Farm Photo Tour & Recipe: Zucchini “Pasta” Salad with Tomatoes, Torn Basil and Walnuts

 Muggy warm mornings and hot humid evenings, signal that it is truly the dog days of summer at Fargo Holstein’s Farm here in Wisconsin, making chore times the inevitable shirt covered in sweat, face red from work, twice a day routine. 

The month of August is a busy and rewarding time of year for farmers, and gardeners, but the work is hard and hot. Crops are being harvested and hay mows and silos are being filled, while gardens are at peak production for produce.

August on the Farm:
Did you know that traditionally the farming season began on “Plow day” which was January 1st in England, and it ended on the first day of August also known as “Lammas Day”, or the “Old World Thanksgiving Day”. – I bet you didn’t!

I sure didn’t!

Lammas Day was celebrated with great fervor in the rural communities of this country until Lincoln declared a National Thanksgiving Day in 1863, and with it came the disappearance of Lammas Day from our calendar’s, a tradition our English and Scottish forefathers enthusiastically celebrated.

      “Dry August, and warmth doth harvest no harm”
August is also known as the “drought month” in agriculture, a hot dry month of harvests and hopes of rain to help finish out crops. Here on our farm, the pastures are holding out for now, but the cows would rather eat hay out of the feeder, than work that hard walking down to the lower pastures to graze.

Yes, that is my husband straddling the ridge of the milk house roof on a ladder. I wont even tell you how he painted the tippy top, peaks of the tall sides! My husband often has a quote he says, something about “Never getting anything done if you don’t take a few risks”…or something like that. All I know is that his “getting things done” gives me grey hairs watching him take those risks!

We started off the month with a big project!

 

Ever since we bought this farm 13 years ago, we have wanted to fix up the old falling apart dairy barn, and finish the restoration project with a fresh coat of beautiful barn red paint and pure white trim to put the icing on the cake, if you will!

(Above) This was our barn about a year ago….rusty roof, leaning sides and in desperate need of paint! Not to mention, it was in no way ready to be a working dairy barn yet!

(Below) Now here we are in August, almost a year of dairy-farming later and the BIG RESTORATION PROJECT nearly complete!

There’s still a few barn boards that need to be replaced after pulling the barn back onto its foundation, and there’s still some hard to reach trim, that needs a fresh coat of white paint. But we are so happy with how much we’ve been able to fix on this great building!

I finally feel a sense of the project being finished! It’s been a long year full of hard work, and adjusting our life to fit around the dairy-farming, and to have accomplished this big project and visibly see the results, brings me so much joy! Which is silly considering all that we have done this last year! But I guess it kind of completes the look of the farm!

Before I share my recipe with you, here are a few more pictures I snapped around our farm to give you a little “tour”.

             Apples turning red, a daily reminder of that next season that is around the corner!                    ” No! No! Autumn go away! I am not ready for you yet!”

My view from the veggie garden.

We have a new puppy on the farm too! He came from a sweet family in Iowa, and the kids and I had a fun day road tripping over there to get him! We named him Chip! He is a smart, sweet Rat Terrier and he has learned to “sit” “lay down” “beg” come” and “shake” on command already! I just love this glam shot of him!

The chickens eating a giant over grown zucchini! I don’t know where those monster zucchini’s come from, but all of a sudden there they are!

 

                                                  Laney wishing she could swing all by herself….                                                    Doesn’t this kind of feel like those horrible slide shows that some of us “might” remember having to sit through at a family gathering?                          Next picture please….

Our beef calf keeping an eye on the dairy cows.

Carter and Shena in the pasture. I call her Barbie! She’s so pretty!

Yesterday I made this light and wonderfully fresh recipe and I cant wait to share it with you! It is the perfect lunch or supper side and it is made with vibrant, fresh garden veggies! If you like anything with pesto in it, this has a hint of that taste in it, but sooooo much more going for it! 

The nutty, fresh flavors of August in this recipe, will knock your socks off! 

Zucchini “Pasta” with Tomatoes, Torn Basil and Walnuts

What you will need:

8 ounces Cherry Tomatoes sliced in half

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts                                            

3 Tablespoons of torn fresh basil leaves

3 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt to taste

1 Large Zucchini

Step #1. In a medium size bowl, combine sliced tomatoes, sliced garlic, walnuts, torn basil leaves and the olive oil.

Add Sea salt to taste. Let stand while you make the zoodles!

Step #2. Thinly slice or use a zoodle maker, to make your zucchini “pasta”. Toss all ingredients together and serve!

                 I hope you liked your “tour” and give this recipe a try! You will love it!

Let me know what you think! And boy it feels good to be blogging again! Thanks for reading! Much more to come soon! More blogs, more pictures, more RECIPES! 

