What I have V. What I want/need...Day 5

This is sort of an odd prompt for a photograph. So...I had to kind of adapt to fit something in. All my basic needs are met, and I have no complaints. What I realize I would really like some more of though, is time. Many of us probably share this sentiment. Life goes by so quickly.

Tonight, like many nights, I had high hopes of getting some studying in for my upcoming finals and getting a writing assignment finished that is due this weekend. What I actually accomplished was different that what I wanted to accomplish, hence my title. I had a lovely Cinco De Mayo Mexican dinner while catching up with a fellow TwentySomething. Plus, I got to meet her cute, new furry friend. He's adorable. After this visit, I got my dishes cleaned, and a small portion of my writing assignment completed. Then...I remembered my last actual (learning- not finals) class of the semester which is tomorrow morning, is having a potluck breakfast. I decided to make some banana nut muffins because I had all the ingredients and muffins are fairly simple. In between talking to my beau, making the muffins, and cleaning up the muffin dishes, I'm tired and ready to go to bed. So what I have is a really lovely batch of muffins to share with my classmates tomorrow, and what I want/need is some more time to study and write before my finals next Monday and Tuesday. I have faith I will get through them all alive though, even though I could really use some more time.

By the way, it was a tasty recipe. Go here. Instead of all butter, I used 1/3 the amount of butter, 2/3 applesauce (for a total of 3/4 of a cup). And walnuts instead of pecans. Yummmmmmmmm................

The Farmer's Daughter

Days 7 & 8: Wrapping Paper, Peace

I have fallen behind a little on my photo posts as well. I bought some wrapping paper to wrap all the Christmas gifts for my fellow Twenty Somethings. This isn't a very exciting photo, but you can see what it looks like at least. In my family, I have been coined the wrapper of gifts. I have always enjoyed it and some other people in my family do not, so I usually wrap my own gifts as well as my Mom's and my brother's. Dad likes to wrap his own though, you can always find Dad's packages under the tree! Ha

Today, peace was the challenge. I used my imagination a little for this. Today was a peaceful day for me because I didn't have to go into work and I got to spend the day relaxing (except for my one online final). I made some banana nut bread and when those lovely smells filled the house, I felt accomplished and happy. So, that's my take on today's challenge.

Baking Adventures

This weekend I discovered that The Great British Bake Off is now on Netflix! Of course when the show started airing in the United States it became known as the The Great British Baking Show. Not as cool of a name but a great show nonetheless. I became attached to this show when I was couchsurfing in England. One of my hosts watched the show the first night I was there. As soon as I returned to the US, I was pleased to find it online. Now I am ecstatic to find the first season on Netflix. Hopefully more will be added in the future.

Watching this show inspired Heather and I to make a cake at 9 pm on Friday evening. We are the greatest of homebodies: watching cooking shows and baking on a Friday night. Since I was dogsitting, it was an adventure in the kitchen to find everything we needed without having to go to the store. We were successful in finding everything except cinnamon; we substituted cinnamon sugar. Here are the results:

Since the verse on YouVersion that day was Psalm 34:8, we found it fitting to make a picture. 

Once I'm in the baking mood, I must continue. This month I am also trying to slow down my grocery spending and learn to use what I have instead. This is inspired by the 31 Days of Living Well and Spending Zero Challenge, but I have modified it to fit my lifestyle. Maybe a future post on that adventure. Because of that challenge, I didn't want to buy anything for my baking except milk, bread, and eggs. Thankfully, I already have flour and sugar and the other basics on hand.

My latest baking started with this recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for chocolate chip cookies. Naturally, I couldn't just make boring chocolate chip cookies. During the mixing process, I threw in some cocoa (I just emptied what I had left) and used Toll House chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips. I guess I created double chocolate chip cookies. Then I decided I wanted to make s'more cookies. I started melting butter and marshmallows just like I would for a rice krispie treat. My plan was to put marshmallow and graham cracker on the top of the cookies. Maybe it was a lack of recipe or maybe I was trying to do too many things at once, but it didn't work. The marshmallow was hardening in the pan faster than I could get it on the cookies. 

Well that's all for my baking adventures thus far. Next I want to try making bread again. I'm still on the search to find the perfect bread recipe.

For now,

Granny Eyre

Recipes Anyone?

It's squash & zucchini season, y'all! What have you been doing with the veggies that you've gotten? At home, Mom usually breads the squash and fries them in a cast iron skillet or slices, marinates, and grills them. I have only tried a couple other ways myself, one being the zucchini noodles with marinara sauce for a delicious alternative to spaghetti noodles. I have also made squash/zucchini bread which is usually scrumptious! I don't think I've ever had one of these recipes that I didn't like. But, I know there are MANY more ways to fix them, so please share your recipes too!

Yesterday I decided to use one of my squash in a zucchini bread. I found this recipe on yummly and I liked it because it combined bananas, zucchini and chocolate chips all in one! The fat and sugar in the recipe didn't seem too excessive either, compared to some recipes I found, so I went for it. I replaced the zucchini for yellow squash, the canola oil for coconut oil, and I sprinkled chocolate chips on top! Here's my version of the recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup coconut oil (Alt: canola, vegetable) 
• 1/2 cup sugar (granulated) 
• 2 cups zucchini/ yellow squash (grated)
• 4 ripe, mashed bananas 
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
• 1 T ground cinnamon 
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl beat eggs. Add oil, sugars, and vanilla and beat 1 minute more. Add mashed banana and grated zucchini and beat again until well combined, about 1-2 minutes. 
3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Stir flour mixture into wet batter until well combined.
5. Stir in about 3/4 cup of chocolate chips.
6. Divide batter evenly between two load plans. Use remaining chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of batter. 
7. Bake 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted into the center. 
8. Cool about 10 minutes before transferring out of pan and on to cooling rack.
9. Enjoy! It's perfect warm, with some milk! 

