Country Weekends in the Summer

 

 This is what our weekends have been looking like so far this summer.  

 

 Our twelve year old son dug us a much bigger fire pit, so we've been having campfires galore.

 

 With so many flowers and shrubs blooming, the bumblebees are swarming around our farmhouse.

 

 And with so many summer birthdays around here, our resident cupcake baker has been quite busy.

 

This weekend she made chocolate cupcakes stuffed with her special peanut butter frosting, topped with chocolate shavings.  They were to die for and worth every gram of carbohydrates.

 

 Our grandson has been cruising and crawling around, and fortunately, we have many energetic bodies to keep up with him because he is busy!

 

All kinds of things are hatching out and metamorphosing. 

There have been some tricky puzzles that only a few family members could solve.  She, by the way, figured out to open this almost immediately.  It was putting it back together that made everyone a bit crazy.

 

We've had some adorable baby interactions going on between the species.

 

 It wouldn't be a summer weekend without plenty of front porch sitting.  But I'll have more on that in my next post.

 

 How did you spend your weekend?

Take a Walk on the Sweet Side: My First Cakewalk

 

Until this week, my only knowledge of a cakewalk came from one of the Junie B. Jones books that I used to read over and over again to our youngest daughter.  In the story, Junie B. skipped around with other children until the music stopped and a number was called.  The numbered square she was standing on just happened to be the winner, and Junie B. proceeded to choose a cake from the table.  There was one rectangular cake wrapped in shiny aluminum foil, and that was the one she insisted on taking home.  It turned out to be a fruit cake.  A very dense, heavy fruit cake that her parents tried to dissuade her from picking, but she insisted.  It turns out that she didn't like fruit cake after all, but it was so sturdy that she used it as a booster seat at her kitchen table, so all ended well.  

 

Our children's elementary/middle school had a Back-to-School Picnic last evening and one of the activities was a cakewalk.  Another dynamic mom and I co-chaired it because it sounded like so much fun.  She had cakewalk experience, unlike me, so she knew what to expect.  She and I both did a little bit of baking (the cupcakes, mini-cherry cheesecakes, and brownies above were mine,) but she was bold enough to ask for donations from a couple of the local supermarkets.

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures until we were almost finished, but I think we started out with 21 different containers of cakes/cupcakes/cookies/brownies and some boxes of Skittles for those with nut allergies.  There were no fruit cakes though.  I don't think most of the children there had ever done a cakewalk before, so we initially had to practically beg kids to start playing.

 

But once children saw that they could walk away from our table with free cakes, they started lining up to play.  We duck taped numbers on 12 circular stones, and placed a child on each one.  Once the music started, they hopped, skipped, ran, and jumped in a circle from one stone to the next.  One toddler marched to her own beat and repeatedly wandered off the path, but she always ended up on a number once the music stopped.

 

My friend's husband drafted children to help him call out the winning numbers, and each winner came to the table to eye up the loot.  The younger ones were reluctant to choose anything without a parent's input, but the pre-teens jumped right in there with no hesitation.  Interestingly enough, they chose all the store-baked products first...and the Skittles.  Go figure.  After about 70 minutes, we ran out of cakes, so we called it a night and finally got to go mingle with the other 350 school family members who were there.  I would call it a success, and it was definitely a lot of fun.

 

I have to admit though, that I had my eye on this cookie dough cheesecake that our grown son baked from scratch and donated.  It was very tempting to keep it at home in my refrigerator, but I didn't think that would be very charitable.  So instead, I persuaded my youngest two to play the cakewalk over and over again.  

 And I kept the cheesecake under the table in a cooler with ice. 

Because it was almost 90 degrees out, and I didn't want it to go bad, you know.

And my 10-year old son actually landed on the winning number during the first half hour of the cake walk.

So he really did win fair and square.  Honest.

...and he just so happened to choose that cookie dough cheesecake over the Skittles and the numerous store-bought cakes on the table.

So guess what I'm having after breakfast this morning?

 

Summer Saturdays on the Patio With Yet Another Uninvited Visitor

 

How I love summer weekends spent at home with extended family, lounging on the porches, patio, and by the pool.  Most weekends we make a different flavor of hand-churned ice cream from our goats' milk.  This Saturday we were celebrating our daughter's 8th grade graduation from the only school she's ever attended.  It was rainy at times, but that didn't prevent us from enjoying ourselves outdoors and creating and consuming some of our favorite traditional summer foods.  This vanilla ice cream was our first homemade ice cream in two years since we've been waiting for our goats to become mamas again.  Our 9 year old son even climbed the cherry tree to pick us some ripe cherries to  place atop our dessert. 

 

He was also one of our most diligent churners, and the ice cream turned out perfect.