AND the Fall edition of “Your Best Magazine” and something else I can’t tell you about yet!!!!!!! eeeeeeeeekkkkkkk!

love -J

 

 

All pictures on The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill blog were taken by and are the property of Jessica Rogers. You must have written permission to use any image/photo. If you want to share the blog post or pin an image to Pinterest please include: https://theyellowfarmhouseonthehill.wordpress.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill Blog with a link to the original content.

 

 

 

Orange Glazed Eggnog Coffee Cake Recipe

What better way to cope with this frigid arctic blast, than a slice of this delectable citrus coffee cake! A hint of nutmeg lends that subtle taste of Christmas, and the orange zest glaze finishes it off with a bright sunny flavor, to bring you the perfect breakfast delight!

Grab a hot cup of coffee and enjoy a slice, while warming your toes by the fire, this cold New Years weekend!

Orange Glazed Eggnog Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup butter, softened
• 1 ½ Cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs (room temp.)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 C. freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 Tbs. freshly grated orange zest
• 2 ½ C. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 cup eggnog
  

  For the glaze:  1cup powdered sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 TBS orange zest, 1 to 1 ½ Tbs. eggnog, to bring it to your desired icing consistency and orange zest for garnish

• 

  Fresh squeezed orange juice is what happens when you buy to many oranges from the FFA kids!

  Instructions
  Preheat oven to 350*

• Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan, tapping out the excess flour. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, nutmeg, orange zest and salt to combine; set aside.
• Cream together butter with the sugar in a large bowl, until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs into the creamed mixture, one at a time, until combined. Stir in the vanilla, and the orange juice into the creamed mixture.
• Gradually mix in the flour mixture into creamed mixture, alternating with the milk/eggnog, beating well after each addition. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

 

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan, on a wire rack. The cake should pull away from the edges of the pan as it cools. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, before turning it out onto a serving plate.
 Cool the cake completely, prepare the glaze by stirring the vanilla extract and eggnog into the powdered sugar with a fork until smooth, add orange zest. Pour icing over the cake. Garnish with additional orange zest, if desired.

ENJOY!

-wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year!

-J

 

 

Day #4 Easy! 3 minute Dark Chocolate Cherry Fudge.

“There are angels among us “, is something you hear all the time and especially in this Christmas season. We see it in movies too, the movie industry loves a good “angel on earth” story. Even some of our most beloved Christmas movies like, “It’s a wonderful life” are centered on this theme. You hear stories about people helping strangers, and this or that happened, and maybe it was an angel, never knowing what to believe. 

“As the person who was walking down the highway in the pitch dark approached our driveway last night, I thought I knew who it might be. I open the door to the front porch, to call out and ask if they were alright, but it was not who I thought it was. It was no one I had ever seen before. A stranger.”

WHY I DIDN’T GET MY “DAY #4” CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE BLOG POST OUT LAST NIGHT!
-I was busy talking to the police! 

I had just started making supper last night, when I looked out the window above my kitchen sink, to see a truck driving unusually slow down the highway, which was generally busy with evening traffic, this time of the day.

I watched for a while and realized he was following slowly behind a person who was walking down the side of the road. The person was stumbling and tripping, while looking back at the truck, as if to imply the person in the truck was the one acting strange by following, not the person drunkenly weaving over the white line into traffic, down the side of the dark, busy highway.

As they approached our place, the person crossed in front of the truck into our driveway, walking  up towards the house!

I thought I knew who it was, so I open the door to the front porch to call out and ask if they were alright.

It was not who I thought it was, and she was a stranger to me.

A disheveled looking women, with tennis shoes, jeans and a long furry coat, no hat on this cold evening, and a crazed look on her face, came over and stood by the steps of the porch, talking as she walked closer.

She said she had just gotten in a fight with her husband, and had jumped out of the car to walk. Her eyes were especially large, as she talked about seeing “….a huge cat! A mountain lion…just back there!”, and she kept looking over her shoulder, and fidgeting while she told her story, much of the details were contradicting.

 I told her my husband had a phone she could use as we walked toward the barn, and she continued to talk more about the “huge cat” that growled at her, just down the road. I brought her down to the barn because Drew was feeding cows still, and I didn’t want her to come in the house with the kids. She had a hard time walking straight, and when I brought her through the milkhouse to go in to the barn, the echoing close noise of the vacuum pump washing the lines, made her almost fall over.

All the while, I couldn’t help but wonder if the whole situation was what it appeared or something more?

Unfortunately in this day and age even when you are helping someone, it is hard to not be skeptical. Her odd behavior suggesting that she was on something, had me on guard and I kept an eye on the house where the kids were, while she attempted to call someone.

She was anxious and nervous and didn’t want to stay in the barn very long, and despite our offers to help, she choose to continue walking towards the “nearest town”, still talking about a mountain lion, but leaving the warmth and the safety of the barn, nonetheless.

