Cream of Mushroom Soup

Jerry told me that this was the BEST soup I have ever made and he does not even LIKE mushrooms! ;)
This recipe comes from Mama Pea at A Home Grown Journal and is part of her Soup Sunday series. It goes together quickly, doesn't call for any off-the-wall ingredients and tastes divine! Who needs soup in a can anyway?!?

Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/4 cup butter
8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms (I used baby Portobellos)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste (I used more)
1/2 teaspoon savory (I used summer savory)
Pinch of white pepper
12 oz. beef stock or broth
1 cup Half-&-Half (I used half heavy cream and half goat milk)

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add mushrooms and onions and cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are brown and most of their liquid is gone.
Sprinkle with flour, salt, savory and pepper. Cook and stir for a minute or two.
Remove from heat and slowly blend in beef stock. Put back on heat, bring to boiling, cover and reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Mixture will be very thick so simmer on a low heat and stir now and then to make sure it's not sticking.
Mix in the Half-&-Half and heat to serving temperature being careful not to let it boil.

This makes enough for two main dish servings with just a bit left over, which Jerry promptly ate after finishing his first bowlful!
Sharing with The Country Homemaker Hop, the Down Home Blog Hop and Farmgirl Friday.

Texture Tuesday - 01/29/2013

 

It's always fun when we get snow here in the high desert. We get to enjoy the beauty and it's usually all gone by noon! ;)
Linking up with P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday and Texture Tuesday. Our challenge for Texture Tuesday this week was to include at least one layer of Kim's new Minus 43 texture, which seemed appropriate for this picture!

Edited with kk_minus 43 soft light 100% and kk_1412 soft light 60%.

The Cats

Ruby is my very own "pillow pet!" She usually sleeps behind this pillow so I was happy to get this picture. :)

Her son, Bob, LOVES it when we have a fire, he has got to be the most cold blooded cat ever! See how his right ear is turned around listening to me? ;)

We also have a barn cat, I actually saw it for REAL the other afternoon lying on the pallets watching us while we were feeding. We aren't even sure if it is a male or a female but since it has been coming up on the front porch recently "talking" to Ruby and Bob (at 3 AM!!), I'm starting to think female...in heat! If so, we should be seeing more barn cats shortly! I keep hoping to get pictures of her, she's a pretty orange tabby.

Skywatch Friday - Sun Dog

We had the coolest Sun Dog late Wednesday afternoon, it kind of looked like a comet streaking across the sky! The scientific name for a Sun Dog is parhelion, from Greek meaning "beside the sun." If you want to see a really neat double Sun Dog and learn more about these atmospheric phenomena, check out Sally's blog at Sally Saw.
Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Weekly Top Shot.

Shoes

I really enjoyed our recent visit with Vey and getting to see all the cool stuff he has collected over the years! I like the way he has displayed his horse shoe collection. There are all sizes from pony to draft horse and the two part ones are for oxen.
Linking with P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Barn Makeover

We enclosed the rest of the barn this past Sunday. It is something we have talked about for a couple of years and finally got around to doing. Most of the barns in this part of the country are made of metal because of the terrible termite problems.

Here, in this picture from last summer, you can see how it was open by the stalls.

The enclosed area in the picture on the left is the tack room. When we ordered the "barn" (actually a carport!), we had that part enclosed.

There is also a roll-up door to access the tack room. This is looking east.

Here are the before and after shots of the horses' stalls looking west. They now have shelter on the sides to help cut down on the wind and rain.

This is looking straight into the new and improved barn from Mysti's stall, Paco's stall is on the right. We also enclosed the far end past the breezeway to keep the hay out of the weather.

When it's colder out, Jerry puts Buddy's blanket up on the hay for his bed. If he doesn't, Buddy kind of tears up the hay making a "nest" to sleep in. ;)
Enclosing the sides created a whole new feel to the barn and we are really tickled with how it turned out! Now if we only had electricity down there...
Linking up with Barn Charm this week.

An Unexpected Visitor

We have had a pigeon hanging out down by the barn recently! That might not seem so strange to a lot of ya'll but we just don't have pigeons here in the country. As a matter of fact, there aren't even any pigeons in Benson. Lots of grackles but no pigeons. You have to go all the way to Tucson to see pigeons. So far, there is only the one and I told him that he can hang out with the Eurasian Collared doves and the Mexican grackles as long as he doesn't bring all of his little friends. I know pigeons are considered a pest by many people, Jerry even calls them flying rats, but I think they are actually kind of pretty. ;)

 

See ya' later Pigey!

