Christmas in the Country Gift Reveal

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Today, I'm going to share with you something fun I participated in this holiday season. I love participating in gift exchanges, so when I saw that one was organized by COUNTRYLINKed, Diaries From the Dirt Road, This Unchanted Rhoade, and The Ranchwife Chronicles, I was excited to sign up and participate. The exchange is called Christmas in the Country for ag and country bloggers. I thought it would be fun to come in touch with some new blogs to follow and read from across the country.

After signing up to participate, the lovely ladies from the above blogs paired everyone up with a "secret Santa" which remained anonymous until they received their package. We were given the person's likes/dislikes, the link to their blog, and links to other social media they use. This is what we used to put together our gift to send. Homemade goodies and gifts as well as locally made items were encouraged.

So the day came when there was a package at my door. I had ordered several things online for Christmas gifts, so there were several packages during the season, but seeing this package was so exciting! My gift came from Rachel over at Texas Ranch Mama, who I have enjoying following her busy ranch life in Texas! I received this Case IH burlap pillow that Rachel made, a mason jar soap dispenser that she made, coffee, and Ghirardelli chocolates! We are Case IH family so the pillow is perfect and has found a great spot on my antique bench in the living room. The mason jar soap dispenser also is perfect for my style and sits nicely by my kitchen sink with hand soap. The coffee is from one of Rachel's local coffee shops in Texas and who doesn't love Ghirardelli chocolates! (the photo is minus a few that I ate before the photo :) ). Love everything in my Christmas in the Country gift package! Thank you Rachel!

It was equally as fun to send a package! Check out Kirby's blog 15009 Farmhouse to see what I sent her. I have enjoyed following her blog and IG and watching her farmhouse come together, its going to be beautiful!

This was so fun to participate in and I look forward to it again in 2015!

Why choose a CSA?

A little Q&A today:
Why choose a CSA?

First let me introduce CSA or Community Supported Agriculture. It is a partnership between you and the local farmer. A CSA supports sustainable farming and provides healthy food for your family. Each CSA farm has their own program designed specifically for their farm production, but generally CSA members pay up front, or many have payment plans, providing the farm with working capital during the season of preparation and planning. In return the CSA members will receive a box of fresh, locally grown produce each week based on their farms program. The CSA members share some of the risks of farming as well. For example, they may receive more of one product and less of another depending on the weather and other factors on the farm.

With the beginning of the new year, also brings CSA signups for the majority of produce farms that offer a CSA program. CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, farms provide fresh produce to members during the growing season. We are often asked about our CSA program, so I thought I would start with the benefits of being part of a CSA.

So why choose a CSA?

- You will receive the freshest produce. We pick our produce for the CSA the night before and/or the day of delivery. With a CSA, the members are receiving produce that is picked ripe and fresh. At grocery store chains produce may sit on the shelf maybe up to a week before it is purchased or thrown out. Also, when stores have to purchase produce to be shipped to them, it is often picked before it is ripe, resulting in loss of some nutritional value. When buying from the farmer, you are leaving out the middle man, which is providing fresher produce for you.

One of our summer CSA shares

-You are buying local. You are supporting your farmer and keeping profits within your community helping your overall local economy. We can build up our local economy by supporting local farmers, artisans, creators, and businesses that meet our family's needs. CSA programs have a pick up option, typically at the farmers market, a delivery option, or both.

-Eat healthy. When you are eating the produce that comes in your CSA share, you're providing yourself with high quality, nutrient filled food. Not only is it healthy to eat your vegetables, but also having a wide variety that comes in your CSA shares, is a great contributor to overall health.

One of our fall CSA boxes

-Experiment with new foods. Kohlrabi, fennel, swiss chard, brussel sprouts, eggplant. You may get some vegetables that you haven't heard of or haven't tried before in your weekly box, but that is part of the fun of a CSA. How many times do you eat the same thing over and over. With a CSA, you get what is in season, and with that, you can work with, try new recipes, and eat foods you've never tried before or wouldn't think about using. Make smoothies by adding kale, spinach, or carrots. Change up your omelet by adding a different mix of vegetables each time. Add any of the vegetables to casseroles, salads, every meal. Eat them raw or cooked. So many possibilities.
You might check out these cookbooks to help with cooking farm fresh vegetables.

-Knowing where your food comes from. If you aren't able to grow your own garden or grow enough to meet your family's needs, joining a CSA is the next best thing. When joining a CSA, you know the produce is in good hands from seed to harvest to delivery to you. This also allows you to connect with the farmer, know who the produce is coming from, and learn and see how it is grown.