 

I walked back up to the house, all the while thinking to myself, “I have been watching too many Hallmark Christmas movies” …..

…..because my mind had gone everywhere from her being an angel, to the scarier versions of it being a distraction, while someone robbed us or worse took one of the kids, to fearing for her safety out in the cold dark night all alone. When it really was just a women, making poor choices and concerning others with her behavior.

 I called the police to see if they could send someone out to look for her and make sure she made it home alright, and awhile later we spent an hour or more talking with an officer, looking through police mug shots, adding to the description I gave dispatch earlier, and trying to help identify the wandering stranger who he was unable to locate, even though he drove the highways in both directions for a long time in search of her.

Today’s challenge:

Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

Now was this women an angel? Oh, probably not since she had symptoms of doing drugs! But is she a person in need of help, and care? Yes!

Take care of each other!

Here is a super simple, 3 minute fudge recipe I have to give to you today, with just a handful of ingredients and no candy thermometers involved it’s so easy, anyone can do it!

Dark Chocolate Cherry Fudge

 

Moist, and full of dark chocolate and  tart cherry flavor, this recipe will not disappoint!

 

1 bag Dark Chocolate Chips

1 bags Milk Chocolate Chips

1 can Sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp of vanilla extract

1 cup roughly chopped dried cherries

Grease two  8×8  or one 9×11 pan, set aside. and if you like cut a piece of parchment to fit in the bottom. 

In a medium sauce pan, melt chocolate chips  stirring constantly, add vanilla once the chocolate is melted and stir in the sweetened condensed milk. The fudge will thicken as you stir, try to remove any lumps and lastly add in the dried cherries. Pour into pan, cover almost completely with plastic wrap, leaving a small corner open to let heat out. Cool completely for several hours before cutting. ENJOY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!

-J

Day #3: I HATE IT! I HATE IT!

I am sure I had a look of amusement and wonder  on my face, though she wouldn’t have notice the way she was barreling through the busy isles, grabbing groceries and turning her frown on anyone who would glance her way as she kept grumbling to herself as she shopped.

“I hate it…I hate it…I hate it!” A very stressed women, who was pushing a cart in the store past me, repeated this out loud to herself last night in Wal-mart and continued down the aisle mumbling under her breath.

Hate what? The busy store? Christmas shopping? I felt bad for her, and I noticed the general stress on people’s faces. They were all trying their best to grab everything they needed quickly, trying not to forget anything, all the while trying to hurry up and get home away from the hustle and bustle of the store. The totally obnoxious “Christmas” music that was playing wasn’t helping things, and its no wonder people, including myself, love shopping on line!I stopped in the clothing aisle to talk with a women who works there, and who I know from church. She was trying to keep up with all the racks and stacks of clothes, that people were messing up as they looked for things. She talked for a while about Christmas, and how much she loves it and how much the season means to her, and I was struck by the contrast in these two women.

The one pushing the cart saying loudly, “I hate it, I hate it”, and the sweet diligent older women working more hours during this busy season, and still loving it so much. She was full of joy, even after being told recently by her doctor, that she needs knee surgery! Now I don’t know the other women’s story, or what she was hating so much about shopping last night, but I do know that she was NOT joyous and at least at that moment, not enjoying the Christmas season!

Today’s challenge for myself, and for this week before Christmas, is to be JOYOUS and to bring joy to others around me!

Romans 15:13

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Joyous: full of happiness and joy: cheerful · happy · jolly · merry · sunny ·

Who’s with me?

Here is another great Christmas song, played by some of my fav’s, The Piano Guys! They do a surprise concert and reaction is GREAT! Isn’t it a wonder how someone else’s smile and happiness, brings you so much joy and makes you smile too!

Watch it and then make sure to bring some joy to others today!

-J

 

The Week Before Christmas Challenge: DAY #2: Take the time to de-stress.

It’s time to let go of all the stress, and focus on the reason for this season. Come back to the basic’s and dwell in the sweet, simple moments of this week before Christmas.

The first real snow fell last week and my young hens, who have never seen a winter before, had no clue what had happened all around them.  I had a million things to do inside, and several chores to finish up outside this morning, but as the chickens started to peek their heads out of the coop, noticing the snow and cackling up a storm at the sight of it, I paused. I stood there for a good ten minutes and waited in the cold, all the things I had yet to do, slowly started to retreat from my mind. The sun warmed my face and I watched as the confused hens pecked at the cold, sparkly white snow, but still they refused to step into it.

Then the first few brave hens stepped off of the stoop, and into the snow for the first time ever in their life, and their reaction was hilarious! (Well, if you find animals amusing like I do!)

They didn’t know what to do and they started trying to fly over the snow instead of walking through it.

