Something More Than Just Hamburgers

Wednesdays are usually a day I cook something simple for supper. The middle of the work week and I'm needing just a simple meal. Tonight I made hamburgers. I was going to just have chips with our meal but we had none. So I made some roasted potatoes. I was craving something more...Fried Dill Pickles. I had tried my own concoction but was not very good. So I searched on pinterest and found a recipe on Paula Deen's Website. They were very good the recipe makes a big patch of breading. I divided the recipe in thirds for my trial run. I believe I will continue to make small batches. The recipe says to freeze the rest but I would rather mix it as I need. I will do a little tweaking to suit our taste...more spice with a little kick.

Fried Dill Pickles

1 24-ounce Jar Kosher dill pickle slices
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup  hot sauce
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 gal peanut oil
2 cups Uncle Bubba's Fry Mix

Drain the juice from the pickles and refill the jar with the garlic powder, hot sauce and buttermilk. Marinate the pickles for at least 30 minutes.

Over medium-high heat, heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Drain the pickles. Put the fry mix in a large mixing bowl, and toss the pickles to coat thoroughly. Shake off the excess mix by tossing lightly in a strainer and deep fry the pickles in batches for 3 to 5 minutes.
When golden brown, remove the pickles from the oil with a clean strainer or slotted metal spoon and place on paper towels to drain off any excess oil. Serve immediately.

Uncle Bubba's Fry Mix

2 cups self-rising flour
1/3 cup self-rising white cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Combine all the ingredients.

The fried pickles hit the spot. I didn't make a lot because not everyone likes them. A little ranch dressing and they were great. I have also seen a baked fried dill pickle recipe I may have to try. I don't like all the grease splattering on everything. But a lot of times it tastes better to just fry it.
The dishes are done and now I will get my crocheting out and relax with my husband for the rest of the evening.

Weather Rock

I borrowed the picture from wbi.r I have not been out to the site to se the full extent of the damage.

We have had some kind of weather in these parts lately. A few days ago EF2 tornado struck a small community in our county that is north of us. We lost 2 during this tornado. I have heard on the news a lot of lives were lost in many other states from the effects of this storm.
The days before all the storms the weather was breezy but very warm. Then the warm air hit the cold air, because after the storm it became cold again. We had no damage in our area of the county. Until we heard the news the next morning we had no idea there was a tornado in the area, just 20 miles away.
Again on Friday night another storm was coming through our area. This time the southern part of the county, my neck of the woods. We had just finished supper and dad called the weather radio was going off. Storm with possible chance of tornadic occurrence. We headed for the basement to wait it out.

 We had mostly high winds and some hail. We spent an hour in the basement. Dad, (grandad) reading to Jaydyn his great granddaughter. The boys running in and out to see what was happening. I prowled around some boxes I had stored to see if anything was there I needed.
Within an hour it was over. The winds had calmed down as quick as it started.
Then Sunday morning the sun with a few clouds brought us some light snow flurries. Occasionally I could see a glimmer of shinny white. Just enough for me to wish for a snow day to finish some projects I wanted to finish.
But it just as the storm on Friday came and went. Yes there will be school today.
It's to early for spring but it is beautiful see the daffodils blooming. Mine don't stay for long Jaydyn loves to pick the flowers. She thinks they should be inside in a vase.
For the weather tomorrow just have to check the weather rock...if its wet it's raining, if it's dry is sunny, if it's froze it's snowing and if it's missing tornado.


I do not actually have a weather rock but I may need to look for one!

It All Started With Sunday Morning Breakfast

Feeling great, sun rising I begin with a load of laundry. The washer still not working right, but I had laundry to do. As laundry was started I started breakfast; bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits, pancakes and Chocolate Gravy. Yeap Chocolate Gravy, if you've never had you got to try. It makes even a great bedtime snack. It taste like a warm pudding over a buttery biscuit, Yum!

