Ice Cream Turkey

This Thanksgiving was a quiet one because the kids weren’t here. Jim and I had some welcome alone time. We had my parents over for a late afternoon lunch. We also had the pleasure of our dear friend, Anne’s company. She lives down the road, and is a regular visitor and confidante whom I rely on heavily. Anne is adorably crochety. She gets around admirably well with her cane and has remarkable energy for her 70+ years. The other day I walked in on Anne discussing the merits of kicking the crap out of bullies that might be bothersome with my third grader. You really don’t want to mess with Anne. But when she’s on your side there’s no one better who’ll love you more!

Every holiday that I get to spend with my father is a blessing to me. About twelve years ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. And he almost died. Thank the Lord, he beat it. If it weren’t for that he wouldn’t even know my youngest three children! In July, he had another bout with cancer. He had 34 carcinoid tumors removed from his stomach. Some were microscopic, but some were bigger from M&M to golf ball sized. Since then he has been in a world of trouble with complications, and has been mostly in the hospital. The worst part has been that he has had to have all his “food” through a tube. “TPN” for those of you familiar with it.

So this Thanksgiving my Dad was finally able to get back to eating soft foods again – YAY!!! Along with the mashed potatoes and dressing, we got an ice cream turkey from Baskin Robbins that he could eat. It was made of pralines & cream ice cream. I have to say that it was worth the hour drive over to West Mobile to get it! It was delicious. Dad didn’t want to give it back, as you can see.

(Oh, and by the way, can you tell that my Dad looks like a cross between Santa and maybe Kenny Rogers or Merlin Olsen or something? He’s so cute. He lives on the beach and wears a Hawaiian shirts EVERY day. Like every day. He has maybe 25, and one for every single occasion. Except a wedding or funeral. Then he will change. I think he thinks he’s Jimmy Buffet or something.)

The drumsticks on the ice cream turkey were made from the sugar cones and were filled with the ice cream too. The outside was topped with a caramel glaze that was so good! We all loved it. You can order them with any flavor you want inside, and there was a coupon in the newspaper the weekend before Thanksgiving. The kids are clamoring for us to get an ice cream cake now for Christmas because most of them didn’t get to have any before it was gone. It was such a hit! Sounds like this will be a repeat and will become a family tradition of ours.

What have you done over the holidays in recent years that was a hit that has become a tradition in your family?

December 6th, 2011 | Tags: Baskin Robbins, family tradition, ice cream turkey, pralines and cream ice cream, Thanksgiving, turkey | Category: Lifestyle, Tending the Hearth, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (7)

Cute Critters are in 3D

On the way into the soccer fields last night, this darling little child says to me, “Mom, I want some food. Can we please go to the Confession Stand?”

Yes. She wants to go to the Confession Stand.

One green, one blue, and two red snow cones, two blue power-aids, one bottle of water, and one diet coke later, I make it out of the there.

I’m out 12 bucks. But as I try to balance 4 drinks, a fold-up chair, and my purse, I think to myself, “That was the easiest trip I’ve ever made to the Confessional.”

September 23rd, 2011 | Tags: Confessional, kids | Category: Tending the Hearth, The Daily Stuff | Comments (5)

Actually I think Momma’s gonna be naming this one

As a mom you have the most enlightening conversations with your children while driving in the car.

My twin girls and I were discussing the new baby alpaca that had been born that day as we were heading home from softball practice. At our house everyone always wants to be the one to name the newest cria. The girls were rattling off names like Chocolate Chunk and Sprinkles for the brown little boy. Names were floating through the air like Gingerbread, Brownie, Fluffy, and Darren(?). One of the twins became insistent on the name Marcus. (I vaguely recognized this as the name of one of the boys in her class at school.)

I tried to explain to them that before we gave this little guy a name, I wanted to determine if he was going to be pet alpaca and needed a cute pet name, or if he was going to be a serious stud alpaca and needed a big deal name.

“…so we have to see if he’s not that great a male,” I finished. What I meant was that if he did not turn out to be a herdsire quality male, the girls would probably get the chance to name him Brownie IV or whatever they wanted. If he turned out to be fabulous, well, Mom was going to name him something fabulous and they could just call him whatever they wanted anyway…

“Oh, Marcus is not that good of a male.” my daughter said, obviously referring to her classmate that had given her the name inspiration.

