Razor Family Farms

Possibilities

Simple Livin' gal — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:15:13 +0000

And so it begins… one look at that itty bitty wittle ball of fluffy-wuffy baby chicken and even the most stoic are reduced to baby talk. Well, it’s that time of year again. Chicken time.

Except that for the first time in three years, we did not order chicks or ducklings or turkeys. Instead, we are looking at putting the house up for sale and moving this spring or summer. We’re just waiting on orders now so we do not yet know when or where we will move. This is a scary and exciting and mind-bending time. It’s easy, in the midst of reading about our garden or goats, to forget that we do not farm full time and that all of these posts are penned by an Army wife.

This means that we will start over in a different state and (most likely) a different hardiness zone at least one more time before Josh retires from the military and becomes a farmer. Until then, I’m staying upbeat.

Perhaps this new house & property (location still unknown) will have decent soil so we can actually grow our garden without having to build raised beds and haul in topsoil. Wouldn’t that be incredible? I grew up with a garden like that… just a large plowed/tilled section of the yard with rows of corn, beans, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and more. I can just picture my shelves lined with enough canned vegetables to last us through the winter. Perhaps the new house will have a root cellar, wrap-around porch, a pond, or outbuildings. Perhaps there will be a small grassy lot for our goats! The possibilities are endless!

Of course, it goes without saying that I will miss the friends that I have made while here in Georgia. Goodness, I’ve met some truly incredible people and they’ve been an extraordinary blessing in my life. How I wish I could simply pack them up and take them with me!

Let us hope that this time next year, I’m posting pictures of chicks and ducklings, planning trips to visit friends, discussing pasture care for our backyard goat herd, and planting a monstrous garden.

If you are hoping to gather some information on basic chick care, check out the nifty guide I posted to Small Town Living Magazine: Talking Turkey and Basic Chick Care. See? I may be moving but I haven’t lost my touch.

Country Fried (Venison) Steak

Simple Livin' gal — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:48:39 +0000

If you are new to the world of wild game cookin’ then let this recipe be your first effort. It’s a Southern classic because it’s completely, mindblowingly delicious and also easy to make. Not to mention that it is topped with my favorite condiment: gravy.

First for a little history lesson. Country Fried Steak (CFS) has a few other names throughout the U.S. and the world: chicken fried steak, pan fried steak, weiner schnitzel, milanesa, and no doubt a whole lot of others that I don’t know about. The steak itself may be veal cutlets, beef, bear, or venison cube steak (you could use pork or chicken cutlets as well). The true origins of the dish are unknown but a few towns in Texas claim to be its birthplace. Texas doesn’t claim things that aren’t tasty, gorgeous, or worth a lot of money — so you know this stuff is good.

Here’s what you’re going to need:

4-8 cube steaks (if you can’t find cube steak, just have your butcher run a few round steaks through the cube machine or take them home and pound them with a meat mallet on both sides)
1 cup (or more) olive or vegetable oil
1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon white pepper or freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt (I like Lawry’s Garlic Salt)
dash of nutmeg or cayenne pepper
3-4 cups milk (evaporated milk, cream, buttermilk, or goats milk is all fine, too)
2 eggs, beaten

Place eggs in a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside. On a plate, mix flour, garlic salt, and pepper.

Now, dredge the steaks in the flour mixture. I mean really coat them.

Dunk them in the beaten eggs and then dredge again. Be sure you don’t see any meat showing.

Pull out your cast iron skillet or a thick-bottomed skillet and pour in the oil. Heat the oil to 360 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature-thing might seem silly but you want a crispy outer shell instead of an oily soppy one. Trust me.

Fry the steaks until honey-golden on each side. *swoon*

Set on a paper-towel-lined plate. Now… for the gravy. The good stuff that whispers sweet nothings to me.

If there’s a lot of oil in the pan, pour off some of it but be careful not to pour off any of the crunchy bits. You’ll need about 1/4 of a cup of oil left in the bottom of the pan. Adjust the heat to medium or medium-low. Now, scrape the flour mixture leftovers into the pan (there should be about 3 tablespoons left). Use a whisk or a fork to incorporate the flour into the oil. Keep this whisking while you add the milk in a little at a time. It should be thick enough to coat the edges of the pan and your whisk/fork. If it’s too thick, just add some more milk and stir.

