Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - It's picture day

On Monday, Big Sissy and Bubby started their third week of the 2011-12 school year and so far all is going extremely well and I am slowly but surely getting our lives back on track.

Today was the all important school picture day.  Now Bubby didn't quite understand the importance, but Big Sissy was quite excited for today.  I let her pick out a new outfit for picture day and she has been dying to wear it.

Now I usually take a couple pictures at home outside before they leave for school on picture day, but of course today would be one of those rare days since this spring that we have had rain so without complaints I took this morning picture indoors and I just thought I'd share.




Linked to the following Wordless Wednesday parties:





Photobucket

Sunday, August 28, 2011

PW's Marinated Tomato Salad with Herbs with a little inspiration from Beyer Beware

It is no secret that I have been in a writing and cooking funk this summer and so far the start of school for Big Sissy and Bubby has not helped me get out of that funk.  However, I think the premiere of The Pioneer Woman's new show on the Food Network has gotten me going again which is only fitting as she was the inspiration around me starting my blog. 

After watching the premiere episode yesterday, I was inspired to get back in the kitchen.  It is very rare that when I watch a cooking show that I have all of the ingredients needed to make something they just made on hand.  This was the case yesterday after I watched Ree make her marinated tomato salad with herbs, but thanks to Miss Leah from Beyer Beware always inspiring me to be adventurous in the kitchen, I didn't let that stop me.  So thanks to Ree and Leah, we had one yummy marinated tomato salad as a side dish for dinner last night. 

Marinated Tomato Salad with Herbs
6 to 8 ripe tomatoes
4 green onions
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
3-4 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. brown sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Handful fresh parsley leaves, lightly chopped
12 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

I didn't have any green onions, parsley, or basil on hand, but I thought it was worth a go since I had some delicious yellow tomatoes on hand along with all of the ingredients to make the marinade.  I also had a home grown cucumber so I decided to add it to the tomatoes in place of the green onions. 



Directions
Cut the tomatoes into 4 wedges, then cut the wedges in half and add to a bowl. 


Slice the cucumber  and add to the bowl with the tomatoes. 



Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, dash of salt and pepper to a jar.


Screw on the lid and shake to combine.  (My dressing is slightly lighter than PW's as I only had white balsamic vinegar on hand.)


Pour the dressing over the tomatoes and toss.


Add the herbs and gently toss to combine.  Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. 

Enjoy!

Although I had to make a few substitutions and didn't have any herbs, The Farmer gave this dish two thumbs up.  Now I can't wait to make it with the herbs and onions as I bet it will only be better.


Photobucket





Friday, August 19, 2011

Farmer Fridays - A Guest Post from Indiana's own This Farm Family's Life

Photobucket

Where has the time gone.  It seems hard to believe that Big Sissy and Bubby started school this week and it is almost September.  It feels like we just finished planting season and even though it was a long and delayed planting season, I think harvest is not too far off since it has been such a hot and dry summer.  Time will tell as to if this year yields a plentiful harvest or not so until then we will continue to say our prayers and keep our fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I'm very excited to introduce you to one of the newest members of The Real Farmwives of America and Friends, Sarah from This Farm Family's Life.  This week she graciously agreed to do a guest post for Farmer Fridays.  


Hello 3 kids and lots of pigs readers.  Heather asked me to do a guest post and I am honored to do so.

My name is Sarah and I was born and raised in a small town in southeastern Indiana where my husband, Brad and I still reside.  I blog over at This Farm Family’s Life.  I grew up on a dairy farm where we milked around 150-180 Holstein cows.  We also had several hogs.  My dad had a farrow to feeder hog operation.  Once they reached 60 pounds he would sell them.  One of my favorite things to do on the farm was helping my dad wean pigs.

Brad and I have been married for 7 years.  We live in the house that his grandparents built which is just 5 miles from where I grew up.  Brad and his dad are partners in our farming operation.  We raise corn and soybeans.  We also have 200 head of cattle that we feed out.  We have two daughters, B and Mel.

We debated whether to take a family vacation this summer, but decided against it.  The wet spring we experienced this year resulted in a late planting season which delayed the start of our summer activities.  Instead, we decided to plan a “staycation”.

Every year we attend our town’s annual Pioneer Engineer’s Club Steam and Tractor show.  This was the 63rd year for the event and the place of our staycation.
  


The event is conveniently located about 2 miles from our house.  Our good friends have a campsite there so we load up our RTV with all the fixings to accompany a fantastic meal.  Then we drive over and enjoy all the food, fun, and fellowship.




There are people of all different ages….



Demonstrations include: Threshing….


Threshing separates the grain from the stalk.  Today we use combines to achieve this task.

Chopping silage which grinds up the entire stalk of corn and makes feed for cattle…

Plowing…


And leveling dirt with a grader blade…

B got to participate in the Tug-of-War…



And Coins In the Straw…



They have a working saw mill…


The girls loved seeing all the different tractors.




When the sun went down the crowd was entertained by the sparks show…




We didn’t stay overnight.  We enjoyed our time with friends and all the good food, but were able to come home in the evening and sleep in our own beds. Then we would get up the next day and do it all over again!

