Mountain Lane Homesteaders
Three Cheers For The Red White & Blue!
Did you know our first American Flag was made of wool? If you know anything about spinning and weaving, you can appreciate the effort that went into making our first American Flag. That's just part of the process. To learn more about it and the woman who created it, this is an awesome site.
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/#faq
You can take a virtual tour of Betsy Ross's home, learn facts you might not know about the flag and even learn how to cut a 5 point star with one snip! Betsy Ross did!
Did you know she outlived 3 husbands and had 7 daughters, all while maintaining her own business? Her pew at Christ's Church was right next to George Washington's. Think about the grit it took back then just to survive.
Independence Day!
Think about it.
Patriotic Fruit Pizza
Patriotic Fruit Pizza1 (16 1/2 oz.) pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 C of sugar, divided
2 T of cornstarch
1/2 C of orange juice
1/4 C of lemon juice
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 T of milk
1 t orange peel, grated
2/3 C of heavy whipping cream
1 apple, peeled and sliced thin
1 1/2 C of fresh strawberries, halved
1 C seedless dark purple grapes, halved
1 banana, sliced thin
1 C of fresh raspberries
1/2 C of fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the cookie dough and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Carefully spread the dough onto an ungreased pizza pan. Bake the dough 15 minutes or until a golden brown. Remove and allow the dough to cool on the pan.
Dump half of the sugar into a small saucepan. Add the cornstarch and toss slightly to combine. Pour the orange and lemon juice into the mixture.
Place the pan over medium heat bringing the mixture to a steady boil.
Continue boiling for 2 minutes stirring constantly then remove the pan from the heat, setting aside to cool. Cube the cream cheese and place in a large mixing bowl. Pour the milk over the cream cheese. Add the orange peel and the remaining sugar. Beat the mixture until blended together well and smooth.
Place the whipping cream into a small mixing bowl. Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks begin to form. Fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture until blended in well. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Place the apple slices around the outside edge of the crust.
Next layer the strawberry halves around the crust. Circle the halved grapes on next. Add the bananas to the ring. Place the raspberries onto the crust next. Finish the ring with the blueberries. Spread the reserved glaze evenly over the all the fruit. Place covered in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or until chilled.
Makes 12 servings
Preparation Time: approximately 30 minutes
Firecracker Cupcakes
Firecracker Cupcakes1 (18 oz. ) box of devils food cake mix
1 1/4 C of sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 C of canola oil
2 T instant coffee crystals
1/2 t ground chipotle chili pepper
1 (11.5 oz.) pkg. semisweet chocolate chunks
2 t flour
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C butter, room temperature
1/2 t vanilla
2 1/2 C of powdered sugar
Red and blue food coloring
2 oz. semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 C of whipping cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Dump the devils food cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sour cream, eggs, and oil. Sprinkle in the coffee crystals and pepper.
With an electric mixer on low speed beat the ingredients for 45 seconds.
Adjust the speed to medium and continue beating 2 minutes making the batter thick.
Place the flour in a small bowl. Add the chocolate chunks and toss to coat.
Fold the chocolate into the cupcake batter. Fill the prepared muffin cups 3/4 full of the batter.
Bake 20 minutes or until the tops bounce back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to wire racks to continue cooling.
Place the cream cheese and the butter into a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until the mixture reaches a frosting consistency.
Separate the frosting into 3 small bowls and tint one bowl with the red food coloring and 1 bowl with the blue food coloring. Frost the cupcakes dividing between the 3 different colors.
Place the chopped chocolate into a small mixing bowl. Heat the whipping cream in a saucepan over low heat to just boiling. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes then whisk until smooth.
Place the mixture into a sealable baggie. Snip one corner of the baggie and drizzle the chocolate over the frosted cupcakes.
Makes 24 cupcakes
A Few More Garden Pics For Your Viewing Pleasure
Yellow and white with purple splashes!
I really like this one! Only one bloom and it didn't last long. I am glad I got the picture.
Feverfew and Peonies
the luke is home
DS came home around 8 a.m. - having ridden all night with a couple from CO gong to IN. So good to see him again. The hair will have to go before he starts back to work Monday.
learned a new skill in Africa - sounds pretty good on guitar. We got his room painted about 3 weeks ago - light blue - looks so good - vast improvement.
My Garden, Inspired by Tasha Tudor
It has been 2 years since I went to Vermont and met up with several total strangers! Well, they weren't complete strangers. I had known them from the internet for at least 5 years prior. I felt like I knew each one of them. We all gathered in Brattleboro, VT and then took a little trip to see Tasha Tudor's garden. It is great fun to be able to say I've walked in her garden! We had a great time. Memories I will cherish always.
Here is my own flower garden, a work in progress, inspired by Tasha's garden book and then that lovely walk through it for real.
That is the south side of our house.
Some gorgeous irises.
The one below is unreal! Purple and lavender!
today
I've done fairly well keeping off the computer today until I get something done. I did my Bible study on Ezekiel 45 & 46 - animal sacrifices in the future? God has it all planned out with perfectness in everything.This week dear daughter and dear son will both come home tomorrow. Ang is at church camp and Lucky Luke will be finishing up his YWAM school in Col. Springs and getting a ride with a friend on his way to IL or IN. We're right on the way. He had a flight already to fly home, but then he would miss his graduation, so he decided to do the graduation thing.