I also recently found this recipe for Zucchini Fritters. It sounds tasty. 

Share some of your recipes with me too? 

The Farmer's Daughter

These are a few of my favorite things...

Looking down our blog, I realize almost all of us have made lists in our posts lately...I think lists are really easy to read and it makes the post look so organized. So, I'm going to cave to peer pressure and follow the trend. I'm not sure why I have the urge to make this post, but I've been wanting to make a post of some of my favorite things. In a way it's sort of a spin-off on the 'thankful' posts like Martha S. and Captain Something Fun made...because of course, I'm very thankful for my favorite things. Here goes:

1. Fru fru coffee/ espresso drinks (and coffee shops)...as the other Twenty-Somethings know, I love the comfort, low-lighting and of course the specialty drinks of coffee shops. Anyone want to meet up at one sometime soon? :) Also, I recently bought a carton of Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha iced coffee drink at the grocery..it was a splurge, but it's pretty good!

2. Pinterest. I could spend hours on there and still not get enough. I have been getting alot of good gift ideas off of there lately...and ideas for Christmas crafts too!

3. Baking. This is especially a favorite around the holidays. It's so much fun trying new recipes and sharing the goods with other people. Buddy the Elf said "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."...I think the best way to spread Christmas cheer is actually baked goods. ;)

4. Christmas movies (and music)! Oh, I need to get to re-watching my old favorites and remembering to turn on the Christmas music, because they both make me happy!

5. Crafting...I absolutely love being able to make things for myself and the people I care about. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been knitting alot and I find making things to be a great stress-reliever. If you're looking for another reason to start knitting or crocheting, check this out, it's a craft that's good for your health!

6. My family's pets. Speaking of stress-relievers..it's so nice to live with and around so many animals. They're a good excuse to get outside and take a walk, plus they're always around to hug and love on whenever you need it. And...they always greet me with a wagging tail when I come home late and my parents are asleep.

7. Taking Pictures! Since getting a smart-phone I don't take nearly as many high-quality photos as I have in the past. But, high-quality or not, I love taking photos. Right now I'm participating in a December photo challenge and I'm posting a photo everyday to Instagram. Most of the photos have something to do with the Christmas season and I think it's kind of a fun way to get into the spirit of the holidays. Plus, I always love looking back at my old photos.

8. Jason. Last, but certainly not least. I love this boy to death. He isn't a thing, but he is my favorite.

Of course, this is only a few of my favorite things. Time to wrap it up though and get back to being productive! I hope you're all having a lovely start to the Christmas season!

The Farmer's Daughter

So much fun!

There have been so many reasons I should have made blog posts these past couple weeks, but I haven't felt motivated to. So, I will make this blog post very full of news and adventures I have been having in the month of August and early September!

I've been baking. I made blueberry scones recently and they were delicious! I froze about half of them to get out as I crave them and they freeze really well. I just pop them into the microwave and they're a tasty breakfast. Everyone in my family was impressed with them. If anyone is interested in making some, I used this recipe!

The state fair. I had loads of fun with my parents and my beau at the Kentucky State Fair. It has been several years since I had been to the fair so it was a real treat to go this year. We had so much fun checking out the animals, entries & exhibits, and watching performers! 

Top photos: award-winning decorative cakes;
bottom left: duck-tape flowers entered by a 4-Her; and the largest watermelon! 

Exploring Luh-ah-vul. Labor day weekend, my beau and I went to Louisville to celebrate the anniversary of our first date-- we've known each other for 1 year! :) We ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory which was scrumptious and walked around St. Matthew's Mall. Then we went to downtown Louisville where WorldFest 2014 was going on. There was a large number of people at this festival and some interesting cultural performers along with numerous vendors. On the walk back to the parking garage we needed to find a bathroom and we happened upon a really interesting hotel by turning down Main Street. It's called 21c Museum Hotel and it was an eccentric place. We went inside and were unsure what this place may be. There was so much neat artwork and exhibits that we thought it was just an art museum, then we realized it was a hotel and a sort of modern art museum. It was a fascinating place. If you're ever near Main Street in Louisville I would recommend stopping in just to look around. 

One of the hotel's exhibits which could be seen from outside the building

Fun Outside. 
Last weekend my beau finished up cutting and baling his hay. I decided to help him out and on Saturday I went to his farm and helped him move the hay out of the field. We both started on tractors, then when we got farther out into the field we used his truck, "Bondo", and trailer to haul several bales at once. We spent from mid-afternoon through the entire evening hauling hay bales. It was tiring but I was glad I could help him out!

My view from Bondo

To celebrate Labor Day my beau, his cousin and I took a trip to a nearby creek with the ATVs and went riding in and around the creek and on surrounding trails. We really enjoyed the riding and the scenery was beautiful.

The beaver dam from a distance

The big catch. Yesterday we took a fishing trip with the beau's grandpa and cousin. I reeled in the biggest fish of my life last night and it was very exciting! It was a 5 pound large mouth bass; it's given me a little bit of a fishing bug...We hope to go night fishing soon!

I hope you've enjoyed my random update. I'll try not to wait as long until my next post!
The Farmer's Daughter