Vey's Front Door

Jerry's friend, Vey, is an old-timer around these parts. His family helped to settle this area many, many years ago. We both love visiting with him and hearing his stories. There's just about nuthin' Vey hasn't seen or done in his life! One of the things he has accomplished is to build his own adobe home. This is his front door. He took an old wooden door and covered it with cut in half yucca stalks. Pretty cool, huh?!? :)
Sharing with Photo Art Friday where the optional theme this week is entrances and/or exits.

Cuppa Flowers

This week's prompt for Texture Tuesday is "cuppa" and I thought I would share the last of my colorful birthday flowers in one of my favorite cups to brighten up everyone's day! Unfortunately, I broke the handle off this cup several years ago but couldn't bear to part with it so it is now my pencil cup here on the computer desk. Stop by Kim's site to see what others have in their cups today. :)

It's Purty Cold...

...here in Beautiful Southeastern Arizona! This is the hose down at the barn yesterday morning. It was 16 degrees Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Today, it was all the way up to 20! Woo-Hoo!! It's supposed to be that cold again tonight. The highs have been staying in the 30s. I know, I know, some of ya'll are having HIGHS of 16 but we just don't usually have this kind of cold for this prolonged of a period. The cold weather makes Jerry very cranky. ;)

We went to see the movie Lincoln on Friday. It was pretty good and Daniel Day-Lewis did an outstanding job. Sally Field was also good, as was David Strathairn. I can see why it got so many Academy Award nominations. We thought it was a little long though...

It was stinkin' cold at the Farmer's Market in Bisbee this past Saturday. We were doing all right with the cold until the wind picked up. Everyone ended up closing down about an hour early. At least it wasn't snowing! LOL!! Considering the weather, I did okay with my sales, about half of what I normally do.

I'm behind on my blog reading and commenting. We were gone pretty much all day Friday and Saturday and the internet was down most of the day Sunday. I'm going to work on getting caught up with everyone today. :)

This is my P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday offering for this week. I like how it turned out.

Kolaches

Kolaches are an Eastern European sweet yeast roll. They are tradtionally shaped into a circle as a symbol of good luck, prosperity and eternity. Our Farmer's Market manager is from the Hill Country of Texas and it seems Kolaches are quite common in that area. She asked me last month if I had ever heard of them and if I could make them. I had actually heard of them and remembered seeing a recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens Old-Fashioned Home Baking cookbook.

I used that recipe as a starting point and tweaked it quite a bit after looking at other recipes on the internet.

Kolaches
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups bread flour
2 to 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast (If using active dry yeast, dissolve it in the warm milk before combining with the remaining ingredients.)
Solo brand Cake & Pastry filling in flavor of choice. (I used Poppy Seed and Apricot this time)

Mix, knead and let your dough rise until doubled using your favorite method; bread machine, manual or stand mixer. Divide dough in half and divide each half into 12 equal pieces and shape into balls. Flatten each ball to 2-1/2 inches in diameter. Cover; let rise until nearly double. Using your thumb or two fingers, make an indentation in the center of each dough circle. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of filling into each indentation.. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove rolls from baking sheets and cool on a wire rack. If desired, lightly sift powdered sugar over the tops. Makes 24 Kolaches.

I don't normally like using canned anything but in looking at the different recipes on the internet, I came across several comments that trying to use jam didn't work because it melts and runs off, so I broke down and used the canned stuff. If I was making them just for us, I would try making my own fillings but that would be a bit much to add to my already busy weekly baking schedule!

I made a batch with the poppy seed filling for our last Farmer's Market before Christmas and they were well received so I decided to make them again for this Saturday. I hope they all sell! :)

Linking up with the Down Home Blog Hop at Tilly's Nest, The Country Homemaker Hop and Farmgirl Friday.

Around The Bend

No, not ME, the train tracks! ;)
I love the feeling this photo evokes in me of wanting to discover what is just around the bend...
Sharing with Kent Weakley Photography for P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Photo Art Friday - 01/04/2013

For Photo Art Friday this week, Bonnie gave us the option to "showcase a piece of photo art that features a word you have chosen to guide or inspire you for the year 2013." This photo represents something I want to have a little more of this year. :)
Sharing with Weekly Top Shot too.

Guess Whooo Stopped By

I heard an owl the other morning and decided to try to get some pictures, even though it was still pretty dark out. With a bit of tweaking of the brightness and some red eye reduction, I think they turned out okay. S/He actually let me get right up underneath the power pole to get the last couple of photos. It was a Great Horned Owl and man was it BIG!! :)
Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday and I'm also going to join Kent Weakley for Project 52 Sweet Shot Tuesday this year.