A Noble Viking!

Christmas is hard for us here at the Farm since the loss of our son - and it is hard for us to find gifts for each other that are meaningful and memorable.  Sometimes we get each other a BIG gift that is for multiple events, like a birthday/Christmas - it has to last a while!

This year Christmas has been harder.  Last year we were in a fog that buffered us from the memories of Rye, the small memories like smells and songs and his favorite Christmas cookie.  This year the fog is gone and we have a time getting through each day of the "celebration time" as upright humans.

My husband this year did a ton of homework, talked to a ton of people who know me, and bought me a lifetime gift.  A gift with so much thought and love that I could hardly believe it!  I got a noble Viking!  No not the Netflix kind - this kind:

It is a Viking/Husqvarna Model 6000 from 1976.  It is completely rebuilt and is heavy duty - the friend who helped Chad buy it for me lives in Glenallen and does embroidery and sewing for a living (part of the time - hes a Jack of all trades) said it would sew anything from pantyhose (which I will NEVER do) to Carharts and leather (which I might do on the RARE instance).  Mostly I will be getting some quilting done and a lot of it!

The Hubby even said that I got it because "you haven't been naughty this year" - which means that I have been REALLY NICE! 

I hope that your year has been REALLY NICE and that your New Year isn't naughty either!  Blessings on the New Year to all.

Just a little Christmas Bite!

We do not have a love for all things Christmas lately here at the farm.  It is hard for us to get into the spirit now that we are one short and Rye is gone.  We do however have other people relying on us to put on a good face for Christmas and make it look good darn it!

We do still have some Christmas things that make us happy and one of those is Peanut Butter Balls!  I dont know why they say Christmas for us and make us happy but its chocolate, peanut butter, sugar and sea salt - how is that not a happy bite?

I might get in trouble for giving away the recipe but what the heck?  Im doing it anyway because what makes me happy will surely make other people happy and also because sharing food with other people makes me happy!

I did have a friend who is diabetic tell me that I need to include in my recipe the dose of insulin that will counteract each ball so please plan ahead if you are bent that way or have a sign ready that says that you are just in a blissful peanut butter ball coma and not a diabetic one!

Start with the peanut butter filling;

Filling:

2 C. Peanut Butter – whatever you like as far as crunchy or creamy

1 C. Butter

2 C. Powder sugar
2 Tbsp Cinnamon

Mix all together to form a stiff peanut butter dough. If your mix seems too thin add more powder sugar.  It has to be able to make a good solid ball.   I use a stand mixer and the bread hook for this part - it gets really hard to stir by hand.   Roll into 1” balls and put in the freezer for at least an hour while you melt your chocolate coating below:

1 box of Bakers semi sweet squares

1 box Bakers unsweetened chocolate squares

2 C Chocolate chips

1 oz of paraffin wax shaved - I know this seems weird but it helps make them shiny and thins the chocolate enough to keep it a nice ball coating.  If you hate the idea dont use it - all good!

Melt the above together in a double boiler – Ok – I don’t I just use a small sauce pan on the stove but….. PC and safety of your chocolate says you should use a double boiler.... just sayin.

Once its all melty and smooth get your balls out of the freezer.  

  

Drop one at a time into the melty chocolate and fish them out with a fork or slotted spoon.

 Place them immediately on a wax paper cookie sheet spaced a little apart.  If you are going to sprinkle them with salt, peanuts, candy cane chunks or anything else now is the time to do it.  I dip a few at a time and then sprinkle them so they are still able to hold onto what ever we are sprinkling on.

We have also put in a little Cayenne pepper or chili powder to the peanut butter mix or to the chocolate for a little kick.  One of our favorite versions we add smoky sea salt to the top of the balls before the chocolate hardens - its delightful!

 When your sheet is full put it in the freezer until the ball is hard again and then store in the freezer in ziplock bags!  Yum!

These are great to take for hostess gifts, or to send to school with the kids in a lunch - its a great bite of Christmas love for anyone you choose to bless with one or two - or five is good too!  Its ok to let them thaw out before you serve them - they just store best and keep their shape best when frozen.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!  Have a ball!

Those Wicked Pumpkins

Over the Halloween week there is always a lot of pumpkin - it IS Pumpkin Spice Everything Month - which I LOVE!  I went over the other day the carving and the pumpkin seed roasting we did, but this is something you can do for Thanksgiving and it is super easy!

I showed you how we separated the pumpkin stuff into three bowls, one for seeds, one for compost and one for the cooking pumpkin!  Keep in mind that all of this is done before you have put a light or candle in it!

