Barn Quilts

Barn quilt in Fleming County, KY

I love to visit my parents in Kentucky and to look at all the beautiful barn quilts on barns.  I keep thinking that I will put one on our barn, but which one?  I love them all!  Then I started wandering why these beautiful pieces of art were put on barns.  After some research, I found a great answer...

According to Marilyn Carrigan, Executive Director of the Truman Museum, "The history of the barn quilt begins about 300 years ago with the arrival of immigrants from the Rhine region of Germany. They came for religious freedom. These groups included Amish, Mennonites, Lutherans and other Reform groups.  Many settled in Pennsylvania, especially in Berks, Lancaster and Lehigh counties.

Today, octagonal and hexagonal star-like patterns are seen on the Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutche) barns.  Prior to the 1830s, most barns were unpainted because of the cost of paint. As paint became more affordable, the Pennsylvania Dutch began to paint and decorate their barns."

Not only are the barn quilts popular in Pennsylvania, but in several other states as well.  I have a treasured quilt at home that my great aunt made for me when I was just a little girl.  The quilt is a symbol of family, heritage, comfort and craftsmanship.  I suppose taking that image and putting it on a barn that symbolizes tradition, labor, ethics and agriculture go hand in hand.  If nothing else, it makes for a striking display and looks much better than the tin stars. 

If you are interested in purchasing a barn quilt, check out this website: http://www.americanbarnquilts.com/





Source:
http://fairmontsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/506370.html

Corn Casserole

Do you ever have a certain item that you just love to make?  At my house, it would have to be "Corn Casserole."  It is a wonderful side dish to make for holidays or gatherings.  It is not hard to make and feeds several people.  It also freezes easily and it wonderful as a leftover.  I guess that you could say it's flawless as far as food goes!

Ingredients:
1 can whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can cream style corn
1 box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
1 8-oz container of sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar (depends on how sweet you like it)
salt and pepper to sprinkle on top
1 stick of butter

***Try adding the following to change the dish up a little: bacon, cheddar cheese, green chilies or a green/regular onion. 
Directions:
Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Add other ingredients, mixing well.  Sprinkle top of mixture lightly with salt and pepper and bake in a greased 9x13 casserole dish uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Here are some of the ingredients that you will be using.

This is what it should look like when it comes out of the oven.

Lasagna Roll Ups

Love me some pasta!

This week instead of making old fashion lasagna, I decided to try "Lasagna Roll Ups" instead.  We were not disappointed!  This dish with some garlic bread was delicious!  To save time, I prepared the recipe the night before and then stuck it in the oven when I came home from work the next day. 

Ingredients:
2 jars of 28 oz spaghetti sauce (I like a lot of sauce and one jar just didn't cut it with me)
1 pound container of Ricotta cheese
2 bags of 8 oz Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon of parsley
8 lasagna noodles

***Other options: adding hamburger, onions, spinach, etc!  If you add hamburger, I would cook 10 noodles total instead of 8.


Directions:
First, cook the noodles according to the directions on the package, drain and cool. 
Next, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Pour one jar of spaghetti sauce in a casserole dish.  In a medium sized bowl, mix the Ricotta cheese, one bag of Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, salt and parsley together.  Spoon the mixture over a single lasagna noodle, distributing evenly.  Roll the noodle up tightly and place it in the pan, seam side down.  If you have extra cheese mixture, you can add it between the rolls ups in the pan.  Pour the other can of spaghetti sauce over the noodles and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes (or until heated through) and then bake uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.  Let cool for 15 minutes and serve with garlic bread and a small salad.

Cookies in the Freezer

As a farmer's wife, you never know when company will be stopping by or when the guys might want a snack out in the field.  I try not to give the guys candy bars, but rather cookies that they can keep in a Ziploc bag with them in whatever piece of machinery they are driving.

This week, I made almost 12 dozen cookies and put them in the freezer in quart size bags.  Then all I  have to do is pull them out when needed, let them thaw (usually 30 minutes to an hour) and use them as needed.

The great thing about homemade cookies is that they will usually stay fresh for up to 90 days in the freezer if they're stored in a Ziploc freezer bag and then put in an airtight container.

Always be sure to label the items you put in the freezer with what the item is and the date you are freezing it.

