Banana Nut Roll

I promised this to one of my readers awhile back and never got around to posting it because I lost the recipe. I got it from our pastor's wife and she had hand-written the entire thing for me and I didn't have the heart to ask for it again! I was going through a box of papers yesterday and found it! So here it is....

BANANA NUT ROLL
3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
Dash of salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
2/3 c. mashed bananas
1 c. pecans, chopped

Mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. Add eggs, salt, lemon juice, bananas and pecans. Pour batter into greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. When done, flip onto dish towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up into towel and place in refrigerator to chill. Unroll when chilled and spread with filling.

FILLING
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 stick softened butter
3 oz. cream cheese or more ( I use the whole 8 oz. block)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and spread on baked roll. Re-roll, place in aluminum foil and chill before slicing to serve.

This recipe is a lot like the Pumpkin Roll recipe. It's hard for me to pick which is my favorite. If someone asks me which I like better I always answer, "Whichever I'm eating at the time!"

Meet Chavez (for the 2nd time)

Just wanted to post a few new pics of the colt. My brother has named him Chavez. I have no idea if that will stick or not. He's really filling out and getting so much more handsome.

He has what's called a wall-eye in horses where one has no pigmentation in the iris so it makes his eye look blueish-white. The other is brown.

If you get tired of seeing pics of this little guy, just ignore me.

He was so cute and happy to be outside playing with his momma yesterday.

Of course, he had to take time for a quick snack.

Pretty boy and he knows it!

I could take pics of him all day!

Even if he's just scratching his leg.

But I'll stop with one more. This one looks like it's in black and white but it's really not!

Until I have more baby chicks, I'll just have to post pics of this baby......or.......we have baby pigs due in May!

It's That Time of Year Again!

The time when things wake up.....

The time when the sky has that beautiful "blue after the spring rain" color.....
(That house is the house I grew up in. No one lives there now but I have so many wonderful memories from there.)

The time when new things are born and old things find new life.....

The time when my boys get really excited about that big Styrofoam box I bring down from upstairs.
This one.....

You can tell it's been used a few times. My mom used it for raising Pharaoh quail until she gave it to me when we moved out here to the farm.
It's that time when we set our "Easter Eggs!

We even have some "real" Easter eggs from our Easter Egger hens in there this year and a few Bootsie eggs too...

So goodnight, sleep tight and stay warm little eggs (but not too warm...and not too cold either....how about 100 degrees and just keep it there!)

In 21 days, we'll have new babies like these from last year.....

Then I'll be looking for people who need some roosters!!

Peppermint Candy Sugar Scrub

I read a post on Chickens in the Road awhile back on making your own facial scrubs and put it in my "list of things I have to try". Cindy P from the forum there had posted some of the recipes for her scrubs that she makes for craft sales. I made the brown sugar one that Suzanne had posted on her blog but I'm not a big fan of Olive oil...taste or smell! So I searched the forum and found some using Canola oil! I settled on making the Peppermint Facial Scrub and Ladies and Gentleman, this one turned out great!

Here's the recipe I used....

PEPPERMINT CANDY SUGAR SCRUB
1 cup white sugar
1/4 c. very finely crushed peppermint candy (about 10 discs)
1/2 cup canola oil
Vitamin E oil squeezed from two capsules

Mix together and place in a cute little jar.
(Thank you Cindy P)

I made a label using Photoshop. I think I'll make the next one with the actual name of the recipe. Peppermint Candy Sugar Scrub sounds so primitive and cute!
Tie a cute little bow on top and there you go.

I'm going to try the brown sugar and vanilla one again using canola oil (or maybe almond oil if I can find it). I'll do a brown border and lettering for the label and maybe some raffia for the bow. The possibilities are endless and my face is very smooth and soft!

My Baby

is growing up.

He'll be 4 years old in a couple of weeks.

And he loves swinging on the tire swing on beautiful "almost" Spring days!
Don't forget to comment on my fishing post to win the cute measuring cup and spoon set!

What I Did Today!

I had a thousand things on my list. I got up early and took Biscuit to the vet to get him neutered. He's back home and doing great. He and Bessie missed each other terribly. I went by the doctor's office and had my blood drawn to check my cholesterol and the levels are looking good. All of this was done by 8:00 this morning (on Thursday - it's late so you may not read this until Friday). I had it in my head that I was going to come home and do some in-depth cleaning on the house, my MT work, put something on for supper and get all caught up with everything that needed to be done including laundry and dishes. Jake was at school and Luke was with his buddies at Mamaw Shirlene's house so the day was mine. I headed home to do all those things that needed to be done and then........I drove past my mom and dad's house. Mom was at work and Dad was heading in from feeding the horses. I can't drive by and see my Dad outside and not stop and see him, even if he does only live 1.3 miles down the road. I pulled in, rolled the window down, opened my mouth to say "Hi" but instead I said, "Hey, you wanna go fishing?" There went my plans! It was a gloriously sunny day, the temp was already up to 57 this morning and I felt like spending the day with my Dad on the pond bank. He grinned and said "Yep."

