grinding some flour... all of a sudden Poof! The flour bin disconnected from the grinder and flour flew everywhere! After cleaning up the mess we made muffins and sat down and ate one... what a day!
We are all enjoying a quiet, restful sabbath without incident!
Here are a couple pics for you for our pics of the day.
We have been busy this past week. Grandpa had to go to the VA twice for his annual 'I'm healthy' appointments. Shelly had her usual therapy day and I spent two days trying to work on co-op orders. We are waiting on the bucket order shipping totals and discussing options.
Shelly had an interesting day on Thursday! She stayed in the house to do inside clean up while I went out to do chores. When I came in she had an odd look on her face. I wasn't sure what it was but in a few minutes she shared that she was cutting cardboard for the cook stove and cut my table cloth. She had cut through my plastic table cloth, through the cloth table cloth and into my oak table underneath! She was so worried that I would get mad... I didn't, just hugged her, explained that she should have cut the cardboard on one of the blocks of wood, and asked if she learned anything. She said she learned not to use the box cutter on anything except a block of wood. Tables are just things, if worse comes to worse, I would use the furniture in my house to supply heat for my family, a few scratches won't matter!
Shortly after that incident, I had to take Grandpa to the VA. While waiting I called the house to see if Shelly was ok. She said the fire had gone out on the stove. After the morning incident, I suggested she get Ricky and ask him to re-light the fire. When I got home the house was full of smoke and smelled like sulfur. I asked if Ricky had just been in messing with the fire, Shelly's reply was no. Upon further questioning I found out that Ricky had left the box of matches on the top of the stove and they caught on fire. Poor Shelly was here by herself with a box of matches blazing on the stovetop. She responded quickly and put the fire out and removed the matches to the burn can and I walked in the door at that point to find the smoke filled house.
Shelly was a bit shook up so we decided to do something fun. We made blueberry muffins. We didn't quite have enough flour to make them so Shelly pulled out the wheat grinder and began grinding some flour... all of a sudden Poof! The flour bin disconnected from the grinder and flour flew everywhere! After cleaning up the mess we made muffins and sat down and ate one... what a day!
We are all enjoying a quiet, restful sabbath without incident!
Here are a couple pics for you for our pics of the day.
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| A 6 gallon butter churn. I haven't used this one, I never have 6 gals of cream to make butter with! |
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| A popcorn popper. This one is for using over a fire. I have another one for on the stove. I post that pic tomorrow. |
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Picture of the Day
This is one of our two butter churns. This one holds a gallon of cream and works really well! Can't wait til the cow has her new calf, lots of fresh milk and cream to make butter with this spring!
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| Butter Churn |
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Picture of the Day- Oops I missed a day, here's two!
Here is a very used antique iron heating up on my stove. Nah, I ain't ironin' today!
I made baked seven grain with the left overs from Monday morning's breakfast. The recipe is easy:
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| baked seven grain |
a couple cups of left over cooked cereal
a couple eggs
a tsp of baking soda
a couple teaspoons of baking powder
honey to taste (we don't like it real sweet)
cinnamon to taste
some milk to make it all mix well (not to make it soupy)
Spread in a pan and cook in a moderate oven (350) until a knife comes out clean (about 30-45 mins).
To eat it you can put it in a bowl with milk and honey. We like it on a plate with butter and cinnamon. This morning I had some brown sugar crumbles left over from making muffins and put a pinch of those on top, yum!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Co-op Pick Up
Hey All!
I will pick up this month's co-op order Feb 10th. Approximate times for P/U:
Pam's 11:30
Wal-mart on Drake/Parkway 2:30
Hazel Green after 4
This will be a long day for us so please be patient and prompt. (Last trip I was 'flyin' down HWY 53 at the speed of sound to make my time to Hsv!)
I will pick up this month's co-op order Feb 10th. Approximate times for P/U:
Pam's 11:30
Wal-mart on Drake/Parkway 2:30
Hazel Green after 4
This will be a long day for us so please be patient and prompt. (Last trip I was 'flyin' down HWY 53 at the speed of sound to make my time to Hsv!)
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