It was pretty funny. They did not like the cold snow and I actually had one chicken who I found ten minutes later, just sitting down in the snow back behind a planter, all by herself….just sitting down in the snow, like she was just done. She refused to move or do anything! Probably thinking to herself she was done for….”just go on without me!” hahaaaaaa…. And the rest were huddled together standing like flamingo’s, one foot up out of the snow.

Well, anyway it was so funny and I am so glad that I took the time to wait out in the cold, when I had so many other things to do. It was fun and therapeutic to just pause and watch nature for a while. So that is my challenge for you today! 

Pause!

Take the time to de-stress.

Look out your window and take in some nature, or even better go for a walk and absorb some therapeutic sunshine and fresh air, or watch a good old-fashioned Christmas movie with the family tonight, all that other stuff can wait a while longer. It’s important to take time to let the stress go, and make time for special moments for yourself, and for you and your family this busy week.

Did you listen to that beautiful song I posted on the blog post yesterday? Well, today I want to share with you one of my favorite scene’s from White Christmas (only the BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIE EVER) and one scene that I can watch over and over again! 

Have a peaceful stress-free evening!

-J

 

 

 

The Week Before Christmas Challenge DAY #1 & Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Recipe

It’s the week before Christmas and the stress is mounting. Can you feel it? Are you more of a Grinch this Monday morning than full of Christmas cheer?

I am here to help you and to tell you, you’re not alone! This week I am going to be sharing with you recipes and cheer to get your heart and kitchen ready for Christmas this coming weekend! WHY I WANTED TO SKIP CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR.

So far, this December has been the most stressful month of my life. I have had so much going on that its been an absolute blur! The somewhat still new schedule of dairy-farming has me tired and cramped for extra time during the day, and the upcoming tax season for our township, that I had to prepare for, had me up until very late several nights trying to get the envelopes stuffed and everything ready to send out right in the midst of working on a Christmas magazine and I had to upgrade my work computer at the same time, techy stuff….not my thing!

The Christmas YOUR BEST magazine I was being featured in with 8 recipes and 15 pages that are my pictures, to bake and take, left the house and kitchen a huge stirred up mess!

To say I’ve been busy, is an understatement. Adding to the stress, our little 7 month old daughter has decided she wants no one but Daddy and Mommy holding her, so there has been no break from baby for over a month, and I am at a loss for how to fix this, when we don’t really see many people all week-long to help her get used to others holding her.

Tax bills got mailed out and then the deliveries for all of the magazines to friends and family who ordered one from me, 80+ magazines started. While online Christmas shopping, children’s commitments to sports and family photo sessions needed to be squeezed in.

Then, you can add all of that CHRISTMAS stuff, like decorating, school and church programs, cards and EVERYTHING and you may see why I have been STRESSED and ready to skip Christmas as much as I can this year!

And I know I am not the only one who’s felt this way.

I love Christmas! I love decorating for it. I love working the Christmas sale at the furniture décor store in town every year. I love baking and cooking for family and friends during this season. I love buying loved ones personal gifts, to share some love and joy with them. I love it all. I love the Christmas programs and church services. I love the bible study Christmas parties and fellowship times. I love reading and discussing the story of Jesus’s birth and the reason we celebrate this season with my children. I love watching old Christmas movie classics while wrapping presents and writing out Christmas cards. I love it!

But this year I was ready to skip Christmas all together. I AM TOO BUSY FOR IT! And that’s not me at all!

I am so excited for this week. I am ready to do my Christmas thing, and be all festive and in the Christmas spirit! It’s going to happen, and it’s going to be great! Time to let go of all the stress and focus on the reason for this season. Come back to the basic’s and dwell in the sweet, simple moments of this week before Christmas.

The GREAT WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE, is a challenge for myself (and anyone who wants to tag along with me) to take the time for including the most special parts of the Christmas season this busy week before Christmas.

Peacefulness, togetherness and most importantly for me, reflection and reverence on the birth of Christ, the reason for the season.

Take time to be TOGETHER today.

• Enjoy “together time” with your family today by either making or just eating this together for dessert!

It’s one of those old classic recipes, that has been somewhat forgotten.

It tastes like a soft saltwater taffy, with a creamy marshmallow and spicy gumdrop flavor, it is a wonderful addition to any dessert table and  was a huge hit at the last family gathering I brought it too, for young and old alike.

CHRISTMAS GUMDROP NOUGATS 

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 bags mini marshmallows (250g) per bag

2 bags white chocolate chips (225g) per bag

2 cups gumdrops

Melt first three ingredients together until smooth, mix in gumdrops (I roughly chop them a bit first) Spread onto parchment lined 9×13 pan, Chill for four hours before cutting and serving. ENJOY!

• Take time to reflect on Christ’s birth. 

Think about the gift we have been given by God. That He would send His own son down to earth, for you and me.

