New Baby Names.... help us choose

NAME GAME: we've narrowed it down to our favorites (and boy was it hard, thanks for all the great suggestions) !
Stop by our Facebook Page to VOTE for YOUR Favorite Name for these two -- this link will take you straight to the post!
https://www.facebook.com/jonquiljunction/posts/1874400005919591

               The names with the most votes will go to the babies
                               and these earrings
              will go to the person who suggested the name!

 

Farm Adventures.. NEW babies... cloudy with more rain likely

Well, Flossie's babies are here,  they were born during the day & before the storms! One Boy , One Girl, No Ears  we're having our annual Name Game over on our Facebook page, stop by and suggest your names then we'll narrow it down to our favorites and then let YOU Vote later in the  week for YOUR Favorite ~ There will be some PriZes too !
https://www.facebook.com/jonquiljunction/photos/a.811988788827390.1073741828.810022969023972/1870151889677736/?type=3&theater

Sunday Quotes....Sunny...warmer

FRIENDS,
We are so thankful for friends, many of whom we've never met, but who share with us as if we'd seen each others' smiles. We've come to know each other online, and words from this community help us through each day. 
We hope you've enjoyed our month of Quotes and Max Coots thoughts on friendship, and his wonderful comparisons to gardens.
(see previous weeks quotes HERE )

Here's the last of the quotes, and to me the most important!
 

Let us give thanks for children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds,

and the wind too soon blows them away,

may they forgive us our cultivation

and fondly remember where their roots are.

 

Auntie's Orange Pudding....cloudy,windy,showers...60's

 This was my Great Aunt's recipe, she was a wonderful cook, I've mentioned her before remember what she said to me when I told her I was getting Married? You can find that post HERE :)

3/4 cup sugar
 6 Tablespoons cornstarch

3 3/4 cups milk

3 egg yolks, beaten with some of milk

1 teaspoon orange extract OR 2 tsps. vanilla

1 large or 2 medium orange segments,
            membranes & pith removed

In medium dry saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Put over medium

heat and gradually stir in milk. Continue stirring until just starts

to thicken. Add little of hot milk slowly to egg yolks, then add yolks

to pan of milk and continue stirring. Bring to boil carefully while

stirring and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, stir in extract and

cool, covered about 10 minutes. Carefully stir in oranges pieces and

refrigerate until serving time.  A variation that she used to make was

called Kiss Pudding. For that you omitted the oranges, and whipped the

egg whites until stiff, then folded 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

and put dollops on top of vanilla pudding. It was delicious, but that

was back in the day when no one told us not to eat RAW eggs!!!!!

 

SPRING SALE...... Partly sunny... 70's

HAPPY SPRING! We are having a spring Jewelry sale! ALL jewelry 25% off with this coupon code: JEWELRYSALE17, just enter when you check out for your discount! Order more than one pair and the second ships FREE in the USA!
Remember we don't like to pay high shipping any more than you do....we will combine shipping on multiple orders, just ask us first!!!! Thank you for stopping by and supporting our family operated business in the Ozarks, any questions send us a message!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Jonquiljunction?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Happy SPRING .... Sunny.... 70's

Sunday Quotes..Partly sunny...warm

FRIENDS,
We are so thankful for friends, many of whom we've never met, but who share with us as if we'd seen each others' smiles. We've come to know each other online, and words from this community help us through each day.


For the next few Sundays our quotes will be from Max Coots and
his thoughts on friendship, and his wonderful comparisons to gardens.
(see previous weeks quotes HERE )

For those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested,

but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter.

~Max Coots

 

Pineapple Carrot Cake.....Sunny 70's

Soft yellow cake with flecks of bright orange and a fluffy, creamy frosting... this cake is perfect for spring.......... and it's quick and easy to put together too!

 

1 box pineapple cake mix

3 large eggs

1/3 cup melted butter

2 cups shredded carrot

1 cup crushed pineapple (un-drained from a 20 oz can--reserve remaining for frosting)

 

Combine dry cake mix, eggs, butter and pineapple, beat till moist and smooth, fold in carrots.

Pour into a greased 13x9 inch pan and Bake in a 350* oven for 25-30 minutes till tests done. Cool on wire rack till completely cool.

Drain remaining pineapple well, for frosting.

 

Frosting:
1 small box cheesecake flavored pudding mix (dry)

1 cup milk

reserved drained pineapple

1/2 of an 8 oz. carton of cool whip

 

Combine pudding and milk , beat with a wire whisk just till starts to thicken, then fold in pineapple and cool whip, frost cake immediately, then refrigerate  cake for at least 30 minutes or cover & refrigerate overnight.