To get our goats' milk ice cream recipe, you can access it here in Preppy Mountain Farmhouse's archives.

 

As usual, we had an uninvited guest.  This little guy crawled out from under our front porch and hung with us for awhile.  I couldn't find his mother anywhere, and it's odd that he was out during the day.  I felt kind of sorry for him...but not sorry enough to take him in and feed him.  I'm really not keen on having a pet opossum.

 

As we took turns churning ice cream and playing yard beanbag games with the children, Hubby grilled us one of our favorite summer chicken recipes: Chicken Teriyaki.  Below is the recipe for the marinade.

Chicken Teriyaki Marinade

Mix 1/4 cup oil, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 Tablespoon vinegar, 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, and some dried ginger.  Add about 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and coat with the marinade.  Refrigerate for at least several hours or overnight.  Put on the grill for about 20 minutes.  If you double the recipe like I did, it easily feeds 10+ people.

 

It is our tradition to sip Gin & Tonics while we churn ice cream, cook out, and celebrate the beginning of summer.  This has always been my beverage of choice in the summer, next to Arnold Palmers, that is.

 

Some vanilla porter was also tested for the first time with a big thumbs up.

 

In fact, some of our guests came up with the idea of combining the porter with the homemade ice cream to create their own version of vanilla beer floats.  And the consensus was that this is a great summer treat to be made again in the future.

My vote hasn't been cast on that yet because I steered clear of that combination, but it seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed.

 

As for our little opossum friend, the last I saw of him he was climbing out of sight.  I'm hoping he hasn't met up with any of the numerous felines on this mountain and he's alive and well...as long as he doesn't take up residence under my farmhouse porch or cabin months from now as an adult.

Two and a half more days of school here, and then it will truly feel like the beginning of summer!

Off to a Summer Dessert Social

This weekend, we were invited to celebrate the official beginning of summer at the small farm of another large family who is hosting a dessert social.  We love attending this family's seasonal outdoor parties because they have the most organized hobby farm, a ton of other children there to play with, adorable farm animals, and the best food served up and eaten under the roof of their immaculate barn.  I am always inspired to do more on our own little farm after leaving there.  The last event in the fall was a stone soup supper with one huge kettle of stone soup with real turtle meat included and another steaming kettle of hearty beef stew.  I have to admit that I chickened out and had the delicious beef/veggie stew.  My husband is more adventurous than I and thoroughly enjoyed the turtle soup though.

Petite Cherry Cheesecakes and Lemon Squares

Since this was a dessert night, I wanted to bring something sweet and summery that would be easy to eat with our fingers.  I opted for these petite cherry cheesecakes and lemon squares.  My 10 year old son begged me to let him help since he has decided he wants to learn how to cook and bake this summer.  He is my big eater, and he has learned through the years that the one who helps Mom in the kitchen is also the most likely to reap the rewards of licking beaters, scraping the bowl, and getting the chocolate chips or other sweet morsels that might spill out of the bag.  His little sister, who also wanted to help for the same reasons, was relegated by him to be the placer of the cupcake liners in the muffin tins before we started.  Therefore, she was out of the kitchen when it was beater licking time.

Petite Cherry Cheesecakes

2 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened          1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup sugar                                                      24 vanilla wafers

2 eggs                                                                 1 (24oz.) can cherry pie filling

1 tsp. lemon juice

Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Line small muffin pans with paper baking cups and place a vanilla wafer in bottom of each cup.

Fill with cream cheese mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until set.

Top each with about 1 Tbsp. of pie filling.  Chill.  Makes 2 dozen.

Finished Petite Cherry Cheesecakes

I had the help of my 13 year old daughter when making the lemon bars while most everyone else was out swimming in the pool after helping their dad move mulch into the many flower beds.  She just couldn't seem to be able to keep her older brother from coming in and out when he sensed we had emptied the bowl into the cake pan so he could get the scrapings.  Honestly, when there is baking going on, I seem to have very interested and willing helpers.  I wish they were as eager to help wash the dishes and hang the laundry.

Lemon Squares

Box lemon cake mix

1 stick butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

Mix these 3 ingredients until crumbly/mushy and press into 9x13 cake pan.  I think it's the consistency of semi-dry playdough.

Top Layer:

2 eggs, beaten                                                       1 pound bag of powdered sugar

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened               1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all these ingredients until creamy, and pour over crust and bake 50 minutes - 1 hour at 325 degrees.  (I love my pink polka dotted spatula found in a bargain bin at Giant!)

After cooling, cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.  I chill mine in the refrigerator.

Finished Lemon Squares

After changing into something a bit more casual, we are off.  I can't wait to sample the sweet treats that others will be bringing.  Happy Summer, Everyone!