They Call Me Libby!

Libby watching Bill out in the garage.

Many of you know that I can't have children, so my pets instantly become my kids.  Sadie, my black lab mix is almost 8 years old and I wanted to get her a friend that she could run around the farm and play with.

After looking for several weeks, a friend of mine approached me about possibly taking her 4 year old lab/terrier mix Libby.  Libby came to our house this past weekend and has been a ball of energy ever since.  Sadie is still a little unsure about her new younger sister, but they seem to be getting along well.  When Libby does something bad, like chase the chickens, Sadie just sits back and looks at her like "I told you not to do that." 

Sadie and Libby like to take rides in the gator - Sadie in the back and Libby in the front.  Bill has already bought treats for both dogs to enjoy when they are good.  After an exhausting first day on the farm, Libby crawled up in the back seat of Bill's truck and went to sleep.  He told me she was even snoring!  I think she is enjoying farm life already.




Libby on the left and Sadie on the right hanging out on the front porch.

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bagel

One of my all time favorite breakfast sandwiches is the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bagel from McDonald's.  I don't get it very often because of the price.  So, I decided to take a stab at it and make my own at home.  Although the taste isn't exactly like McDonald's I think it's better because I made it in my own kitchen with fresh ingredients. 

If you're like me, I'd rather sleep than eat in the morning, so this is a perfect way to make sure that I don't skip breakfast.  I can make my coffee, grab one of these out of the freezer and heat it up when I get to work.  Give them a try!

First thing I did was purchase a bag of plain bagels, a package of bacon and American cheese.  I have eggs of course:)

I put the bacon in the oven on 400 degrees to cook for 20-30 minutes.  While the bacon was cooking, I sliced all of the bagels in half and toasted them.  Laying them out on a piece of wax paper when they were done.

I added a slice of American cheese to one side of each bagel.  If you prefer more cheese, add a slice to the other side as well.

Then I fried up my eggs.  It is very difficult for me to break the yolk on the eggs as I grew up learning to make eggs over easy, but for this one project, I fried hard eggs.

Once all of the eggs were fried and cooled, I added them on top of the cheese.

When the bacon was done cooking, I patted each peace with a paper towel to get rid of any excess grease.

I then cut each piece of bacon in half and added maybe a little more on top of each egg - hey, it's bacon! 

Then I assembled each bacon, egg and cheese bagel, wrapped each one individually in aluminum foil and put them all into a gallon Ziploc bag. The guys in the field loved them.

If you want to add a sauce to them, I would suggest going ahead and adding a sauce of 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise and 1 teaspoon of mustard mixed well to each bagel! 


Here's a cool tip:
Instead of throwing out your empty eggshells, RECYCLE them!  Let your eggshells dry out, then use your blender to finely crush them to make a type of bone meal for your plants!

Manicotti

I love pasta, which is probably half the reason I am overweight.  It does nothing for my metabolism, but tastes so good!  Over the weekend, I made this recipe for my guys out in the field.  It's something warm for them to eat and is super easy.

Manicotti

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 packages of cream cheese
2 bags of 8 oz Mozzarella Cheese
1 bag of 8 oz Parmesan Cheese
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 box of Manicotti noodles

Directions:
Cook noodles, rinse and cool.  Soften cream cheese and mix with the egg and 1 and 1/2 bags of the Mozzarella Cheese.  Next, add 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese and mix well. Once noodles have cooled, slice them open and fill with the cheese mixture.  Place the noodles, seam side down, in a greased 9x13 baking dish.  Cover noodles with spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with the remainder cheeses.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Serve with garlic bread!

These are the Manicotti noodles that I use. 

 

Stick them in a pot of boiling water and cook until tender.  Drain and let cool.

 

Soften cream cheese and mix with the egg and 1 and 1/2 bags of the Mozzarella Cheese.

Next, add 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese and mix well.

 

Once noodles have cooled, slice them open and fill with the cheese mixture.

Place the noodles, seam side down, in a greased 9x13 baking dish.

 

Cover noodles with spaghetti sauce and sprinkle.

 

 



Sprinkle with the remainder cheeses. 

 



Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

 

 

Serve with garlic bread!