Gazpacho

It has been so hot here that cooking seems like a ridiculous notion. So we didn't. Maycee and I made gazpacho tonight instead. Maycee chopped the bell peppers and cucumber and made me chop the onions and garlic. She is proving to be quite the helper in the kitchen. We used a recipe the children received from their garden class at the library. The tomatoes, bell peppers (purple ones!), cucumber, garlic and an onion came from a local farm. The other onion and a few of the tomatoes came from Nana and Papa's garden. It tasted delicious. It did, however remind us of salsa. This was compounded by the fact that we ate it with tortilla chips. A friend suggested that we eat it with grilled cheese, so next time time we will try that.

The onions made me cry!



 UPDATE: HERE IS THE RECIPE:
Copyright 1999 The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop. 

4-H Results

    On Tuesday we couldn't wait to get back to the fairgrounds to find out the results of Spencer's leathercraft display and interview. And we were glad that we hustled back. He received two blue ribbons, one for completing his project and one for first place in his class. He received a champion for his class and reserve grand champion. This means he has qualified to go to the Colorado State Fair. This also means that we are all very excited for and proud of Spencer. All of his hard work paid off.

So proud

He was so enthralled by the tractors

    The kids and I spent part of the day at the fairgrounds hanging out with our 4-H buddies and watching the rabbit and poultry shows. We headed home mid-afternoon for a siesta while we waited for Hubby to come home. After taking care of all of the animals, we went back to the fairgrounds for the antique tractor pull.The best way to describe this is that each tractor takes a turn pulling a load that gets increasingly heavier as they move down the track. The tractor that pulls the highest percentage of their own weight is the winner. So if you have a tractor that weighs four thousand pounds and it can pull four thousand pounds, it wins. Most of the tractors pulled about seventy-five percent on average. It was a very fun event to watch and Thane especially enjoyed himself. After the tractor pull, we went down to see the tractors, and Hubby just happened to know one of the men who participated. Turns out that Hubby had been at his home the day before for work. This gentleman allowed the children to sit on his tractor. I didn't think we would ever get them down. 

Thane trying to take pictures.

After One Hundred

    My Dad keeps asking me what happens after one hundred (see previous post). I guess life happens. It has been a crazy week. So crazy that I can't believe it has only been a week. It seems like two at least. So here is a brief summary. I know, I know, I keep doing summaries. It would be easier if I just stayed on top of things. But like I said, life happens. So here goes.
    Wednesday, August 3: The kids are still doing their garden class through the library. It takes forty-five minutes to get there, but Hubby and I decided to have them follow through on the class. It only seems fair. They planted the garden and they should get to see it come to fruition.  Beyond basic maintenance, on this day they turned their worms loose in the garden, but only after measuring their length and manhandling them. They also studied eggs and the different insects, reptiles, birds, etc. that lay them. The teachers brought in an incubator full of eggs and a cage with two Guinea keets (chicks). The Guineas were hilarious. The kids got to feed them four grasshoppers and those birds went nuts! I keep hearing how good Guineas are for insect control, and now I'm thinking I might have to get me a few.

Investigating the worms

Even Thane got in on the worm action.

Guinea Keets

     Spencer and Hubby finished up working with the 4-H volunteer who has been helping Spencer learn leathercraft. He has been so amazingly helpful and we are lucky to have him as a mentor.
    I had a doctors appointment and all is still very well. My doctor is a very bizarre individual. I call him Dr. Jekyll. He is insanely nice, however he makes me remember why I don't like doctors.
    Meme and I have decided to do something that we both have been wanting to do for some time. So we spent this evening throwing bowls. As in making pottery. I have no picture proof of this since it is hard to take a picture when you are covered in clay. Meme and I each managed to make two bowls in our two hour class. And they are beautiful. Trimming comes next, then a firing, then glazing and the final firing. I can't wait to be done and have my final project in hand. I do believe this is a hobby that I will do for the rest of my life. What a feeling to sink your fingers into the clay and feel it move and form under your hands. And then to have something that you can actually use as your end result. It is going to be as addicting as knitting. Which I need to pick up again...
     Thursday, August 4:  I have no pictures of this day. Not a single one. We had the opportunity to meet a fellow blogger today. I found her blog along the side of another blog that had been featured by GRIT on Facebook. Whoa. That's a convoluted way to find someone that lives an hour from you. Linda blogs at http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/.  They are selling their harvest of hay and we just so happen to need some hay. So we made the drive and after a visit in which the children soaked in the wading pool, checked out the old truck in the barn and were taken on a four-wheeler ride, we loaded the hay and headed out. We only took one bale just to make sure the goats liked it. They do. So we will be heading back again for more. This time hopefully we can bum a truck and maybe trailer so we can get what we need. Another drawback of driving a Subaru Outback. You would be surprised though at all of the things we can cram in there.
    In the evening we drove to Paonia to listen to music for the yearly series called Pickin' in the Park. It's like a mini festival every Thursday night in the month of August. We were lucky enough on this night to listen and witness the band called March Fourth Marching Band http://marchfourthmarchingband.com/. We have seen them before and they are awesome entertainers. We hula hooped, played dress up, played at the park and danced the night away. It was just what we were needing.
    Friday, August 5:  Today was a catch up day. Hubby went to work and I did laundry and cleaned house.