Feel free to add some extra salt and pepper. You won’t hurt my feelings. :)

Now, serve up those fried steaks with gravy on top. Side dishes are really up to you. You can go with the classics: mashed potatoes, egg noodles, white rice, spaetzle, or grits. I like to mix it up a bit and throw down some orzo or roasted squash. I think orzo and gravy is just a great combination.

Enjoy!

Eco-Kitchen Giveaway — Winner!

Simple Livin' gal — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:18:58 +0000

We have a winner! Now all the winner needs is a whole bunch of yarn, time, and patience! And yes, that really is a knitted clock. Everyone needs one of those.

I just went over to Random.org and typed in the information.

Random.org said that commenter #2 won. I agreed.

And then I threw imaginary confetti and celebrated because Warren of My Home Among the Hills won! Warren, please send me your address so that I can have your booklet shipped, by golly.

Open Star Dishcloth Pattern

Simple Livin' gal — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:57:15 +0000

Josh and I love knitted dishcloths. We love them more than strawberry shortcake, Le Creuset, and reciprocating saws. Here’s an easy pattern that makes a honey of a dishcloth and there’s a surprise at the end.

My very first-ever introduction to an Open Star dishcloth happened at Knitting Circle and it was love at first sight. Knitted dishcloths are a personal weakness of mine and this pattern just made me weak at the knees. All I could see were Celtic love knots over and over… and I was totally hook-line-and-sinker in love.

If you are with me on this very important matter, then you are totally in luck because I’ve got the little ol’ pattern right here so you can make one of your very own. Special thanks to Holly, who sent me the pattern and got me hooked on it in the first place.

Materials:

1 ball of cotton yarn (I’m a big fan of Lily® Sugar‘n Cream® yarn)
Size 8 US needles (I prefer bamboo needles but choose your own adventure)

Directions:

Cast on 39 stitches
Row 1: K 2 *yo, K 3, pass the first of these stitches over the other two * repeat to last stitch, K 1.
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: K 1, *K 3, pass the first of these 3 stitches over the other two, yo *, to last 2 stitches, K 2.
Row 4: Purl.
Repeat rows 1-4 nine times, then repeat rows 1-3 once.
Bind off in purl.

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And just because I’m feeling so groovy from this week’s jewelry giveaway, I thought I’d give one lucky commenter one of these:

It’s a pattern book containing instructions to make all of these WAY-cool kitchen goodies (which are all on my wishlist should you make them and decide to share):

Your comment is your entry in this little giveaway and the winner will be announced tomorrow at noon EST.

Thank you for reading and commenting and making me feel so ding dang loved. You guys rock.

The contest is closed. Congratulations, Warren.

If you would like to see the winner of the great bracelet giveaway: click here.

Handmade Bracelet Giveaway!

Simple Livin' gal — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:00:24 +0000

Be it a gift for yourself or your sweetheart or your momma or your best friend in the whole wide world, this bracelet has your name all over it. Well, one of you anyway. Its fancy jasper faceted stones sure would work with any outfit or occasion. Talk about the perfect piece of jewelry! We have a WINNER!

Created by Kathy Alderfer, who has a delightful Etsy shop called Artful Accent s (do visit and drool as I have done), this heavenly bracelet features stones which vary in color and are 8mm (with the exception of one stone on either end of the clasp that are 6mm). The bracelet is nearly 8 inches long and was named “Mossy Mauve” by the talented artist (Kathy).

Your comment is your entry to win. Drawing will be on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and the winner will be announced at 10:00 a.m. EST. The winner will be selected at random using Random.org — please tell your friends! Not sure what to say in the comment box? Tell me your favorite meal! Sorry, this giveaway is now over.

Congratulations, to the #10 commenter: Chocolatechi c! We are all very jealous. Please send me your address a.s.a.p. so we can mail you your bracelet.

If you would like to see how we calculated the winner, click here to see the contest info entered and click here to see the number chosen through Random.org.