Burns Best Farm

Zucchini-Bran Squares (Recipe)

Another recipe from the classic zucchini cookbook.. Note I haven't tried these recipes yet but will soon..I might do these this weekend..

From our kitchen to yours

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Zucchini-Bran Squares

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3/4 cup (1 1/2sticks)butter,melted and cooled

3/4 cup egg substitute

1/3 cup skim milk

3/4 cup bran cereal

1/2 cup raisins

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

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1~preheat the oven to 350F.Grease an 8 inch square baking dish or coat with nonstick cooking spray

2~combine the butter,egg substitute,milk,cereal,and raisins in a large mixing bowl.Set aside for 5 minutes.

3~In a small mixing bowl,combine the flour,sugar,baking powder,cinnamon,and baking soda. Mix well.

4~Squeeze the zucchini to remove any excess moisture.Stir the zucchini into the cereal mixture and stir to combine. Spread the batter in the prepared baking dish.

5~Bake the squares for 55-60 minutes,until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

6~On a wire rack,cool the squares in the pan. Serve warm or completely cool.

Serves 9

Enjoy!

The c farm updates

Well we are very busy here.. It has rained off and on the whole week. So there is much to catch up on. I just came in from mowing and to have lunch.. I started mowing @9:30 and finished @ 1:30 for the day. I still have another day of mowing.. I went through a tank of gas.
Ray is working he is starting his four days on. There is the garden that needs picking..green beans and yellow. Zucchini and the rest of the peas. That is what I know about. The flower and herb beds need weeding and the pool needs to be cleaned and I have one more load of clothes to bring in from line and hang another..Make Ray's meals for tomorrow for work and I hope to make a apron.. I cut four aprons out last night.. So my day is full.. I better go and get the clothes in ..

Thanks for stopping by..

Sister Brenda

Clothes for Paige...

Mom sent me some clothes for Paige and while we didn't get on the web cam... Mom, here's some pictures of Paige.  She loves them and is already saying she wants to wear them to church and she is mixing and matching with her own combinations.  Dresses with pants and she is having a ball.  Steve said they were nicely made and thought they are great for Paige.  I will need to move buttons on the shirts, as the straps are too long, but that is a small thing and hopefully I can get that done in short time.   Mom made these all for Paige... when she told me she was making some dresses, I did not expect this many nor the shirts and pants as well.  I was happily surprised.

So, here's the pictures... enjoy! 

Thanks Mom!

~Melissa

What I am beginning to notice...

Is that life is revolving around this fire.  Every day is seemingly affected by it.  It is just crazy how one small incident that took just minutes to happen has somehow touched so much of our current life.   I am trying to change that, however it seems a bit hard.  Part of each day needs attention spent on cleaning up... if I don't, we won't get past this. 

Today, Dh and Megan helped a friend sort his sheep out.  He had a hand injury that is limiting what he can do, so help was needed.  While they left this morning, I cleaned the bathroom linen closet.  It is now clean, but I had packed away much stuff and I will still be working on putting things back.  But I am glad it is clean.  Towels are all back and not packed away.  Spare bedding is slowly returning as it gets washed. 

After our morning work, we left for town to do some errands.  I picked up the package from the post office from my mom for my daughter.  We have not opened it yet... Paige is still sleeping at the moment.  I got some buns from the bread store for the funeral lunch that we are helping with tomorrow.  I got some money from the bank for my two kids that are working at camp and apparently BROKE.  We then went browsing at Menards to pin down ideas on items that need fixing. 

All this... do we stay with the same color or something new???   I'm not sure we determined much to be honest with you.  We plan to hit a couple other home improvement shops and hope to make some decisions in the next week or two.  Steve wants to get started so it gets done sooner than later.  But we haven't heard from the insurance company as to what they are covering in full, so we wait to make sure we get paid for the estimates we sent in.  What i found today is that I forgot to add paint to the ceiling tile price... that will add another $100 to the overall cost.  I also priced out the cheapest wallpaper to replace and we're leaning towards one that is about $5 more per role...so $15 more overall, but still.   Each little bit adds up. 

