Not exactly barbecued ribs

Tres leches cake is still chilling (not like "chillin" or "chillaxin" simply in a refrigerator for two hours). The side dish honestly turned out better than the entree. We had oven baked chicken strips with a honey mustard sauce - no big whoop. I found a Paula Deen recipe, modified it a bunch and it was yummy. Ingredients are in bold lettering -

Sumer Squash Casserole

Wash and coarsely chop 6 cups of squash (use a mixture of yellow, zucchini and or whatever sumer squash you have available).

Preheat 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the squash and cook - stirring occasionally, until the squash begins to break down or appear very well done - 15 to 20 minutes. Line a colander with a double layer of paper towels - place the cooked squash in the lined colander, squeezing excess moisture from the squash. Set aside.

In the already used frying pan, saute a large coarsely chopped onion in about 3 or 4 tablespoons butter. Cook onion until transparent and beginnng to brown slightly.

Have ready 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of ground black pepper, salt and a dash of garlic powder. Add one small can diced green chilis and a small jar of diced pimento which has been drained. Mix all the ingredients together and put into a 2 qt. casserole dish, top with one cup of crushed cheddar crackers (I used the new Ritz toasted cheddar crackers). Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350.

I'll be back with the cake later tonight or more likely tomorrow. The weather was hot and humid and the flags were flying all over town near Buhlaland.

God Bless Y'all Thank a veteran or the family of a fallen soldier for your freedom - cliche phrase but true - freedom is NOT free.

Everything old is new again

I posted last night but apparently had started my post much earlier so newest post is hiding - scroll down a bit to the Tracks - according to the blog gremlins that would be 3 posts older - but actually it is the newest - ergo - all things old are NEW again.. Since it is Sunday I get to do another plug - I am a new creation in Christ - try being renewed and if you don't know how, haven't felt that way in years or simply aren't sure it is true - click on Not Religion on the right side of my blog screen . I'm not very keen on "religion " - too often used to create an image rather than a relationship with the Risen Lord. Try it - only bad thing that could happen is you might realize what you've been missing. Now back to our regular blogging program - scroll down and see the snow in Buhlaland.
(This is Palm Sunday - don't idolize someone and praise them without knowing who they really are and where following them might take you - just a thought.)

Thanksgiving food and memories

Don't panic, of course we spent time praying in gratitude for the OVER abundance of our blessings - we had a great walk early,just as the sun was coming up. DH and I are delighted with the beauty of where we are living.

That being said -

I hate to shock people, but for those in the south or raised by southerners - Thanksgiving is about the food, well the food and the football. Unfortunately for my "adoring public" - not much of the food turned out great. I tried several "low fat, no cholesterol, super healthy" recipes due to our current need for cholesterol lowering, fat reducing getting fittedness (not bothering to use spell checker today!). Mashed potatoes were excellent, cranberry sauce was good, gravy was OK, green beans were simply a vegetable. BEST part was the turkey breast. For 3 of us - a whole bird would have been too much. Earlier in the week, a tv chef did a herb and olive oil mixture under the turkey breast skin before cooking it and I decided to try her method. WOW - very moist, lots of flavor and the best we've done. I semi brined the breast ( for the last 2 hours of thawing it was in a huge bowl of lukewarm water salty water and seasonings). After drying off the turkey, loosened the skin to make a pocket in which to put the herbal essences (that sounds like I used hair products doesn't it?) In a Cuisinart,finely chopped onion,olive oil, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, flat leafed parsley, sea salt and a mixture of freshly ground peppercorns (white, pink , green and black - available at WalMart ). Put prepared turkey in a small roaster - in oven around 350 degrees for an hour, put the roaster cover over it for another hour. After the second hour timer went off - I began testing with digital thermometer until it reached about 175 internally. Just delish and will do this again for sure - you could use any kind of seasonings and make it totally different.

My Mom was a great cook - she made everything from scratch and our holidays were amazing meals, we'd wake up to the smell of sage, onions and celery on Thanksgiving. She usually baked the dressing separate from the turkey. Drier dressing makes a great receptor for gravy!

