Happy Halloween!

Photo Friday: Sun, planets and stars

My Monkey's drawing of our solar system.

Thankful Thursday: Inspiration from Beyer Beware

A week ago, I favorited a blog post that I read from Leah Beyer about the things she has never done. I thought, "Wow! I haven't done a lot of the same things SHE hasn't done, and although I'm not twice as old as she is, when you compare our ages in dog years, well, I feel like I should have done a lot more by now!"

Leah has never owned a Ford. I haven't either, but my parents owned one and let me drive it when I was a teenager. I totalled it in a roll-over. On April Fool's Day 1978. On my way to school. On a Saturday.

Leah has never been sky diving. Neither have I. I don't know about her, but I intend to keep this particular item in the "I have never" list.

On the opposite side of the list, Leah has never had black hair. I have had black hair. I have had red hair. I have had slightly pinkish hair, the result of a teensy-weesny bit of miscommunication between my stylist and myself. (Is that the right word to use?)

But rather than compare what Leah and I have and haven't done, I thought I should make my own list. So with thanks to Leah Beyer's infectious funny bone, here is my, "What I Haven't Done," list:

I haven't:

1. Eaten a Rocky Mountain Oyster (and I never will).

2. Slept in an igloo.

3. Flown an ultra-light. (Although one did fly over our house not too long ago, and I felt a teensy bit jealous!)

4. Watched an entire Halloween movie (because I closed my eyes at the scary parts).

5. Showered with my clothes on. (I actually don't know why I thought of this!)

6. Refrigerated my glasses (the ones that go on my face, I mean. Although I have mistakenly refrigerated cereal and canned goods in the past).

7. Read any of the Harry Potter books.

8. Taken apart an engine.

9. Put an engine together.

10. Learned to play the guitar.

11. Made cherries jubilee.

12. Actually done a scientific "science fair" project. (Oh, I did projects, they were just pretty lame!!)

13. Played in a hip-hop group (although I do have the rock and country group thing covered).

14. Sung the national anthem at a ball game.

15. Caught a greased pig. Come to think of it, I've never chased one, either.

16. Taken my dog to a groomer.

17. Told my kids to become doctors or lawyers.

18. Invented anything.

19. Flown across an ocean. Any ocean.

20. Eaten sushi.

21. Watched It's a Wonderful Life without crying.

22. Watched Toy Story 3 without crying!

23. Planted zucchini.

24. Driven a tractor, or combine or any other farm implement. (My brothers always got to do that, darn them!)

25. Balanced the checkbook for, well, a really, really long time.

26. Envisioned my life 10 years from now. When I was two months from high school graduation, I couldn't picture myself actually graduating. When I was a month away from graduating from college, I never imagined what life would be like after college.

Overall, I'd have to say that NOT doing these things hasn't made my life any less fulfilling. In fact, some of the best things have been happy accidents.

So, I guess I'm just taking it all one day at a time!! Hey, that's something I HAVE done.

What haven't you done?

Dawn

Wordless Wednesday: National Pumpkin Day

 

 

Last year's pumpkins...

 

What will these become?

Comfort roast

Yesterday was a day to share Hunk of Meat Monday recipes, and while I did have a hunk of meat, I didn't include the recipe for it because I figure everyone knows how to make a crock pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions.

So rather than share the recipe, I'm going to share how that old roast makes me feel.

It's straight-up comfort food.

Seriously.

I put the roast and all the fixings in the crock pot yesterday at noon and when I got home from work last night, the house smelled like, well it smelled like comfort, for lack of a better word.

And after I chopped down all my peonies and put the protective cover over the entrance to the septic system (managing to get my gloved hands pretty cold in the process) I was ready for some nice, warm comfort food.

There is just something about a roast and all the fixings on a cold fall day that boosts the spirits.

When I went home at noon today, the faint smell of roast and onions still lingered in the house.

It actually made me smile. (And salivate a little too, I must confess.)

The other wonderful thing about crock pot roast is it tastes just as good (maybe even better) than it did the first time. It even tastes good warmed up in the microwave, which is not something I can say about a lot of the foods I cook.

Crock pot comfort roast. Hmmm. Has a nice ring to it. (And an even better taste!)

Dawn

Meat, milk and eggs

I go grocery shopping nearly every day. I'm not very good about stocking up and it seems like I'm always running out of something. And I know if I don't have the three staples: meat, milk and eggs, we are either going to go out for supper, or I will be making another trip to the grocery store.

