Cheese Wiz, Gummy Fish & Cocktail Shrimp

Doesn’t sound like a very appetizing combination, does it?   And no, that's not a recipe from the Treasurey of White Trash Cooking (well, at least I don't think it is).

That's what we used to have for pre-midnight snacks at my Great Aunt Harriet’s house on New Year’s Eve as kids.  And I LOVED it!  It’s not like we put Cheese Wiz on the Swedish Fish.  There were separate plates for the squirty can of cheese-like substance and crackers, the multi-colored Swedish Fish (back then you couldn’t get just all red ones) in a fancy crystal bowl and then cocktail shrimp served on a elegant shrimp tray complete with the little attached bowl for the cocktail sauce. 

I would eat shrimp until I was stuffed.  And then eat some more.  Nothing like starting kids on high-priced seafood at such a young age.  Although I absolutely loved the shrimp, I don't recall if Christine had started her hatred of the little decapod crustaceans at this point or not.  Maybe I taunted her with the little shrimp bodies.....I don't recall.

Honestly, I don’t remember if we had a fancy supper beforehand or not.  Besides, how can a kid eat supper if she knows there’s going to be a huge bowl full of fish-shaped, gummy candy waiting?

We watched the big ball count the time down to Midnight on the television set (Midnight NY time, not Chicago time, so we got screwed out of another hour of staying up!) and blew our party horns, cranked those metal clanky things……and were out light a light no more than five minutes later.  I find out later in life that we were celebrating an hour early as the program we were watching was from New York and we were in Chicago.  Apparently the words “Time Zone” have little or no meaning to ones so young.  I recall being fast asleep in bed and suddenly being awakened by the sound of fireworks and gunshots……you know, the real Midnight, Central Standard Time.  Oh well.  We still got to eat gobs of junk and party food.

When we got a little older and were too "big" to spend the night at Aunt Harriet's, my Dad continued the shrimp feast.  We'd go to the local seafood market and buy jumbo shirmp.  Dad & I would sit in front of the sink peeling & deveining all those shrimp and then Dad would fry them up in a huge skillet with butter and fresh garlic.  The smell in the house was heavenly!  Of course, Christine didn't partake in the shrimp-extravaganza (where was she anyways??)  Silly girl.

Now that I have a family of my own, I’m starting to wonder what holiday traditions we should start.  Hopefully ones that Rhiannon will fondly remember.  We don’t have television hooked up so wouldn’t be able to do the New York Midnight celebration, but I suppose we could covertly turn the clocks ahead an hour and wait for the Cuckoo clock to strike a preemptive twelve (because you know, Mommy & Daddy can barely stay up past 10:30 nowadays). What tangled webs we weave!  Hopefully she won’t be psychologically scarred if / when she finds out we lied to her about it.

I guess we have a few more years until Rhiannon participates in the actual Midnight Celebration, but I haven’t decided what New Year’s Day will be like yet.  I go back & forth between wanting to make it a movie-watching, junk-food eating day or something outdoorsy like fishing or hiking and a picnic (weather permitting, of course).  But I do think that the Swedish Fish should be a continuing tradition, don’t you?

Have a safe and wonderful New Year's.  I'll see y'all next year!

PS - Yes Dad, we'll have a silver coin in our pockets at Midnight!

Homemade Breakfast Cereal

Since a possible temporary milk shortage may be on the horizon (on our farm, not nationally or globally, so don't freak out & go to CNN to check), I figured I'd better have my fill of cold cereal before we're out of fresh milk.

I guess it's no different than my homemade Granola, but it becomes cereal when I pour milk over it. 

I buy very little prepared cold cereals from the store, although Rice Krispies (or their generic counterpart) are an almost permanent part of our pantry.  There are like a million recipes that use that stuff and I love to make rice krispy treats in the summer.  And it's my fall-back breakfast for Rhiannon when she doesn't want to eat anything else.

