Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Birthing Cage

My husband set up the large cage with a new and improved nesting box a couple of weeks ago.  He also trimmed the inside with wood to kind of help with Urine issues.  He basically set it up as a bunny pent house LOL.  Big Mamma (Dutch Doe) had her babies in it and mom and babies will stay in there at least until they are ready to be separated.  She loves it so far…the babies are a week and 2 days old now.  I  took a peak into her box…they are sooo cute!  Below are 2 pictures one of just the cage and the other of Big Mamma exploring it prior to having her kits.
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Saturday, September 14, 2013

Biscuits

Yummy…I made biscuits and gravy this morning.  I thought I would share my biscuit recipe with you.  This is mine and my family’s favorite big biscuit recipe so far.  The original (which I modified somewhat) is at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/jps-big-daddy-biscuits
Makes 6 grand sized biscuits.
Ingredients:
  • 2 cups of flour (I use the Prairie Farm Gold flour I mentioned in a previous post).
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon white sugar
  • 1/3 cup of butter
  • 1 cup of Milk
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  2. I combine all of my dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse a few times to mix thoroughly.  I then cut my butter into a few slices (usually by the Tablespoon) add a few pulse just a second to move them and continue to do this until all the butter is in.  I then pulse the food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Place in a bowl and gradually stir in the milk until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
  3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15-20 times.  Pat or roll dough out to 1” thick.  Cut biscuits with a large cutter or glass dipped in flour. Repeat till all dough is used.  Brush off extra flour and place the biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.
Extra info:
If you don’t have a food processor you can manually cut in the butter or take a frozen stick of butter and grate it like cheese into the mix remembering to stir every once in a while so the butter stays separated.
The original author states that the dough can be prepared up to a day in advance…to do this you need to turn the dough onto aluminum foil that has been floured, buttered, or oiled.  Roll up the foil until it is sealed, and refrigerate.  He states that this may result in the biscuits rising even higher because the baking powder has more time to act in the dough.
I don’t like a bunch of things in my refrigerator though.  I tend to make things ahead of time with good intentions and forget the next day.  So instead of making the dough ahead of time.  I am thinking I am going to put the dry ingredients in mason jars.  Vacuum seal the lid and put the directions on an whole punched index card and tie it on with a ribbon.  Store it in the cabinet. This way the only thing I would have to do in the morning is dump it in the food processor add butter dump in bowl add milk, roll, cut, and bake.  It is all about preference though.  I just know that premade dough in the fridge usually gets flattened by something someone sits on top of it.  LOL.  Thanks for reading, please comment and share.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Jewel of an Afghan

Update:  Sorry this is taking so long...the government shut down really affected me in a bad way (lots of stress).  Well now that I can take a break from those worries I have picked working on the blanket back up.  Here is where I am at now:


My cross-stitch project is on hold.  I reference the pattern on the computer using my one-note program so that I can make it as large as I need and mark it off as I complete it.  I never loose the paper or my eyesight this way and if I mark something incorrectly I can fix it with out a bunch of scribbles.  Well since my laptop has no screen it is confined to my desk hooked up to a monitor.  This has caused the problem of feeling secluded from my family.  So I picked up a book my mother-in-law gave me some time ago called Woman’s Day Crochet Showcase published by Columbia House in 1980.  I decided to start an afghan in this book because it is something I can do while I’m chillin in the chair listening to what ever show my family may be watching.  It’s hard for me to just sit there and watch t.v. with out biting my nails, fidgeting, or wanting to fall asleep.  I am in the same room with them and can be a part of their conversations this way.  I started this Saturday evening.  My son was sick and had a fever all day yesterday so I worked on it a bunch yesterday while I was keeping an eye on him.
This is what I have done so far.
Jewel of an Afghan
I chose this one because I had a lot of left over colors so all I had to buy for right now was black.
If you like this pattern and would like to try it yourself comment on this blog and I will email it to you.  If you would like to try to make this for yourself and do not know how to crochet comment stating just that and I will try to schedule a hang out to teach you how to make this afghan as well as email you the pattern.  If you really like the blanket enough to want one but do not want to make it yourself comment on that as well for I may go ahead and set this page up to accept pre-orders on the basis and understanding that it does take quite some time to make blankets.
Thank you for reading, please comment and share.