County Shows...Part 1

This past Thursday was our county 4-H Dairy Goat and Cow Show.

Country Chick shows dairy goats.

Meet Blue....

He won reserve champion in the buckling class.

He is such a cutie!

 Tall girl + little goat = sore back!

 He would set up perfect each time!

 Country Chick with Fawn.

She has shown Fawn for the past three years.

They placed top in their class and....

Country Chick won Master Showman of the Dairy Goat Show!

Next up....

The County 4-H Horse Show on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Country Chick and Gizmoe will be competing on both days.

Cooler temps would be nice for the horse show!

We hit 100 plus the day of the goat show and the temps have held in that range for the last several days!

Wordless Wednesday

Where's My Treats?

Well it was nearly a wordless Wednesday...

The Three F's

FAMILY ~ FUN ~ FOOD

Last weekend Country Chick, myself and my mother left the rural country life and headed to the big city of Sacramento to visit my brother and his family.

My brother was hosting a baby shower on Saturday for his daughter, my niece. I'm going to be a Great Aunt in August and my mom and dad are going to be Great Grandparents for the first time!

So exciting!

So down the road, over the hill and into the big city we went!

I am NOT a fan of big city traffic! It scared the crap out of this poor country mouse!

Alas we arrived safe and sound at our destination! I might or might not have needed a very strong drink after we arrived! Shots anyone!

We had a lovely dinner out on Friday evening. More on that in another post, but let's just say I was a very happy camper with the restaurant of choice.

On Saturday we went out to my niece's house to visit.

She and her husband have recently purchased and are in the process of a remodel of their new home.

That's my niece waving in the above photo. My brother is next to her in the tangerine shirt and her husband is in the black. Mom and Country Chick are on her other side.

We got a nice tour of their place and Country Chick got to see their horses.

Group shot below.

Hey, I'm actually in the photo! Amazing!

The view from their front yard.

Yes, this is Sacramento...the West side of Sacramento.

They have a little bit of country on the outskirts of the big city.

The baby's room was ADORABLE!

Later on Saturday everyone gathered at my brother and sister-in-law's home for the baby shower.

The "big" kids migrated towards the Wii!

Country Chick, Nephew-in-law and my nephew engrossed in a little friendly competition.

Country Chick dancing to Thriller on Friday night.

There were party games:

The purse scavenger hunt which was hilarious!

It's amazing what people have hidden deep within the depths of their bags!

The mother-to-be won the purse game.

There were cute turtles with very long legs!

The clothespin drop became very competitive!

Once the guys got involved it was game on!

We played the cotton ball game.

Blindfolded people are so fun to mess with.....Bwahahahahah

My sister-in-law had some mad cotton ball scooping skills!

There were gifts...

Lots of cute little baby boy gifts!

And there was food!

Amazing, wonderful...

Made from scratch, fresh off the grill food!

Everyone lined up to dish up!

And it was all prepared by this guy....

My brother!

The master of the grill and the king of the kitchen!

His guacamole rocks!

Oh, I can't forget to mention Rayas.

She is the Queen of the house!

She is playful, social and a sweet kitty!

The weekend came to an end all too soon!

We had a wonderful time and visit with everyone.

The trip back home was just as nerve-racking with all of the traffic and road construction that reduced the east bound lanes to one lane at times, but once we got over the "hill" I breathed a sigh of relief and stopped in Reno for a little retail therapy!

A Little Wok Outside

Ha...gotcha didn't I!

You were thinking walk....not wok...go on admit it.

Okay, maybe not.

My little attempt at lame humor...ha, ha, he, he, ha!

So my obsession with the Camp Chef stove continues!

I'm beginning to think Hayman is going to have to send me off to rehab soon!

I like stir-fry.

I decided to cook a stir-fry dish on the Camp Chef.

I gathered all the ingredients and packed it all outside and sighed with happiness when I began to cook.

I know...I'm weird!

The Wok fit nicely over the burners. Much better than in the house.

I haven't used this Wok in years because I don't like cooking with it on an electric range. It was happy to be pulled from the back of the cabinet and used...it told me so.

I cooked up the peppers and green onions first, removed them from the wok and added the meat.

Please ignore my very scary, white legs! If you look at them you will be blinded and then you won't be able to finish reading this post. You looked, didn't you! I warned you not to! Bwahahahaha......

Miss Maggie likes the Camp Chef too. There are all kinds of yummy smells and goodies for a pup to delight in!

After the meat was done, I added the sauce ingredients.

The sauce simmers for a bit to thicken up and then you add the veggies back in and some pineapple and fresh orange slices.

(no food was burned in the making of this dish. The scorch marks are from a previous stir-fry experience which will remain untold).

Mix up all the goodness, heat through a bit and serve over rice.

Sweet and Sour Steak Stir-Fry

1lb beef top round steak (slightly frozen for easy slicing)

1 small orange (peeled and sectioned)

2 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp gluten free soy sauce (not gluten free...use the regular stuff)

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

1 Tbsp cooking oil (canola)

1 medium green pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

6 to 8 green onions, sliced on the diagonal (or smaller if you like)

2 cups hot cooked rice

Thinly slice meat across the grain into bite-size strips. Set aside. Take that orange you peeled and sectioned and cut the sections in half and set aside. For sauce, drain the pineapple reserving the juice. Pour 1/2 cup of the juice into a small bowl. Stir in the vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, brown sugar, and ground red pepper. Mix well and set aside. Pour cooking oil into wok or large skillet. (You might need to add more oil during the cooking process). Preheat over med-high heat. Stir-fry the pepper and onion for 3 to 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove veggies from wok. Add meat to hot wok and stir-fry 6 to 10 minutes or until cooked through. Push the beef to the side. Add sauce to the woke and cook until thickened and bubbly. Add the veggies back into the wok, add pineapple and stir everything together with the meat. Toss in the oranges. Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until everything is heated through. Serve over hot rice. Makes 4 servings.

