Gingerbread Tradition

One of my most treasured memories from Christmases growing up is making making and decorating Gingerbread men with my mom.  We did it just about every year.  I loved the taste of the cookies and the fun of trying to make little outfits on the gingerbread-people.  We would fill a big old roasting pan with them and keep it in the garage where it would stay cool, until Christmas.  Often times it would be nearly empty by then though, as we each in turn snuck down to steal some cookies from the pan...

This year I made the cookies by myself but did get help from three little boys decorating some of them.

Here's my recipe card for ingredients...

First you mix the dry ingredients.

Then you melt the molasses, butter and sugar in a small pot.

Mix it all together and add in the eggs.

Cover and refrigerate a couple hours to harden up the dough.  This is important for ease of rolling and cutting.  It's so much easier to work with cold.

When you're ready, spread flour out on the counter and grab a big ball of dough.  Flour the top and your rolling pin and roll it out to about 1/8" thick.  

Cut out your cookies and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.  I like mine soft so I always go on the low end of the baking time, but you can cook them longer if you want harder cookies.

Let them cool on a rack then spread them on wax paper to decorate.  I make icing by mixing powdered sugar and water with a bit of food coloring.  Add the water in drops to the sugar.  It really doesn't take much to get the right consistency.  I make small batches so I can change colors often.  Ice one cookie at a time and drop candies or sprinkles in right away so they will stick.

I decorated about half the cookies myself and saved the rest for our annual visit to our neighbor, Rita Heikenfeld, to decorate.  She makes quite a nice set-up for the boys with all kinds of different sprinkles.

They each get their own tray and icing to work with.

By the end of the evening we only went home with about five cookies for Santa so, needless to say, we also had some pretty happy little boys with tummies full of sweetness.  

Six new additions

We received about a week ago that a colleague of a family friend had gotten a coop and six chickens thinking he and his family would be backyard chicken keepers.  They had only had the birds 6-8 weeks when their house sold, and they had decided they didn't want to move the chickens.  They asked if we would come and get the chickens and possibly even take the coop.  It was free for the taking; they just wanted someone else to claim the birds.

So Josh and I went over to their house with the trailer.  We found the birds milling about in their coop: two Barred Rocks, two Rhode Island Reds and two Golden Comets.  They looked to be about four months old and mostly healthy.  One of the Golden Comets had a gimpy looking wing.  When we caught it and got a closer look, we surmised that some animal had gotten the poor girl and chewed most of her wing off.  There was exposed bone and dead tissue hanging limply off her one side.  Somehow, despite this trauma, she seemed alert and active.  

We put the birds in a dog cage, loaded up the coop, and then re-situated the birds inside for the trip home. It was a surprisingly easy process.

When we got the girls home, I took the injured bird into the workshop so I could get a closer look at her wing.  After some examination, I could see that all that was connecting her wing to her body was dead tissue so I used tin snips to cut it loose.  That left just the stump of a bone tucked into her side.  I brought her in with her sisters in our little baby coop, which we use for isolating new or injured birds.  They all snuggled in together for a bit before coming out to get some food and water.  

We are hopeful that these birds will eventually integrate with our flock.  We've had pretty good success with taking in adult birds, letting them habituate in the baby coop and an isolated run, then mixing them in out in the yard where there's lots of room to roam.  Eventually they naturally join in with the group.  

My only concern is that bird with one wing is highly likely to get picked on.  It's amazing how perceptive birds are of weakness in each other, and they're quick to gang up on the weakest link.  That's their instinct as, if they were out in the wild, that weak bird could put them all at risk.  So we will have to keep a close eye for any aggressiveness towards her.  

We are grateful for these new additions and that we were able to rescue six birds who needed a home!

Christmas has arrived at Phillips Farm

It just doesn't feel like the Christmas season has begun in earnest until we have our tree up and decorated.  We have a family tradition of cutting down our own tree at Corsi Tree Farm, a local family farm in Bethel, Ohio.  We had been waiting and waiting until we had a day with my stepsons to go and finally today it arrived!  So, despite the cold rain, we set out to gather our tree...