Dressing in my household is artery clogging level of fattening because it is made with a couple of sticks of butter,6 or 8 whole large eggs and lots of rich cornbread. To go low fat , used healthier recipe for cornbread and whole wheat bagels - added usual sauteed in broth chopped celery, onions, parlsey, pimento and mushrooms, generous measure of poultry seasoning - then eggbeaters instead of real eggs with low fat chicken broth to moisten. Turned out to have a lot of texture (euphemism for a little grainy) and plenty of taste.

Thanks Mom for teaching me to try new things (even some that definitely went in the trash )- if you don't try you don't find great new foods or for that matter new people, adventures or ways to remove facial hair.

The smells and work of a holiday definitely create nostalgia for being at home with my parents and brother - watching the Macy's parade on TV, nibbling on whatever goodies were already on the dessert table and being together as a family with inside jokes and eye rolling lame stories- all the stuff you don't know you'll ache for and miss until much later in life.

Here in Buhlaland, we ate well, too much and talked a lot about memories. It is good.

Does and others

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred. Proverbs 15:17

We are having some friends over for dinner tomorrow after church (that would be lunch in other parts of the USA). The menu is challening my culinary inventiveness- there are food sensitivies/preferences involved. Mentioning that is not a complaint - I love the challenge . Currently looks like we'll be having beef pot roast with carrots/potatoes, baked chicken, salad, fruit platter, wheat rolls, apple crisp and an eggfree/milkfree chocolate cake. So there'll be more than vegetables but also fellowship with absolutely NO hatred. To segue to the goats is too complicated so here is the tale of how we started keeping goats:

When you live on even a little acreage in Texas you definitely want to maintain the ag property tax exemption. At least the tax savings was our line of thought when beginning our goat enterprise! fter being given a buck and a wether 4 years ago, we purchased does with some kids and began to fence. The fencing and much of the physical/engineering work falls to my multitalented spouse. I do maternity duty and make runs to the feed store or veterinary supply. A goat herd justifies the agricultural exemption even though definitely not a money maker most years. 2007 has brought a glut of animals on the market - so we are in a holding pattern to schedule selling this year's wethers. We are keeping does born this year. Right now I am still having fun naming the does. In case there are ever people actually reading this blog and you are new to goat terminology a quick dictionary: in a group of goats, male goats are bucks and female goats are does while their babies are kids. My favorite (lame) joke is that goatkeepers are the only people society won't condemn for selling their kids! Anyway - neutered male goats are wethers. Enough classroom - three '07 doe kids need names. First choice of naming rights go to our new friend, Ellie.

This lovely little gal pictured to the right (now officially named Violet) is a twin born in January - her mother's name is Crybaby, she has older half sisters, Hannah and Bananna and is very long legged for her age. She loves to eat tree leaves while standing on her hind legs like her mom. The next candidate (Now known as Montana - rhyming with Bananna and Hannah as well as honoring the TV show)is a granddaughter of CryBaby. CryBaby's identical twin does from 2005 are Bananna and Hannah - this '07 little doe was born to Hannah . She is white with long black ears like her mom and grandmother.

Last but definitely NOT least is Nubiana's little doe (Ta DA! Drum roll please for the lovely and feisty ELLIE )- a fraternal twin born about 7 weeks ago. She is a pretty dark brown color with white - I especially love the big white blaze down her face. Her brother is white with light caramel markings. She is very feisty - never backing down from the older/larger kids and staying very close to her male twin. Unlike her mother - she will have horns - the hornless trait doesn't breed true.

Below is Nubiana - with a bit of plant hanging hanging out of her mouth. She is naturally without horns - we do not dehorn our goats. Nubie is the mother of Norman (shown in previous post). This is the little buck (named Boudreaux - our Cajun attitude little fella - let the good times roll!)born two days ago having a meal with his mom, Norman, protecting him from my camera! Norman is definitely a sweet gal. Her kid from 2006 is a doe named YoYo - which makes Norman "YoYo's Ma" - an affectionate homage to the great cellist!

Today's post is longer than most will be - I'm at the real estate office and it has been very slow today. My hard working husband did mowing around the house and weed trimming around our office. He came across a couple of copperheads - this is a bad year for snakes and we are cautious when the grasses get high. :::shudder::::: one of the goats - Bananna, apparently was snake bitten recently - poor gal had a very swollen head but slowly is recovering. It is always an adventure here - some adventures have happy endings! See y'all later.