The Farm Chicks

My Prairie the Beautiful

O beautiful, for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America!  America!  God shed His grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.

(Pictures from my morning run on our beautiful prairie).

More fun flatware

Our blogging friend Magpie Ethel is a fan of colorful flatware too!  I love the pink plaid on the far left.  Thanks for sharing Laurie!

Fun Flatware

I'm a sucker for colorful summer flatware and it's right about this time that the seasonal patterns go on sale!  I've slowly collected enough to serve up a fairly large gathering.  I love being able to use them instead of plastic.  They don't all match, but I'm ok with that. 

Movie Munchies

In the summer, we love watching movies on our back deck, projected up onto the outside wall.  It's sort of like the drive-in, just more comfy.  And we love lots of munchies.

This old drawer works as the perfect carry-all for all our movie munching needs.

America the Beautiful!

Steve and I just returned from a trip to Glacier National Park.  I don't know what took us so long...it's just a days drive away.  It's amazing what a few days away from cell phones, computers and errands can do!  I packed a picnic lunch for our first days drive and we found a great place on the river to stop and eat.  Afterwards we decided to stretch our legs and went on a hike down to the "swinging bridge" that crossed the river...

I''m sure it's safe...there's a five person limit.

Did I mention that it's high and the river is swift?
 
This is about the time that little boy behind me decided to see if it would be fun to jump up and down...it wasn't!

We stopped by Wheat Montana Bakery early the next morning for a cup of coffee and picnic lunch to take with us. I just discovered that they have recipes on their website! 

Lake McDonald was one of our first stops. 

The Going-to-the-Sun road is an amazing drive!  It's a very narrow road, just wide enough for two cars to carefully pass each other.  You want to go slow anyhow because the scenery is amazing!
 

We went on a few little hikes at Logan Pass, but the main trail was still under a lot of snow.  Gives us another reason to go again! 

We live in such a beautiful country and I'm grateful that someone before me recognized that this should be preserved for future generations! 

Home Again

We're home from Nantucket and had a wonderful time.  Once we arrived, it was no hurrying or scurrying the entire time.  Just relaxing, happy, family fun.

We love renting a big house where our families can all be together, and the cousins can have lots of room to play and explore.  Wiffle ball games, hide and seek, treasure hunts, perfume making, and bike riding were some of their favorite activities.  We even watched a turtle lay her eggs in the yard.  Nantucket is beautiful.  No doubt about it.  Here are some of the things I loved:

Bright Lights, Big City

We're zipping away to New York City next week to do some taping for CBS - The Early Show as well as some other neat opportunities.  It should be a fun adventure.  We've had some really memorable times in New York, and we're looking forward to some more.

We'll be appearing live on The Early Show, Tuesday, July 14th.

We should have more details to share next week.  We hope you'll be able to tune in!

Patriotic Popsicles

Greet the hot days of summer with these tasty and healthy popsicles.

Ingredient:

Really ripe fresh fruit (or juice) of your choice

Honey or sugar to taste, if desired

Directions:

Blend (or mash) fresh fruit. Pour into small containers and insert popsicle stick. If you’re using fruit juice, allow juice to freeze to the slushy point before inserting popsicle stick. Freeze completely. Run hot water over outside of container for a few seconds and insert a tiny knife between popsicle and container to loosen. The popsicle should pop right out.

TIPS:

• Really sweet and juicy ripe fruit is the key ingredient here. If a less sweet fruit is all you can find at the farm or market, sweeten with your preference of honey or sugar to taste.
• Use a variety of containers for a mixture of shapes and sizes. We like using tiny glasses, old single serve ice-cream containers, ice-cube trays and Dixie cups.
• Layer colors such as red, white, and blue, for a patriotic pop. Begin with the bottom layer, and freeze. Continue adding layers as each layer freezes. We used strawberries for the red, coconut nectar for the white, and blueberry for the blue.
• Ribbons not only look cute, but help to catch little drips.

Gotta love freebies!

My sister Beth told me about this great free paint offer!   It just so happens that we're in the middle of redoing our little bathroom just off of the kitchen.  I needed to pick up a quart of paint for the cupboard so the timing is perfect!  They're only offering it for a limited time...so go check it out!  Thanks Beth!

