Farm Food

We spent the Fourth of July weekend at the farm. And, instead of showing you more photos of alpacas, llamas and dogs, I'm going to show you food!

Right after I show you one photo of a dog. 

And a photo of a sad, trapped down. 

A dog who chooses to trap himself by the fan by squeezing through the fence. 

Now, back to the food. 

This is the bounty of food we brought back from the farm. 

Lots of lettuces, onions and cherry tomatoes.

Yellow squash, green bell peppers and cucumbers. 

And meat! The best part about having an all grass-fed black angus cattle ranch is the beef. Let's just be honest. Pretty cuts of beef. 

Ground beef too!

So, what am I to do with all of this fresh food? Here's what I did Monday night when we got home.  I had two chicken breasts that were already grilled. I chose these veggies and chopped them up. 

Then I threw them in a skillet with some cumin, chili powder and cayenne for fajitas!

Stay tuned for my next dish with my farm food!

Friends, Family and Alpacas

As mentioned, Chris and I headed up to the farm this past weekend for multiple reasons. 

1) Chris always wants to celebrate his birthday at the farm. He kinda loves it there. 

2) Kathy was coming up, and we planned to see Shelby, a friend from Hendrix!

 

3) My folks are good people, and we enjoy seeing them too.

 So this is Kathy. I've blogged about her often. She's my BFF. We will be celebrating our 10-year anniversary of friendship this September. I'll let you know where we register. 

Oops. Autofocus was off. This is Kathy. And, don't be frightened by the hat. We were about to strike out on an adventure, and the wind was cold. And, it's my mom's hat. 

Kathy and I found some artsy trash by the water's edge. 

And, we visited the Indian cave. 

She's a city girl, but she still looks good in a cave!

I even made her jump out of the ranger and open gates. She learned a lot about farm life. 

Then we spied a momma and baby cow!

The baby was so tiny, and it had a difficult time walking. It looked like its back legs weren't quite loosened up yet. 

Then, Kathy met the dogs. They are such big loves. Big, huge fierce-to-predators loves.

Then it was time for the grand show. The alpacas!

Sometimes when you're on a farm, loves comes in all shapes and sizes. The rest of this series of photos have been edited and removed to protect young eyes. 

Finally, the alpacas were ready for some appropriate photos. 

I love how this group is so clearly posing for their picture!

Then, the llama had to get some love.

The llamas really tickle when they breathe on your face.

Remember those fierce protectors of the herds? Did I mention they just work at night? 

The other llama needed some attention too. 

Emily has grown so much since our last trip to the farm!

Llamas really like to smell your face. 

A lot.

Then it was time to shoot some guns. 

Kathy was getting a safety lesson from Chris. 

Practicing your stance is very important.

"How in the heck do you see through this thing?"

She hadn't even shot anything yet, and she already had the look down. 

One last correction. 

Then it was time to shoot. 

That gun looks so natural with her. 

 At what, you may ask, was all the shooting? This deserving tin can, of course!

The hunter and her prey. Notice the holes.

After Kathy showed that tin can who was boss, we traveled back to find the baby cow again. Can you find him in this photo? He's the black spot right in the center. He was circled up against a mound of earth. It was the perfect snuggling spot, and he was out of the wind. Smart momma cow. 

After our big day on the farm, it was time to eat. Of course, we had to do pizzas!

Jack gave Kathy the important job of bubble-popper. 

That's the official bubble-popping stick. 

She did a great job because the pizzas were delicious.

We were so busy having fun that I don't think we got a group photo of everyone. I think it's safe to say that after ten years of friendship, Kathy and I are still going strong.

Even on a farm.

A Sweet Treat

We've had an exciting weekend at the farm, but before we get to that, you have to know about the cake I made for Chris' 29th birthday dinner at the farm.

I was inspired by his love for black forest cakes. That's the kind he usually gets for his birthday. But not this year. This year, I wanted something different and a little extravagant.


So I made this: Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake. Click here to see the blog and the full recipe.

Basically, you make a simple white cake--I know not very exciting, but stick with me--then you stack a layer of cake, a layer of icing, a layer of chocolate-covered cherries, another layer of cake, icing, a dose of hot fudge and finally a layer of Oreo cookie dust.

Hello! Delicious.

It did take some time because you had to refrigerator between several of the layers, but it was pretty impressive. And it tasted delicious. It was sweet, but didn't slap you around like I thought.

Click here to see the cake recipe I used.


Click here to see the icing recipe I used. This icing is my go-to for icing. It taste delicious and is not overly sweet. You can still taste the cake and extras!


And, here's the happy birthday boy!

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