Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Monday, December 7, 2015

One Big Job Complete ~ Whiskey Sticks

In July of 2014, we came home to this.  Free wood.  Delivered for free.  Pieces were bigger and taller than myself, and wide.  Very wide.
Guess what?



Ta-Da!  All done.  We have a few pieces we rolled into the barn to cut during our next work weekend, but the debris is all cleaned up and it's looking nice again.

I have almost all of the brush cleaned up from the tree, so the next step is wood splitting.  Then that'll free up space to put the tree when we finally cut it down. 

We are very thankful to have good weather to get this done.
Oh, and Hubby and I patched up a few gaps in the goat barn, and it's looking better and better.

I think I will be picking up sticks weekly, as the dead tree out back graciously provides. 

He ended the afternoon with football and flannels, and I baked us some whiskey "sticks" .

  This time I used 1 tsp. cayenne vs. 1/2 tsp.  I also used a non-gmo pretzel "chip" vs. whole thick pretzels.  I used 3 - 7.5 oz. bags of pretzel chips, spreading them out on two baking sheets (with a 1 inch side).  On the stove, in a small pan, melt 1 stick butter, add 1 heaping Tablespoon brown sugar, 3 Tablespoons whiskey, 1 tsp. cayenne and 1 tsp. garlic powder.  Heat on low until dissolved.  Spoon mixture over pretzels, toss to coat.  Bake at 250°F for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through bake time.  If you don't like it that spicy, cut the cayenne to 1/2 tsp.

We slept well last night. 

6 comments:

Mama Pea said...

Hmmmm . . . wonder if the good sleep was from the hard work getting those huge logs cleaned up or the whiskey sticks! ;o)

We have 12' long logs of hard maple that are nearly as big round as those you just finished working up. We've been avoiding them for quite a while now. Good thing we don't need the wood right now. We can procrastinate for a while yet.

Kim said...

I am so happy for you. I know what an emotional boost it is to complete a task that was so daunting to start with. Merry Christmas!

Susan said...

That sounds so good! I have found a great source of GF pretzels that don't cost and arm and a leg (only an arm) and this sounds like the perfect antidote to a dark, dreary winter's day! What a relief it must be to look out on tidy grounds!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Mama Pea, you made me laugh. I love the smell of the butter melting with the whiskey. It smells so good. Of course the cayenne and garlic can be made from homegrown peppers and garlic too. I may try it with my "fire powder" yet.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks Kim, I am so glad that job is done.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Susan, you would love the pretzels. It would make a nice gift idea too. Yes, it is such a relief to not see chaos out my door.