Eden Hills

Pina Colada Cake

Although quite inadequate for all he’s done, Brandon’s payment for his help was a pina colada cake.  I confess, I’ve had more than one person tell me that this cake is to die for.  What I like about it is the easiness.  Accolades for a tiny bit of work.

Really, we’re taking a plain 9 x 13 yellow cake and dressing it up.  Another confession, I simply used a yellow cake mix.  Remember, I did say it was easy.  You want to do the cake early because it needs to cool before you top it.

Besides the cake you start with you will need the following:

8 oz. soft goat chevre (you can use cream cheese if you don’t have that wonderful goat cheese)

1/2 cup fresh goat milk (fine any milk will do)

2  3 oz. packages of vanilla instant pudding

1  20 zo. can of crushed pineapple

1/2 teaspoon rum extract

whipped topping

shredded coconut

chopped nuts

maraschino cherries

Start with your softened goat cheese in a bowl and add the two boxes of pudding.

Pour in the milk.

Mix it up until it is smooth.  Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl to get it all thoroughly mixed.

Pour in the pineapple, juice and all.

Mix it again.

Add your vanilla and again mix it up.

Spread this mixture over the top of the cake.  I usually have a bowl left over.  Keep this to reward yourself after you’ve finished making the cake.

After spreading it over the cake, I like to refrigerate it for a while to let it get set.  It makes it a lot easier to spread the whipped topping over it.  Also, if I’m taking this somewhere else, I’ll stop preparing it after spreading the cheese and pineapple mixture on the cake because the top of the cake pan will still fit on.  I’ll finish it when I get to my destination.  I’ve even finished topping it in my classroom.

After the whipped topping, sprinkle it with coconut.

After the coconut, add the chopped nuts.

Finally, top it off with the cherries.  This is a fun summer cake that is perfect for gatherings!

Remember the leftover bowl of cheese and pudding mixture?  Well, I like to dress it up with all the other toppings as I finish the cake.  That’s my treat to myself.  Maybe I should call it quality control if it’s a cake I’m taking somewhere else.  I don’t do maraschino cherries though.  It’s yummy just like this.

This is a really easy delicious recipe for your next gathering or payment for work.

Build it and they will come.

We’ve had a lot of rainy days again lately.  Even when it isn’t raining, it makes me feel lazy and unmotivated, and I hate wet feet.  Maybe I am really part goat.  I’ve spent a lot of time daydreaming about my wonderful farm market that still exists only in my mind.  I guess since I’m on the Internet researching and working on ideas to diversify and visiting other places to get ideas it isn’t really dreaming as much as visualizing and planning.  I also have help with this from my nephews and Mom.  Now as I watch more clouds roll in, I get to do even more dreaming.

Clouds coming in from the west

Earlier today, I was sitting with the boys chatting and waiting for the next wave of rain, while Brandon was collecting his pina colada cake.  We decided on the spur of the moment to go visit a winery today.  We had to rule out a couple of them because of all the rain causing flooding nearby.  We settled on John Ernest Vineyard and Winery in Tama.  It was very easy to get to and quite picturesque.

John Ernest Vineyard

They are a small vineyard and winery, but everything was very classy.  They have an outdoor patio where they have bands set up and perform on the weekends.  They also have a small events center people can rent for weddings, reunions, graduations, etc.  I already had planned on the live band events to draw people to the place.  Now the boys have finally brought me over to their side and convinced me that we also need to add an events center to my market.  I have two nephews currently working as bartenders and hosting such events, and they are correct.  There is not enough nice places available to host all the events around.  Most places are turning down business because they are already booked.

John Ernest Vineyard

Jeremy and I got to sample some wines.  I am not a big wine drinker, but the ones I tried were pretty good.  I was really surprised to try their River Bottom Red containing a blend of St. Croix, Merlot, Riesling and raspberry wines.  It was a dead ringer for our sweeter truckwreck grape and raspberry wine.  I even made Jeremy sample it, and he agreed.  As good as their wines are, I think I still prefer our fruit wines, especially the apple based ones.  I just think they have more complexity to their flavor.

Our latest apple wine

We are starting to make decisions on which wines we want to make again and start perfecting instead of dabbling.  We would like to stock five to seven good wines to carry.  Of course, our vines are not even producing yet, so we have to wait to find one or two good grape wines.  I’m not sure five to seven will cut it if we want to have a big variety and appeal to a lot of different tastes.

