Baker County Fair 2009

The Fair here in Baker is not the normal cotton candy eating, puke on a ride event. It is ALL about the 4-H kids. Just about every girl I have coached had an animal there so Jack got the special treatment...which means he got shoved in with different animals. Here are some of the better moments...

No go on sheep and pig. Didn't want anything to do with them.

Loved, loved, loved the cows.

What do you think is going through his little mind right now?

I think he is on his way to becoming a vet.

So Good, It'll Make You Wanna Slap Yo' Mama

But don't try to slap my mama because she has the quickest backhand around. Or you could just avoid the slapping all together and simply enjoy these deliciously scrumptious zucchini whoopie pies. There was supposed to be a picture of them here but they were all gone before I got around to snapping a shot of them. Oh yeah...they are that good!

Zucchini Whoopie Pies
Borrowed from Gourmet.com

For cakes

2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (10 ounces)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup walnuts (4 ounces), chopped

For filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Scant
1/4 teaspoon salt

Make cakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Butter 2 large baking sheets.
Squeeze handfuls of zucchini wrapped in a kitchen towel to remove moisture.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt until combined. Whisk together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.
Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and beat until combined well.
At low speed, mix in flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until smooth. Mix in zucchini and walnuts until just incorporated.
Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of batter 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through, until tops are puffed and golden and spring back when touched, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer with a spatula to a rack to cool completely.

Make filling:

Beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt with cleaned beaters at medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Assemble pies:

Spread a rounded 2 Tbsp filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.

cooks’ note: Whoopie pies keep, chilled in an airtight container, 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Does This Make Me a Grandma?

Ohhh how times flies! This time last year I had just started this blog up and one of the first posts was about our new chicks. Now our chicks have chicks! We stuck three eggs underneath our ever brooding hen and twenty-one days later this happened...
followed by two wet little chicks stumbling around.
Now they are all puffed and cute as can be!

Scary Stuff

Photo courtesy of grannybutton.com

No not the line of cows peering eerily at you from the river bank...but the latest in recalls. Just in case you have not heard, there is another HUGE ground beef recall. I say another in reference to the previous meat recall during June 2009.

We are lucky because we get out beef from the family ranch out in Sumpter so these recalls never pertain to us. Want to be carefree and full of yummy disease free beef as well? Check out this site for the closest grass-fed/organic ranch near you. There are also listings for eggs, honey, chicken, turkey and a whole bunch more!

Scraping the Dimple

Anybody that has ever used a Kitchen Aid mixer knows that the dimple at the bottom of the bowl needs to be scraped with a spatula. Blah and I always forget to. Consequently, my whipped cream is not so whippy and sometimes my egg whites are a little less than stiff. However, help is on the way...or so it seems to be with this new beater blade. (You can read reviews here)

Has anyone tried this/have one? I REALLY want to order one right now but we are lacking the funds so I would like to live vicariously through all of you!

John Hughes

This man was brilliant. Please enjoy his some of his finer works...

[waking up after sharing the same bed on the motel]
Neal: Del... Why did you kiss my ear?
Del: Why are you holding my hand?
Neal: [frowns] Where's your other hand?
Del: Between two pillows...
Neal: Those aren't pillows!


Gary is chanting incoherently. Wyatt seemed very confused by his best friend's odd behaviour. They are both wearing bras on their heads]
Wyatt: Gary?... By the way, why are we wearing bras on our heads?
Garry: [hesitates] Ceremonial.


Chet: Taking the last bite of Paul Bunyans's Old 96er
Roman: I think that just about does it.
Grill Chef: He's not done yet!
Roman: It might take him a moment for that last bite to go down, but it will go down!
Grill Chef: That ain't the last bite!
Roman: Well sure it is, there is nothing on that plate but gristle and fat!
Grill Chef: Raising his eyebrows
Roman: No Problem. If i can get a dessert down him, think you can throw in a couple of Paul Bunyan hat's for the kids?


[Long Duk Dong is dancing with Lumberjack, his head is on her ample chest]
Lumberjack: What's your last name?
Long Duk Dong: Dong.
Lumberjack: What's your first name?
Long Duk Dong: Long.
Lumberjack: What's your middle name?
Long Duk Dong: Duk.


Doris (TV Repairwoman): Are you crazy? You don't feed a baby chili!


Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete...
Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case...
Claire Standish: ...a princess...
John Bender: ...and a criminal...
Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.


Clark: Since this is Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas, I think she should lead us in the saying of Grace.
Aunt Bethany: [turns to Lewis] What, dear?
Nora Griswold: Grace!
Aunt Bethany: Grace? She passed away thirty years ago.
Uncle Lewis: They want you to say Grace.
[Bethany shakes her head in confusion]
Uncle Lewis: The BLESSING!
Aunt Bethany: [they all pose for prayer] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands/ One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Clark: Amen.

NOOOOOOO!!!!

Our laptop crashed this weekend. Not just crashed but locked it's little hard drive behind a password that no one will ever know. Gone are all the pics of current projects in the works and more importantly, some of Jack's baby pictures.

In honor of this event, I am taking the week off to organize what I do have left. Blah!