More green tomatoes

Well, After the salsa I tried Relish, then I made a green tomato cake, and then I tried a green tomato Jam.

The cake took first believe it or not

See there really are green tomatoes in it.

The relish came in second with the salsa a close third. The Jam hmmmm I'm not sure it comes in at all but, I did reserve a small corner of my fruit room in the very back corner for the 8 pints I got. Not my favorite.

I really Liked the Cake and so......For those of you out there as crazy as me. Here the recipe.

Green Tomato Cake

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped green tomatoes
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (I used low fat margarine, That's all I had)
• 2 cups sugar( I used Brown, I just thought it sounded better)
• 2 eggs ( I used fresh eggs, that's all I had)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (my favorite Part)

Instructions

1. place finely chopped tomatoes in a bow land cover with salt for 15 minutes
2. Drain, RINSE WELL. cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time.
3. Beat until creamy.
4. add dry ingredients and nuts.
5. Fold in tomatoes.
6. pour into a greased 13x9 pan.
7. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
8. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.
9. 12 large servings.

I've, actually, had a fun time with all these green tomatoes. (Thanks Roger) I still have a bucket left and the weeks not over with, but I think I'll take a break today.

Don't miss out on this great cake!!!!!

It really is good!

Green Tomatoes

Ah!!! Green Tomatoes and quite a few this year. we usually don't get near this many. I'm not even going to bother telling you or showing you how many red tomatoes we get each year, ahem. next to none

We try every year though, and this year we tried extra hard. it's just that when you live at over 7,000 feet in elevation and you don't have a green house it's very unlikely that you'll get many tomatoes. Last year it froze every month of the year.......we didn't get any tomatoes last year:0

But, Roger was determine that this year the tomatoes were not going to waste so he looked up a green tomato salsa recipe and handed it to me with a green tomato and apple jam recipe.

I started with the salsa one. It's really quite good!! The recipe told me I'd get three quarts or six pints with one batch. Uh? I ended up with thirteen pints. Oh well. I think I'll do two more batches and use the rest of the tomatoes to try the jam. Sooo if there's anyone out there with a really good recipe that uses green tomatoes send it this way I'd be happy to try it.

That Little Cowboy

I hope my neighbor dosen't get mad at me for doing this, but I couldn't resist. In August for our county fair I am in charge of a cowboy poetry contest for the youth. My neighbors have 8 little blond haired girls and they have entered the contest every year. They always do a REALLY cute job with their poems but this year the little 5 year old's poem stole my heart and made me grin. Here's why: Chance is five, too. They live right be hind us with a wood fence in between our yards and theirs. This was her poem. Her Mom wrote it.

The Little Cowboy

There is a little cowboy

That I see most every day.

He don't know I'm watching him,

It's probably best that way.

I see that little Cowboy,

Through a knothole in my fence,

And the things I see him do

To me, don't make no sense.

I saw him climb on his dog

Trying hard to get a ride.

But all that ever happened

Was the dog and ground collide.

Once he was being pecked at

By a hen he'd tried to rope,

I reckon It's a boy thing

Though I sure don't get it--NOPE!

But I've got a little secret

That I'll only tell to you.

I think that cowboy sure is cute

And I know he likes me, too.

Cuz, sometimes when I'm playin'

I can see him watch me, too

I've even heard him whistle
through that hole a time or two.

-Misty Knutson-

So.. I suggested that maybe we ought to take some pictures and do a photo book. Here's some of the pictures we ended up with.

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Whew!!

Chancee's Chatterings

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post

Saturday morning Amongst the hustle and bustle of Dad and the older boys getting ready to go up on the mountain to herd, I yelled at every one to get their dirty clothes up the stairs if they wanted clean clothes for school next week. Of course no one responded and so after the three before mentioned left I thought that at least the ones left could get there clothes into the wash so I suggested to Chance that he should get his clothes upstairs even if no one else did. He headed down stairs and I continued getting everything ready to bottle peaches. soon I heard some grunting and groaning coming from the basement and I went to the top of the stairs to see what was causing such vocal exertion. Chance sat at the bottom of the stairs with his large purple bucket filled to the brim with clothes.







"What are you doing?" says I, "Did Braden and Caib talk you into bringing their clothes for them?" I ask, some what exasperated.







"Nope," says Chance, "I just got an Idea and I did it." says Chance with one finger in the air.







I guess our Family Home Evening lesson on service and the talks we gave in church on service worked. At least Saturday morning when the clothes needed brought up and some people hadn't done it.