 

 

The predicament of posing cats and kids----A tutorial......

When we asked "Which would you rather see a picture of  - cats or baby goats?"  Someone said  "cats and baby goats", and some others seconded the idea!  
Well, I'll bet that someone had never tried to take one of those pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here is the step by step process we went through, a tutorial of sorts if you ever want to try this yourself !

 

Step #1  Get a basket and line it with attractive cloth.
 

Step #2  Decide basket would look nice in front of woodstove.
 

Step #3  Try Lonesome in basket before removing baby goat from her mother.


Step #4  Realize 2 problems -
 Lonesome will not cooperate (notice his ears & tail)
and he FILLS the basket-no room for kid

 

                                                         Step #5 

            Hurry, no, RUN through yard trying to keep baby goat from bleating,

                                             and worrying mother goat.

Step #6 
Try Butterscotch ( she usually cooperates) and recruit help with photo.

Realize 2 more problems -
Butterscotch doesn't like this idea either, & "help" puts finger in picture.

Step #7  Baby goat doesn't like the idea either
and thinks backwards is way out of her dilemma.

Step #8  Baby goat and Butterscotch sort of settle in
(reservations on Butterscotch's part).--note position of her ears!

Step #9  Baby goat does settle in,
  Butterscotch reconsiders and leaves.

                                                             Step # 10 

                    Realize while trying to get picture forgot to include woodstove,

                                           and what happened to pretty cloth? 

 

Step #11 Go get another goat and another pretty cloth, reline basket, reframe picture to include stove again, snap quick!
(Note: No cat (or help) invited!)

So there you have it folks: How to photograph a cat and kid in 11 not-so-easy-easy steps!

Disclaimer: No cats or kids were hurt in the making of this tutorial, we offer no guarantees this will work for you under different circumstances, please be advised that cats and kids (of the caprine kind) are one of the most uncooperative and difficult to photograph species', and we recommend proceeding at your own risk!

Sunday Quotes.... partly cloudy.... chilly

FRIENDS,
We are so thankful for friends, many of whom we've never met, but who share with us as if we'd seen each others' smiles. We've come to know each other online, and words from this community help us through each day.


For the next few Sundays our quotes will be from Max Coots and
his thoughts on friendship, and his wonderful comparisons to gardens.
(see previous weeks quotes HERE )

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, andyoung friends coming on as fast as radishes.For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils, and hold usdespite our blights, wilts, and withering's.

~ Max Coots

 

 

Sweet Potato Soup... Cloudy & chilly

We thought it was spring, and so did the flowers, butterflies and birds,
then without a word,
winter returned!


This recipe is Great to warm up with on a chilly day and has been a family favorite for many years!


                                     Sweet Potato Soup
Sauté together:
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup cabbage, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. olive oil
sauté for five minutes then add:
1 Pt. home canned tomatoes (OR 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes) juice and all
1 qt. chicken broth (water can be used instead, if you prefer)
3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup green beans, frozen or fresh
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer till veggies are soft, about thirty minutes , then add
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup elbow pasta (and variety of pasta you have on hand will work)
1/2 cup sliced kielbasa sausage
Simmer about 10 more minutes or till pasta is tender.

*Note: this can also be made in the crockpot, combine all ingredients EXCEPT pasta and sausage
cook on low for 6-8 hours. Turn to HIGH and add pasta and sausage during last half hour of cooking time.

**Leave chicken broth and sausage out for an equally delicious vegetarian soup.

***Use cooked bacon or ham instead of sausage if you have it on hand

**** Any vegetable goes nicely in here corn, peas, broccoli whatever sounds good to you!

Sunday Quotes......partly cloudy,,,, warm

FRIENDS,
We are so thankful for friends, many of whom we've never met, but who share with us as if we'd seen each others' smiles. We've come to know each other online, and words from this community help us through each day.


