Raw Milk War

I work in the financial industry for a living and one of the things that we always watch for is for magazines and newspapers to put Stock market information on their covers. This is a sign that there is irrational exuberance in the markets, and we are probably going to go down soon.

Time Magazine recently had an article about raw milk and I wonder what it means for raw milk consumers. Does it indicate that raw milk is now too popular and the government is going to crack down even more? Who knows. While I don't expect that most of us can learn anything from Time Magazine, it is still an interesting read if you are passionate about your right to drink raw milk, or if you are passionate that we need the FDA to limit raw milk consumption to protect us. Here are two quotes from the article.

"Raw milk is an inherently dangerous product, and it really should not be consumed by anyone at any time for any reason," a representative from the FDA tells TIME.

"People should have the option to consume milk the way they want," says Gumpert. Whether it's good for them or not.

Which side of the fence do you sit on. Should we be able to drink raw milk, or is it good that the FDA is there to watch over and protect us?

Michael

We have a cow in our backyard

I'm not sure where she came from, but maybe the owners will let us put a fence around her and keep her, you think?

Be Grateful

At dinner Michael and I were discussing our Home Warranty which was supposed to cover the full cost of pumping the septic tank, but now they are saying they can only cover about 1/6 of the cost. I admit that I was complaining, when Reece (10 yo) started lecturing me that I need to be grateful that we were going to get "something" and it is better than "nothing." It sounded a lot like some similar lectures I had given him.

It made me think about how I expect my kids to be grateful for everything THEY have, because they are pretty darn lucky! But, what about myself? Do I really hold myself to the same standard? I'm pretty darn lucky too! When the kids complain that they only get a little bit of ice cream and I lecture them on being grateful they get "something" instead of "nothing", isn't it very similar to the complaint that I had with the Home Warranty?

I know that I definitely take for granted most everything that I have been blessed with. We live in a free country, we have a home, food, clothing, a vehicle, good health, all of which I take for granted on a daily basis. I have a Father in Heaven who loves me and has blessed me with talents (you do too!) I am indeed grateful for a wonderful family and great friends.

Today as I was working on the house, I was thinking about when we lived in the apartment. Michael and I would lay in bed and think about our future homestead. At the time, it seemed like if we could only get a bigger house on an acre, our lives would be perfect and we would finally find perfect peace and happiness. Don't get me wrong, I really love it here,  I love my new house, and I am extremely grateful to have it. But, it hasn't changed me or how happy I am. It is a house. It is a thing. Things don't bring happiness. Things bring comfort, amusement, or fun, but they don't bring true happiness or joy. That joy comes from serving others, it comes from living a good honest life, being grateful for what you have, from making goals and working towards them, true joy comes from within.

This Thanksgiving holiday, be grateful for the "somethings" that you do have, whatever they may be.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Wild Rice Soup Recipe

Claudia over at Get well. Live well. Be well sent us this wild rice soup recipe. Not only does it look and sound delicious, it is really good for you! I can't wait to try it. 

Minnesota Creamy Wild Rice Soup

1/4 cup sprouted wheat flour

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 cup raw or organic butter

3 (+) cups water with 1 tsp salt

(or use 3 cups chicken broth)

1 cup wild rice, cooked

1 cup brown rice, cooked

1 cup diced ham

3/4 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

2 cups raw milk

salt to taste

pepper to taste

snipped parsley (optional)

Saute onion and butter until onions become tender. Whisk in flour. Continue whisking as it simmers for a few minutes. Add water (or broth) and 1 tsp salt. Allow to cook until it simmers - it will thicken as you stir it. Add ham, rice, carrots, almonds, extra salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Lastly, add milk and parsley and heat to serving temperature.

What a wonderful creamy soup!

Send your favorite soup recipe to backyardfarmingblog@gmail.com

Stove Top Sweet Potatoes

If you are like us at thanksgiving, your oven is the most popular appliance in your kitchen and it is like the popular girl at a dance. Everyone wants a dance with her but there might be too many suitors and too little time for everyone to get there dance in. That is why I came up with the following sweet potato recipe that can be cooked in a skillet or a frying pan on your stove top. Before giving you this simple recipe let me tell you some Thanksgiving rules that I hold to be self evident. You may or may not agree with me.