Baxter, of course, found himself a small tree someone else had cut down and abandoned.  He pulled it around for a bit, saying he was going to take it home for his room.  Meanwhile, the rest of us kept our eyes peeled for a nice Norway Spruce, round and full, for the family room.

We found a keeper and McGregor decided he wanted to try to cut it down this year so he manned the saw initially.  That didn't last too long though, before Josh took over.

With McGregor's help, Josh had the tree cut in no time at all!

Here stand the Phillips boys with our Christmas tree, cut and ready to drag to the car.  I told McGregor he looks like he thinks he's too cool for school, but he swears he was happy to be there.

Oliver wanted to drag the tree up to the car all by himself, and he did drag it for about two minutes before others joined in to make it go faster.  It's amazing the teamwork cold rain will inspire!

All three boys got inside the pull rope and made their way up the road.

Towards the end, Baxter wanted to give it a try on his own.  He declared, "I am the strongest one you have!"

Roscoe and I watched all the excitement.  There were so many happy tail-wagging dogs running around the farm today.  Roscoe was pooped by the time we got to the car.  I sat in the back with him, and he put his head on my leg and fell asleep.

Once we got home, we got the tree in the stand with some water but it needed to settle a bit so I went to do chicken chores and get dinner going.  Josh sat in his chair and promptly fell asleep. Poor guy had to work last night and tonight, but wanted so badly to be up with us doing our tree tradition.  

After dinner, we finally got the lights up and Little B got our angel in place.

And three antsy little boys, who'd been waiting all day to decorate the tree finally got to put up ornaments.

Oliver hung up the final ornament...

...and it was done!

Trains never get old for boys.  I think that's a rule.  

By the time Josh left for work, I was left with three snoring dogs and three tired boys.  That's how you know it was a good day.

And so now we can say with sincerity that Christmas time is here again.  I just love this holiday season, filled with the warmth of family, the sweet smell of something baking in the oven, the happy sound of carols drifting through the house, and the soft glow of the lights illuminating our tree as we sit together.  

Baxter teaches you how to make Christmas Crack

Baxter has the process down for making one of our family's favorite Christmas treats: Christmas Crack.  So, I thought he could show you the recipe in case you want to try it too.

1. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or wax paper and then cover it with saltines.

2. Put two sticks of butter (1 cup) and a cup of brown sugar, in a small pot and melt.  Let it come to a rolling boil, stirring constantly, then pour it over the saltines.  Spread to cover.

3. Put the cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then remove and let sit for 2 minutes.

4. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and wait until they begin to melt.

5. Spread the chocolate around.

6. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour to solidify then turn your crack out onto the counter and break it into pieces.  Store in the refrigerator. 

7. Last but not least (Baxter's favorite step) - always lick your spreader!

Enjoy!

Elephant Garlic

I planted my garlic patch about a month ago, as I usually do.  It's the last thing I tend to put in at the end of the season, before allowing myself and the dirt a rest.  Just as my bulbs were beginning to send up green shoots through their mulch, my neighbor Rita sent me over a couple bulbs of Elephant Garlic.  Because it has been so unseasonably warm, I enjoyed the sunshine one afternoon last weekend and set to turning the ground up for a couple more rows of garlic.  It seems strange to be gardening in late November, but this year, it is so.  

After pulling apart the bulbs into cloves and loosening the soil, I dug my holes and dropped in the cloves.  I tucked the soil back in around them and then added a nice blanket of straw for when winter does finally arrive.

And next summer, when the scapes have been harvested and the leaves have turned brown and fallen over, it'll be time to revisit my cloves, grown into full bulbs again.  The magic of time and mother nature will provide my kitchen with flavors and smells to satisfy the senses.