As we do all this dreaming, talking and planning, I’m reminded of the movie The Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner.  Throughout this great movie that was filmed in northeast Iowa, the main character is repeatedly told, “Build it and they will come.”  That’s what I keep thinking about as I make these plans.  I will build it, and they will come.

Blueberry Muffins

My nephews tend not to take money for the work they do.  Two of them are in college, and I guess that will change when they hit the real world.  I’m going to enjoy it for now, and I do try to pay them in some way.  Since our rain came early this morning, today is Christopher’s pay day.  He gets blueberry muffins.  Mom and my sister went to a nearby pick-your-own farm, and they gave me some blueberries.

I start by making the topping.  In a small bowl mix 1 tablespoon flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 tablespoon margarine.  I use a stick margarine that hasn’t been softened.  It’s a lot easier to mix that way.

I cut the flour and sugar into the margarine like I would make a pie crust.  When finished, just set it aside until we need it.

This will make a dozen cupcake sized muffins.  I get my pan lined with cupcake holders and again set it aside.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

To make the muffins you will need:

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco or margarine

1/4 cup honey

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup fresh goat milk

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

In a small bowl mix the flour, salt and baking powder.  Set this aside.

In a larger mixing bowl, measure out the Crisco, sugar and honey.

Cream these three ingredients together using a large spoon.  When it is somewhat mixed, beat the combination with an electric mixer until it is smooth.

Then add the eggs, one at a time.

After each egg, mix thoroughly.  Add the vanilla and mix again.  When both eggs and vanilla have been added, you should have a nice creamy batter.

Add a little of the flour mixture to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

Then add a bit of the  milk and mix thoroughly.  Just as an aside, I used Dolly milk.

Keep alternating between the flour and milk until all have been added.  You should finish with flour.

Fold in your blueberries.

Fill the lined muffin tins.  Sprinkle the tops with the topping mixture and put them in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

They will be ready when the tops are golden brown.

Let the muffins cool for five or ten minutes, and then remove them from the pan.  Enjoy!

Chris came by after work and picked up his “payment.”  It must have been sufficient because he said he was available on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Christopher took the entire batch of muffins with him.  I never even got one; it’s okay because he did share with others.  When I told Dad I was making the muffins, he hinted that he wanted some too.  I made him a batch that was a bit more diabetic friendly.  Splenda instead of sugar; skim milk instead of whole milk; no topping.  For some reason, they turned greenish (blue berries and yellow batter), but they turned out fine.  I think the color must be the difference between Splenda and sugar.  I had a bit of left over batter, so I made a couple of mini-muffins with it.  Then I went to Wal-Mart and got a jumbo muffin tin for a third batch.  This one was mine.  It’s not the less unhealthy kind either.

I wonder how long it will be before my little blueberry bushes start producing berries so I can put my own fruit in the muffins.

Coming soon:  Brandon’s payment of Pina Colada Cake.

Knee High by the 4th of July

In the spring, farmers spray their cornfields with anhydrous ammonia before planting.  In the last few years, I seem to hear more and more people and groups wanting to end this practice.  I understand why.  Anhydrous ammonia is dangerous to apply.  It will burn human tissue, and inhaling it can be fatal.  Despite the dangers of handling it, people will steal it from the tanks sitting in fields to make meth.  then there are the environmental concerns.  The ammonia can leach into the waterways and pollute the ground water system.  It has been blamed for the loss of biodiversity in areas where it is used.  So why do farmers continue to use something that is so dangerous and harmful?

4th of July sunset over the cornfield

When we were cleaning the field and preparing it to be planted this spring, there was a big burn pile that was cleaned up after anhydrous had been sprayed but before the corn was planted.

This is field corn.

This is field corn on anhydrous ammonia.

Any questions?  Here it is again.

Plain ground in front; fertilized ground in the back.

The old saying “knee high by the 4th of July” was an old guide to gauge the progress of corn.  Today, if you’ve ever seen an Iowa cornfield, that seems silly.  The use of anhydrous ammonia will not end until there is less of a demand for corn products:  corn-fed beef, corn chips, corn Chex.  How many products have “high fructose corn syrup” as an ingredient?  How many people have ever put ethanol in their cars?  Right or wrong, anhydrous ammonia isn’t going away, and it is fueled by people’s desire for the many products that come from corn.

