Crabby Princess!

Remember awhile ago, when I posted a link to a friend's business called Crabby Princess?  Well, last night, I received MY items, and I have to rave about them a bit.  For one thing, the logo is just the cutest thing ever.  Honestly, what woman can't relate? 

Secondly, the quality is top notch.

Thirdly, my husband said, 'Wow! you look really good in that hat!'  (read that line again! my HUSBAND noticed I was wearing a hat, and thought I looked good in it!)

and last, but not least- they have items for children as well as adults.  IF I had any grandchildren,

(clears throat and looks pointedly at my slowpoke children)

my grand daughter and I would wear matching hats!

Anyway- if you haven't checked out the link, do so now. It's on the right hand side of this blog- under the Follow By Email.

Indignity

Our two Shelties are very ferocious. 

Although, Selkie is only about 14 1/2-15 inches tall

and her brother, Piper is only 17 inches tall

nevertheless, they can growl, bark and lunge at living room windows with the best. 

It is a fact that they are SO good at THROWING themselves against the sliding glass doors while barking manically- that they are a bit puzzled...

Make that INSULTED!

by the behavior of our deer

who just stand there, staring (and occasionally stick out their tongues!)

DISGRACEFUL!

:)

Changing things up

Since the purpose of this blog is to compare the average American lifestyle with our style of living in rural Montana, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what I tend to do with recipes.  Here's the original recipe.

Spicy Applesauce Muffins

2 cups flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. ginger

3/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

2 Tblsp. oil

3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400. Spray muffin tins (18) with non-stick cooking spray, or use paper liners. 

Mix ingredients together. Spoon into muffin tins. Bake 20 min.

 NOW

when I make these muffins... it goes a bit like this:

I use a combination of organic white flour, and organic wheat flour, grown and processed in Montana. I have to scoop it out of 50 lbs. sacks that I keep in the pantry.

I grate my own nutmeg because it smells so HEAVENLY! and it's so fresh!

I use the chunky applesauce that I made last Fall and canned. The apples were picked from my neighbors' orchard. It's thick, and spiced, and WONDERFUL, if I do say so myself!

We are using Almond milk lately- it keeps longer, and has less cholesterol. BUT if I didn't happen to have any in the refrigerator (which happens a lot) I mix up some powdered milk, and use that. It's just too far to drive to the grocery store here.  If I don't have the ingredients, I make do with a creative change or two.

I use two egg whites from the eggs I gathered from the hens this morning. Fresh, LARGE eggs from chickens who do not realize how good a life they lucked into.

Instead of raisins, I added craisins, because I love cranberries, but I throw in a handful or two of chopped nuts, too.

However you want to make these muffins, they are delicious! Not too sweet, packed with wholesome ingredients, they make a wonderful addition to your breakfast, or dinner. Enjoy!

Funny story

I've got to share a funny story at my expense, because it illustrates what my life out here is like. 

 I had come downstairs to get a cup of coffee before returning to my office upstairs when I noticed a shape by our front door.  Our door is the kind with beveled leaded glass in it, and sidelights- so, you can see that something is there, but the image is a bit distorted.  

We have a fawn, who is so audacious, he comes right up on the front porch.  So, when I saw a shape outside the front door, I immediately assumed it was the fawn- and yet... it didn't quite look like a deer shape, which is why I stood there trying to reconcile what I was seeing!  NEVER once did it occur to me that it was a PERSON! LOL! 

When my brain FINALLY engaged, I realized it was the FedEx man waiting for me to open the door and receive my package.  We both laughed (he's a super nice guy) when he explained how he saw me walk into the foyer, and stare at the door for a full minute, before I finally let him in. It's so unusual to have someone drive all the way out here, it makes much more sense to have an animal show up on the front porch than a person! :) 

Homemade peanut butter eggs for Easter

Want something fun to do with your kids this Easter? Why not make your own Easter candy?  It's easy, inexpensive and delicious, and the best part is that you can involve the entire family, regardless of age! 

 To make Peanut Butter Eggs, you'll need 1 cup of softened butter, 2 1/2 cups of peanut butter (smooth or chunky- your preference), 1 1/2 boxes of confectioners sugar (powdered sugar), and 1 1/2 lbs. of coating chocolate (sometimes called dipping chocolate, or bark).  Cream the butter in a bowl.  Add the peanut butter and mix well. Gradually add the powdered sugar- adding more or less to make an easily shaped dough.  Knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth.  At this point, you can either refrigerate the dough, or use it immediately.