Sounds like a great staycation, Sarah, and thanks for sharing.  Be sure to keep up with all the happenings in Sarah's life over at This Farm Family's Life and with all of the Real Farmwives and Friends on Facebook.

Have a great weekend!

Photobucket

Monday, August 15, 2011

Our State Fair



Last week at this time, Big Sissy, Bubby, and I were having a blast at the  Indiana State Fair thanks to the Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Year of the Soybeans, Indiana Pork, Indiana's Family of Farmers and the American Dairy Association of Indiana.

Bubby and Big Sissy with Bennie the Bean

Bubby and Big Sissy trying some mozzarella sticks fried in Plenish

Looks like it is a hit

Bubby wishes this was a real steer but this will work for now

Bubby and Big Sissy with Pork Chop

Bubby and Big Sissy with Buttercup

Big Sissy and Bubby with Miss Indiana State Fair 2011

Miss Amy from a Latte' with Ott, A teaching the kids about wool

Enjoying our snow cones with our buddies from Beyer Beware
Even though he is a pig farmer, Bubby loves him some cows
One week later the State Fair is recovering from an absolutely, unbelievable tragedy that happened Saturday night.  As I watch the news coverage of the stage rigging collapse at the grandstand, it just seems so surreal.

I have so many memories of watching great concerts there with my mom.  It used to be one of our traditions after we were done showing our livestock at the fair.  It just seems unbelievable that something like that could happen at a place I know like the back of my hand.  There truly are no words to describe it.

The only thing we know to do at this pigpen is to continue to pray for all of those impacted and to head back to the Indiana State Fair to show our support because we truly are lucky to have such a great State Fair.

The Indiana State Fair runs through this Sunday and I hope those of you within driving distance will be able to visit. I know we will be there.

So from the words of Rodgers and Hammerstein just remember, "Our state fair is a great state fair.  Don't miss it.  Don't even be late."


Photobucket

Thursday, August 11, 2011

What happens when life gets in the way...

Truthfully, what does happen when life gets in the way ... well I'm afraid the answer is life and I've had a big dose of it the past couple of weeks.  Nothing bad has happened, I just feel like I have hardly been able to catch my breath since we returned from our amazing family vacation to Walt Disney World

When we returned I had such great plans for all of my blog posts to document our family fun.  Well we've been home almost 2 weeks and this is only the second time I've blogged so I'm not doing so well in that area, but don't worry, I will get it done at some point.

I really don't know what my problem has been.  I think it is just a combination of vacation hangover, the beginning of the school year fastly approaching, trying to cram in as much as we can before the summer is over, the start of soccer for Big Sissy and football for Bubby, and work being way busier than normal.  So combine all those together and what you get is a pretty full life that doesn't leave much time for the extras and occasionally sleep. 

As much as I hate that Big Sissy and Bubby will be starting school next week and am so NOT looking forward to their nightly homework sessions, I am excited about the structure that the return to school will bring to our lives.... I think and hope.

So please continue to believe in me as I try to get back on track.
Photobucket

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

World class service

It is no secret... I love Walt Disney World.  It was always my favorite place to go as a kid and still ranks at the top of my list as an adult.

Quite often, I'm asked why do I like it so much.  My list really could go on and on, but it really comes down to a few key items.  The service is world class.  The parks are clean.  The food is good.  There is something for everyone.

Our family was lucky enough to go to Walt Disney World last week.  It was our first true family vacation in a couple of years so it was very much needed by all.


This week I thought I would share some of my favorite memories from last week as well as some tips for those of you that may be lucky enough to visit Walt Disney World in the future.

I have always been fascinated by the world class service that the cast members provide at Walt Disney World.  They really go out of there way to make sure you have a magical experience during your stay.

On last week's trip we had more than our fair share of experiences with Disney's service.  My biggest tip is to not be afraid to ask as you never know what might happen or be possible.

Bubby's ice cream fell off his ice cream cone within a minute of buying his ice cream cone.  I didn't expect them to give him more ice cream, but I also figured it didn't hurt to ask and I'm so glad that I did because with no questions asked Bubby got another scoop of ice cream.

Big Sissy was really into pin trading on this trip and bought a cool pin with a moving Mickey on a guitar.  A few hours after buying the pin, she noticed that Mickey had fallen off her pin.  We decided once again we had nothing to lose by bringing it to a cast member's attention and once again, I was glad that we did.  Big Sissy got a new pin with no questions asked.

Big Sissy trading pins with a fellow vacationer from Ohio

We even witnessed amazing Disney service without asking a question.

While walking out of Epcot, Bubby had some trouble with his drink and it ended up all over the ground.  No one saw it happen so I found a cast member to tell them as I didn't want to leave the mess behind.  Much to my surprise the cast members priority was not cleaning up the mess but rather getting Bubby a new drink.  I couldn't believe it.  This sure turned Bubby's frown back into a smile.

So I don't know about you, but service like this is hard to beat especially when you are traveling with 3 small children.  So this is just one of the many reasons I love Walt Disney World.


Photobucket
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Web Analytics