Pioneer Woman at Heart

Winter is a good time for me to sit and make homemade campfire fire starters, but I recently made another dozen. You can get directions here . These come in handy to take camping or for starting a backyard fire.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Yield:  12 You don't even need a mixer for this dough! Step 1:  1/4 warm water with 2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet) - allow to dissolve for 5 minutes. In a large bowl add: 1 cup warm water 1/3 cup sugar Stir. Then add dissolved water and yeast 1 organic egg, beaten 2 tsp. homemade vanilla extract Using a wooden spoon add 2 cups of organic all purpose flour.  Stir for at least 100 strokes with the wooden spoon.  Cover bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and allow to sit for 15 minutes. It will look like this after 15 minutes. Step 2:  Add: 1 1/2 tsp. salt Then add: 4 Tbsp. organic butter, softened Add: 1 3/4-2 cups more flour, adding it about 1/2 cup at a time.  Stir well each time you add flour. Flour your hands and knead the dough right in the bowl when you can't stir it any long (2-3 minutes). Step 3: Place the ...

I've been on "puppy duty" for a few days now.  He's such a good puppy too, but I think he senses I am a bit sad inside.  He's been stuck to me like glue, refuses to nap until his "Mom" comes home, and literally barks at me and whines, to get into my lap (ha ha!).  Before someone tells me ropes are bad for dogs, we soak it and freeze it for teething and we keep it frozen so he doesn't eat the string. He knows "sit" and will go to the gate or door to tell us when he has to go out, and if I'm busy at the sink or whatever, he'll bark to tell me he has to go out.  He's very smart. Ha ha!  If he could speak at this moment, it would be "But I don't wanna go back in yet!"  He is such a stinker, but a cute stinker. His Mom came home with flowers and a treat for me.  She said here Mom, I knew you were missing Jesse and thanks for watching my dog.  It put a smile on my face for sure. The early mornin...

It took a full 2 days to tidy up and deep clean the kitchen, but man it looks fantastic.  Aside from replacing the drawer brackets.   I even re-potted my indoor thyme plant (by the way, my outdoor thyme in the herb garden died during the heat wave - very sad face here).  I unpacked an order that sat for a week on the kitchen floor too. I shredded a lot of papers that I left pile up over winter.  Why?  I was just too lazy to go fetch the paper shredder.  When I went to get the shredder, I must have been even lazier.  I found tons of old phone bills inside, but not shredded, ha ha ha!  Oh man.  Not gonna let that pile up again.  However, I now have a lot of it for campfire starting, ha ha! I can wake up to a clean kitchen now, but to no help from my youngest.  She's off gallivanting with friends often, most likely since school will start this month. I even got a few recipes written down on real recipe cards, t...

Before the sunrise yesterday.  We are getting some beautiful morning views.   Our 20 year-old's car has been broken down for a few months, and Hubby finally go to look at it.  The part is out that needs replaced, and we hope to get it up and running.  Finally.  That's his focus.   Next focus is replacing the plastic kitchen drawer brackets with metal.  All the pots and pans are still on my kitchen table for now (I have more drawers than cupboards here).  The people prior to us, put them in that way, and they have broken now (lasted about 10 years). I had a lot to clean up in the kitchen, including clean the coffee pot.  It hasn't been brewing quick enough lately.  I even had an order that was shipped and not unpacked.  My focus stayed on the kitchen - good advice from Hubby.   Instead of placing some orders for items we need, I simply wrote out the list and kept my focus on the kitchen.  I went from...

A recent sunrise at the homestead. Thank you all for your kind words about Jesse.  It's been rough days here since he's been taken to her apt.  I'm trying to stay busy. Speaking of busy.  Since we were up early again, and I was rattling off my to-do list, Hubby gave me good advice - just focus on one thing today like the kitchen.  That's my focus this morning.  The kitchen. It's been like "wild kingdom" out here this year.  We've seen a opossum, had a ground hog that had babies and moved on, had one ground hog come to the door (eating cat food), had lots of deer, have 3 red headed wood peckers, a wren that made a nest at our door in a flower pot, have butterflies, and a bat maternity unit in our barn so far this year.  We also have a hummingbird and my yellow finch is back. If I was writing a book this summer, it would be titled "Saving the Tomatoes and Potatoes and other "GAH!" Gardening Moments."  I may just start writi...

My heart just broke yesterday.  Daughter came and picked him up.  I watched out the window as he went running past her car, and back to the door to the house.  I could see that look on her face, of shock, that her dog didn't want to go with her.  She had to grab him by his collar and put him in her car.  I'm gonna miss this guy, but most of all worry about him.  I sure hope and pray she brings him back. I'm pretty sure she won't be able to afford his flea/tick/heartworm meds, so that means he could be back soon.  Hoping anyway.  We noticed her car was not fixed since her accident, so now we know where she got the money to pay a deposit for her apartment - the insurance check (shaking my head).