Shape the dough into egg shapes, as big or small as you want, and place them on waxed paper. Melt about 1/3 of the chocolate either in a double boiler, or in the microwave. Watch it carefully so it doesn't burn AND do not get any water (not even a drop) near the chocolate, or it will become grainy, and can no longer be used for dipping. Stir the chocolate until smooth.  Using a fork, carefully drop one of the peanut butter eggs into the chocolate, turning it gently until completely coated. Lift the egg from the chocolate, allowing it to drip a bit, and place it on the wax paper.  Repeat with the remainder of the eggs.  Melt more of the coating chocolate as needed.

Allow the chocolate to dry before storing your candy, at room temperature, between sheets of waxed paper.  This recipe will easily make 25 eggs, and you can be done- from start to finish- in about an hour!  Don't be surprised if your family begs you to make a second batch, though!  They are just that good! and it's just that fun!

Redwing Blackbird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

~Beatles

BooBoo Bear

When I answered the phone, Bruce said, "Be ready in 5 minutes, and I'll take you to see a bear!"  By the time he drove up the driveway, I was waiting outside, camera in hand.  I was ready!

Bruce had gotten a call from a woman who was concerned about a small bear in their neighbor's yard. It had been hanging out there all day, didn't seem to have a mother, and she feared it was sick.

One thing in the animals' favor, he scampered up this tree without problems. And when Bruce first checked up on him, he found the bear eating on a deer carcass.

 

His coat looked good, and although it is difficult to tell just how thin he really is, he did seem to be in good shape for a bear who hasn't eaten all Winter.

But the little guy didn't look big enough to be a 2 yr. old- and usually sows don't kick their yearlings out.  Since the people who'd voiced their concern hadn't seen the sow all day, we wondered what this little guy's story could be. How long had he been surviving on his own?

Once out of the tree, he curled up into a ball and tried to go to sleep which isn't really what you expect a bear to do.  It's no wonder that woman called asking Bruce to run by and see if the cub was alright.

Bruce says it's pretty normal for bears just out of hibernation to be a bit lethargic, and slow. Their digestive system has to re-start after being inactive all Winter long.

So, we're hoping that after a large meal, this little guy decided a nap would be just the thing to do!  And you know me... I'll be bugging Bruce to check up on him soon.

Getting Savvy

Hey! I just added some new features to this blog! If you look on the right hand side of the page, and scroll down, you can now be alerted to new posts via email! YAY!!!

I've also added three links- One is to an adorable site called The Crabby Princess. This is run by an old High School friend of mine! and it features adorable t-shirts, hats, mugs, etc. with her Crabby Princess logo. Check it out! VERY cute! (and who can't relate???) THEN, if you like cooking, I've included a link to another blog created by one of my best friends from High School. She was a sous chef at a classy restaurant in Barrington Hills, Ill. where we're from. The recipes are easy, delicious, and she includes complete instructions.

The other link is to Peachy Cheap! a site dedicated to OUTSTANDING deals on scrapbooking supplies. Like Woot.com, they feature one deal a day. It's the first thing I check every morning! :)

I've added site statistics, too- but that probably interests ME more than anyone else. :)

Anyway- I'm getting pretty savvy with this blog stuff! and I thought I'd share!

Feeling their oats

During a break in the rain, while the air was crisp and cool, the mares had a peak in their energy level! WOO! It was fun to watch! I've tried to give you a feel for it in this slide show.

Slideshow generated with Smilebox

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

Ok... I rarely post recipes on my blog, because... well, because it's just not a recipe blog.  (BTW, I have a friend who DOES have a recipe blog that she's just started up, and if you like food, you really should check it out.  It's called Dee's Dishes and the URL is: http://deedishes.blogspot.com/ )

I digress....

The point of this post is that Bruce and I tried a recipe for a Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza, and it's truly OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!

The original recipe tells you to use:

1 one pound loaf frozen bread dough thawed

1 pound bulk Italian sausage

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms

1 small onion

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes- drained

3/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. fennel seed

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Press bread dough into the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9x13 pan.

2.  Cook sausage in large skillet. When browned, drain, and crumble over dough crust.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly over the sausage.

3.  Add mushrooms, and onion to the skillet- cook until tender-crisp. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, fennel seed and garlic powder.  Spoon over mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.

4.  Bake for 25-35 min.

I never have frozen bread dough around, because it's just so easy to make your own.  So, I made my pizza crust using:

1 Tblsp. yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup VERY HOT water (from tap)

3 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. oil

I, also, added garlic powder, a tsp. of Italian seasoning, and onion powder with the flour.  I like flavored crust- but if you don't, you wouldn't have to add the spices. 

Bruce and I also added chopped green peppers along with the mushrooms and onions.  For us, the more fresh vegies, the better!  And of course, our sausage was wild game- but then... you know- that's just how we are. :)

It's understandable why this recipe is so amazing.  After all... it's PIZZA!!!  AND it's from CHICAGO!  so... there you go.  Try it and let me know what you think.