Socially Distant S'Mores with the Kids

Missy Tippens

A couple of weeks ago, we got together with all of our kids and their significant others at our son and his wife's new home. The pandemic hit about the time they put an offer on the house--which made things crazy. But they were able to close on it at the end of March. I was the only one who'd seen it in person (when I delivered cloth masks to them right after they moved in), so this was a nice house warming event for everyone!

Nick and his wife Sarah planned to grill out for us. My daughter, because she'd seen photos of the house on Zillow and knew they had a fire pit, decided she wanted to bring the makings for s'mores. :)

I just thought I'd share some photos with you today. I took quite a few of the flowers and plants in their new yard. The former homeowner had apparently been a gardener--a very nice benefit!

Blackberries, I think!

I love that they have this water catcher under the downspout to use for lawn watering.

Any idea what this is below? Maybe related to honeysuckle? It smelled good but not quite like honeysuckle.

My three kids getting competitive! 

My grand-dogs, resting in their new yard. After living in a 4th floor apartment in mid-town Atlanta for the past couple of years, they're loving having a yard again!

 Auntie is loving some snuggles from her nephew. 

The new kitchen! My hubby and Nick trying to stay 6 feet apart. :) Sarah cooking.

Middle son and his girlfriend got to come, too!

After our outdoor dinner and a walk through the new neighborhood, it was s'more time! For those who don't know what s'mores are... you roast a marshmallow over an open fire, then put it on a graham cracker with a Hershey's chocolate bar, and then top with another graham cracker. A wonderfully sweet, melty, gooey sandwich!

Caught my daughter and her boyfriend in mid-bite. She will kill me for sharing this photo. :)

I'll end with this one of me. My kids were making fun of me because I spent so much time taking photos. So they took a photo of me taking one. :)

We had a great time! It was so nice to be together. I look forward to the next opportunity.

www.missytippens.com

Farm Fun to the Extreme!!!!!!!!

Planting time, for sure.

Sandwiches rule.

Burgers.

Long days. Use up that sunlight! And while the friends are bringing in cute crafts to sell at the farm, and the gals are painting, painting, painting... we are busily tending the first four acres of pumpkins, the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, and today the Indian/ornamental corn goes in with names like Wilda's Pride (found growing wild and propagated, and now the best ornamental I've ever grown!)

Strawberry corn.... (can be popcorn or fun for wreaths, centerpieces, etc.

Broom corn....(yes, this is what corn brooms are made from! We take the long, frondy seed heads and use them to make swags or decorate wreaths..... so I grow these for next year's decorations)

Indian Fingers!!!!! These are about 5" to 6" long, slim and perfect for wiring or hot gluing to wreaths, etc. So stinkin' cute!

Our spring becomes filled with a mental array of fall colors. We've planted our favorite pumpkin "Jarrahdale" an Australian blue squash that was a crop fail last year... so we're giving it three separate plantings on three different areas of the farm (slope, non-sloped flat land, and Hail Mary, out back where we'll stale bed seeds (no tilling) to see if they're happier there. We love these beautiful and delicious squashes!!!!)

Every pumpkin pie, bread, roasted squash should be made from this amazingly delicious pumpkin squash! Thank you, Australia!!!!!!!!

The porch greenhouse has been dismantled and the plastic folded and saved for next spring.... and after a tough first week in the ground, and sun scald to those unhardened tomato leaves, it looks like the 255 tomato plants are settling in and sending off new growth, hearty growth. So that's good!

And it took 16 days at 80-90 degrees to germinate orange blaze peppers (that I should have planted four weeks ago, oops!) We'll see how they do, but at least they've sprouted!

It is porch painting time.... but I'm having two of my teen buddies do that so I can keep writing books and tending farm stuff....

And Santa is almost painted and ready to be put away. :) Our Santa and his 9 reindeer needed refurbishing (Grandma Blodgett and Uncle Chuck made this set about thirty years ago, and we inherited them (YAY US!!!!!) so five reindeer were re-painted two years ago, four reindeer last year, and we didn't put Santa away this year so I wouldn't forget to give him a fresh look.... and he's looking good, so it's almost time to tuck him away until November... :) And yes, it's been odd having him sitting in the yard, but that way I wouldn't back-burner something that's meant so much to the Blodgett family all these years.

