Birthday Cake, Ole Lake Style!

Making Kettle Cake:        

To make Kettle Cake the way we do, you need a cast iron dutch oven.  It is important to get one with legs on the bottom, and a rim around the top of the lid.  It needs to be well seasoned to make clean-up easy, otherwise it will be an onerous chore.

Have on hand some charcoal and starter fluid.

Start by piling the charcoal up on the ground; a gravel driveway works well.  Soak it and light it up.  While it is heating up, assemble the cake.

You need 2 cans of pie filling; cherry, peach, apple, whatever you love.

You need a cake batter, either store-bought and follow the directions, or your favorite homemade recipe.  Cherry Pie filling with Crazy Chocolate Cake is popular around here, as are Peach/Yellow.  I don’t recall if we have done Apple/Spice, but that sounds good to me.  Blueberry/White is good too.  I think we've done rhubarb too.

So, put the pie filling in the bottom of the dutch oven, then pour the cake batter on top.  Put the lid on and bring it out to the charcoal, which should be hot now.

Notice the lid-lifter... a handy item you must have for this sort of thing

Be careful!  Using tongs or a garden trowel, put coals on the lid, and then lay out a flat layer to put the dutch oven on.  Bake for a while… it varies, maybe 40 to 60 minutes.  Test with a fork to make sure the cake is completely done.  Sometimes we think it’s done and it’s not, which is why the Crazy Cake recipe works well…. No eggs to worry about if you have a doughy spot!

There you go!  Let it cool down a little and enjoy with some ice cream, whipped cream, or, like we did last time, some homemade vanilla pudding (made with goat milk of course!).

Kurt enjoys his birthday cake!   

For those of you who don't know what crazy cake is... leave a comment and I will send you the recipe!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

We have a tradition for Mother's Day.  No flowers, other than the ones in the woods.  No waiting in buffet lines.  We hook up the tractor to the haywagon for a ride through the woods... like a hayride sans hay.  When we get to the field, we have a nice fire and some picnic food.  It's a great way to celebrate the day!

 

  

The moms, Ardis and Debby

In other news around the farm, Daisy's other horn has finally come off:

So she's sporting a new look!

 And that is all I have time for at the moment.  I'll be back soon with some more pics and how

to make Kettle Cake, but right now have to get some tomatoes transplanted into larger quarters.

Be well friends!

Farm Girl Graduates!

 Yesterday was a grand day!  It was a long day, but so wonderful to see Kori receive her degree!  Wouldn't you know the best picture we have of this occasion is the one she took herself!

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Today, another milestone as Kurt is celebrating his 24th birthday... where does the time go?

We are all pretty busy around here today, as usual I guess.  Kori unpacking, doing loads of laundry, the guys working on wood (a truly endless task), and I seeding several flats of seeds; squash, melons, and mostly pumpkins.  These are just getting a little head-start before the garden is warm enough to plant.

The horses got their spring pedicure too:

Lenore expertly gives Huck a trim.  

My sister Carolyn is visiting this weekend too.  We will be enjoying some kettle-cake this evening for Kurt's birthday.  If you don't know what kettle-cake is, check back here tomorrow! 

 

A beautiful day in early May

We have two less goats than we did yesterday.  It was past time for the lads to depart, so no regrets.  We will never forget our first kids though; we really learned a lot from them.  Our buck Ranger misses their company.  Today, he spent part of the day in the Summer Coop pasture where he can check out the ladies and doelings in their pasture, nibble on the grass, and he showed quite an interest in my gardening activities too.

Sunflower and Chikorita have a little jousting match

This morning the foster hens went back to their own home, then Mickey and I got out for a walk down the road, through the woods and fields. We spotted this fellow very high in the tree tops...

And stopped by the pond for Mickey to take a dip:

Planting time is coming up.  Kevin put Massey right back to work tilling and I worked on one of the garden beds, both of us enjoying the aroma of the freshly turned soil and the feel of the warm sun on our backs.

This afternoon, Rollie and Kevin worked on fanning the oats.  Ardis joined in too, sorry I didn't get her in the photo!  Ardis and Rollie help us out so much, we are so grateful!

 Until next time, live happy!

Hey, it's not raining!

What a wet, gloomy, cloudy and altogether unsatisfactory (weather-wise)  week!  Starting on Sunday, rain and/or snow (ok,  mostly rain) and dark sunless days...
 

Sunday morning ice coated everything  including the house!

Sunday was pretty exciting for me though, as I had another crack at making mozzarella, and this time it went just like it is supposed to:

Stretching the mozz... try it some time, it's fun!

The sun finally made an appearance late in the day on Friday, Yeah!!!

Today, the combined efforts of the Flowers men, Rollie, Kurt, and Kevin got Massey back together with a new axle and she is back on her feet, er... tires!  Is that kind of like having a hip and knee replacement?  No rehab needed!


As for me, I was off to Moose Lake with my amazing friend Kathy for the Moose Run.  We did the 5k and I ended up with some hardware!  2nd place in the 45-54 year old women category!

Fun to bring home some bling!

Will catch you up on critter news next post, ok?  Maybe tomorrow.  Until then, be well friends!

Signs of spring

It's 33 degrees, wet, rainy, windy, and altogether disagreeable outside this morning.  Not a lot of farm activity going on around here this weekend.  The fellows are off to a Scout event, and for me a good portion of yesterday was spent in the delightful company of my Nix relations to celebrate Uncle Cy's 86th birthday. 

This morning, after chores and a hot breakfast, I went back out to make sure the fire is going well in the stove, and to look for spring.  Here is what I found:

Cute little goats in the barn... This is Sunflower climbing on her sister Ivy

And Chikorita

Crocus

Rhubarb... yum, can't wait for that to get a little bigger!

And in the greenhouse, lettuce is growing despite the cool temps

And the tomato seedings are coming along.  Those tiny plants in the forground are vinca seedlings.

So, that is about it for this weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Easter from Ole Lake!

We could not ask for a more beautiful day!  A little later the four of us will be heading down to the North House for a great meal with Ardis and Rollie.  My uncle and aunt, Cyril and Nora, will be joining us and it should be a very nice time. 

I am just putting a few pictures here from yesterday for your viewing pleasure.  Kevin has been working on the goat pasture, shoring up the fence which took a beating from deer and falling branches over the winter.  He has cut down some trees and the goats enjoy nibbling on the tasty tips of the branches.  The little doelings especially enjoying being outside and playing on the chunks of wood and spool-tops that we put there for that purpose.

Enjoying the brush

Ivy

The lasses always make us smile

Playing tag!

The spool-tops are tipsy, adding a fun-house element!

And here is Roye, one of the best pictures I've gotten of her; she's allways been difficult to photograph.

Be well everybody.