Rules
1. It is good to eat healthy and fresh but during Thanksgiving, health and freshness take a back seat to convenience and a little indulgence.
2. Turkey is the low man on the totem pole for thanksgiving foods. The most important Thanksgiving foods are in the following order; sweet potatoes/yams, stuffing, gravy, pies, potatoes, drinks, salads, veggies, casseroles, turkey.
3. The people you celebrate thanksgiving with are even more important than the food.
4. If you aren't watching the Lions lose a football game, it's not Thanksgiving.
5. Companies (other than retailers) that make people work on the Friday after thanksgiving need to be boycotted.

That being said here is my simple stove top recipe for sweet potatoes.

Ingredients

4-5 medium sweet potatoes/yams
1 15 oz can sliced apricots
1 cup brown sugar
olive oil
Salt
Candied Pecans

Add the can of apricots with juice to a small saucepan with 1 cup brown sugar. Stir until the brown sugar dissolves. Simmer on medium low heat. You will need to let it cook for a while as we want it to reduce and make a sticky glaze for the sweet potatoes. While the apricots are cooking cube the sweet potatoes. Heat skillet to medium high. Add a little olive oil to skillet. Add cubed sweet potatoes to pan and fry turning periodically. The potatoes should start to brown. Add Salt to potatoes. Once they are fork tender transfer them to a serving dish. Once the apricot has reduced to a syrup pour it on top of the sweet potatoes and stir. Add chopped candied pecans and stir them in.

I personally love any type of sweet potato including the mega desserty casseroles that have more sugar and marshmallows than sweet potatoes. I know that this recipe isn't the healthiest but it is a nice compromise between plain sweet potatoes and the marshmallow concoctions that make my eyes hurt because they are so sweet. My wife and kids rave about these every time we have them. The sweet, tangy apricot glaze really goes well with the smoky, salty sweet potatoes. I know this recipe sounds really basic but the flavors are really complex and the best thing is that you don't have to use the oven.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving

Michael

The Johnson Tulip Festival

I LOVE tulips. Love them LOVE THEM.

I love that they come up in the early spring after a long colorless winter. When I see the tulips, it gets me excited for the months ahead I will be spending in the garden. 

I decided that I wasn't going to wait a year to plant my bulbs. I was determined to get them in this year. 

I have grand plans for my own Johnson tulip festival in my own yard. Maybe something like this:

Maybe this will help you visualize what I'm going for.

I'm not ready to tackle this entire area yet, so I decided to start a little smaller.

So I started with this flower bed:

From these pictures, it appears that Reece is the only one doing the work. I think he planned it that way and hopped into each picture with a tool. 

We pulled the weeds, turned the soil, then brought in some top soil and compost. 

Since I'm a little late in the game this year, all the bulbs were 75% off, SCORE!  I've bought bulbs this late in the year before because they were discounted and they came up just fine. 

It is always so hard to gauge how many bulbs you need. I thought 130 bulbs would be enough to fill this flower bed and have some left over for another area, but I was wrong. Luckily I spaced them all out on the ground (as shown) before I started planting.

Come to find out, bulbs don't grow well in this area. Are my hopes and dreams of eventually having the Johnson' Tulip Festival going to be crushed???

The soil is mostly clay and needs a lot of amending. Any suggestions and tips would be appreciated!

~marisa

It never fails

It never fails! A sunset like this can lift my spirits when I start to get down because....

 

 most my walls either look like this or look like they have been puked on.

 

because the 640 sq. ft. of slate tile that was supposed to take 4 days, actually took 4 weeks, 1256 trips to Home Depot and 20 boxes of returned (broken) tiles.

 (We laid our last piece of tile...can I hear a hallelujah! Come on, don't be shy, let's hear it)

 

 

Maybe I get down because the sectional and ottoman set we ordered are actually different colors.

or because I have a week worth of painting to finish, but I'm finding it difficult to find the time.

This sunset never fails, it always has the ability to lift my spirits. I'm so grateful to have so much beauty in this world!

What is able to lift your spirits?

~marisa