There are new things going on, too!

Painted rocks.

I'm not kidding, a "permanent flower"....

And permanent flower posts!  Pieces of fencing decorated with sticks and stones that will not break your bones!

Rustic American flags.... and all from re-purposed wood and the work of human hands. :) We find old fencing out for the trash and we rescue it! 

And look at these planters, also from re-purposed wood, things put out at the roadside.... dresser drawers and old stools. So fun and a whole new life! Amanda and Paul did the building/trimming for the flag bases, the planters and the fence pickets.... but Christina did the painting, the finish work.

Many hands make light work.

And this one sold within a few hours of posting it:

Holes drilled into the drawer allow drainage, and how cute will this be filled with posies for a burst of color in a garden? Love it!

So that's what we're doing, there's not a calm corner now that the weather has turned gentler, and we've been waiting a long time to break out.... and get busy. So we're raising our water bottles to spring!

Huzzah!

Multi-published author Ruth Logan Herne puts on her farmer's hat at home in Western New York where she owns and manages Blodgett Family Farm with her husband Dave and a wonderful crew of family and friends who gather to make things happen....

She loves to hear from folks about books, farming, flowers, crafts, food.... whatever! Friend her on Facebook, visit her website ruthloganherne.com or email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com. She'd love to hear from you!

Quarantine Pasta Salad?

I love when I try something out and it exceeds expectations.

The pantry is getting bare, and I'm going to have to suck it up and go to the supermarket soon, but not yet.

I had some leftover penne - because I still have not gotten used to cooking pasta for one and made way too much.

I also had a can of chickpeas.

On a whim, I simmered the chickpeas with some oregano, garlic and basil. Then I swirled in some apple cider vinegar, and poured the whole thing over my cold penne.



I guess you'd call it a pasta salad. I'll just call it...

DELICIOUS!

Caveat - I like the taste of apple cider vinegar so this totally worked for me. If you don't like it, you might prefer to substitute some other kind of dressing.

Coconut Cake and Life in the Country

I love coconut. I can remember eating it right out of the bag when I was a kid. Okay, as an adult, too. Still, I don't indulge in coconut desserts that often. So when I do, it had better be good.

Well, the craving hit a couple of months ago, so I had made sure to pick up a bag of coconut on one of my grocery runs. Of course, you know what happened then. It kept calling to me, mocking me every time I went into the pantry, wanting to know when I was going to make something with it. And I knew what that something was going to be. Coconut cake. 

I love this recipe. It makes a nice, rich cake.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

• 4 tablespoons melted butter

• 3 eggs

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup sweetened flake coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease 9x13 baking pan with butter or spray. 

Combine all ingredients except coconut in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides then continuing mixing at medium speed for two minutes.

Add coconut. 

 Fold into batter, then pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Batter will be thick.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool before frosting.

For the frosting, you will need: 

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• ¼ cup heavy cream

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup sweetened flake coconut

Whisk all ingredients except coconut together until smooth then fold in coconut.

Spread over cake. You can serve immediately or chill before serving.

I usually eat it right way because I can't wait, however, what's left is always chilled because of the whipped cream. And I think I like it better chilled. It's not a light, fluffy cake, but it's not dense either. Just moist, rich and delicious. All winners in my book.

Well, we discovered some more baby wrens this week. 

Their parents built this next in a cubbie on one of our utility vehicles. We never even knew the nest was there until the babies hatched and started making noise.

And here's what I saw as I pulled out of the driveway one day.

Even out here in the country, this is not a common sight. 

Just a family out having some fun. Of course, it was about 85 degrees with at least 70 percent humidity, so I'm not sure how much it really was, but don't you know those kids got a kick out of riding down the road in a buckboard wagon.

What's something you love to eat, but don't fix very often? And what holds you back?

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com