Chocolate Gravy
2 Tbs cocoa
3 Tbs flour
1/2 C sugar
Mix together in a saucepan.
Stir in slowly 2 C milk
Add 2 tsps vanilla
Cook slowly until thickens. Serve over hot biscuits.

Before doing breakfast dishes the washer was finsihed the sun was shinning so I was excited to be able to hang my clothes on the line. Just as I came back in the lady with the wood stove called again. She asked if we were still interested, of course. She was only going to be at her residents where the stove was for an hour. She was in the next county on the other side of the mountain. We dropped everything loaded up the boys, muscle power.

We came home with a wood stove, it'll need a few fire bricks replaced but other than that in good shape and good price. While there she ask if we knew anyone interested in a deep freeze. We have an upright and small chest but they stay packed. The price was right so we loaded a deep freeze too. Good thing we brought muscle!
We don't have room in the house for the freezer so we did a redneck thing left it outside. We hope to build a shed and/or barn in the next few years. The wood stove is inside waiting to be connected, that will be done before next winter.
We are now on the look-out for a chain saw. The weather now is perfect for cutting wood, cool. And it would give plenty of time for the wood to cure. We have a lot of old trees on the farm that has already fallen over so we will not be cutting down trees. Well maybe a few, trees that are dead and could possibly fall on a fence. Yeah let the electric bill go down!!!
I did manage to get some laundry done and finish the breakfast dishes. I also managed to finish doing away with the canned goods that had spoiled.
Ronnie and the boys worked on vehicles...oil change, cleaned, and even waxed Ol Gray.
After all that Ronnie even managed to fix my washer. Apparently the cold water line must have had some trash in it.
For supper I wanted to try a new recipe I found on pinterest.com. I am finding a lot of new ideas and fun things I want to try...in my spare time!

 The recipe was said to taste like KFC. Not really but it was good. I will have to adjust some of the seasons for my families taste. But all and all a good recipe, a keeper. The recipe calls for chicken tenders which is what I used. I wonder if it would work with chicken legs. It taste like fried without the grease splattering everywhere.


Baked Fried Chicken
(recipe found on pinterest at the wonder twins blog)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs Season All
3/4 tsp pepper
1 C flour
2 tsp paprika
Place thawed chicken tenders in a bowl of milk, I used buttermilk. Soak for 20-30 minutes/
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into a few pieces and place in a 9x13 pan. Melt butter in pre-heated oven.
Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots.
Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl until coated.
Place each piece of chicken in the pan.
Cook for 20 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 20 more minutes, or until cooked through.
*I used 3 different pans, I have a crew to cook for. 2 pans were on the thin side and they seem to have cooked the cripist chicken. So next time I will use the thin pans, maybe a cookie sheet. It might even hold all of it on one pan?

It was very good but again the boys thought a little plain, needs maybe some kick to it like cayenne?
Just as we were starting to eat dad called. He needed help getting a cow to the front lot. She had her calf in the back field and needed moved. She is one of the cows that is always a little protective with her newborn. So Ronnie stopped eating and headed out to help. I waited to eat with him and we had a semi-quite dinner for two.
Today starts off another week of a different job :)

Tough Old Bird!