Happy 4th of July

I love watching fireworks.  I think it’s even more fun to watch them through the camera lens.  These pictures are not from this year.

Our weather is making it unlikely that fireworks will be able to go on as scheduled tonight, even though we might have Mother Nature’s fireworks.

I hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday weekend.  Happy 4th of July.

Blessed be.

Lazy Days of Summer

The hay is in the barn, about 270 bales.  Now I can relax for a day minute or two.  Everyone seems to be enjoying the lovely summer.  Bob is napping on the deck.

It seems to be the popular thing, as Snickers was napping next to him also.  Bob is really a copycat.  He just adores Snickers, much to his dismay.  I really wished I could take a cat nap earlier today.

Instead I picked raspberries with Mom.  We didn’t find many because we should have picked yesterday or the day before when we were frantically putting up the hay.  I did scare a deer that was resting in the shade, but it moved way too fast for me to take a picture.  We also found a lot of lovely black-eyed susans.

I need to work in the gardens and reclaim them (again) before our rain comes Sunday evening.  I plan on using some of the old hay from the barn to put down as a thick layer of mulch so i can hopefully stay ahead of the weeds from here on.  I don’t want to show you all the weeds, so I’ll show you the the coneflowers instead.

In the barnyard, I found a lazy Betty Lou with her boys, BeBop and Baxter.  I think I’m going to switch Mabel and Cutie around.  That will wean Cutie’s girls and get Mabel away from her twins.  Hopefully, she’ll start to pick up weight and look better, and the kids will have a more consistent diet and do a little better.

Little Maddie chose to take her nap inside.  Even though her feet look great, I do have several girls that need their hooves trimmed again.

Kizzy had twins a couple of days ago (somewhere in the middle of making hay).  This is Dixie below.  Twin sister, Dana, is all black, which makes it hard to get a good picture of her.  I’ll have to keep trying!  I also will have to start keeping an eye on Jilly, as she is due in about a week.

Dad will be back tomorrow, and then we’ll start working in the trailer again.  I still have a bunch of stuff to clean out before he gets back.  I guess I’ll have to take a rain check for my lazy days.  I hope you get to enjoy a few of those lazy days yourself.

Two Long Days

The last two days have revolved around nothing but hay.  I’ve been cleaning the barn.  I put all the old hay to the front, so it will be used first.  Then I decided to get rid of all the old loose hay just laying on the floor.

I’m still not done with that job.  Thursday, the hay was dry enough to rake.  We have a lot of cut grass that gets raked into windrows.  It is really interesting to see how they do it.  It takes two passes with the rake to make each windrow.

Jeremy started raking up north and in the waterway.

I love the way the second hill looked before being raked.  Brandon even commented on how pretty the hill looked after being mowed.

Then Brandon got home from school, and he raked the buffer strip and the back hills.  The first hill was basically a circle around the trees in the middle.

The picture below shows both hills and the path to get from one to the other.  Brandon, on the tractor, is just starting from the first hill to the second.  At the end of the path is the second crossing that Jeremy put in for me in the spring.  He did have to widen the first crossing, but I’m amazed at how well they’ve stood up with all the rains we’ve had this summer.

When Brandon is finished raking, it looks like a giant maze.

Then it’s time to start baling.  Jeremy did the baling that afternoon.  I helped in the front by moving the bales so he could get around them.  We had to put the bales on the ground instead of a hayrack because it was way too small of a space to pull the rack behind the tractor and bailer.  In the back, we didn’t want to try pulling a full rack of hay over the crossings, so they just fall on the ground.

My son, Caleb, had arrived home from work by the time Jeremy got to the back, and he helped move the bales, so I could do chores and work on removing the old hay again.

There were a few areas that were still kind of wet.  At least they knew where to avoid (the big mud hole were Jeremy sunk with the discbine) so they didn’t get stuck.  There’s a couple of bales that we won’t be able to store.  A few from the waterway has a lot of corn in it, and the stalks hold way too much water to dry adequately.  Once it was bailed, we were done for the day.

I started my morning still cleaning out the barn.  Then I got Jeremy’s truck, and I started loading the bales.  Drive to a bale, jump out and put it in the truck, and them move on to the next bale.  I could easily get twenty-eight bales on the truck.