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:29  “…the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

 

• Make time for peacefulness today.

One of my favorite ways to do that, is by listening to beautiful music,  and here is my favorite rendition of my favorite Christmas carol, it is so beautiful and will bring you peace trust me!

No matter how you choose to spend your week before Christmas, I hope you have a blessed Christmas with the ones you love!

-MERRY CHRISTMAS

-J

 

Chasing Dreams: Triumph & Trial. Pumpkin Maple Pecan Pie

 

“A SMOOTH SEA, NEVER MADE A SKILLED SAILOR.” -FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

The gentle moon casts its final beams of light, and bids farewell once again to the indigo landscape of nighttime, until late day, when he will rise up yet once more over the trees, and gleam obligingly above the barn in time for us to start evening chores, a daily routine for us both.  The busy road our farm sits near, is quiet for now,  until the stars start to dim from sight, one by one, and people begin to make their way to school and work.

Another unseasonably warm day for late November, has been forecast by the weatherman for today. The red numbers on the alarm clock read, five in the morning, and again it is time to do chores.

Balancing the big thermos of hot coffee for my husband and the baby monitor in one arm, I sip on my sloshing cup of java while I walk the short distance down to our barn from our farmhouse. My boots scuff the gravel as I sleepily trudge  down the turnaround that runs down to just outside the milk house for the milk-truck.

Drew has been awake for at least half and hour already, and is well into morning chores. The shhhhhh….shoooooo…..shhhhhh…. shoooooo….of the milkers on the cows, just barely audible from outside the barn over the blaring noise of the vacuum pump that sits outside the milk house. The sound of a neighboring farm starting chores a few ridges over, rolls over the landscape to my ears as their noisy pump turns on abruptly, the high-pitched echo slowing to a constant hummmmmm as I reach for the latch on the milk house door.

Into the little room just off of the barn, the humid, clean smell of the milk house welcomes me. Anyone who has dairy farmed or worked on one, knows that wonderful inviting aroma that a milk house has.

I push open the door into the warmth of the barn, and I am met with the sweet smell of hay and cows, and the gentle looks from the long row of big black and white Holstein’s, that stretches the length of the barn. As the cows look at me from their stalls, with their kind, brown eyes, I hurry about helping where I can, pushing up feed, cleaning up after the animals and throwing down hay and filling water tanks, while Drew does the brunt of the work. All the while keeping an ear out for the baby’s cry through the monitor and watching the clock, so I can get the kids awake and on the bus in time. 

Then with the kids off to school and Drew gone to work, I rock the baby to  sleep for her morning nap, cherishing these sweet peaceful moments with our dear little one.

As soon as she is asleep, its time for me to let the cows out, clean the barn, put down fresh bedding and their corn silage and hay  and then let the cows back in. The sun is high in the sky, its is noon by the time I am done and walking that same path back up to our yellow farmhouse, weary from the work, extremely frustrated with those two cows who wouldn’t listen to me and who refused to go into their stalls, but happy that it’s all done and that the cows are resting comfortably.

Stop dreaming! Take a leap!

We leaped, my husband and I,  and there has been much triumph among the trials! We had this long talk about a year ago, on what will we regret not trying to do? What are those dreams of ours that are in our hearts? Why are they there? His dream has always been having his own dairy farm and one of my many, was photography.

What is YOUR dream? Do you have something that is always at the back of your mind, nagging you, calling your name, saying “You could do this, it could work!” That fire that won’t go out? What is that? What is your idea? What is your talent? 

 

 

 

Just like so many things in life there are two sides to living your dream and reaching for those goals. The one side has its joys and accomplishments. Its triumph! And then the other side has its  struggles and trials, constantly testing you, polishing you. The reality is, that reaching for your dream whatever it may be, is not going to be easy. There will be highs and lows through the journey. But when you look back at your life when you are old, will you regret that you tried? Of course not! You would regret NOT trying.

So I encourage you to reach for those goals you have my friends, and help others to reach for theirs! Remembering that it is better to die with memories, than with dreams.

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has helped support my dreams and most recently ordered one of the Christmas YOUR BEST magazines that I am featured in and which has one of my photographs on the cover! You are all so sweet and I have 80 magazines to deliver to my local friends!  -THANK YOU

 http://kathyweckwerth.com/store/  Click this link to the Best Life Ministry store, if you would like to order one today for $6.00 plus shipping and handling, or if you are local, let me know and I can order you one. Kathy Weckwerth also has some wonderful books you should check out, they would make beautiful Christmas presents!

 Now for this wonderful recipe! I made it for Thanksgiving this weekend, and I really liked it. There is a pecan maple toffee crunch thing going on, on top the creamy pumpkin and it is sumptuous!