I was watching a video today from the Center for Food Integrity on making ethical food choices and I one of the statistics they presented was: From 1960 to 2010, the land required to produce all the meat, milk and eggs for each person the the United States declined by roughly two-thirds.

When you think about it, that's pretty amazing. Farmers and ranchers continue to do more with less. It is the efficiency and technological advancements that have made this possible. In fact, it makes me pretty darn proud of our farmers and ranchers.

The video also included a quote by Norman Borlaug from 2000 which really made me think. "The world has the technology to feed, on a sustainable basis, 10 billion people. The pertinent question today is whether farmers and ranchers will be permitted to use this technology."

I work for North Dakota Farm Bureau, and one of the biggest things we have undertaken since I started here is to initiate a petition drive to safeguard modern farming and ranching in the state. The committee sponsoring the petition drive is called the Feeding Families Committee.

I have heard people say this isn't needed in North Dakota. That the language is too broad. That this is just a way for farmers and ranchers to do whatever they want, to the detriment of the environment.

I beg to differ. I encourage you to go to the N.D. Feeding Families site and check it out. (The entire Center for Food Integrity video is embedded there.) We believe modern agriculture has made all our lives so much better, but there are those that think we need to limit proven technologies. The petition drive isn't about letting farmers do what they want, it's about letting consumers CONTINUE getting what they want: affordable, safe good. And the best way to do that is to make sure farmers and ranchers are able to continue using modern practices and technology.

Meat, milk and eggs, anyone?

Dawn

Cheese whiz and green olives

The occasion wasn't a happy one -- an aunt's funeral -- but the get-together afterward with family and Cheese Whiz and green olive sandwiches reminded me of the precious gift we have called life, and that  happy memories are so important.

I get busy. I think I need to be supermom, superwife, superworker...super, super, super.

But when the uncle who taught you how to drive and TRIED to teach you how to waterski loses his beloved wife, you stop and realize that it is those family moments, sometimes noisy, sometimes quiet, that are the real stuff of this life.

You haven't lived until you have eaten a Cheese Whiz and green olive sandwich. It was a staple at church and Swede-family get-togethers when I was a kid. In fact, I don't think I have eaten one since I was a kid. My cousin, bless her heart, made them for the potluck. The first bite brought back an unexpected flood of  happy memories of growing up on the farm.

They were so yummy, I had two.

Dawn

Not as bad as we thought

We often joke around the house that our dog (who is a completely spoiled, shoe-stealing, sock chewing Springer Spaniel) is a bad dog.

Last night, my daughter and I were watching a program called "Bad Dog" on television, and by golly, Springer is an angel, compared to that dog!

Nevertheless, I have managed to catch Springer in a couple of bad dog moments.

A dragging blanket chew!

A shoe chew (shoes are his favorite)!

A devil dog glove chew (although the red eye is only from the camera, I swear!)

A chew on the "lift" I use in my shoe because my left leg is shorter than my right!

Cute, isn't he? And a semi-bad dog, I guess!

Dawn 

Hunk of Meat Monday: It ain't pretty, but it sure is yummy

I never thought I would share a recipe that included SPAM, but I'm here to tell ya' that this is a pretty good "pizza burger."

That's what we call it at our house anyway.

It's super-easy, as long as you have a grinder. I have one and the only time it sees the light of day is when I'm making these pizza burgers.

The recipe:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

1 can low-sodium SPAM
1 SPAM-sized hunk of Velveeta
1/2 an onion
1 can chili, no beans

Cut the SPAM and Velveeta into chunks. Dice the onions. Place all, alternating between the three for better mixing, into a hand grinder. Add chili and stir.

Put mixture onto buns and place in oven until cheese melts (15 minutes or so).

Serve.

That's it. Easy, and everyone loves them. (Hubby and son usually add healthy dollops of hot sauce, but they do that with just about everything anyway!)

We usually get a couple meals out of this, and I usually make about 10 open-faced buns at a time.

Enjoy!

Dawn

The pumpkin harvest

I could wait no longer. Against the backdrop of a very ominous looking sky (but it had already moved past My Two Acres), I harvested our pumpkin crop.

It was very hard work....

Okay. It wasn't hard at all. Not with only five (#5 is there, merely hiding) to harvest.

As you can see, some of them are still a little green. They have already been through a frost (I did manage to cover them because I knew the frost was coming, thanks to Twitter updates) and covered numerous other evenings due to fear of frost.

For some reason, last night was different. It was cold and rainy and I had this feeling of impending pumpkin doom. So I took my son's wagon that we got for him when he was three (now 14) and headed out to the punkin' patch.

