Bucket of Life

 I really love to just randomly make you look at pictures of my kids.  Soooo... TADA!

Little Life can fit in a bucket.  She sat in there forever on one of the steamy hot days we had.  We have a little pool and all the other kids were playing in there.  But not Life, she was happy in her bucket... a bucket of Life.

Food at our house today

So even though Gutsy cooks are taking a break over the summer, I'm still cooking for my family.  Most nights anyway.  This is what I made today.  I enjoyed both things and so I'll share with you... so you'll be jealous.  Of course tomorrow when I make my kids eat cereal for dinner, maybe you'll be glad you stayed home after all.

I made cheeseburgers. 

I also made a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie SO BIG that Indiana Jones, a pilot and a deep sea diver could not conquer it.  I have a feeling, though, that my family will make quick work of it.

Splurging

Today I was thinking about splurging.  It came about as I was thinking about getting out my trusty box of Nice 'n Easy and coloring my hair.  There was a short time in my life when I got to have a professional color my hair.  And give it pretty blond highlights.  I miss them sometimes.  Jim is a student right now and some things, like highlights are not necessities.  Anyway, blond highlights made me think about splurging and I let my mind wonder to some things that, maybe, in the future, may go from 'splurge' to 'necessity'.  I thought about highlights and the occasional pedicure, and having someone else clean and press Jim's dress shirts,  and then I thought of coffee. 

Right now I buy my coffee in a brick at Wal Mart, it's not THE cheapest, but it's super close.  I love coffee, not just the drink but the whole experience.  Coffee can be an experience, you know.  I love measuring the beans and the sound of the grinder, the smell of the brew.  I love the sound of pouring it into my favorite mug and the click of the spoon as I mix in the sugar.  I love the color it turns when I add the cream and the feel of the warm mug in my hands.  Then that first deep whiff and hot sip on my tongue... ahhhhhh.  It's love.  I also love reading a good book and sipping in the coffee's warmth.  An experience for sure.  But what makes it even better is sharing it with friends.  The smells, the sounds and the laughter.  ahhhhhh, it's love, love of the experience.

Yes, someday, good coffee will not be a splurge but a necessity, but until then, I will make due.  The people and places I've experienced in this time far out weigh the joy of blond highlights or coffee beans.

 

Whopper Cake

The kids and I read a silly picture book recently called Whopper Cake.  In short, it's about a man who makes a giant cake in the bed of his old pick up truck.

It was a fun read and best of all there was a recipe in the back to make our own Whopper Cake.  No need for a pickup truck, a 9X13 pan did the job.  The kiddos were super excited to give it a try.  Joy and Life helped me mix up the batter and then all four made sure that the bowl was properly cleaned.

Asked took on the job of making sure the cake was baking.  

 

Joy and Life joined the cake vigil.  

 

The cake turned out great!  We didn't even frost it the kids added some whipped cream and m&m's to theirs.  It was moist and fluffy and not too dense.  We like that around here.  Yum!  We coppied the recipe so we can make it again.

Onion rings

My neighbor gave me 3 GINORMOUS  onions.

Treasure doing her best spokes-model impression with the onion.

I thought about just chopping them for all the regular onion uses, but that seemed a little lame for onions of such great proportions.  So I decided to try my hand at making one of my favorite foods... ONION RINGS!  YUM!  I found this recipe and gave it my best.

Look at all these rings from just the ONE onion!

My messy little work station.  First you dipped them in flour then in an egg/milk mixture.  You're supposed to let the egg/milk mixture drip off which is why I have them suspended on a spoon over the bowl.  Then dip in bread crumbs and last deep fry!

ENORMOUS pile of rings!  YUM!!

I loved the texture of this recipe but the coating didn't stay in place well.  So I think that next time I won't let all the egg/milk drip off before dipping them in the bread crumbs and see what happens.  I have 2 more onions, so I'll HAVE to try this again.

Gutsy cooks week 27

I am behind in posting about my cooking adventures.  I'm also behind in cooking them, if you must know.  If you haven't figured it out, I'm a tad of a procrastinator.  My mother told me that I come by it honestly, so it's nice to know she takes responsibility for that... or at some point she will.
Week 27's menu was Spanish Lentils - page 214 and Sachertorte - page 416.  I didn't make the lentils.  Last week when I said that the family hadn't yet revolted over my Gutsy Cooking, I spoke a little too soon.  So, I'm cooling my gutsy heels just a little.  But, I had a party and so I made the Sachertorte, because, well it's chocolate cake.  Who doesn't like that?
The cake recipe called to separate the eggs, mix the yolks in with the batter and then whip the whites.   

It's like a chocolate cloud!

 It turned out pretty well.  I thought the coating was going to be like ganache, but it was more like a glaze.  It was not the funnest stuff to work with, but the final product turned out well.

You're supposed to write 'sachertorte' on the top of the cake, but I totally chickened out at the last minute and just made some lovely waves.

Our newest additons

Last week we added three new members to our little farmette-ette.  Three baby ducks!

     We've never had ducks before.  We have chickens and rabbits right now.  Jim would like to get something bigger - a goat or cow.  I'm pulling for a pig, mostly just because I love baccon.  Is that so wrong?  Anyway, someone gave us these ducks, and so we've got a new adventure on our hands.
     I thought a chick would be a chick, but no.  They're different then the chickens.  They have a quieter little peep, they stick together in a little flock all the time, and these ones are super scared of us.  They huddle in the corner of their cage when we come near and run evasive maneuvers when we try and pick them up.
     Random duck fact:  Ducklings don't make their own oil for waterproofing.  They rub on their mama to get it and so, if they're mother isn't around, you need to be careful with your ducklings around water, because they can get tired and drown!  Who knew!  Don't worry, we're very careful with our little flock.
   We took them outside the other day, Life got such a kick out of it!

She almost caught one!

On an unrelated note, the iris' have bloomed!