Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 19
October 22, 2019
Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Since we make our own sandwich bread, we occasionally are left with the stale ends of bread that doesn't get eaten before a new loaf is baked. Usually, our hens benefit and get an extra treat, but when I accidentally botched an entire loaf by dropping it right out of the oven, I couldn't bring myself to give the chickens the whole thing. Enter: Bread Pudding. It's so simple but the first time I told my kids I was serving it to them, they first scrunched up their nose...then they dove right in and e...
October 20, 2019
Bugs, Bugs, Bugs
October 10, 2019
Farm Life
That wheelbarrow has toted a lot of kids...and manure.
October 5, 2019
Haunted Hike
Friday nights are easily one of my favorite times of the week. Everyone flocks home from school and work and we're about to plunge into a weekend together--some work, lots of play, and plenty of rest. Originally, Jack and I had a date planned but when arrangements for the kids fell through, Jack didn't miss a beat and invited them on our own little adventure: a haunted hike.
Peter l-o-v-e-s his seat in the hiking backpack.It's no secret that I love Halloween and October--it's the cool weather,...
October 2, 2019
Home Roasted Sunflower Seeds
One of my favorite snacks are salted, roasted sunflower seeds. My grandma taught me how to crack them in my mouth when I was just a kid, and I love that they give me something to do without racking up the calories quickly.
Since the sunflowers are one of the things that did really well in our garden this year, I figured it would be a good time to try roasting them at home. It's not an incredibly intensive process and we were rewarded with a bagful of yummy sunflower seeds to snack on.
Ingredien...
October 1, 2019
Dear, Sweet Katherine
Our dear, sweet Katherine is now seven! It's amazing how time has flown since she's joined out family. I still remember going in for a routine midwife check-up and how she frowned, telling me I was probably going to have to be induced. That upset me enough (I really, really hate being induced), so I went home, mowed like the dickens, and lo and behold, Kate was born that night. If Henry's birthday was unexpected, Kate's was extremely bad timing. But you know what? Everything worked out p...
September 22, 2019
It's a Start
Many hands make light work.One of our reoccurring family goals is to have a garden growing every year. It only makes sense with how much land we have and how many mouths we have to feed.
Blossoms = fruit. At least potentially.
September 8, 2019
Meet Morty
When one of our beloved farm cats, Hercules, inexplicably went blind and was unexpectedly retired, Jack casually mentioned that it was probably about time to get another kitten. Hercules' sister, Snickers, is also showing her age, and Nova is already four. I never take his suggestion to get another cat lightly. He finds them incredibly presumptuous and annoying (I admit I think the same thing when they sneak inside and lick food off my plate or choose my pillow to sleep on) but they are extre...
September 1, 2019
Wish Him a Happy Birthday
Our handsome guy is four!It seems like only yesterday that I rolled out of bed and my water broke, three days earlier than my due date. Imagine my surprise, when every other baby I'd had was two weeks late. So, we went to the hospital, had a nice long labor (I guess at least that was as usual
August 27, 2019
Copycat Blue Bell Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream
I'm a firm believer that if you're going to enjoy a treat, you might as well go all out. That is definitely no exception when it comes to ice cream. With the cows being bred for calving next year, we're getting ready for an abundance of milk and cream, so I've been practicing and perfecting how to make ice cream (or more accurately, frozen custard). Naturally. With my base recipe perfected, I've started branching out to flavors other than vanilla. Here's the first one we tried and in our opin...
