Preece wedding

Back to raising meat rabbits, New Zealands

Bonnie

Meet our newest addition to the farm.  Our breeding pair of New Zealand meat rabbits.   We raised rabbits in the past and decided to get into them again.    We just didn't to start out with as many as we did the last.    I'm also looking into getting a breeding pair rexes.    I like the fur on them better than the New Zealand's.   I'm going to have to take a refresher course on raising them again.  I have forgotten  so much in the last two years.   Maybe, now that we have them again it will all come back to me.   I look forward to sharing our journey with rabbits again.

I will do another post on our set up for them and what feed will are feeding.  More on our plans for them.

Bugs

Old time vinegar pie

                                        Old time vinegar pie


1/4 c. vinegar
2 c. water
4 tbsp. corn starch
1 tbsp. flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. Lemon flavoring
1tbsp. butter
 

Boil vinegar and water.  Mix flour, cornstarch, pinch of salt and 2 beaten eggs until smooth.   Cook until thick, then add lemon flavoring and butter.  Cool slightly.  Pour into baked pie shell.  Beat egg whites for topping.

Tip for beating egg whites.   Beat them at room temperature.

Old Time Stack Cake

Growing up I can remember my Mamaw Ross making her dried apple stack cakes.    Seems like she made them all the time.   I think, they must have been a favorite of our whole family, well next to her fruitcake.   I can remember my papaw building her a place outside so she could dry out her apples and he would build a fire underneath and she would lay her apples on top of this thing he build.  I really no idea what to  call it, but it worked.   The apples she dried had a smokey taste that was different but really good.

In the picture above is  an apple stack cake I had made a couple years ago.  I used some homemade apple butter I had made.  It was good but not near as good as I remember my mamaw's being. It had to be the way she dried her apples and used them.  It's the little things in life you miss.  

These are better if you wrap them in saran wrap  for  a day or two.  The longer they set the better they taste.

Old time stack cake, recipe as used by Mollie Ross.

3/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. sorghum
1 c. buttermilk
6 c. flour plus a little extra for rolling
3 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger

Preheat oven to 375
Sift dry ingredients together
Cream shortening, sugar, sorghum, eggs and milk.
Add flour mixture until stiff dough.
Put dough onto floured board
Small portions at a time, roll thin.
Cut out with a 10 in  lid or pie pan.
 Bake 10 mins. or until golden brown
Put layers together with dried apples or applebutter.

Makes 12 layers.

Canning carrots and potatoes in onion soup mix.

I had been watching a couple youtube videos about canning and came across  a video on Linda's pantry.  She was canning carrots and potatoes and was adding onion soup mix to each jar.   Of course, that made me want to try it and I'm so happy I did.  I not sure how they will taste but they sure smelled good coming out of the canner.    I do one of the disclaimers on this is its not an approved canning method.  I don't know why it wouldn't be, unless it has something to do the with the beef broth in the onion soup mix.  But anyway, I will share the how-to-do with this or at least how I did it.


Cut up your carrots and potatoes.  The potatoes do need to be blanched for about 10 mins to get some of the starch out of them.   Once your done blanching your potatoes, add them along with the carrots to your jars.  Then add a tablespoonful of soup mix per quart jar or two teaspoonful per pint jar.  Then add hot water, put your lids and rings on and into the canner.   Depending on where you live, determines your time and pressure.   I did mine at 10 lb pressure for 40mins.   I did what the time is given  for canning potatoes.   I hope you find this helpful and want to give it a try yourself.  Happy canning!

Our journey on building our log cabin home

Welcome to our new blog and a little bit about our farm and life in Kentucky.  We live on a family farm that my grandparents purchased back in 1942.  My grandfather worked for a local steel mill, and farmed.   He and my uncle were tobacco farmers for many years, along with raising cattle, horses, gardens and they cut hay.  

I grew up on the farm, later married and moved away for a couple years but my husband and I eventually moved back to the farm.   My mom and stepfather moved back to the farm back in 2008 and remolded my grandparents house.  My grandmother passed away in 2006 and my grandfather passed away in 2009.   They were married for 71 years and they lived be in  their nineties.   Had three children, Thurman, Mary and my mom, Dee.  All three of their children still live on the farm to this day.  My uncle Thurman's son and his wife also live on the farm.  So when I mean family farm it truly is.  

In 2010,  my husband and I started building our second home on the farm.   That was definitely a journey of it's own.  We built a log home ourselves, we did have some help from some good friends and family.  It was a lot of hard work but so worth it.  Not sure I would take that journey again building a loghome  ourselves again.

I hope you follow along, with us on this journey of life.  I hope to share stories,  and just our everyday life on the farm and how we do things and live.