I almost coughed up a lung. “What?” I sputtered.

“No, he’s really not, Mom,” she went on to regale me with stories of Marcus pushing her off the monkey bars, causing her to fall down and scrape her knee. According to her, Marcus was always interrupting her, and once he even cussed out the teacher and got suspended. That Marcus also had the audacity to tell people that he liked her. She went on and on about the trials and tribulations of going to school with Marcus.

At first I was ready to fuss at her for saying something so mean about a classmate. “Not that good of a male.” But once I heard he had bloodied her and cussed out a teacher, I wasn’t so sure…

So I just listened. And learned a lot.

But to hear my own words come back at me like that, “He’s really not that good of a male,” in her still baby-sounding voice, I have to admit I had two reactions:

1. It was hysterical! Knee-slapping funny.
2. And it also made me think, “Uh-oh. What have I done?”

Well, I guess what we’ve done is evaluate “males” as keepers or non-keepers in the genetic pool. And really, that’s probably not the worst thing when I think about it. There are a whole lot of men out there that my girls should probably think of as “non-breeders”. It’s just not usually politically correct to talk about it that way. But let’s face it. She’s starting to weed out the “bad” ones already. so good for her. it’s better than the alternative.

right?

Oh, let’s face it. She’s in elementary school. I’ve got a long way to go…

My little darling with my fiance Jim at Disney World this New Years. She knows her momma thinks this male is a keeper!

February 18th, 2011 | Tags: alpaca, Alpacas, herdsire, little boy, naming alpacas, non-breeders | Category: Alpacas, Lifestyle, Tending the Hearth, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (8)

I found these marvelous cupcakes at Andre’s in Fairhope the other day. These are key lime flavored, and delicious!After a dreaded but successful trip to the dentist, I did what only a true dental-phobe would -  I treated myself to some cupcakes. (I’m sure the dentist won’t mind. Right?)  These are raspberry and traditional yellow cake.

Not sure what the pretty pink ones on the left are, but those on the right are carrot cake.

The world should be full of cupcakes.

As long as we have dental visits, and Iraq, and heck, anything bad as far as I’m concerned.

So now that you’ve met my coping skills – Aren’t they pretty?

February 8th, 2011 | Tags: cupcakes | Category: Lifestyle, Tending the Hearth | Comments (2)

We started the year with the kids being on time for the bus. For weeks they never missed it. Oooh! I was so proud of those usually sleepy little children!

Then routine began to set in. And slowly but surely they began to miss the bus in the morning. Guess who has to drag her butt out at the crack of dawn to the car to take them when that happens?

Chew got it!

It’s bad enough having to get up at 5:30 for the bus. But c’mon. They can get up when I wake them up. Heck, they can at least get out of bed within 15 minutes of being awakened, or take fewer than 20 minutes to find their shoes! One would hope.

A mother can dream…

For the longest time I couldn’t figure out a deterrent for missing the bus. (Lame, I know. I’m new at solo parenting and my migraine meds cause mental dullness. The kids love it! Not only do they have me outnumbered, but their IQ points are double mine these days.)

But after at least one of them missing the bus the last 5 out of 7 days I’ve finally figured it out. And the kids are so pissed!

From now on – you miss the bus –> ONE HOUR of SCOOPING POOP on the FARM.

From now on they can each miss it every day as far as I’m concerned.

Nuff Said.

October 12th, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, Alpacas, Husbandry, kids, poop scooping | Category: Alpacas, Husbandry, Lifestyle, Tending the Hearth, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (8)

So I finally got around to listing my alpaca roving on my Etsy site.

Yessir, Yessir, Three Bags Full

One for my master

One for my dame

And one for the little boy who lives down the lane…

More yummy fiberlicious treats from Alpaca Farmgirl’s Etsy Shop

See what other fiber lovers are doing this week…

October 8th, 2010 | Tags: alpaca, alpaca roving, alpaca roving for sale, Alpacas, Etsy | Category: Alpacas, Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday, Tending the Hearth | Comments (7)

This was my first year to be preparing for the first day of school by myself with my four kids so I was a little nervous about how it would go.