Today I'm cleaning the house - it will look better. I finished the rec room and bath down there - mostly have the living room cleaned up - just have to dust and vacuum; then tidy the kitchen and dust and vacuum the family room.
I really enjoyed working at the thrift store Tues. and Wed. sitting and cleaning up housewares - enjoyed taking with the women there - it's like a little beehive - everyone has a job to do and they buzz around working - very organized. They do hire about 9 people, but whether I'm to work there in the future is yet to be seen. I'm sure I'd enjoy it and the $ too. But they said the board of directors want to change it to only volunteers work there; I don't see how that would work - quality would definitely be poor - would be like some of these other unorganized dirty places I've seen.
Well, must read a few blogs of people then get on with cleaning. I even sent my niece a b-day card today!
Just for fun, me & my husband about who knows how many years ago - at least maybe 15???
Avocado Salsa...I could eat this all by my self
Avocado Salsa
Yield: 4 Servings
Sort of a combination of salsa and guacamole, this dip is sure to please lovers of both. If you like your salsa hotter, add another jalapeno or a few drops of Tabasco sauce.
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 c Tomato, Chopped
1/2 c Red Onion, Chopped
1/4 c Green Bell Peppers, Chopped
1 Jalapeño, Finely Chopped
1/2 t Garlic, Minced
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T olive oil
Combine the vegetables in a medium bowl. Mash the garlic with salt in a cup or small bowl. Add the vinegar and oil to the garlic. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to combine the ingredients. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Homegrown Dinner
I made a yummy salad tonight from the garden. It had green onions, red sails lettuce, swiss chard and beet greens. I made up some ranch dressing from scratch and threw in some chives. I had a few leftover cooked shrimp that Rod had caught and sent down for me. Fresh shrimp are SO good! This is the first time I've had swiss chard and I really like it!
Tonight I started moving dirt into the last two garden beds. I filled up the skinny one first to satisfy that part of me that needs to have immediate gratification. Then I hauled a few loads into the big bed - I have a ways to go on that one.
Once the skinny bed was full, I planted eight of the red currant bushes that I rooted from thinnings this spring. I just had them in water to see if they would get roots - which they did! I have 18 more of them that I think I will plant in pots for now until I decide where they should go.
Last night I potted up some strawberry starts. The runners take over the garden paths pretty quickly - I and just hate to pulll them up and throw them in the compost, seems like such a waste. So I dig up the ones that really have roots and plant them in little 3" pots. I also try to pot as many extra runners as I can. I set out a bunch of little pots on a bench at the end of the strawberry bed. I picked up some runners that had little plants starting and put one in each pot, using a rock to hold the runner down until the plant establishes some roots. Once the plant is secure, I will cut it from the runner. Then I will start again with more pots. Strawberry plants make a good barter item :o)
I've been thinking about trying to propagate some blueberry bushes. There are some really productive ones over by one of the storage buildings. I have some powdered rooting hormone that I could use, or I may trim some willow branches from the tree across the street and try that. Maybe I should try both and see which one works best. There are blueberry bushes everywhere along the side of the road, but it would be nice to have a good, productive patch of my own. Then I won't have to worry about someone else finding my favorite picking spot :o)
Things look pretty good in the garden. The red currants are just starting to turn pink. I have two baby zucchini. The potato plants look good. I pulled up some radishes and green onions and sent up to Rod in Skagway. The strawberries are loaded with unripe berries and more blossoms. The raspberry patch is buzzing - lots of bumble bees on the blossoms. The new rhubarb patch looks great - I think the plants must have reached down into the layer of chicken manure I put in that bed - they have really taken off in the last week. In the greenhouse, I have one little green pepper and a bunch more babies just starting to form. Nothing on the cucumbers yet, but they are getting bigger - I need to put up a trellis for them. The 3 tomato plants are getting huge - there are 6 little fruits forming now. I notice though that some of the leaves are turning yellow, brown and dry on the ends. I need to look that up and see what is going on with them - must be something about being too cold, too much water, or not enough ventilation is my guess. I picked some mint leaves and calendula blossoms and dehydrated them to use in my soaps. The chickens are doing good - getting only 3 or 4 eggs per day though. If they don't pick up soon, we will be putting them in the freezer.
Tropical Montana
This pair of swallows is nesting in the corner of my garden in a bird house I put up last year. I have definitely noticed a reduction in the mosquito population.
Tending the house below.
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About Me
My husband and I along with our 3 children, moved from Iowa to Montana 3 years ago fulfilling a long time dream of living in the mountains. Last summer we purchased and moved onto our bare land and are currently living in our home made cabin which has evolved from a shed to a barn to our cabin and future guest house. The foundation for what we now call "The big house" is dug and waiting for our next burst of energy!
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Missing the Blog Life!
Puzzles and Pincurls and Tea....OH MY!
Being "It": Part Two and Photos
Being "It": Part One
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