And here is why we do that - pumpkin Custard!  Now, there are a few ways to keep the pumpkin so that you can use it for Thanksgiving, cook it and freeze it, turn it into custard and freeze it or just put it in bags and freeze it, or turn it into pies and freeze them!  Lots of options!

We choose to make what we call pumpkin custard.  A number of years back my oldest had to have his wisdom teeth out.  He was getting ready to go out of state and do some hockey at the next level, so he still needed to be able to get calories and protein in his body without having to chew on anything that had any bulk.  So we came up with pumpkin custard.  Place your cooking pumpkin in a crock pot (a stove top simmer pot will work but it is more work).  I use fresh apple juice as my "broth agent" so to speak.  About a pint - just dump it in on top of the pumpkin in the crock and let it cook all night on low.  I do add spices to the crock depending on what Im going to do with the  material.  If you know what you are making with it add the spices on the initial crock cook - if not hold off.

After your cook is done you will have smooth, creamy delightful pumpkin!  I just use my crock as a mixing bowl for this part - no sense in dirtying up another bowl.  Your pumpkin should be cooled at this point.  Into the pumpkin add the following:  (this is about 8 cups of pumpkin - the recipe is for two cups - in case you have to use canned)

1Tbsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp Allspice

1 C Brown Sugar (taste the pumpkin first - if the apple juice was sweet you wont need this much)

4 eggs

1 can of evaporated milk (can milk)

1 full scoop of protein powder (optional) - we use the french vanilla flavor for this recipe.  

Mix all together well.

The protein powder is totally optional and if you are miking the custard for  pie or something like that you might want to leave it out.  But it is a great way for protein to get into a teenager and they dont feel like they are eating a punishment for something!  When Reed had his shattered elbow we made lots of this because it digests easily, it is good hot or cold and they feel like they got something in their belly without having to work too hard at it.  Same when the wisdom teeth came out.

For baking the custard I have found that it is super easy in bread pans.  I am not using a crust so if you are making pie - of course put it into the crust in a pie plate - works great either way!

In the bread pans you will bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until the center is fairly solid.  I dont cover them usually with foil or anything.  Serve as is or with a scoop of Cool Whip or Whipped Cream.  You can see above where someone already "tested"' it!

To freeze just put the custard into a ziplock bag or other freezer container and freeze.  When you are ready to use it pull it out and thaw and you are good to go!

I like to keep some in the freezer for just in case..... we never know when we will need it!

A Halloween Visit

We had a little Halloween fun earlier this month and tonight - All Hallows Eve - Samhain to be exact - we had a little more Hallloween fun.  Reedo had a hockey game he needed to go to in Anchorage to support the team - I didnt have to go since he wasnt playing and that left me alone at home with 3 Great Pumpkins!

But not for long!

Here are the pumpkins - I got them after the weekend carnival for $5.00 each - they were leftovers and needed to get used up.  I got out three bowls for the pumpkin bits - one for seeds, one for compost and one for cooking pumpkin.

Above shows the pumpkin that I drew a raven on in Sharpie Marker around my Wicked Raven logo.  you can see the seeds from this pumpkin in the bowl next to it.  Ill tell you how to roast them in a minute!  Yum!

And along came the girls!  These little beauties are Andrea (left) and Becca (right)  Andrea is a great friend and we call her our neice even though we arent blood we are family!  Becca is her Bestie and we are related to her somehow... its a 6 degrees kind of thing!  Both special!  

They dove right into the pumpkin carving.  It was a heap of fun and pumpkin!  Andrea is putting the cooking pumpkin in a bowl to be cooked later.  Stay tuned for that in another blog!

The girls helped make the decision to put a dragonfly on the second pumpkin.  They drew it freehand from an example on a coffee cup!  So creative and artistic - I wish!  I drew stick amoeba in high school thats how good my drawing is!

Above is the finished pumpkins - ready for the candles and enjoyment!  My raven looks like a seagull sort of - but it made us laugh and is a great memory point!

SO tonight you get a two-fer in the blog.  Above is the pumpkin seeds from two of the pumpkins - we didnt cut the third - saving it for the weekend. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and layer the pumpkin seeds in a cookie sheet with sides that has been coated with butter, oil or pan spray.  Sprinkle some sea salt over them and put them in the oven for 10 minutes.  Stir them with a spatula or turner and put them in the oven for 10 more minutes.  If they are looking roasted and golden brown take them out, if not give them 5 more minutes after another stir.  Once they are nicely roasted and golden brown take them out and let them cool.  Transfer them to a bowl and enjoy them to your hearts content!

While you are enjoying your pumpkin seeds enjoy your lovely carved pumpkins!

Happy Halloween!