Winter should not be considered as only negation and destruction. It is a secret and inward working of powers, which in spring will burst into visible activity. ~Henry James Slack 

Passing on Traditions

I think a lot of what makes holidays truly special is the passing on of family traditions.  We always have a family gathering with a meal on holidays.  This Thanksgiving, we hosted the meal, as we usually do, and when I looked back through my pictures I noted that this was a year of many traditions being passed from one generation to another.

First, my husband's aunt Robyn showed me how to make her mother's stuffing recipe.  My mother-in-law had showed me this last year as well, but this time I did most of it myself and I took copious notes so I could replicate it again on my own if I needed to.  It's a simple but delicious recipe, and I made it my own by using my homemade bread.  I appreciated being trusted to carry on a memory in the family by taking on this tradition.

Thanksgiving morning I had to stuff the bird and get it cooking on my own.  I got up early so I could get it going in time to be ready for the meal.  As I was working, here came Oliver up with the sun as usual.  He watched while I stuffed the turkey then asked if he could help butter it up.  I sent this picture to my mother-in-law and she predicted that someday Oliver will be the host of the family dinner, since he'll be the only boy who has watched me cook and learned the traditions.

Later in the day, Baxter came in from playing just as I pulled the beaters off the mixer covered in fresh homemade whipped cream.  He said, "Oooooohh, what's that??"  I gave him one to lick and he was in absolute heaven.  I remember doing the same thing as a little girl after my mom made whipped cream.  Another tradition, passed on.

I put my lovely husband in charge of cutting up the cooked turkey.  He called on aunt Robyn again to share her expertise.  "How do I do this?" he asked.  She stood nearby and talked him through it.  Another part of the process given from one generation to the next.

We sat down to our meal at two tables since we were too many in our group for one.  A mix of family and friends, we enjoyed a warm house, good conversation and delicious food.  

Another tradition I have started is bringing my mom to the table with us, whenever we have a special family meal.  Though she's been gone more than two years now, her spirit is ever-present.

After dinner, Bailey had to make her trip out to see the chickens.  This time there were even babies to check in on, which she loved.  I hope that she will maintain her excitement for the farm's riches as she grows older.  What a treasure to share in her giggles of delight at bird chirps and cock-a-doodle-doos.  

Roscoe update

So I've been working with Roscoe, doing some of the exercises the trainer recommended.  He is improving in terms of his general obedience and demeanor.  He listens to us better and behaves inside the house.  Since we've been training he has stopped peeing in the house, trying to eat off the counter, and jumping the fence.  He seems to want to please us more, which is good to see.  

Now, in terms of the chickens...

When I take him in the coop, initially he ignores the birds.  He is interested in smelling everything, tries to sneak some bird food, then wants to leave.  Birds walk all around him; he looks at them nonchalantly, but makes no move to chase.  But then a bird will jump out of somewhere unexpected or will squawk loudly and his attention is peaked.  Something switches on.  What really gets him is if you take him in the henhouse and a bird jumps out of a nesting box, from behind a curtain.  

Here we are practicing sitting calmly in the run.  He was doing great until a bird chirped inside the baby coop.  He could hear her but not see her and he wanted desperately to go inside but I couldn't let him because I had no control if he went in there.  Instead I took him outside until he calmed down.

I'm beginning to come to terms with the fact that Roscoe is most likely going to be a family dog, not a chicken guardian.  The other factor is that he hates, and I mean hates, to be left alone.  If he's not with his people he needs his doggy sisters.  Otherwise he gets nutty and starts running around breaking things.  Josh learned this last week when he took just Roscoe to Michigan and tried to leave him home alone while he ran some errands.  He came back to a house full of broken blinds.  So it's difficult to picture Roscoe sitting out in the yard, alone with the birds all day.  

It is a disappointment not to have Roscoe work out as a chicken protector, but I'm still glad we adopted him.  He is such a loveable and loving dog, good with the boys and patient as can be with our old lady dogs who won't take anything from him.  

As for the birds, I think our new fenced chicken yard will be the answer to our predator issues.  More on this to come!