UPDATE:  Glidden has announced that due to the overwhelming response they have run out of their alloted "free quarts".   They're now offering a $5 rebate on any size can of paint. 

This just makes me happy!

I've always wanted a toy Wolverine stove and I recently found one!  It's little oven is the perfect place to store my dishcloths and my favorite never rust soap pads that I use on my big girl stove can sit right on top. Actually makes me want to do my dishes!

A Family Business

Teri and I are all about family businesses.  After all, our families play a huge role in what we do and are our biggest supporters.  We can't help but cheer when we discover other family businesses that we love.

When Colin and I were on a recent trip to Seattle, we met up with our friend, John Granen, who happens to be the talent behind most of the photographs in our book.  At John's suggestion, we met for dinner at the Steelhead Diner, which just so happened to be right across the street from our hotel.  We were so glad we did.  The food is unbelievably good.  In fact, Colin declared it to be the best meal he's ever had.  Wow!  And when some friends had brunch there recently, they declared it a "home run!"  So, bravo to chef Kevin Davis and his wife Terresa for working so hard to create such a gem.  We know how much work can go into a family business and love that they are succeeding!

And thanks to John for all of these amazing photographs from the Steelhead Diner.

Little touches

We hosted a party at our house this week end to celebrate Allie's graduation from college.  We did it picnic style in the front yard and served sandwiches along with a couple salads, chips, fruit...all the basic party food.  I put the condiments in my little gingham glasses, but wanted people to know what they were getting so I made signs out of our little tags.  I then just taped them onto little appetizer skewers and placed them over the edge of the glass.  I did the same thing with the sandwich meat and the strawberry lemonade dispenser.  Sometimes it's all the little things that add up to make a simple, casual gathering a little more special. 

Stripey Straws

Thanks to Jordan, I've discovered a place to buy the cutest, stripey-est, papery-est straws ever!  You can find them here.  Yippee!

(Image from Jordan's blog)

We Brake for Shakes

After a hot summer's day of strawberry picking, it's hard to resist whipping up a strawberry shake for an afternoon treat.  Some great shakes can be found at the local High Country Orchard, perfectly located near the berry patches we love.

High Country Orchard Strawberry Shake:

1/3 cup Fresh Strawberry Blend (see below)

6 oz. whole milk

3-4 scoops premium strawberry ice cream

1 oz. Torino strawberry syrup

Prepare Fresh Strawberry Blend (see below) in your blender.  Add remaining ingredients and blend until thoroughly combined.  Pour into a frozen glass and top with whipped cream.

Fresh Strawberry Blend:

Blend 1/3 cup fresh washed and trimmed strawberries (the riper the better) with a little bit of sugar.

 

Tips:

Prepare several batches of the Fresh Strawberry Blend and individually freeze for use once the season has passed.  Microwave or thaw the mixture before use.

Freeze whole strawberries for other favorite recipes.  Wash and trim and place on a cookie sheet.  Leave room between berries so each will freeze individually.  Freeze and place into a freezer bag.  Remove handfuls of berries as needed.

A Trip to the Berry Farm

One of our favorite summer traditions are multiple trips to the berry farms located just minutes from our home.  My children really love picking out their berry flat carrier and hopping on the tractor for the ride to the field.

There are always contests they dream up to see who can pick the most or eat the most and everyone leaves with red, strawberry scented fingers and red-ringed lips.

Tips for the trip:

We try to pick in the early morning to avoid the mid-day heat and to avoid "baking" the berries as they sit in the flats.

The boys always end up with strawberry stains on their clothing, but they are easily removed when I pre-treat them before washing with ERA detergent.

Grow your own Patch:

Strawberries are really easy to care for and with some basic care at the end of the season, you can enjoy strawberries fresh from your own garden.

• In the fall, mow or clip down your strawberry plants to avoid pesky bug infestations.
• Cover completely with straw for protection against harsh weather.  (Avoid using hay as it encourages weed growth).
• In the spring, uncover the plants and move the straw to surround each one.  The straw will act as a natural weed barrier and will keep the area mud-free for your knees at picking time.