Pumpkin Maple Pecan Pie Recipe

---

• 1 Pastry Pie crust.
• rolled out, then line a 9 inch pie tin with the crust, flute edges and then poke holes in the crust with a fork to help it rise evenly.

2 slightly beaten eggs

1 15 ounce can pumpkin 

1/4 cup half and half/ or milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon  all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4  teaspoon ground cinnamon and nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

• In a large bowl stir together all above ingredients, until well combined. Pour in to pie shell and bake at 375* for 25 minutes, watch the edges of your pie crust, adding tinfoil around the edges to cover them if they start to get too done.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl stir together:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup pecans

2 tablespoons butter melted

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• After the pumpkin pie has baked for 25 minutes, pour the nut mixture over the top and then continue baking for  another 20 minutes, until pie bubbly and golden. Cool and serve with ice cream or whipped cream on top.

 

The hardest part of adjusting to this new life for me, has been managing everything that I used to get done in the mornings before, like laundry and dishes and EVERYTHING! I see the joy in Drew as he lives out his dream and that drives my ambition to help make this possible, but it’s not always easy.

Hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving weekend!

-J

 

 

 

All pictures on The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill blog were taken by and are the property of Jessica Rogers. You must have written permission to use any image/photo. If you want to share the blog post or pin an image to Pinterest please include: https://theyellowfarmhouseonthehill.wordpress.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill Blog with a link to the original content.

Buttermilk Cranberry Bars & Embracing Change

“Still round the corner there may wait a new road or a secret gate.”

– J.R.R.Tolkien

  I find myself driving the back roads of Vernon County Wisconsin where we call home, more than usual these cool October days. I cant help but grab my camera, and head out in search of a few images to capture the feeling that the colors of the season paint all around us, before they are gone for good!

We live in a truly beautiful area that is always changing so vibrantly with each season! These are a few pictures taken within a few miles of our farm.

Lower Hornby Hollow, just down from our place.

 

With the change in season’s, and the cold rainy weather that has already brought snow with it, it has left me struggling to adjust to the thought of what comes after fall!

 WINTER!!! I am not ready to hibernate for the winter yet!

I am doing better now and I have adjusted to the inevitable season that is coming.  I started up the wood stove, and brought out the mittens, scarves and hats in final surrender.

We are working on the barn every day, getting it ready to milk cows in. It is a work in progress, but it is coming along good and we are on track to start milking in a week or two.

 With all the changes happening around here lately I have been dwelling on the concept of change, and why I rebel against it so. I love AND hate change. I guess that is because of fear, I am afraid of the uncertain.

I happened to catch a part of a sermon the other morning that hit on the subject of change, as well. The pastor talked about when he graduated high school, and how a friend wrote in his yearbook, “Don’t ever change, Dude!”, he went on to say how silly of a comment that is to make to someone! Don’t ever change? Why would you want to stay the same? Like an old mud puddle,  all stagnant?

Stagnant: showing no activity; dull and sluggish: inactive · sluggish · slow-moving · lethargic · static · flat · depressed · declining  · dying · dead · dormant

 Change is GOOD! I always want to be progressing towards change. Growing in all areas of my life for the better. Learning new things, trying to reach goals and polishing skills that I have been blessed to be given. So why is it so hard?

Some may see this as not being content in life, always wanting to progress towards change and growth.  They are kind of right! I am not content to sit back and watch others do things that I want to learn myself, and I am not content to sit stagnant instead of growing in a skill! And the challenge with any skill is, that though you practice that skill over and over, often you grow little or very slowly.

I remember once, a very close friend of mine had moved back after packing up and moving several states away for a job, they eventually returned home and after spending some time together again, she told me that I had changed. I remember thinking, “of course I had changed!”, it had been years since they had moved away, and I HOPE I wasn’t the same as I was that many years ago.

Now she had meant that I wasn’t the same person, not as good of a friend. And I HAD changed a lot, I was a stay at home mom now, homeschooling my kids and I had a few little side businesses going, like my produce stand, and I was doing in home daycare for a family and I had started blogging!

I had developed a focused drive to make it all work. And it did all work! With God’s help and my husbands! I was determined and focused, but to my friend, I was not as fun or as approachable as I used to be. Now I had seen the growth I had made in those ventures as progress, and a good thing, but it took away from my time with my friends, and changed who I was. This is something I am still trying to work on.

For me as a Christian, I desire to always remain in God’s will for my life, and when I am working towards growing in different areas,  it is not always easy to balance that with everything else. I also have to be careful that I am wanting to be better in something for the right reasons! ( Colossians 3:23) As well as being careful to make time for everything.

I know its not just me that struggles to find a balance between work and life, and that this isn’t a new concept to you. We all naturally want to succeed, and be better at the the talents  or hobbies we have, while still maintaining focus on what is most important in life. So I guess this blog is a reminder to myself that change is good! And to keep reaching towards goals, while still making sure to keep friends and family close! 

