A post from Kelli–

I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet, but my mom is a WONDERFUL cook!  I have had friends over the years talk about how they drove an hour and a half away to go out to eat or they made a special trip to pick something up because they just had to stop at a certain restraunt.  I have always thought that this was a bit odd….but then I realized that not everyone had my mom to cook for them.  One of the favorite cookbooks of the years was the Betty Crocker cookbook, or as we called it, “the orange cookbook.”

When I was at Goodwill a while ago and saw found a copy, I jumped at the chance to have my own copy.  It has wonderful recipes for Baking Powder Biscuits, Pancakes, French Toast, and one of my favorites, Chocolate Chip Cake.

Let me tell you, this cake is wonderful.  With the Chocolate Butter frosting, mmmmm, absolutely amazing.  I have to say, this is probably one of the best kitchen resources I have.  The cookbook is split up into sections by food groups (Meats, Vegetables, Desserts).  Each group is then split up by the specific food that will be used as the foundation of the dish (Beef, Pork, Lamb,Seafood).  The other nice thing about the cookbook is that it has a general introduction to each type of food.  For instance, the meat section includes information on buying meat, storing meat, freezing and defrosting meat, and how to cook the meat in general.  Then, in the beef section, it includes information on the different cuts of beef and how to carve it–a great resource for a new cook.

Here is the recipe for my favorite chocolate chip cake–

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/4 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup chocolate chips (miniature or chopped are best, but whole are just fine too)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour pan (I used a bundt pan).  Beat all ingredients in a large mixer on low, scraping the sides.  Beat on high speed, scraping the bowl occasionally for 3 minutes.  Pour into pans.

Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, approximately 40 to 45 minutes).  Cool.

I frosted it with Chocolate Butter Frosting.

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 ounces unsweetened melted chocolate, cooled

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanila

About 2 tablespoons milk.

Mix margarine and chocolate.  Stir in powdered sugar.   Beat in vanilla and milk until frosting is of spreading consistency.  Frost.

If you happen to be out and about and find one of these, I would definitely recommend picking it up.  You’ll be very glad that you did!

Today, we are hooking up with Colorado Lady to showcase vintage thingys….cause it’s Thursday!

A post from Kelli–

This weekend, my boyfriend Jason’s parents were out of state for a wake and funeral.  I told Jason that if he needed any help milking or feeding calves I could help if he wanted.  Because they recently started milking three times a day (5:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 8:30 pm) I knew that they may need a bit of help.  One milking takes just over three hours, so Jason and his brother were going to be milking nearly around the clock.

When Jason called me on Sunday to ask that I come help the 170 cows that they have and do calf chores, I jumped at the chance.  Back when I lived at home and they milked cows, Mom and I did calf chores every morning.  When normal kids would get grounded from going out with friends or the computer, I got grounded from helping with calf chores or going to the barn.  Helping milk and feed calves was a nice walk down memory lane.

Lots of little calves greeted me and made it known right away that they were very hungry!

There are currently 51 calves in the calf barn right now and man alive are they cute.  The calves are split up by age and fed according to their age.  One of the fun parts of the day was teaching some of the youngest calves to drink out of a bucket.  It was really neat to see them when they “figured it out.”

Here’s one of the older calves.  When I used to help with calf chores at home, I loved looking at the calves and see if I could make a pattern out of their spots or see if a spot looked like something.

I thought this little calf was pretty cute.  It almost looks like it has a little heard on its head.

And finally….what I know you’ve all been looking for…A picture of me in my most wonderful farming clothes.

I told Jason Sunday night that I would really love to help more often.  I actually liked helping out.  I think part of it was getting out of the house and breathing fresh air.  It has rained almost everyday for the past 2 or 3 weeks, so when it was sunny and dry on Sunday, it was a real treat!

If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out some of the quilts that have been sent for mom to quilt that we will be donating to the victims of the West, Texas explosion.  I cannot believe how generous quilters are to give to complete strangers and to trust us to quilt and bind your beautiful quilts!

Make sure to stop back on Friday to check out our Friday Finish.  I’ll give you a few hints–It’s a finish for both of us–It is related to farming–and there might be something in it for you too!  Hope to see you again on Friday!