Not only do I like to avoid those "extras" in the boxed cereal like food coloring (come on....neon blue and pink?????) and excessive sugars, but have you bought cereal lately?  Some are over five bucks a box!  For stinking cereal!!!  And the boxes are nowhere as big as they used to be.

So because I'm cheap I want healthier food, I like to make my own breakfast cereals for the house.  Well, it's not like I'm making the actual cereal itself....you know, puffing or popping or crunching up the actual grains.  I've always wanted to see how they do that; wonder if any of the companies give factory tours?  Now wouldn't that be a great future homeschooling fieldtrip for Me Rhiannon! 

When I get the hankering for homemade breakfast cereal, I buy bags of puffed wheat, puffed brown rice and crisp rice.  And all that's in those bags?  Wheat.  Rice.  Nothing else.

Puffed Wheat.  Ingredients: Whole Red Wheat.  Period.
Puffed Brown Rice.  Ingredients: Whole Brown Rice.  Period.

My recipe changes every single time.  I'm sorry to say that I've become one of "those" people who don't always follow recipes (or remember to write down what I did).  But basically, here's how I make my cereal:

Get a BIG honkin bowl.
Assemble the grains: puffed wheat, puffed rice, puffed corn, crisp rice, oatmeal.
Assemble the "special" ingredients: Cinnamon, chopped nuts, seeds, assorted dried fruits, flaked coconut, etc.
Gather the liquid ingredients / sweet stuff: Honey, maple syrup, simple homemade sugar syrup, veggie oil.

Dump all the grains in the bowl, then the dried fruits / nuts.  Mix.  Sprinkle cinnamon (or cocoa powder.....never did that before, but I might one day) & mix again.

Now this is where you're all going to yell at me.  Heat up "about that much" honey and "just a little bit" of oil in the microwave until it's warm & you can easily stir it.  Now, how much of course depends on how sweet you like your cereal and how much cereal is in that big ol' bowl.  But basically, you just want a very light coating over all the cereal.  As for how much honey (or other sweetener) to oil.....well, I'd say to about two cups of honey I'll add two Tablespoons of oil.

And you don't have to use honey.  Or just honey.  I've used a mixture of honey and maple syrup.  Or a homemade sugar syrup with a few drops of vanilla. 

Once your bowl o' cereal is mixed up nicely, spread it out into several baking pans or cookie sheets or casserole dishes and pop it into a 300 degree oven.  Or lower....or slightly higher.  Check it every fifteen minutes at first, then every five or so after "a while".  Yeah, I know, what kind of recipe is this?  Inexact measurements, guesstimated sugar to oil ratios, vague baking times.......so sue me.

But basically, you want to lightly brown the cereal.  So you'll have to just keep checking it as often as it needs to be checked so you can stir it to ensure even browning.

Take the pans out of the oven & let cool.  When cooled, break it into small pieces and store in an airtight container.  You can keep it on the countertop for a short while, but it will keep much longer in the fridge or freezer.

CHOCOLATE!

So, I promised you all a chance to get a Box o' Chocolates from my good friend's shop Louisa's & Millie's Chocolates when I got to 100 Followers. 

This is a picture from their website....do not try to lick the screen.

And yesterday was the magic day.

So I was thinking to myself, "Myself, what should I make these wacky people lovely blog followers do to gain an entry into the contest?"

There were thoughts of making you have to divulge embarrassing personal information, or revealing which celebrity you harbor lusty feelings for (mine would be Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove or Tom Selleck).  Paul suggested making you say exactly why you deserved the chocolate.  But come on, is there not a reason one would be deserving of chocolate? 

So here's what you're gonn'a have to do for an entry:

Make a comment.  That's it.  I don't care what it's about, although something nice about cats may bestow Susan's (my black cat, not Susan at e-i-e-i-omg!) feline blessings upon you and your entry.  I'm not even going to make you "Share" this link on your blog or FB page, because although I don't mind extra followers, I think the loyal Followers of Krazo Acres shouldn't have to decrease their chances!

Open to US residents only, one entry per person, and I'll have Rhiannon pick the winner some time on New Year's Day.  Or whenever I get around to it.  Because you know, it's my blog and I can do whatever I want.