I loaded the pumpkins in the wagon, then wheeled them into the yard and took their picture.

Then, I wheeled them to the door of the garage. It was locked. So I went inside through the back door of the house, fully intending to go into the garage, unlock the door and bring in the pumpkins. 

I was immediately distracted by something else. And forgot all about the pumpkins.

The wagon, full of pumpkins, sat outside. All night. In the cold.

But not too cold. Turns out, the low was 38 degrees.

I was outside, however, at 5:30 a.m. wheeling the pumpkins into the garage.

I think they are just going to stay there until carving time. My poor brain just can't take any more of the dreaded feeling of impending pumpkin doom.

Especially since this is the best (well, first) pumpkin crop I've ever harvested since planting ourselves on My Two Acres!

Dawn

Thankful Thursday: Sunrise, moonset

There is something awe-inspiring and calming about the beauty of North Dakota's big sky! Yesterday morning, I was able to witness a beautiful nearly full moonset, so I stopped along the highway and snapped a quick photo. This morning, I was treated to an equally awesome sunrise. So I ran out of the office and quick snapped a couple of photos. By the time I got out there, the pinks had turned to oranges and the sun was just peaking from the horizon.

My photos don't do either justice, but there is no better way to start the work day than with a little brush with beauty! I love living in North Dakota!! (Remind me I said that when it is 30 below zero!)

Dawn

Mums the Wordless Wednesday!

My mums are bloomin'!

Hunk of Meat Monday, (on Tuesday) part two

The nameless recipe, as promised...

Brown:
1 lb. ground beef, add 1 packet of taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water, simmer

Mix:
2 cups Bisquick mix
1/2 cup cold water
2 tbs butter

Mix to a soft dough. Gently smooth dough into a ball on a floured surface. Knead. Roll dough into a rectangle. Spread browned hamburger over dough. Sprinkle with sliced black olives. Roll up, beginning at narrow side, and cut into 1-inch slices. Place in a greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Cheese sauce:
2 tbs butter
2 tbs Bisquick
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
pepper to taste

Melt butter over low heat in saucepan. Blend in Bisquick and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add milk. Bring to boil while stirring. Stir in cheese and heat until cheese is melted.

Pour cheese sauce over biscuits and serve.

I really liked this (but I got a thing for cheese sauce!). And my family did too. It's basically tacos using biscuits instead of taco shells.

So here are the names I came up with....

Cheesy taco loaf
Better n' caramel, taco rolls (okay, this is probably not true because caramel rolls are very, very yummy, but that's what they kind of they reminded me of when I was making them, only they're outta meat.)
Shocko Taco
Looks bad, tastes divine

If you have anything better, please share.

Here is the photo of the finished product, once more, in case that might help in the naming process!

Dawn

Hunk of Meat Monday, in two parts

Well this is embarrassing! I have all these photos uploaded for my Hunk of Meat Monday recipe, but no recipe. Must be in my other pants! :)







If you feel adventurous, you can make it from the photos. Two of the ingredients are burger (as in "ham") and Bisquick. Or, you can "tune in" tomorrow and I promise I will find the recipe and post it. While you are waiting, use the photos to help me come up with a name for this. I used a recipe that I thought sounded kind of good and changed it, so I really shouldn't use the original name. What does it look like to you? (Or maybe I shouldn't ask!)

It may look a little gnarly, but it actually got some thumbs up from my family.

Until tomorrow!

Dawn

5 Ws and an H

How can a trained communications person (although most days I feel more like a "communicatingbytheseatofmypants flying person, and no, that is not a typo) who deals with who, what, where, when and why at least five days out of the week, NOT do this when I get a request from my son? I mean, shouldn't this stuff be just oozing from my pores after all these years?

Case in point: My son (who) says, "Mom, I need some old piece of technology for my class that I can take apart," I say, "Okay. Like what?" And then he tells me. And then I say, "Okay, I'll think about it." And then?

I promptly forget about it.

So when he asks the following morning where his piece of technology is, I'm thrown into a panic. The bus is coming and we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to find an old piece of technology that he can take apart.

"I didn't know WHEN you needed it! You should have told me WHEN you needed it!" I'm hollering as I'm looking through drawers and boxes.

Why (oops, the fifth "W") didn't I ask more questions? How (oops, the dreaded "H") could I totally space out his request?

I'd like to blame it on the fact that I have so many "Ws and Hs" swimming through my brain at any given moment that it is impossible to keep them all straight.