I love baby clothes drying in sunshine.

     Saturday, August 6: Spencer finished his leather project for the fair, which starts on Monday. He is doing so well with this, I hope he continues to do this as a project in the following years. The artist in him really shines through.
    Sunday, August 7: Happy Birthday to my niece, Kalli! I can't believe she is fifteen. She is as old now as I was when she was born.
    Hubby and I are procrastinators to the bitter end. We were up until midnight helping Spencer finish his record books and display board for the fair. It all turned out lovely, but made me reminisce about eighth grade science fair. Display board, rubber cement, last minute hustle. This seems to be our M.O.
    Monday, August 8: Got up early to make it to the fairgrounds in time for Spencers interview with the fair board judges. He looked so sharp in his white button up and Wranglers with his boots polished and his hair combed. Even Maycee dressed up. He did great in his interview and we will find out the results of his project on Tuesday.

My handsome boy

   The kids and I wandered through the barns looking at all of the animals coming in. It really took me back to my days in 4-H and FFA. I wouldn't trade those days for anything. I only hope that my children can build the same type of lasting memories. 
And this brings us to Tuesday which will have a post of it's own. Thank you for reading and allowing me to catch up.

One Hundred

    This is my One Hundredth post! How exciting! I don't even have anything overly special to write about tonight. It rained on and off all day so the kiddos and I stayed in our jammies and played and watched a movie and I caught up on my blog. It was a relaxing day before we head into the end of our week. I want to say weekend since Hubby starts his days off tomorrow. It is our weekend when everyone else is still working.
     I have decided to start addressing my children by name on here, as typing their first initial is starting to annoy me. Most of my readers know me and the children personally anyway. So here goes. S is Spencer. M is Maycee. T is Thane. I am Amanda and Hubby is Matt. He will still be known as Hubby though. And there you have it.
   Thank you for reading along as we travel down this crazy path called life. I will leave you tonight with a picture of sweet sleeping children and their kitten.

Dobby

   We added a new member to our family today. Meet Dobby, a male lionhead rabbit. We have been told that he is purebred, though I have my doubts. He is still quite young though, and may yet develop some more of the characteristics that make a lionhead what they are. He is joining us so that he may some day in the nearish future mate with Flower, our female lionhead. Babies will abound. Hopefully. In the meantime, he needs a lot of love and handling. He did not receive much attention at his old home. This has made him quite skittish. Which is bad news for the other reason that his nails REALLY need to be trimmed. I can't accomplish this feat until Hubby is home to help wrangle him. And since I am already bearing the wounds of his fright, I will not be attempting this solo any time soon. All in all, we believe he will make an excellent pet in time.

Dobby

Dobby

Flower

Grilled Peaches

We have been so busy getting ready for our county fair that not much else has been created. So for today's Sunday Creation we will talk food. It's one of my favorite subjects anyway. After a brief rain storm we were able to grill tonight for dinner. Hubby grilled up some pork chops and bratwursts, while I got the corn ready. The corn was, of course, from Olathe. The tomatoes and cucumber that I cut up were also locally grown. Moving so much and me being on bed rest until late Spring has not allowed us to even think about getting our own garden in this year. Thankfully, we live in the land o' plenty and are able to reap others' harvests. All of our dinner turned out deliciously. Well, I think the pork chops did, since they were consumed with lightning speed. I wouldn't know since I don't eat pork. No reason. Just a personal preference. After dinner, we threw some halved peaches on the grill. Peaches are also a local hot ticket item. They grow so well over here that they have their own festival, which is fast approaching. We will talk about that as the time comes. Grilled peaches may have a trick we haven't discovered. The taste was good, just strong. Hubby had the grand idea of serving them with vanilla ice cream, which we happened to have on hand. That made all the difference. It was the perfect dessert ending to a very tasty meal.