Picking sweet corn for our CSA shares and farmers market

-Save money. A CSA membership can cost anywhere from $350-$600 for a 15-20 week membership, depending on the farm and their CSA program offered, you end up only spending roughly $20-$30 on vegetables weekly. Since the produce comes directly from the farm, providing fresher produce that last longer, resulting in less waste. Some CSAs also offer meat, bread, egg, and fruit shares that you can choose as part of your CSA. Some may include select fruits as part of their CSA. Some farms may also offer half and full size shares based off of how much your family needs.

-Preserve and store food. By joining a CSA, some weeks, you may receive excess green beans, tomatoes, or pickles, for example, that you know you won't eat before they go bad. By preserving the excess produce when it is in abundance is a great way to enjoy them after the season is over. Canning and/or freezing is also a great way to save money but still enjoy the produce you received from your CSA and all the benefits above.

A productive tomato juice canning day for me.

What better way to start the new year than to join a CSA for all the above benefits! Check out Local Harvest to find a CSA by you.

Apple Cream Pie....my most favorite pie

I love pie, especially fruit pies! Today I am sharing my MOST favorite pie of all pies. Flavors of apple and cinnamon with a creamy texture all in one with this Apple Cream Pie. Definitely one of my favorite flavors of Fall.

When I tell people I'm making an apple cream pie, most say they have never heard of it.

This is my Grandma's recipe. It is a recipe that has been passed down and made for several generations and I have always enjoyed it. I remember the day I asked her to teach me the recipe and she was so happy to show me. We got the ingredients and I learned how to make my most favorite pie of all! I even asked her for permission to share the recipe on my blog. It is super easy and DELICIOUS!! Plus I am so happy that I have learned one of my Grandma's recipes (along with a few others).

I especially like this pie during the holidays and in the fall when apples are in season. You can use any variety of apple, although there are specific apples that are better for baking. My favorite apple to use is Cortland or Gala. I prefer more of a tart apple.

So here is the recipe:

Apple Cream Pie
makes 2 pies

Ingredients:
3 lbs of apples
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
Deep Dish pie crust - package of 2
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
Cinnamon

Homemade pie crust rather than premade crust
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all- purpose flour
1/4 tsp. Clabber Girl Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. salt
10 Tbsp. butter, cold and cut into chunks
4 oz. cold water

Directions for homemade pie crust:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the chunks of cold butter and mix the butter into the flour using a pastry blender. Continue to do this until the mixture looks like bread crumbs or small pieces of butter. Add the cold water and stir into the mixture so that it all sticks together. Clump the dough all together to form a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. You want the dough chilled and cool, but not hard. This will make it easier to work. Roll out the dough to a circle on a lightly floured surface. Lay the circle of crust dough in your greased pie pan. Then do the directions below to fill your pie crust.

Directions:
-Place your pie crusts on a cookie sheet, one that has a rim (Do this before filling your pie crusts, to prevent spillage once you pour in the cream)
-Peel, core, and slice your apples into thin slices
-Mix 2 cups flour and 2 cups sugar together in bowl

Filling the pie crusts is simply an alternating and layering process.
This is how I do mine.

-Sprinkle flour/sugar mixture on bottom - just enough to cover the bottom
-Layer of apples
-Flour/sugar mixture
-Sprinkle cinnamon - more or less for your taste
-Layer of Apples
-Flour/sugar mixture
-Sprinkle cinnamon
-Layer of Apples
-Flour/sugar mixture
-Sprinkle cinnamon

Once your pie crusts are filled, divide the 1 pint of whipping cream between the two pies, half pint on each. Pour it all around the top of each pie. Be sure to not get too close to the brim of the pie crust. When baking, the cream will rise up and may spill over (hence the cookie sheet underneath for baking).

Place in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Then bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Let cool until pie is slightly warm before serving.

PRINT RECIPE HERE

Enjoy!!!

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl Baking Powder but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own.

A Beautiful Harvest 2014

Harvest '14 has been over for us for close to a month now. As you may know from previous posts, we grow pumpkins, gourds, squash and all the fall decor. We host Fall Harvest Days at our farm in the month of October. We had a great season and picked a lot this fall.
I also have had a wonderful opportunity to help out my dad and brother in the field the entire harvest season this year. I have always helped out in the past years, but this year I looked forward to helping everyday driving the tractor/auger cart. I was looking through my harvest photos for a special project and wanted to share some of my favorites.  A beautiful harvest 2014 through my eyes.

Of course had to take a selfie of how I spent some of my time in September and October. Loved it! 

Are Fall Mums Hardy?

A little Q&A
Are Fall mums hardy?
To answer the question....it really just depends.

For mums to truly be hardy, they are best planted in the spring. The mums we enjoy in the fall are nursed to set their buds for September and October blooming and not growing their roots. They put all their energy into blooming. This results in not guaranteeing sufficient time to get their roots established before colder weather sets in.