Dig in and Enjoy! 

Silent Sunday ~ The Night

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~Vincent Van Gogh

A Pinch and A Peck

This was the cutest birthday gift ever!

My friend Randi gave me this cute little "chick" feeder filled with jelly beans as a gift.

She knows me well!

I love anything "chicken" related!

After the jelly beans are gone...I'm going to fill it with Skittles!

(did you know that Skittles are gluten free...yes they are...happy dance)

Yum!

Attached to the side of the feeder was the cutest set of measuring spoons.

Not your usual set mind you, but a pinch, a peck and a dab.

(1/8, 1/16, 1/32)

They will be used and used often!

Love them!

The lemon basil in the kitchen window has gone wild!

And it smells so good!

The County Chick and I, along with my mom are currently on a little road trip.

The country mice have gone to the big city....to visit the city mouse relatives.

Say Cheese!

Cheesecake that is!

I made this cheesecake for my birthday.

I'm sharing the recipe...cause I think everyone should make this Cheesecake!

 Glorious, Wonderful, Creamy, Delicious Cheesecake!

(if you are lactose intolerant, beware! or take a chance and live on the wild side....lol)

Puckett's Firecracker Cheesecake

(you can also find this recipe at relish.com in the June issue)

Blueberry Sauce:

1 cup blueberries

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp lemon juice (fresh is always better!)

Crust:

(just so you know, I didn't make a crust as I didn't have enough gluten free graham crackers on hand, so my cheese cake was crustless and it turned out wonderfully!)

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

5 Tbsp butter, melted

Filling:

3 pounds cream cheese (6 bricks and I use Philly cream cheese...it is gluten free)

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1/3 cup heavy cream

Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries for garnish

To prepare sauce, combine blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until blueberries begin to release their juices. Mash some of the blueberries against the side of the pan. Let cool. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Wrap the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan with foil. To prepare crust, combine all ingredients and press into the bottom of pan. To prepare the filling, beat cream cheese with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and beat until well combined. Combine eggs and egg yolks in small bowl. Beat lightly. Slowly add eggs to cream cheese mixture while beating. Add heavy cream and beat, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, until smooth. Pour one-quarter of the batter into another bowl. Stir in blueberry sauce. Pour half of the unflavored batter over crust. Pour fruit-flavored batter on top. Swirl with a spoon or knife. Top with remaining unflavored batter. Swirl again. Place Springform pan in a larger baking pan. Place on the center rack of oven. Pour in hot water to depth of 1inch. Bake 3 hours. Remove from oven. Let cool. Refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving. Garnish with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Serves 20.

(Cooking cheesecake in a water bath (bain maire) prevents uneven baking and over-heating. A stand mixer will come in handy to beat the cream cheese).

You can use any type of fruit for this recipe!

Have fun, experiment and most of all....Happy Eating!

Grillin Fool

Okay, I must admit to something...

I AM VERY ADDICTED TO THE CAMP CHEF STOVE!

Hayman cooked several meals on it for me last weekend for my birthday. And yes, I did get those blueberry pancakes I had been dreaming about and they were...Oh So Yummy!

I think Hayman figured he would bring out the Camp Chef, cook on it a few times to show it off and what a great investment it was and then put it away until the next camping trip.

Didn't quiet work like that!

I haven't let him put it away!

I don't think I will ever let him put it away...EVER!

I don't know what I'll do when winter comes, but I'll worry about that when the time comes!

In the meantime, I'm one Happy Camper!

I LOVE this dang thing!

I have only cooked in the house once, yes once, in the last week and a half!

Don't get me wrong, I have a nice kitchen and I like it just fine, but I love cooking on a gas range end of story!

Every house we have ever lived in has had a gas range except this one. I'm not complaining at all, just miss cooking on a gas range is all.

So hence my love of the Camp Chef!

I have turned into a Grillin Fool!

Now I can understand why back in the day, people had summer kitchens.

By cooking outside there is no heat in the kitchen (and we have A/C so that doesn't really matter), there is minimal mess to contend with and the food tastes fab!

We get to sit outside and enjoy the quiet evenings and enjoy each others company!

A big plus in my book!

I made this recipe one evening last week!

The flavors rocked!

Grilled Chicken Tenders with Cilantro Pesto and Grilled Asparagus

(this recipe actually came from the Internet...but now I can't find the original link)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup soy sauce (I use San-J gluten free tamari)

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. chili powder

1 lb. chicken tenders

2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves (1-2 bunches)

2 green scallions, sliced

2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds (I used 1 Tbsp of Tahini paste)

Whisk lime juice, soy sauce, oil and chili powder in a bowl. Reserve 2 Tbsp of the marinade in a small bowl. Add Chicken to remaining marinade; toss to coat. Marinate in refrigerator for 20 minutes or up to an hour. (I put mine in a Ziploc bag and tossed in in the fridge for an hour)

While the chicken marinates, make your pesto:

Place cilantro, scallions, sesame seeds or Tahini and the reserved marinade in a food processor and process until smooth. (I had to add a bit of olive oil to mine). Place in a bowl and put in the fridge to chill out a bit.

Preheat a grill or grill pan. Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard marinade) and grill until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, about 4 minutes per side.

Now if you have room on your grill then toss on a bunch of asparagus that have been drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Grill for 8-10 minutes. If you don't have room, then remove the chicken to a plate and cover with foil, then grill the asparagus.

Serve grilled chicken with pesto and asparagus.

Eat, Savor, Enjoy and Be Happy! 

And Happy Grilling!