Shooting Sports

   S participated in his first 4-H shooting sports competition today.  He completed his hunter's safety course just this past Thursday, which he needed for eligibility purposes. He shot better today than he has shot all year. This earned him first place in all of his positions: sitting, standing, kneeling and prone. He also won champion of his division, which is Junior Air Rifle. I will not mention that part of this is due to him being the only child in his division. I will only mention that he worked very hard to do what was required of him. I will also mention that Hubby and I are very proud of him for working so hard. Our day, however, was very long and a bit trying. The competition started at eight a.m. in Eckert which meant we had to leave our house at seven to get there in time. We are not morning people. Not by any stretch of the imagination. S's part of the shoot was over by ten. This left us four hours until awards. We decided to skip out and get a bite to eat. S went home with Nana and Papa C., who had come out to show their support. Meme also made it out, although, unfortunately, Papa S. had to work. Hubby, M, T and I grabbed a bite at the Loading Dock, a tasty cafe within an artists' gallery called the Apple Shed. On our way to Delta to hang out with Nana and Papa, we received a phone call to head back to the range since the judges needed S's record book again. We quickly picked up our boy and headed back. Since we were there, we thought we should just stay since awards should only be an hour away. So we thought. Instead of being done at two, the shoot ended after four thirty. This pushed awards to five. Let's just say that sitting in ninety plus degree heat with three children for four hours is not anyone's idea of fun. Thankfully, our 4-H leader had some Hotwheels in her truck and these somehow managed to keep not just our children occupied, but the entire table of eight children occupied. T took his into the dirt, where we all thought he would fall asleep. He somehow never did. Finally it was time for awards and as soon as S received his, we were ready to go. Unfortunately for us, T got stung by a wasp with three minutes left before quitting time. Poor little guy. We got home, showered all the caked dirt off of our exhausted bodies and fell into bed. I don't think our whole family has ever gone to sleep at the same time, let alone that it was nine p.m.

Before the shoot. All happy and perky.

Prone position

Sitting position

After his shoot. Hot and sweaty already.

With all of his ribbons.

T in the dirt before the sting.

Paonia

  The kids and I went exploring today. I have loved every visit to Paonia, but they have all been brief and the children haven't always been with me. It is just about a half an hour to get there and in between here and there is a store/farm/deli named Delicious Orchards http://www.deliciousorchardstore.com/  that I want to stop in at every time I pass by. Today was the day to do it. And I am so glad that I did. I think I'm in love. They make their own apple juice and cider, which coincidentally we have been drinking for years. They specialize in local and organic food products, which is really important to me. Thankfully local includes a few items from Fort Collins, namely MouCo Colorouge cheese. http://www.mouco.com  I have not been able to find this anywhere and thought I would never get to delight in it's stinky flavor again. So imagine my delight when there it was, sitting beautifully in the cheese case with all of the other artisan cheeses. We stocked up on produce, fresh made tortillas and tamales, and some hard apple cider for the Hubby. I paid for a lifelong membership, which was only ten dollars and included a free reusable grocery bag. I know we will be back as often as possible. After our stop there, we continued on our way. We meandered down the main street, going in and out of shops as we pleased. We found a good childrens' clothing only thrift store. We stopped in at a coffee shop to get some smoothies and found some kindred spirits. The couple that owns the coffee shop have two young girls near S and M's ages. After consuming (and spilling) our smoothies, the children played hide and seek for another hour. I sat in the sunshine and spoke with the owner/mom. It was lovely. When I finally was able to round up the kiddos, we went to the park. What a great park. Our visit coincided with the BMW motorcycle rally which delighted T to no end. When everyone was worn out (meaning me) we headed home. For dinner we consumed the tamales and tortillas we had picked up earlier. What a fun day.

BMW motorcycle rally camping at the park

Hillbilly

I am quite certain that we are raising at least one hillbilly.  But what do you think?

Going out to feed the chickens

Corn

It's corn season and here on the Western Slope, it is rampant. There are people selling corn from the backs of their trucks everywhere. Now, normally, I do not make it a habit to buy food from the back of someone else's truck. But this is Olathe sweet corn. There is no other corn like Olathe sweet corn. And fortunately, it comes cheap. We eat our fill and if I can wrestle any of it away from the kids, then I blanch it, cut it off the cob, freeze it and we add it to meals all winter long. Today we went to Meme and Papa's and shucked forty eight ears of corn. I had a vision of sitting with my Mom and shucking while the children ran amok, chatting and taking our time, but the children wanted to help and shucking was done in no time at all. We shucked it all into a big galvanized tub that Meme picked up at a yard sale for five bucks. After we were done I discovered that the corn silk was nice and cool on my hot feet. I only got to stick my feet in for a moment before the children decided that they must try it, too. They also had to try the corn raw. I had to nip that in the bud really quick before they devoured it all.  Next week, we will be heading to the http://www.olathesweetcornfest.com/  to check out the fun there.

So pretty

M devouring it raw

Cooling their feet in corn silk

T double-cobbing it