In reality, I think I'm just getting old.

WHEN did that happen, anyway!?!?!?!?

Dawn

So I saw this sign

I was driving back to work this afternoon, after letting Wild Springer out to pee, when I saw a sign that said, "No Interest for Five Years."

It made me laugh.

Because all I could think was, "I think I would give up if I didn't get any interest in five years."

But then I thought about it some more. And it really made me think.

One of my jobs is to get people interested in agriculture; learn about it; understand it; not jump to conclusions about it because they don't know about it.

And I have been doing this for a lot more than five years. More like 26 years.

Suddenly, "No Interest for Five Years," takes on a whole new meaning for me; a gargantuan leap from buying a sofa (or couch, depending on where you live in this great country), which is what the sign was for in the first place.

When I started working for Farm Bureau, my job was relatively simple: Tell stories about farm folks and what is important to them in a magazine.

This was before Al Gore invented the Internet (I KNOW, it's a tired old saying, but it still makes me giggle) and computers were these little boxes that did little more than word processing.

It has all become infinitely more complicated. Now, I monitor and manage websites and "tweet" and "facebook" and "youtube" and write and photograph and tell stories and share links and, and, and....

And even with all this technology and accumulated "wisdom," every day, I still feel like a newbie writing her first story.

I read a blog that makes me cry, and vow to write with more heart.

I watch a video that really tells a great story about farmers and ranchers, and it makes me want to do a better job telling stories about farmers and ranchers.

I read a comment from someone who has never been on a farm or ranch pass judgment on farmers and ranchers in a spiteful, almost hateful way, and I wonder what has happened to our appreciation for the farmers and ranchers who, despite the grumbling and negativity, continue to provide so much to all of us.

And I got all that from a "No Interest for Five Years" sign.

Imagine what I can come up with for "Depressed Wheel Tracks."

Dawn

Background backyard

My blog background is leaves, and my backyard Amur Maple leaves!

Gorilla my dreams

I am a messy person. I mean that in a slap-dash, always in a hurry kind of way. I tip stuff over. I run into chairs because I think I am skinnier than I am.

So this past weekend, my wicker-look front porch furniture was unraveling. (That supposedly tougher-than-wicker stuff that doesn't stand up to N.D. extremes) And I decided that I was going to fix it.

And here's a question. Why do unravel and ravel mean the same thing? If it is unraveling, shouldn't raveling mean that it is being put back together again? It's another one of those frustrating deals with our language.

But I digress.

I was rewinding the fake wicker stuff and adhering it with that wonder-glue commonly called Gorilla Glue*.

But before I knew it, the fake wicker (hereafter known as fwicker) was breaking under the stress of my rewind and unraveling/raveling again, which meant I had to touch the GG'ed* fwicker, which then meant that GG was getting all over my hands.

And, true to form, I was in a rush because I needed to saute some onions and mushrooms for the Juicy Lucys (stuffed hamburgers) we were having for supper.

Did I mention that GG was all over my hands. Yeah, I did, but I'm restating for emphasis. I mean ALL over. So I slapped some masking tape over the GG'ed fwicker and went into the house to try removing the GG.

I was not successful. I tried soap and water. I tried rubbing alcohol. I tried cooking oil. Two days later, and my thumbs still have a funky sheen to them.

So, for all of you out there who tend to be messy in a slap-dash, always in a hurry kind of way, be forewarned. Before you get your hands into the GG, read how to remove it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4777329_remove-gorilla-glue-skin.html

Or just wear some disposable gloves! Or stick with real wicker?

Dawn

Hunk of Meat Monday: BBQ Pork Chops

I am a pork fiend. Yes, the "r" is missing on purpose. I love pork sausage, pork chops, pork roast. Pork. Pork. Pork.

It was always a real treat for me (growing up on a cattle farm) to get pork. Don't get me wrong. I love t-bones and big old hamburgers and beef roasts too. But pork, that other white meat, really tickles my tastebuds.

Here is one of my all-time favorite pork recipes:

8-9 boneless pork chops

1 medium lemon

1 small onion

Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup Worchestershire

1/4 brown sugar
2 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp chili powder

Tabasco to taste

1 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pork chops in shallow roasting pan. On each chop, place slices of unpeeled lemon and slices of onion. Roast for 30 minutes.

Combine sauce ingredients. Bring to boil and pour over ribs.

Continue baking at 350 degrees for about an hour. If sauce gets too thick, add a little water.

Serve over rice. Yum!

Dawn