05/06/2012 daily life

What a hot weekend for the beginning of May. We loaded up Friday evening and spent the evening at the farm. Enjoyed dinner with the family and it was an early evening of going to bed. Early evening to bed means an early morning rise and early it was for me. I laid in bed waiting a bit for the rest of the crew to rise. Once everyone was up it was time for breakfast and then it was out the door for a day of work in the garden and around the farm.

Considering that I only get down to the farm once a week to work on the garden things aren’t looking to bad. I had gone down this past Tuesday after learning that I had been invaded by a very unwanted enemy bug called the Colorado Potato Bug. I am trying to garden as organically as I can and therefore the best option for preventing these unwanted bugs is hand picking. I picked twice on Saturday but didn’t get near as many as I had on Tuesday. I am thinking my efforts are working. Thankfully the garden is also full of lots of beautiful wonderful ladybugs and that is yet another reason that I don’t want to use any chemicals. I don’t want to take the risk of killing them along with the gorgeous butterflies that are out which I hope to capture soon on my camera.

The children are very curious as to what is growing in the garden and all the various bugs. A few of our children enjoy picking the bugs off the plants and asking lots of questions. One of them just so happens to be the little beauty pictured below in her dress that she managed to get dirt on first thing, barn boots and a hat to protect her little head and face from the hot sun. I can’t express the joy that I feel to have my little ones in the garden with me and learning about all the various things that they do. I am a very blessed mother.

I am also very blessed to have an amazing husband that does the cultivating and tilling in this garden. Once he is done helping me he usually is off to work in another area of the yard. This is his parents land and they have been very gracious to allow us to use this garden area. My husband helps with the yard work and is currently clearing a path down to the creek that borders their property. The plan is eventually clear it out and put large stones in as stairs so that the creek is easy to access. The cool creek will feel good after a long hard day in the hot sun.

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

the ultimate chocolate chip cookies

I love to bake and in my life time I have made many chocolate chip cookies. I guess you could say I am a chocolate chip cookie snob. I like them soft and chewy with just a bit of a crunch to the edge. Early this year I finally stumbled upon the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Seriously these are so good!! I often hold onto recipes and then when one comes along that I think might be better then I try it. If it is better then out goes the old recipe and in comes the new one. With this recipe I highly doubt that I will ever find a replacement. Around here they go quickly like as soon as they are cool enough to grab.

The other thing I love about these cookies is that if they last until the next day they are still soft. Rarely do they last more than two days in our home. They are devoured very quickly and I am okay with that. As a mother I love to hear, “mom these are the best cookies”. It just kinda makes my day! Now I wish I could credit the original source to these cookies but I don’t know where I found the recipe. So if you know please pass the information along and I will make sure to give the credit to the right person. In the mean time I am forever grateful that I found it.

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

3/4 c. unsalted butter (room temperature)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 egg (room temperature)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using about a tablespoon size drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until barely golden brown around the edge. The tops will not brown but do not cook more then 10 minutes.

Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then move to cooling rack. Makes about 3 dozen

clothesline flowerbed

I have the mentality that if I am going to have to work that I might as well make it enjoyable. One of the daily household chores for a family of 6 is laundry. Lots of laundry! By choice I do not have a dryer. It is one of those things that I have learned to live without and I don’t even miss it. It saves money on the electric bill and of course I don’t have to buy dryer sheets. Love it!

My dear husband finally got around to putting up my metal clothesline poles the other day and I was sure appreciative. For the longest time I have just had the clothes tied around a couple of big trees. It worked okay but with the huge trees my clothes stayed in the shade almost all the time and took longer to dry.

Once the poles were in the ground I decided that a little bit of beauty needed to be added to the area. Once again my dear husband helped dig the spot out and then I got busy planting. When I am in the kitchen doing dishes or working this is the view from my kitchen window. I get to watch the clothes dry in the breeze and watch the butterflies and hummingbirds drop in for a visit.

For me it is the little things in life like flowers that bring beauty and joy to the everyday task. I love being a stay at home mother who gets to enjoy the love from my children everyday and the beauty that surrounds me.

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

lettuce harvest

It’s my first year growing lettuce and I just cut my first large batch out of the garden. I can’t tell you what a rewarding experience that is. After buying it as the store for so long it felt great to walk out to the garden and know that what I was eating was 100% organic. The seeds cost less than one bunch of lettuce from the store. :)

Bringing it home and washing it all up knowing that I planted the seeds and God made them grow is just the beginning of my garden love. There is just something so rewarding about bringing in the first harvest from the garden. I really am not sure what kind of lettuce is on the top but it is an organic kind from Seeds of Change. The beautiful purple color is mustard greens and this was my first year to eat them. I love them! They add a wonderful flavor to whatever I am eating.

So how do I enjoy the lettuce and mustard greens? Just one of the ways is on a very tasty sandwich for lunch. Pile the lettuce high, add some cheese and ham along with a slice of tomato and enjoy. Don’t forget the sweet tea!

Are you gardening? What do you have planted? I went today and purchased 48 Arkansas Traveler tomato plants so that means I will be one busy lady for the next several days. I think I am hooked on gardening!

Have a blessed day.
Sarah