Good luck!

PS - Please comment on this blog post.  I know a few of you commented on the previous post, but if you wouldn't mind re-commenting on this one, it would make it easier to take down names.

Just ONE more!!

No, not one more Christmas cookie or piece of fudge (which has sadly been gone for almost two days now), but one more Follower!

I just noticed that I'm up to 99 Followers and I promised a box of Louisa's & Millie's Chocolates as a giveaway when I got to the magic number 100!

Come on all you lurkers, wouldn't you want to try for a box of Chocolates?!?!

Confectionary Convert

 “I can feel my teeth rotting away from an excess of sugar that no amount of toothpaste can dislodge."  - Walter Matthau in “A New Leaf”

That quote basically sums up how I felt throughout most of the Christmas weekend.  If I haven’t become a diabetic from all the sweets I recently consumed, I’ll be surprised. 

Along with the Christmas ham (honey-glazed, of course) Polish potato dumpling thingies (swimming in butter & honey), roasted veggies (I think the only thing NOT containing butter or sugar), we ate countless types of cookies, Black Forest Cake with a 4” topping of whipped cream, toffee, sweet breads (sweet BREAD, not sweetbread as in animal organs, although I bet if you put some icing on a pancreas, I would have eaten it), and other homemade candies.  My favorite being something that I almost totally dismissed.

We were given a huge package of Christmas goodies from a couple that I Kitty Sit for, and one of those packages had a tag that said “Maple Walnut Fudge”.   When I saw the tag, I immediately told Paul that he could have at it (as I was eying the decorated sugar cookies in same bag-o-goodies).  You see, although I’m a sugar addict, I’m not partial to fudge, let alone maple flavored candies.   Maybe it’s because I’ve eaten too many chunks of sub-par fudge.  And don’t ask me about the maple aversion; I LOVE maple syrup on my pancakes....makes absolutely no sense. 

But when Paul started making “nummy” noises (which he’ll never admit to) after biting into the fudge, I figured I may as well try some of it.  Besides, I couldn’t lie to Terri when she asked how I liked the fudge unless I actually ate some of it.  So I carefully picked off a small corner off one of the chunks.  And. It. Melted. In. My. Mouth.

Tried another piece.  Heaven.

And another.   This stuff is fudge???

Maybe I should try another few pieces, and check the tag, because I thought it said this was supposed to be fudge.

This so-called-Fudge was the smoothest, creamiest, yummiest, piece of non-chocolate candy I’ve had in like, well, a LONG time.  It reminded me of a smooth, yet denser, divinity kind’a candy.

And now it all gone! L

So I’m going to have to beg Terri for the recipe and add it to our Christmas Candy list for next year.   Or for any other special occasion.  Like Tuesdays.

Oh, and guess what else I got for Christmas:

My wood stove back, complete with tile flooring underneath!  I predict 80 degree temperatures in the house very, very soon.

Let there be Light

Today we (or at least those in the Northern Hemisphere) will get to enjoy an additional 3 seconds of daylight.  And it just keeps getting better with every passing day!  Well, at least until the next Solstice.

Most of us are probably rushing around trying to get all those last-minute things ready for Christmas, so the Solstice usually gets overlooked by most of the population.  Busybusybusybusybusy.  And I can relate.  But wouldn't it be nice to be able to recognize the truly awesome celestial phenomenon that brings more light into our life? 

I simply lit a few candles as a physical symbol to welcome the in the longer days.  Lucky for you, and any unsuspecting and unlucky passerby, my days of dancing naked under the cloak of night during the Solar Holidays are a distant memory (imagine what a train-wreck of a blog post that would have been!)  But I also spent some time enjoying the warm day yesterday by cleaning out both chicken coops.  Enjoying cleaning out chicken coops, you say?  Surely you're joking (no, I'm not.....and stop calling me Shirley)!  And what does shoveling chicken crap have to do with the Solstice?  Hang with me for just a sec, k?