Do you ever struggle with this?

Buttermilk Cranberry Bars

I have one of MY FAVORITE recipes to share with you today! This is the perfect recipe for you to try out on one of these cold, fall days!

…SOFT… CHEWY… TART… SWEET… CREAMY…YUMMY…GET IN MY TUMMY!!!

Wisconsin grown cranberry’s, the zing of orange zest, frothy buttermilk in the batter  and cream cheese frosting, add incredible flavors to this dessert!

I have held onto this recipe since I started the blog, waiting for just the right time to share it with you all, and NOW IS THAT TIME!

I always try to have dehydrated orange slices in the freezer for zesting the peel into recipes. But you can use a fresh orange too!

Buttermilk Cranberry Bars

prep 10 mins

cook 35 mins 

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• the zest from 1 orange
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour (set aside a few tablespoons of flour to coat the cranberries in)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh cranberries, coat in some of the flour before adding to the batter.
• ½ cup buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with orange zest and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until combined. Toss the cranberries with 2 tablespoons of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt in a seperate bowl.
3. Add flour mixture to the batter, a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the cranberries.
4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Bake for 35 minutes, then check to see if it is done by touching the top gently or by inserting a toothpick. If necessary, return pan to oven,keep a close eye on it.. Do not over bake.
5. Let cool completley and frost with cream cheese frosting!

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 8 Oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Cream cheese frosting: Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy. 

SERVE & ENJOY!!!

All pictures on The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill blog were taken by and are the property of Jessica Rogers. You must have written permission to use any image/photo. If you want to share the blog post or pin an image to Pinterest please include: https://theyellowfarmhouseonthehill.wordpress.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill Blog with a link to the original content.

BIG NEWS! Buying a herd & The blog in print!

 

“Come on out girls, time for breakfast! Here chick…chick…..chick” We have some BIG NEWS! It has been all about chickens and cows over at our farm the last few weeks and I will tell you why!

Fall is officially here and it is starting to look like it in the barnyard. Pumpkins and squash are being harvested and the gardens are tapering down now.The preparations for the winter season; like bringing fire wood into the basement, finishing up canning projects and clearing up gardens, naturally start to take priority as the cool weather reminds us of the next season that is coming.

Our pastured hogs have been butchered and friends and family who ordered from us this year are picking up their meat bundles now. Our freezer is full to bursting, with Angus, pork and veggies, all raised by us or family, and the pantry shelves  are getting full with jars of home canned tomato sauce, jams, jellies, veggies, salsa, sauces and pickles.

Feeder steers are fattening up and we are feeding hay to all the cattle already since the lack of rain has the pastures dry and eaten down, another sign of the season.The perennial garden flowers are already drying in the warm breezes of this early October and getting in “fall” picture sessions are a must with the beautiful colors outside now. I am taking more and more pictures for friends and family and it has been so fun!

Our beautiful niece, who I can’t take enough pictures of! She is SO cute!

OUR BIG NEWS! Each fall we have projects that are at the top of our list that we want to get done before the weather turns cold, and the frost and snow comes. This year we have more on that list than ever before, as we prepare to start milking cows on our farm!

The list of jobs to get done before the cows arrive, seems to be endless. But with the generous help of family, we are on track and making big progress in the barn. My husband is excited to have his own cows to milk before and after work each day, as he will keep working full-time at our township as a patrolman. Some of you will probably think he is crazy to “look forward” to milking his own cows each day, but then you wouldn’t realize what a true passion he has for it. Right now he milks at a few different farms several times a week just because he loves it so much.This is his dream come true to milk his own herd at our farm.

Drew jack-hammering out the old stanchions and curb.

New curb being poured.

We had to kick the chickens out of their place in the barn to make room for the cows and my parents and I have moved this old coop from their place to our farm as the chickens new digs!

Before we took it down to move it here……

My plan was to sell half of my 26 young hens, I have five more to sell on Saturday and then I will have met my goal and have twelve left for us. I have done this several times over the years, ordering extra chicks to raise and then sell, helping to pay for the raising up of our own flock.

Mom and Dad working hard on the “new” coop. We are going to put in a big window on this side!

This fall has been super busy for us so far, as we prepare for our herd of registered Holstein’s to arrive at the end off October. Buying pipe line, finding a barn cleaner and moving chickens around, is all part of this race to have everything in place and ready on time. We have had so much help from our families and it has us feeling so thankful that we live in a country were we can chase our dreams, living and loving life on our farm! On we go towards our goal!

MORE BIG NEWS!!!

I am collaborating with Best Life Ministries, YOUR BEST magazine again for the Fall edition! With recipes, pictures and an article, from The Yellow Farmhouse On The Hill!