 Tonight we brought lots of samples home and we just sighed, not really able to make a decision.  Too much running through our heads at the moment.  

I'm learning to just take each day... just one at a time. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Raspberry Cobbler

I finally made the raspberry cobbler..I asked for help..Now here is a picture.. It came out great.I aslo have raspberry swirl ice cream on the side..

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Before I baked it in a 9x9 pan

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It's all baked off

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Already to eat with raspberry swirl ice cream.. that was dessert tonight and we also had the burgers with homemade buns..

Moving Day on the Homestead

Homemade hamburg rolls..(Picture's)

Today I made my first hamburg rolls. They didn't come out to bad ..Next time I think I will make them alittle fatter..It made seven rolls..What I did was take my favorite bread recipe put it in the bread machine on dough cycle. When finished shaped the rolls somewhat and baked them in oven for 30 minutes on 350.

Blessings Sister Brenda

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This is the dough  and then I rolled out my first burger bun..

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Second they are all baked off. Once they are baked cool and put alittle butter on top and split in half

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Here is the burger all done ready to eat..

Come back soon!

Backyard Sustainable Agriculture

This is a good video for those interested in sustainable agriculture.  It is particularly helpful for those of us who are renting or have limited space.

Anyone here with advice on this subject, please share it with us, too!  This is something our family and a few good friends are looking at putting into practice in the very near future. 

Blessings,

Catherine

Freezer bread and butter zucchini chips

Another recipe from the classic zucchini cookbook.. Note I haven't tried these recipes yet but will soon..I might do these this weekend..

From our kitchen to yours.

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 Freezer Bread and Butter zucchini chips

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4 cups thinly sliced zucchini

1 onion thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground turmic

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

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1~Combine the zucchini,onion,and salt in a large bowl.Toss to mix and set aside for at 2 hours.Drain but do not rinse.

2~In a nonreactive saucepan,combine the vinegar,sugar,turmeric,celery seed, and black pepper.Heat just enough to dissolve the sugar.Pour over the zucchini mixture . Toss to mix.

3~Pack the zucchini and brine into freezer containers,leaving about 1 inch of headroom.Label for up to 6 months.

4~Defrost in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours before serving..

Makes about 4 cups..

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Please note!!!!!  Slice Zucchini as thin as possible A food processor or mandoline yields the best results..

This can also be used to make freezer pickles.. 

Enjoy!

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Sister Brenda

Zucchini pancakes Recipe..

I know its that time of year where we all have zucchini ..I've had a few folks ask for recipes and I got thinking..I have a  cookbook its name is The Classic Zucchini Cookbook..By Nancy C Ralston, Marynor Jordan,Andrea Chesman..

My plans is to start listing recipes here to share..Now I haven't made any of these myself ..But I plan too..I will share a recipe now ..And plan to do more tomorrow.. Enjoy..

From our kitchen to yours..

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Zucchini Pancakes

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2 medium sized zucchini grated

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups milk or more as needed

2 tablespoon canola oil

2 cups pancake mix

1-2 teaspoon butter

use maple syrup for serving optional

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1~ Comine the zucchini and salt in a colander. Toss to mix and set aside to drain for 30 minutes.

2~In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the eggs,milk and oil . Beat well,stir in the pancake mix and set aside torest for 30 minutes.

3~Squeeze the zucchini to eliminate any excess moisture.Fold the zucchini into the pancake mixture. If neccessary add a little more milk to think the batter.

4~Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium -low heat.Pre-heat the oven to 200F.

5~On the griddle melt a teaspoon or two of butter.When the foam subsides,ladle the batter onto the griddle.Adjust the heat as needed so that the pancakes brown on the bottom in 2-4 minutes.Flip the cakes and cook on the second side for 1-2 minutes.Place on an ovenproof plate and keep warm in the oven while you use the remaining batter to make more pancakes. Continue until all the batter is used.

6~serve hot with maple syrup if usings

Serves 4-6

Variation:To make savory zucchini pancakes. Add 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese to the batter and proceed as above.

Enjoy!