Calico Daniels's Blog, page 3
May 31, 2011
Stale Tortilla Chips
I don't know about you, but I get pretty agrivated when I grab a bag of tortilla chips out of the cabinet and discover that they are not so fresh anymore. Like many other folks I used to cuss about the waste and then toss them in the trash...NO MORE!!!
Sprinkle those babies on a cookie sheet and pop them in the oven (low temp) for about 15 minutes or so. They crisp right back up :)
Just another way that I reduce the amount of scraps being wasted in my home. Granted, my chickens would have LOVED those chips, but in the long run it would cost more to drive into town and buy a fresh bag. With gas at almost $4 per gallon and a big bag of chips at about the same...well, my chickens can snack on their food or bugs :)
Sprinkle those babies on a cookie sheet and pop them in the oven (low temp) for about 15 minutes or so. They crisp right back up :)
Just another way that I reduce the amount of scraps being wasted in my home. Granted, my chickens would have LOVED those chips, but in the long run it would cost more to drive into town and buy a fresh bag. With gas at almost $4 per gallon and a big bag of chips at about the same...well, my chickens can snack on their food or bugs :)
May 17, 2011
Summer is coming
The chicks are growing like weeds. The garden is in and doing well. The horses are enjoying the green grass. The cows are having babies.
Now the work really begins :)
Summer is coming. For most parents that means the end of yet another school year and the wonderful days of summer. Fun days filled with parent/child time, vacations and relaxing. For me? It means that the time has come again to start working hard on the ranch. Not that any other season is easy. They all come with a long list of things to be done but summer is a busy one for me. Filled with long, hot days of manual labor. Mowing, baleling and hauling endless bales of hay. Unforseen equipment malfunctions that throw a wrench in production. Fire danger as the temps hit triple digits.
THEN...I come home to the animals, the house, cooking, laundry and everything else that goes along with being mom :) Not that I would ever trade it, mind you. Ranch work, for me, is wonderful. I enjoy the summer hay, the fall prep, the winter harvest and the spring scramble. Ranching is in my blood. Hell, I even went to school to learn MORE about the business that my family has been in for so many generations. Overkill? Maybe, but as the bearer of the torch for my generation of family rancher it is what I needed to do.
The problem? My family ranch has NEVER been run by a woman before. Why now? There is no choice :) There are no men in my generation. Yeah, I have a husband but my family is very hard core about the ranch ONLY being managed by blood relations.
Don't get me wrong. There is nothing in the world that I would enjoy more than to wake each and every morning on my family homestead and know that I am responsible for anything that does or doesnot happen on the property. It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. So I embrace the long, hot, dry hours that will chap my face and burn my skin. I welcome the blisters and the pain.
I'm just another country girl trying to make my make in what has been for so long a man
Now the work really begins :)
Summer is coming. For most parents that means the end of yet another school year and the wonderful days of summer. Fun days filled with parent/child time, vacations and relaxing. For me? It means that the time has come again to start working hard on the ranch. Not that any other season is easy. They all come with a long list of things to be done but summer is a busy one for me. Filled with long, hot days of manual labor. Mowing, baleling and hauling endless bales of hay. Unforseen equipment malfunctions that throw a wrench in production. Fire danger as the temps hit triple digits.
THEN...I come home to the animals, the house, cooking, laundry and everything else that goes along with being mom :) Not that I would ever trade it, mind you. Ranch work, for me, is wonderful. I enjoy the summer hay, the fall prep, the winter harvest and the spring scramble. Ranching is in my blood. Hell, I even went to school to learn MORE about the business that my family has been in for so many generations. Overkill? Maybe, but as the bearer of the torch for my generation of family rancher it is what I needed to do.
The problem? My family ranch has NEVER been run by a woman before. Why now? There is no choice :) There are no men in my generation. Yeah, I have a husband but my family is very hard core about the ranch ONLY being managed by blood relations.
Don't get me wrong. There is nothing in the world that I would enjoy more than to wake each and every morning on my family homestead and know that I am responsible for anything that does or doesnot happen on the property. It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. So I embrace the long, hot, dry hours that will chap my face and burn my skin. I welcome the blisters and the pain.
I'm just another country girl trying to make my make in what has been for so long a man
March 10, 2011
Spring is in the air
I love spring. Not only is the barnyard filled with baby animals begining their journey, but the garden is in, the air is clean and the promise of a wonderful year is blooming. Yeah ok so my flowers are up, the yard needs mowed and the winter funk needs to be shaken from my back but hey, I still like spring :)