Well...it started yesterday morning just as Ronnie left for work at 3:45am. I had sat down at the computer to check emails and look at my boards on Pinterest. It was time for me to get started so I can be off to work. A pain in my stomach near my breast bone. It wasnt the first time, I have had many like this over the past 10 years or so. They usualyl go away in a few hours. So being the tough old bird I am I got ready and went to work.
It was not going away this time. It was really hurting sometimes I was doubled over. I thought if I could burp or throw up it might help.  So the girls at work sent me to the store for a coke. I downed it in no time. A few small burps and I was sort of okay. For a while then the pain again. I left work went straight to the Dr office. "Not sure, could be ulcer". They asked me to come in for some blood work the next morning.
I go home and took a short nap. I didn't feel much like cooking so Ronnie sent Benjamin to town to pick up some pizza. For the test in the morning I was only to have water or black coffee (YUK) after 8. Oh how I was already missing my Mountain Dew.
This morning I tried to sleep in so as to not miss my morning glass of Mountain Dew but that didn't work out. by 6:30 I couldn't lay in bed any longer. I woke up just as I thought with no pain and thought about not going back to the Dr but I thought I had better. I piddled around the house to pass the time. Done some laundry and such. By 7:30 we were off to town. Yeah almost a 30 minute ride to town. The parking lot at the clinic was already packed. I just knew I was going to have to wait. But no they got me right in.
They took blood and done and EKG (my blood pressure has been up and down so while there they wanted to check my heart). EKG showed heart was fine. Yeah no more blood pressure pills for now. The Dr came in and did not seem to think ulcer. She was not sure what the problem was but the test will let her know. It would be a few days.
While in town Ronnie and I picked up a few groceries. We also stopped by Mr Burgess hoping to pick up a part to fixed the dryer. It has been working when it wants to. Mr Burgess told us that the motor was probably full of lint and may have burnt out. Not good news.  After unloading groceries which was very few. We had done our monthly shopping last week. Ronnie took apart the dryer. Yes lint was evrywhere. He and the boys loaded it on the truck, we took it the barn used the air compressor to blow out all the lint in hopes it would last a few more cycles. Once Ronnie got it back together I put the towels in and off it went. How many cycles it would last only time will tell. Thank goodnes it is warming up and I have a clothesline.
We had been looking for a wood stove to save on electric bill. I had found one on golsn.com Local Sales Network. I called and the lady said she still had it. They were moving and was not going to be using it. They were moving today so would not have time to show us so we scheduled a time for Sunday.

Our barn cat Fluffy

Ronnie was needing to clean out the horse stalls so me and the boys went to help. I didn't do much. I feed and they done the shoveling this time. I even played with the barn cat. She came up one day about 6 months ago and has stayed. She keeps the mice away now if we can keep Snoopy from chasing her.
I just didn't feel like cooking tonight. I really didn't know what to cook. So I suggested we go out to eat for us that is a very rare occassion. We decided to try a new Mexican Resturant, it was good not any better than the others but the people were very polite and friendly.
Before we left town we stopped by Lowe's to check out prices on dryers. And washers, yes the washer is acting up. The water flow is very low. We also picked up some new hinges to fix the front door. We prowled around looking at flooring and paint. We still have a lot to do to the house.
When we go home I felt I did not accomplish anything so I cleaned out my canned good pantry. I had a few jars of things no one was eatting and some that probably did not seal properly they needed tossed and I will be needing the jars.
To finish the day the lady called about the stove. A gentleman had called earlier but did not show up when we had called but did later and gave her a deposit. So we are still on the look out for a wood stove. 
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Mine has just begun!

Motivation, Time Allowance, Relaxation

How do we get it done??? I motivate myself every day to work on my blog post. I have it written on my daily to do list. But posting is the of the last things on my list. I enjoy writing about my adventures in life. 5 years ago I began a blog. Then my life was much different, I did not need as much sleep to restore my energy. My body has demanded it these days.
Five years ago I was single, one child still at home and in school, going to school myself, working at times 2 jobs and helping my parents start up the farm. I enjoyed my free time (somehow I had at that time) riding my little Sporty...Harley Sportster Motorcycle. I enjoyed my rides alone or with company, I would take rides any where from 20 miles to 400 miles a day. I would immediately come home and write about my experiences. I would describe the curves in the road, smells along the way, reason for the ride, and the feeling I felt from the time I started the motor to the time I pulled off my helmet.
I just cant seem to find writing a top priority these days. But I so want to be able to describe the curves in the road, smells along the way, reasons for the day and the things I have felt during my day. At this time in my life the curves could be obstacles or different way of doing something, smells of home cooking, sigh of relief when a calf is born, and explanation for why my life has changed.
I will continue to encourage myself to share my life with old and new friends. To me blogging is just like journaling which is another thing I don't seem to be able to find time for. Blogging to me is journaling with pictures and being able to share with friends. Not waiting til you die and someone finds your journal in an estate sale. Blogging is instant information of people. These past few months while exploring the blogging world I look forward to checking on my friends in the blog world. Sort of like watching a soap opera but much better. Wanting to know if the homemade bread was a success or if the coyote found all the chicks, or finding a new recipe to try. I want to share my experiences hoping to inspire someone else to try homemade butter milk or made from scratch chocolate chip cookies.
To all whom read my blog don't give up I am here and hope to write more as time allows. I am trying to organize myself to make time. It seems to be a relaxing aspect of my busy...not hectic just busy life.
Stay tuned for more!!!