But I did enjoy it.  You know why?  Because I took the time to recognize and enjoy the simple fact that the sun was shining, the weather was warm(ish) and my daughter was helping me with the farm chores.  Yeah, it took about twice the amount of time it would have if I had just done it myself, I had to wipe mud off Rhiannon's person more times than I can remember, the chickens were unduly harassed by same mud-covered toddler and the chicken food ended up everywhere but in the feed pans.

But there was light.  Not just from the few measly seconds of additional solar radiation, but from my daughter.  Rhiannon was the light to brighten my day.  And sometimes I forget about that.

So who brings light into your world?

Strangers in the Night....

Well, looks like I'm going to have to edit my last post in regards to the kidding schedule.

Last night, I went to feed the goats their dinner & milk Ishtar.  Normally she pushes everyone out of the way to get to the barn and stands right in front of the milk parlor door then looks at me as if to say, "Any day now!"

So imagine my surprise when she was nowhere near the barn.  She was standing at the fence line where Pan is.  And was not making the slightest movement towards me or the barn.

So I clip everyone else to their appointed feeding stations, divvy out the grain rations and trudge back to the house to put on an old coat.  You see, I was expecting to simply go out to the barn, milk, feed, close the chickens up, then come back inside.  But no.  I was going to have to play PimpMomma tonight.

Apparently Pan did not hit the mark last time.  I kind'a wondered if he was getting it right as there seemed to be a little more struggling than usual......serves me right for not setting up the cinder blocks for him.  He had no problem with Nettie, who's also a full sized Saanen, but Ishtar is bigger than Nettie.

So by time I go back inside, put my mucky boots on along with an old coat, it's getting pretty dark.  So I pull out my new handy-dandy-no-homesteader-should-be-without headlamp:

For whatever reason, I'd put off getting one of these for like, ever.  Now I'm kicking myself when I think of how many early mornings / nights I've monkeyed around with having to carry eggs or milk buckets or whatever and a flashlight.  This thing is awesome.  But back to the goatsex.

So I've donned some of my goatpimping gear and make my way out to Pan's enclosure.  I set up a few cinderblocks for him, go back and clip Ishtar to a lead, drag her away from the fenceline and then get drug by Ishtar all the way to Pan's enclosure.   Both participants (the goats) were anxious and cooperative, although I think we only had one good connection.  Not sure if Pan was getting sleepy because of the darkness, but he wasn't his usual spunky self.  And I couldn't sit out there for a half hour as I had our Fire Department Christmas party to go to in less than an hour (and I still hadn't made the green bean casserole).

So I drug Ishtar back out of Pan's enclosure and put her back with the rest of the does.  Ran into the house to peel off the smelly coat & boots and had Paul "sniff" me to make sure I didn't stink of goat piss.  Hurriedly put together green bean casserole, put kind'a nice shoes on, nice (i.e. non-barn-smelling) coat on and off we went to the party.

And through the entire party, all I could think of was Ishtar & Pan.  Was one time enough?  Should I just hope that she'll still be in heat tomorrow and try to have her bred again in the morning?  What if she's not in standing heat by morning?  What if I missed another breeding opportunity?  What if this is her last heat cycle for the season.  Did I leave the iron on?

We had stragglers from the party come to our house afterwards, so I didn't go back outside for another try at breeding Ishtar.  It's not that I have to hide the fact that I am a pimp for farm animals as our friends are pretty much aware that our animals do have sex.  But I didn't really want several guys (with a few liquid libations already down their gullet) accompany me during my nighttime goat loving outing.  Because you just know that they would wonder why I was going outside in the middle of the night wearing one of Paul's old jackets, muck boots and a headlamp secured to my noggin.

And I wasn't sure I was up to loud men chortling, laughing and cracking crude farm animal intercourse jokes in the middle of the goat pen, in the pitch dark.  Guys can be soooooo immature!

So I waited until this morning to bring Ishtar back to Pan.  And hopefully it was successful.  Guess I'll know in a few weeks.