After I got it all loaded, I went to the barn, and I got to unload it myself.  Well, I did have the help of the goats.  They kept trying to lighten the bales for me.  I also had naughty Rooster Boy in the barn making sure I was aware of my surroundings (pay attention to him or get attacked).

I did four loads myself.  Then Caleb came home, and we did another load.  So far, we’ve brought one hundred thirty bales from the pasture.  Tomorrow, we have the big second hill left to bring up, so I will have another day of doing nothing but hay.  At least I won’t be working by myself since it’s the weekend.  Jeremy and his dad are talking about doing the next hill over (the left hill in the first picture).  Norm’s estimate was that we could get four hundred bales off the one hill.  We’ll see if weather permits.  I am so happy to be getting the barn filled with fodder for the winter.

Making Hay

Watching Hay Dry

Today, we are watching hay dry.

Actually, we decided to walk through the fields again because we need to find all the rocks and limbs and stuff before the bailer goes through.

We did get a few rocks and limbs, but there were a few rocks that we didn’t pick up.  The one below will require the backhoe.

Instead of boring you with more about watching hay dry, I want to tell you what awesome nephews I have.  Everyone needs at least three such nephews.  After we got done picking raspberries the other day, they were kind enough to help me in the orchard.  Chris volunteered to mow.

Mom helped with pulling weeds close the to little plants.  Brandon set posts, and then we got the wire up to support the grape vines.

If we didn’t do a good job on the supports and anyone thinks they can do better, we would ask that they come and demonstrate for us.  We would really not be offended; in fact, we would appreciate it.

Not only have they helped me in the orchard, but they have been helping at the trailer.  Dad and I worked on the outside again.

He brought in the weed eater and mower, and we cleaned up more junk.  We cut the scrub trees from the ditch and fence row.  It’s looking better.

While we did this, we left poor Chris stuck in the trailer taking down the ceiling tile.

He managed to get almost all of it down.  In the picture below, you can see the remains of the bathroom.  That means the baby barn swallows had flown the coop by the time we started that morning.  Dad was happy he didn’t have to wait on them any longer.

All that tile on the floor has already been hauled to the landfill.  As an aside, I was surprised in just the little area I was in at the landfill there was so much stuff that could have been recycled.  I guess I can live with my son thinking I’m a bit overbearing about recycling things.

We’ve already seen how much Jeremy mowed for the hay, and after that Brandon brought in the bush hog to knock down the grass in other places so we could work on cleaning it out.

Brandon and Jeremy will continue helping with the hay.  I don’t know how I would get all of the work done on this new farm if it weren’t for my nephews and parents.

Plan C Implemented

We have hay cut!  We implemented Plan C today.  We started with the easy part.  This was around the north edge of the new farm.

Doesn’t this look wonderful?  We don’t have rain in the forecast until Sunday.

By then, even this waterway will be lovely bales in my barn.

The second part of Plan C begins with coming in my driveway.  Notice how big that tractor is and how it doesn’t line up directly behind the tractor.  This will play an important part of the story later.

The first red gate was no problem.  The next one was coming off the turn, so he had to go through, back up and then finish coming through.

This led to another hairpin turn into the next gate.

I don’t know why he was worried it wouldn’t fit through the one above.  There’s a couple of inches to spare.  Another turn and try to swing around to go through where we pulled two posts (one left us about an inch shy of fitting through, so we had to pull another one.

It does have the entire hill draining through the cattle barn (not my idea, and I’m trying to figure out how to make it better), the tractor was slipping, and he was trying to back up to get the Discbine through.  It didn’t work so well.

He called his dad to come and assist.  Norm reminded him that he can change positions of the Discbine, and that helped.  They also used the backhoe to remove some of the, shall we call it, compost before they came back through.

No problems.  I’m relieved that there is not a bigger piece of equipment that has to go through there, and our dry weather should make it easier for out next trips through here.  The buffer strip was mowed with ease.

Look at all that hay.  I’m so excited.

Jeremy did take it back to the pasture and over his crossings.  He did get stuck once, but the backhoe came through and got him out.  Then he mowed the next hill, and I now have to go pick up some rocks before we rake it on Thursday.

Plan C is a life saver, but I’m really hoping that we can go back to Plan B before our second cutting.