"School Closed"

The boys and I waited last night as the snow fell to hear those simple words..."Schools Closed". Both counties were closed. Today was to be the first day back to school after our winter break. It just gives me another day to get some more things completed on my to do list, or to add to it.
After a fairly warm weekend for this time of year we were not expecting to get an accumulation. The weather forecast said light flurries.
We had one major thing to get accomplished yesterday. We were given a chance to get some free sawdust. We have been looking for sawdust to put in the horse's stalls for a few weeks. All the sawmills were closed for the winter but a friend that works in a local cabinet factory ofter to let us get there remnants from the factory. We had to be there just at quiting time as not to interrupt the work.
We headed out at 4 in the evening. Snow flurries had just started. Not to worry they were just suppose to be a few flurries. We arrived in town stopped inside to get Subway. The boys had all gotten gift cards for Christmas, their favorite place to eat. When we came out the ground was covered and the parking lot was slick. We couldn't stop now.
We back into the factory lot and they loaded our big trailer with 10 buckets of sawdust. We start heading back home 17 miles away. It took us an hour to get home. Cars and trucks were sliding off the road, in our paths, but Ronnie kept it between the lines. We even had one crazy lady passing us on the wrong side of the road. That's what gives lady drivers a bad name.



See the trailer at the end of the porch, it's loaded with saw dust.

 Once in our yard with the load of sawdust we gave a sigh of relief. We made it safe and have free sawdust for our horses. Then to the computer to check the school closing list.
Now with an extra day off and a trailer full of sawdust I guess you know what I'll be doing today...unloading!
Have a wonderful day and drive safe!

Coffee Date

It's been a year since Ronnie and I met and 10 months since we were married. In the short time we were dating we had "Coffee Dates". We would manage to get off work at the same time and meet at Dairy Queen for coffee. We would sit and talk about our day and what our next few days were going to be like. We went on regular dates on the weekends movies, dinner, theahter and such but we would meet a few days during the week for "Coffee Dates".

Today was a usual Monday morning, Ronnie and I both off to work early. It was a rainy day, has been since yesterday early.
One of us usually has to work late, but today was an exception we got home about the same time, which rarely happens. After a day working in the rain Ronnie decided to take an early shower to warm up and get dry. I started supper, and juice some tomatoes. I am still making room in the freezer for the deer meat. I have 10 gallons of tomatoes in the freezer from our last harvest of our garden.
Once supper was over Michael reminded me he was needing a hair cut. As I was putting the clippers away my wonderful husband says "get you a cup of coffee and join me. I would really like it if you did?". Me thinking of hair on the floor and dishes to be washed and time to finish up my tomatoe juice I almost said "I can't". Again he said "come on it'll wait."

I grap my cup of sugar and cream with a little coffee and sat down on the couch beside my wonderful husband. He kisses my forehead and says "We haven't had a coffee date and quiet a while"  Yes I melted. Just think I almost missed this moment.
Everything got done and I was able to spend some quaility time with my wonderful husband. I think I will make more of an effort to have a cup of coffee with my husband more often even if its not at the DQ.
We will be having more "Coffee Dates"!