This leads to the "it really just depends."

Every fall I get asked that question by several of our customers,

 "Are fall mums hardy?"

 "Will the mums come back next year?" 

I always answer with it really just depends. 

When are they planted into the ground? If you plant them right when they become available in Early to Mid September then they have more time for their roots to get established before winter as opposed to planting them at the end of the season. 

What is the weather like? Is it warm out when you plant your mums. With the warmer weather, will also help the roots get established before winter. 

Where are they planted? Mums planted against a building for example are more protected from the cold winter winds that we often get. 

What kind of winter will there be? How cold of a winter are you expecting for your area. 

All these factors are important to determine if your beautiful fall mums will come back and bloom next year. You can also mulch them good at the time of planting, leave foliage on them until the following spring, and plant them before the first hard frost to help protect them and increase the chances of them coming back. 

Often times some mums come back the next Spring. When you start to see new growth sprouting from them mums, remove the old dead parts from the last season. This will look nicer for the new foliage growing.

With any luck, you will get to enjoy your mums the following year, usually larger and just as beautiful in blooming color. But if they don't come back, you will know why. 

Meals on the go and in the field.....

With many hours spent in the field during harvest (and planting too) there are often times when the dinner table becomes the back of the vehicle. Long hours and a lot to get done in the field, it is nice to have a meal in the field so no time is spent traveling up to the house for a meal. Especially in those fields furthest from the house.

Photo from early summer of the kids having lunch in the field with grandpa and uncle.

I can remember eating meals in the field all growing up. It was fun. Mom would put the meal together, we would go to the field, eat, and go for a ride. Meals consisted from everything from spaghetti, casseroles, crock pot meals, to ham sandwiches and chips. It can be anything really, but is helpful when a full day is needed in the field. Time is valuable.

With those meals, it's nice to have a little dessert as well. Apples are in season in the fall and so I do a lot with apple baking and preserving apples by making applesauce for the freezer. I really enjoy making apple turnovers. They are great to have in the field as an after meal dessert as a mini apple pie or grab and go for a breakfast as a apple danish. However you want to consider them, they are pretty easy and also very nice to do a large batch at a time to put up in the freezer for winter too. My mom, aunt, and grandma used to get together every fall and work together to make large patches of applesauce and apple turnovers and the kids would all have a great time playing all day. I now make the same recipe and we enjoy them every year.

APPLE TURNOVERS

Crust:
5 cups flour
2 cups + 4 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon salt
Mix together
Dissolve 1 package yeast in 3/4 cup of slightly warm condensed milk
Let stand a few minutes.
Add 2 beaten eggs
Mix with previous mixture for the crust.
Leave in refrigerator overnight.
Set out in room temperature.
Roll out thin. You can use any circle shape to cut out your crust depending on what size you want your turnovers to be. I use a coffee can lid to cut out my circles.

Filling:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 dozen apples diced
1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Mix together and boil until apples are cooked.

Place 1 Tablespoon filling on each turnover crust piece. Fold over the crust and press the seams down with fork. Optional: Sprinkle with sugar before baking.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Recipe makes 3 dozen.

Optional: If you don't sprinkle with sugar before baking, you can also make a glaze from powdered sugar and water and drizzle over top after baked turnovers are cooled.

Be Thankful

We see it everywhere. The stores we go in to. On television. As we drive by homes and notice holiday decor. This year we saw it even more so with the weather. Snow on Halloween! Only for a little bit and and it didn't last long but it did accumulate.

We jump right into Fall and before Halloween is over we are seeing lots and lots of Christmas.
Now don't get me wrong...I LOVE CHRISTMAS, giving, and the holiday spirit it brings!

But let's not skip the season to be THANKFUL.
We should be and are thankful 365 days of the year but in November are reminded of it more (you may see others doing the 30 days of thankfulness on their blogs or Facebook or others similar)

Every day is a new day and brings new reasons to be thankful for. Especially in November, it is the time to be thankful for those things that we do have. November is time to stop focusing on our wants but to spend time thinking about specific reasons in our lives to which we are thankful. It's time to let others know we are thankful for them.

Be thankful for all things. The big things all the way down to the little things! The good days and the bad days. Also why you are thankful for those specific aspects of your life. Yes, it is easy to say you're thankful for your parents, your kids, your home, all the obvious things. When you understand why your are thankful of someone or something specific it makes you truly appreciate what you have in life.

This month I am focusing on "In All Things, Be Thankful." To also carry it on past the season and into every day.
I challenge you to do the same.

I created a printable for you to enjoy. Print it off and hang in a place you see often to remind yourself "In all things, be thankful," on the best days to the worst days.