I hope you take a minute to check out this wonderful ministry,  Best Life Ministries  and for those of you who are local, you can order your own copy of the magazine straight from me and I will get it to you!

Thanks for reading for all the support you always give with such love!

-J

All pictures on The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill blog were taken by and are the property of Jessica Rogers. You must have written permission to use any image/photo. If you want to share the blog post or pin an image to Pinterest please include: https://theyellowfarmhouseonthehill.wordpress.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill Blog with a link to the original content.

 

 

 

The Corner Cafe Where I Fell In Love…

Call me old-fashioned. If you know me well, it is easy to do, I don’t try very hard to hide it at all, I am truly an old-fashioned soul.

The charm of era’s past call to me and I can’t help but be drawn in by the mood and comfort that old music, movies  or even antiques evoke. My sister is the same way, we love “old stuff”. Summer is nearing its end, my day’s are filled with canning and picking produce but when I can, I try to slow down and enjoy the charm of summer.

As I am writing this, Dinah Shore is crooning Johnny Mercer’s “Skylark” on my Pandora station, warming my soul with those “old-fashioned feelings”!

“Oh skylark,
Have you seen a valley green with spring
Where my heart can go a-journeying
Over the shadows and the rain

To a blossom-covered lane
And in your lonely flight
Haven’t you heard the music in the night
Wonderful music

Faint as a will o’ the wisp…..”

 

-Johnny Mercer , Skylark.

Take a listen, you’ll see what I mean about that “old-fashioned feeling”.

The corner cafe, where I fell in love with cooking

As the summer days shorten and that crisp autumn season seems to emerge from nowhere, I am reminded of a favorite summer full of charm. I was nineteen and I had just been hired at my first “real” job. It was a corner cafe in a sleepy town, right off of a busy bike trail. Most of our customers were on summer vacations, and they would peddle up for a nice lunch or just a slice of our iconic square pie, on their way down the bike path.

I am in blue, this was my last day! Moving on to a new job to manage and help open the Cold Stone Creamery in  Onalaska, WI.

The cafe was an old general store, that served as both antique store and cafe. The walls  on both sides lining the restaurant and the upstairs were stacked with antiques. Eclectic style was personified in both the antique pieces in the booths and the wonderful people who I worked with there.

This special place  was called Gina’s Pies are Square. After a half hour drive through Amish country to get to work in the mornings, I would help open up this quaint shop with friends, a cup of freshly brewed coffee and the sound of Frank Sinatra playing on the radio, filling the old store front with the warmth only music  can bring, floating  all the way up to the pressed tin ceiling.

A postcard tucked in my recipe scrapbook of Gina’s Pie’s R Square. This picture of the old store front in Wilton, Wisconsin was drawn by one of my favorite people who I worked with there, Rochelle!

I had so much fun working at Gina’s and I know that the atmosphere  and the people I worked with was why it was  so easy to fall in love with cooking there. Gina ran her cafe and managed her employees with love and laughter and she taught her passion for simple, delicious food to me, with patience. The menu was homemade  soup and sandwiches, and pizza’s, coffees, Italian soda’s and homemade, from scratch pies, that were baked in square tins. Old fashioned favorites like sour cream raisin and blackberry pie, along with more unique ones like Oatmeal Guinness Stout Pie! She had a nick-name for every local who walked through the door and you felt like you knew them from the lively stories she would share about their lives in the little town of Wilton and beyond!

This was the summer I got engaged! I started buying antiques for the first time that summer as well, many from the shelves at Gina’s and just about every surrounding antique store, for my future house and life with Drew. And this was the summer I learned how to cook new exciting things I had never tried to make before, I fell in love with cooking. 

It was such a great summer!

 Remember those old Country Time Lemonade commercials way back in the 1990’s (some of you younger readers have probably never seen) the ones that made you just want to hang onto summer forever?

“Due to the scheduling of fall,  Summer will be a short ninety-four days…… So while there’s still time, take the long way home…..For these day’s are best enjoyed slowly……”

Those warm and homey feelings  are echoed in the simple moments these late summer days here on our farm. Drew working down in the barn, the sound of the milker on the cow at evening chores, the kids playing on the tire swing after school, the sideways light of dusk hitting them in golden streaks and the clip clop of our Amish neighbors driving by in their buggy, going home after a day of work down the road. These congenial, summertime habits are so beautiful to witness.

I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.  -Laura Ingalls Wilder

 Enjoy the rest of summer!

Thanks for reading,

-J

 

All pictures on The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill blog were taken by and are the property of Jessica Rogers. You must have written permission to use any image/photo. If you want to share the blog post or pin an image to Pinterest please include: https://theyellowfarmhouseonthehill.wordpress.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to The Yellow Farmhouse on the Hill Blog with a link to the original content.