Bad Blogger

 I have been a bad blogger. My only defense is that my kids are STILL out on winter break. Thankfully, they go back tomorrow and we can all get back on our normal schedule
 So, what has been going on this week? Well, our company is gone. Dad made it back to Cali with no problems. Mary and Frankie went back home to Austin and we are sad without them.
 I made my first ever batch of tamales yesterday. They were a little bland but not too bad for a first try. Next time I will tweak the recipe a little.

A giant pile of tamales

Unwrapped

 We got new (to us) couches last night. I haven't taken any pictures yet because my house is a mess from the kids being home for almost 3 weeks. It's great because our old couch wasn't just ugly, the hide a bed inside was actually broken and one of the metal bars would jab you if you sat down wrong. I just want to thank my dearest friend Val for getting new furniture and giving us her old stuff. 

 There might have been more, but my brain is sort of fried from all the noise, the fighting, the tattling and the chaos. Next week I will try to do something interesting.

Blessed Be

Dinner

 This is how dinner tonight started...

Mary is very excited that we will be having duck for dinner

 Then it looked like this...

Wild duck breasts

And this...

Dried summer pears being reconstituted

And this...

Dried pears, garlic, celery and onions

And this...

Duck breasts cooking in the pear, garlic sauce

Mary made up this recipe as she went.

Mary, testing the meat

And this is the final product...

Dinner is served

 Seared wild duck breast with a pear garlic reduction, over reconstituted summer pears with celery and onion. It was really good, the twins descended on it like starving little wolves and Mike was thrilled that they turned out so well!

 She also made desert. Starting with the fresh cheese I made this morning.

Fresh cheese, made this morning

Did I mention that Mary is a pastry chef?

Mixed with sour cream, vanilla and honey

So, that plus these...

My eggs

Made this...

The batter

Which then became this...

It's a cross between cheesecake and a custard pie

And here is the recipe for the pie. Thanks to my dear friend Mary Mayberry.

Farmer's  Cheese Pear Honey pie

Crust: 1 individual packet honey graham      crackers from box
        1 tsp honey
        1/2 cup melted butter
Filling:
         1 cup fresh Farmer's cheese
         3 Tbs sour cream
         1/3 cup sugar
         1 tsp fresh honey
         2 Tbs pear honey
        1/4 tsp salt
        1/4 tsp vanilla extract
        5 fresh eggs (3 whole and 2 yolks, reserve 2 egg whites).

Directions: pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

In a food processor, grind the graham crackers to make fine crumbs. Melt butter and add to graham cracker crumbs, pulse for a few seconds. Add honey and pulse again. Butter a glass pie tin, form the crust and bake for 5 min.

Filling;
In a food processor, combine farmer's cheese & sour cream and pulse until very smooth. Add sugar and pulse again. Remember to scrape the bowl to ensure no lumps. Add the vanilla, honey, pear honey and salt. Pulse to combine, scrape bowl and add whole eggs and egg yolks one at a time. Whip egg whites to medium-soft peak and fold into first mixture in three parts. Pour into pie dish and bake in a water bath for 25 min in middle of oven.

Visitors to the farm

Visitors to the Farm 

We have had (and still have) guests for the last week or so. First, my father-in-law came to visit. We had a good visit and the kids LOVED having Papa here. He bought us an amazing gift...a dining room table and chairs! We can now sit down together and have family dinners. Everyone was sad when he had to leave on Saturday.

Mike, Aislyn, Papa, Gabe and Ian at our new table

 Next, my friend Mary came up from Austin with her little girl Frankie. They got here last night, and my girls were so excited that their friend was here. We ate tomato soup and then stayed up late playing cards. This morning we flew kites.

Lily and Ian are wearing shorts while Aislyn, Frankie and Mary bundled up

 I have to say, I didn't realize that getting 3 kites airborne all at the same time was an aerobic activity. We did get them all up together for a few minutes and all 5 kids managed to share pretty nicely. Only one got stuck in a tree and nobody stepped on mesquite.

Aislyn's fairy kite and Ian's box kite

 Mary and I started a batch of cheese this afternoon. It will be ready to drain in a couple of hours and should be ready to eat tomorrow. We'll be making another batch tomorrow. I'll try to get some pictures of the process.

 Now I'm going to finish my evening chores and then kick Mary's butt at Rummy again. Everyone have a good night.

Goat Herding

 It's been kinda busy around here for the last few days. My father in law is here to visit for a little while and the kids have been just a tiny bit excited. It's nice for me, because Papa is more than willing to listen to all of their stories...because he hasn't heard them 12 million times already. It's also been loud and somewhat chaotic with all 4 kids trying to get Papa's attention at the same time. 

 So, this morning I took my book and my goats out to enjoy the beautiful weather we're having right now.

My goat supervision hangout.

 This is the random slab of concrete that I sit on so I don't end up with a wet butt from sitting on the grass. We have no idea what it's from or why it's there, but it's a good spot to enjoy the quiet.

They LOVE oak trees.

Sweetie is our head goat and she always leads them to the oak tree first. Jasper only eats part of the time, the rest of the time he bounces around and finds things to climb on. 

Coco is trying to figure out what Jasper is doing up there.

 Shortly after I got comfy I realized that I was being stalked. Princess wanted to see what I was up to. Usually Tiger goes with me when I go for a walk and Princess stays at the house, but she loves to startle the goats.

Princess wanted to see what I was doing.

 Princess found a bird's nest while we were hanging out, and then I found another one. I'm not sure what kind of bird made them, but they were both about a foot off of the ground in small trees, I wouldn't be surprised if the kitty ate any babies that might have been in them.

Two small bird's nests. Each would fit one chicken egg.

 I love to be outside here. Even if I don't have anything I need to be doing outside (or if I need to be doing something inside) I love to sit outside, dream about the things we have planned for the new year and enjoy the view.

My second favorite tree.

 Blessed Be and Happy New Year to everyone.

 

Mellor Christmas

 We had a very nice Christmas here at the Mellor House. We woke up at 6:30 and opened presents, then had some cinnamon rolls, did our chores and headed down to my grandparents house for the day. Here's what everyone got this year...

Gabe and Lily in their robes

  Gabriel got a bike (which he won't actually ride...yet), a movie, a book, a potato clock, finger less gloves, a model rocket and his favorite...2 new robes.

Aislyn with her new bike "Speedy"

 

 Aislyn also got a bike, a toy sewing machine, a weather station thing, 2 books, a tiny purse and 2 robes. 

Lily is gonna be Mama's big helper with her trailer

 Ian got a bike, 2 books, a wind generator, finger less gloves, and 2 robes.

 Lily got a cool old tricycle with a trailer (so she can help Mama with chores), a book, a robe, a tiny purse and pj's.

Aislyn, making beautiful art.

 They also got some gifts to share. Two karaoke machines, some CDs to go with them, The Narnia books on CD, an easel. 

My bike "Lulu"

 I got a a bike (named Lulu), a 32 quart tamale steamer to use as a boiling water bath canner, twelve 1 quart canning jars, a subscription to Mother Earth News, a subscription to Hobby Farms and a book I've been wanting. 

 And Mike got a book on butchering and smoking meat, a book about bee keeping, a subscription to Field and Stream and a subscription to Outdoor Life (none of which I have pictures of.)

 I'm sure I forgot stuff, but my children are in the middle of winter break and my brains are starting to leak out of my ears from the noise and chaos around here.