We loaded up all the fishing gear, climbed on the 4-wheeler and headed for the pond.

My Dad is the most patient man I know. He sat right here ALL day and I sat right beside him.

And we talked and laughed and ate snacks from the cooler and talked and laughed some more.

And you know what? All we caught was one little bitty bass, but we had such a great time!

Of course, mom had to check her Farmer's Almanac Calender and inform us that we picked a POOR fishing day! She lives by her almanac calender!

Oh and I did stop by the store this morning on my way home and I saw these....

Aren't they the cutest measuring cups and spoons? I am addicted to measuring devices, I have an entire cabinet drawer full of different ones and several larger ones on shelves around my kitchen but I didn't have any in these spring colors! I had to have them! And I thought you had to have them too. So I bought an extra set just for one of you!
See....

Just leave me a comment and you're entered. I'll draw a name on Monday morning! Good luck! And do something unexpected......throw all your plans out the window and spend the entire day with someone you love. You won't regret it, I promise!

He's What Color??

My phone rang at 5:58 a.m. yesterday morning. I very sleepily answered it to hear my moms voice. She said, "I have a baby!" I didn't have to wonder what she was talking about. We've been waiting one this baby for quite a while now.

The mare was given to mom a few months ago. Her owners couldn't take care of her anymore and she was practically wild. My Mom and Dad took her and over the last few months have shown her the kind of love and tenderness needed to turn her into a big baby herself.

The people she got her from told her that she might be bred because she had been in a field with a stud for awhile so we had no idea exactly when she was due to have her foal.

The big surprise is the color! He's gray and white! Some of these pics look like he has a brown tint but it's just the lighting. He is actually the color that he looks in this photo and look at that white face.

His mom is the color you see in the pics and we were told that the stud was a dark sorrel, almost black.

I think he's unique and beautiful! Mom is still trying to decide on a name.

Officially a Lady!

No longer a young chick, no longer baby Boo. She is now officially "Lady Boo"! She has acquired this new title by gifting me with her first perfect little egg!

Thank you, Boo!
In comparison to even her momma's eggs, it's little.

Here we have a regular hen egg, a greenish-blue "Easter Egger" egg, a Bootsie egg, and a little Boo egg!

I think all eggs are beautiful and although she may never lay one of these.

I still think her little eggs are perfect!!

and they will fit right in with all the other different kinds of eggs I get each day! Now if I could just figure out where those guineas are hiding theirs!

And the winner is...

Rose from Two Hearts One Tail!
Congratulations!!

Could It Be??

Could it really be that time again? Could it really be happening...finally??
My youngest is sick with a cold and had to stay inside yesterday. I heard excited screaming and yelling from his toy room. I ran to investigate.....

What could he possible see that had him so excited and grinning from ear to ear?
I heard roaring....I looked out and all I saw was ...... this!

But I knew what it meant....

That roaring was Papaw's tractor!

and he was plowing our garden!!! Oh yes, yes, yes! It is that time. Our tractor is a little small to do the initial "breaking" for the garden so Papaw (my Dad) comes through the fields from their house to our house and plows it for me each year. I love my Dad!

He made trip after trip, back and forth, back and forth...

until it was all plowed and ready to dry out some so we can disk it soon.

I apologize for the quality of the pics but I couldn't take the little man outside due to his cold and he wasn't about to let me be outside with Papaw if he didn't get to go outside too so they are taken through the window!
He never left that window until Papaw stopped the tractor and came in to visit with him for awhile.
We'll be planting our tomato seeds in the little indoor seed starter greenhouse tonight!

Honey Bun Cake

While we're waiting on Spring and the big give away, I thought I'd post a recipe! I don't have any pics of this cake because I haven't actually made it myself yet BUT I have eaten it many times. My aunt makes it for all our family get-togethers. Plus, I'm trying to stay in the jeans I'm in now and I made (and ate half of) an apple pie last night. I've been rendering some lard over the past few days using Suzanne McMinn's (Chickens in the Road) crock pot method for Make Your Own Lard. I just had to try a pie crust using REAL, fresh lard (just substitute it for the Crisco) and I wasn't disappointed! It was flaky and delicious. So no, I won't have any pics of this cake (at least not for a day or so when my sweet tooth gets the best of me and I decide that bigger jeans are not always so bad!)

Honey Bun Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 c. oil
1 c. sour cream
1 c. brown sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix cake mix, eggs, oil and sour cream together. Beat well. Pour half of mixture in a 13 x 9-inch, lightly greased pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over batter in pan. Spoon rest of batter around on top of mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. Punch holes in cake. Mix powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together. Pour over cake. (My aunt says she likes a lot of "icing" on her cake so she usually doubles the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla mixture and then uses as much as she likes on hers. You can always save the leftover for homemade cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy it!!