For the next few Sundays our quotes will be from Max Coots and
his thoughts on friendship, and his wonderful comparisons to gardens.
(see previous weeks quotes HERE )

For funny friends,
who are as silly as Brussel Sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem Artichokes,
and serious friends, as complex as Cauliflowers and
as intricate as Onions.
For friends as unpretentious as Cabbages,
as subtle as Summer Squash, as persistent as Parsley,
as delightful as Dill, as endless as Zucchini,
and who, like Parsnips,
can be counted on to see you throughout the winter.
~Max Coots

Daffodil Cake..... Warm & Sunny & springlike

((Repost from March 2014~ In honor of it being "Jonquil Season" Once again :)
Have I mentioned before how much I love hearing from our followers? As a matter of fact I did HERE, but I’ll say it again 😊

Their Snippets and Snatches and memories and comments are always so interesting, Like the other night I was asked by a faithful follower if I’d ever heard of ‘Daffodil cake’.

Well, No as a matter of fact I hadn’t, and I wondered how I’d managed to miss something as intriguing sounding as that all these years. In all my many antique cookbooks (many of which will soon be listed on ETSY!) I had never seen a recipe for Daffodil Cake, I’m sure I would have remembered that!

 So I Googled it, as I wondered to myself “when did that become an excepted verb in our language?” ---and sure enough there it was no doubt someone's  great-grandmothers recipe, a lady who lived on a farm with ‘yard-birds’ aplenty and come spring had eggs a plenty too, and of course being a good farm wife she wasn’t about to toss egg yolks in order to make a light and airy Angel Food cake. Maybe she didn’t know about  LEMON CURD --the way I’ve always frugally used up my egg yolks---actually Lemon Curd being one of my favorites, I’ve always made it first and the Angel Food cake was  a ‘by product’ to use up the egg whites---but I interrupt myself-- in actuality she probably didn’t have access to the ingredients , I think ‘back in the day’ Fresh Lemons in the Ozark hills were probably pretty hard to come by !

So with spring laying already going strong and 39 eggs in the fridge

I decided to try a Daffodil cake of my own! I read a few recipes, thought about how I’ve made my chiffon and angel food cakes in the past and came up with this recipe.

It passed the taste testers approval---my grandkids--one who claims Angel Food cake is ’’the best cake EVER” and the other who HATES eggs---both ate it and were happy, now that is some recipe! 😊 

In all my research I couldn’t find an exact time this recipe dates to, but read in several places where ladies remembered their Great-Grandmothers fixing this cake. As so many other things of the past it’s exact story has probably been lost to time, but I’m  pretty sure I can say with confidence that the way this recipe came about , as my mother would say , was because " Necessity is the mother of invention".

 

Daffodil Cake

 

6 eggs--separated  * see notes*

1/2 tsp. cream of tarter

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. Almond flavoring

1/2 cup all purpose flour

 

2 T. Lemon Juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. Lemon extract

1 tsp. baking powder

                                                                        1/2 cup all purpose flour

 

Pre-heat oven to 350*

Carefully separate eggs, making sure no specks of yolk get into your whites.

Place egg whites in a large bowl or stand mixer. Put yolks in another bowl and set aside for now.

Beat egg whites at medium speed till foamy, add cream of tarter and beat at high speed till soft peaks form, sprinkle sugar over whites and continue to beat at high speed till stiff glossy peaks form, turn mixer off.

 

Add lemon juice to yolks and beat till light and thick, about 2 minutes, add sugar, lemon extract, baking powder and 1/2 cup flour, beat until completely smooth.

Now gently sift flour over egg whites, add flavoring and with a spatula FOLD in the flour just till it is all incorporated. NEVER stir or beat, as it will deflate them!

Spoon two thirds of the egg whites into an Ungreased tube pan, spread gently to cover bottom of pan, gently pour yolk mixture over top, then add remaining egg whites, gently spread, then using a dry knife, swirl the top to batters together.

Bake  for 35 minutes or till top is lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.

To keep cake from ‘sinking’ while cooling, immediately invert pan and cool completely.

When cool, run a knife around pan to loosen and remove to a serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar, serve with fresh fruit or with  sweetened whipped cream.

****NOTES: Eggs will beat better if brought to room temp. before separating.

 

I don’t typically sift flour when asked to in recipes, but Angel food cake is the exception I think at least once is a necessity and twice is probably better.

 

Make sure no fatty residue comes in contact with the whites or they will not be light and airy.

 

Other flavoring can be used instead of the almond and lemon if desired

 

One recipe I read suggested a drop or two of yellow food coloring in the yolk mixture, if you’re using farm eggs you know you won’t need it !

 

One ‘down side’ to this cake is it ONLY takes 6 eggs rather than the 12 of a typical Angel Food cake, so if you really need to use up a dozen eggs, make one for a friend too , and brighten their day with a Daffodil Cake !

Find this recipe and MANY more in our Everything Season Cookbook