Thank heaven for the little things that make a mothers insistent hen pecking all worth it. There are some times when I wonder if all the lessons are even penetrating their little skulls.

well........... hm

So... I've sat down to blog a hundred times and either given up or been called away by desperately needy children. I'm going through a "how boring" stage. Everything I do seems redundant, repetitive and reclusive and so in an attempt to not bore my two maybe three readers out there, I've bored you with silence. Maybe I do need winter to get here.

Braden's enjoying high school (snicker) He has no choice. Actually he's enjoying being on the baseball team. The last game they had he hit the ball and then barely beat the ball to first base causing many people to marvel at his speed he usually hides it quite well with his slow, suave, swagger. He then stole second, made it to third on a hit and then scored the winning run.

Caib's loving being a big 8th grader in the middle school. He is doing exceptionally well in school except for the musical tryouts that he was required to sing at. He came home and told me of the complete bomb it was. I asked him if he got a part in the play and he told me "well, not a lead part." "That's probably best," says I, with a wink. He grinned and nodded. Caib also got a job at the local Napa Auto store cleaning and helping out for a couple of hours after school. He seems to enjoy that. He also started up with guitar lessons this fall a couple of times a month. maybe he could accompany a good singer one day.

Aubree 4th grade sigh.....She's growing up way to fast for me. Aubree is an exceptional student. She has the only male teacher in the school this year and she's doing quite well. I sure wish there were more good men teachers. Aubree is still taking piano lessons and does a good job with music. She loves to come to me and make me sing with her. I used to love to sing with my sisters and it's fun to watch Aubree develop an interest in music.

Chance loves school. Of course that kid just loves to learn. He collects facts and randomly shares them with me. For example...This morning while getting ready for school he says to me, "Mom, did you know that the stars are still up in the sky right now? They're just hiding behind the sun, oh and did you know that the sun is just a big star?" "Sure enough, Chance. I reply. and did you know that a caterpillars cocoon is called a crysalyx and he even knows how many days the caterpillar stays in the crysalyx before it comes forth as a beautiful butterfly. He told me yesterday that he, among other things is going to be an airplane pilot when he grows up because they fly faster then helicopters. and on and on.........

Oaklee's adjusting well to Chance being gone for 3 hours a day. I think she enjoys having the whole house to herself. She loves to get out her stuffed animals and set them up and play with them. I hear her in there just talking away. It also makes it nice when Chance does come home because Chance and Oaklee act as if they haven't seen each other in forever and they talk and play and get along extremely well. Oaklee loves to sing, too. she has a song for everything and I think her favorite song is "the eensy weensy spider"

and so life continues on and I thought I'd better blog about it before I forget about it. I guess it's not as boring as I perceived it to be. It's just sometimes it can seem mundane and tedious. But, I love it. I love watching my children grow. some are at stages where I cringe and think "Oh, I'm SSOOOO glad I don't have to live through that again." and some are at fun points in there lives that bring back fun memories and longings that I'd maybe taken more advantage of my youth and excelled in more things.

Chancee's big Day.......

Of course Oaklee is excited, almost three whole hours with mom, all to herself, as.....

Chance finally begins his first day of Kindergarten. Chance and his Kindergarten teacher. She's taught all my kids Kindergarten and they all gave her a big compliment today as they each told Chance how lucky he was to be in Kindergarten. Aubree wishes she could have had her as a teacher for every grade.




Pigs on the brain. We had a reunion this last weekend and For some odd reason I was inspired to quickly whip up these cupcakes to take......hmmmmm

And....Here we go again. Uncle Shannon decided to give this horse to Braden and Caib for a little work they did for him this last summer. They've decided that after they get her good and broke that she'll be my horse since I don't have a horse that is officially mine and I really like bay horses. This is Caib riding her for the first time. She did lay down and roll with him but I was so busy making sure Caib was O.K. that I for got to take a picture. sigh....mothers!!

We would Like to introduce.......

Yes, We have a new addition down here on the farm, Four new additions to be exact.
We have Wilbur, the white one. Puffin, the black and white one. Herman the red one in the back and Sassy the big red female in front. Warning: These names are subject to change at any given time
What is it about pigs that makes a person wonder.....I always get this uneasy feeling that pigs have some sort of human like characteristics that make them slightly more intelligent then the average farm animal. I find myself talking to them as if they should understand. I expect more out of them then I would, say a cow chewing her cud. I don't know... maybe it's just me and my pig like qualities that are a bit scary..... uh, ahem..... anyway

I do have to say for a dirty little animal I think they are pretty durn cute!!

These are the two littlest.

There ya go....What? You may ask, Will our country cousins obtain next.

I've always wanted a donkey..........