The kids love for me to make “farm waffles”, so I woke up extra early to make those for them. “Farm waffles” are waffles from my special waffle maker that make “farm shapes” like a barn, a cow, a pig, and a chicken. (We wish it had an alpaca shape, but oh well.) The barn (above) is the biggest so I think that’s the one they like best. I use Pioneer Brand Baking Mix – the Buttermilk kind with melted butter in the batter and a dash of vanilla. They are delicious!

The kidlets all got ready on time. Notice that it is so early that the light is on behind them in the house. Why we have to get up so early is hard to understand…

The little ones were so excited for school to start that they ran ahead to go meet the bus. They blurred out of my focus. Whooosh! They were happy for school to start!

I was too….

- until I realized that I would lose my friend, Sleep, with this new schedule.

*Sigh*

She and I had gotten so close this summer.

Oh well. Now that the kids are back in school – it’s time to get reacquainted with my friend, Productivity.

August 31st, 2010 | Tags: bus, farm waffles, first day of school, kids, school | Category: Lifestyle, Tending the Hearth | Comments (5)

One thing I do to pass the time while I do farm chores is listen to books. I just got finished listening to The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

This was a phenomenal book. I didn’t want it to end, and I found myself rationing it out chapter by chapter so it wouldn’t be over too quickly. If you haven’t read it, RUN go get it. I was born about ten years later than this book took place, but it was interesting to me how many things I could relate to from my Southern upbringing. Many, many things were the same, including bridge clubs and the Junior League!

My favorite character in the book was Minnie. She was known for her good cooking and her specialty was her caramel cake.  The more I read, the more I wanted to make a caramel cake. Last weekend, I finally did it. It is not difficult, but I swear you will feel like a gourmet chef when you are finished.

Here is the recipe I used:

Caramel Cake

Ingredients:

Baking Spray for greasing pans

1 box Duncan Hines plain white cake mix

1 cup whole milk

1 stick salted butter, melted

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons Tahitian vanilla (or regular vanilla extract)

Caramel Frosting (recipe below)

• Place rack in middle of the oven. Preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 round cake pans with the bakers’ cooking spray (the kind with flour in it). Set aside.
• Place cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend for a minute or so. Then blend on medium for another minute, until it is well blended. Divide the batter into the two pans, smoothing over with a rubber spatula.
• Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and bounce back when lightly pushed with finger, about 27-28 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Then invert each onto the rack and turn right side up on wire rack to cool completely. About 30 minutes. Make Frosting.

Ingredients for Caramel Frosting:

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup whole milk

2 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used Tahitian)

• Place butter and light and dark brown sugars into a medium sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture combines  and begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Add milk and stir. Bringing back to a barely bubbly boil. Then remove from heat.  Add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Stir vigorously with wooden spoon until smooth.
• Frost your cake immediately while icing is still warm. It will harden. If it does harden while you are still trying to ice your cake just place the pan back onto low heat and stir until it softens up.

The only problem that I had was that frosting the sides was messy. I got it all over the place. Actually, that was part of the fun. If you know how to avoid dripping it everywhere please leave a comment and tell me. My guess is that I should have waited for it to cool a little more, but I will have to make this cake again – many times – so I’ll test out that theory next time.

This recipe was taken largely from The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn. I love this cookbook because she takes store bought cake mixes and turns them into amazing desserts. A must for every modern kitchen.

Leave a comment and tell us – What is your favorite cake to make? Or what is the best book you’ve read lately? I need another one to start!

January 11th, 2010 | Tags: Caramel Cake, The Cake Doctor, The Help, The Help by Kathryn Stockett | Category: Tending the Hearth | Comments (18)

Yes, we’ve got it! This yucky flu has gotten our family down this week. The up side is that I have an excuse to rest and watch Barbie movies with my daughter. Click on the above button for the latest information from the CDC about H1N1 flu and how you can protect yourself and your family.

October 13th, 2009 | Tags: H1N1, virus | Category: Tending the Hearth, The Daily Stuff | Comments (12)