Creamy Cucumbers & Onions

The weather has been unseasonably warm for March.....and we are loving it! (So are the baby calves!)

Last night I grilled burgers and made a whole bowl of Creamy Cucumbers & Onions. This recipe is one of our favorites in the summer. I make it to take to the roping arena, to golf league on my night to cook, and several times just as a side dish at home.

This is The Pampered Chef Spiral & Slice.
It makes perfect spirals out of vegetables
with very little effort. It's so easy and is safe for
kids to use. It is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets!

Creamy Cucumbers & Onions

Dressing:

• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 white vinegar (or a little less if, like me, you don't like vinegar)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Pepper to taste

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cucumbers, peeled and cut into 2-3" pieces
• 1 medium, sweet or yellow, onion

Instructions

1. Combine dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 
2. Slice cucumbers & onions very thin, or use a The Pampered Chef Spiral & Slice.
3. Combine cucumbers, onions and dressing in a large bowl. Garnish with pepper and serve cold. 

Somewhere, in this barn, there is a little kid that wants to be JUST LIKE YOU.

Here we are getting ready to launch our rockets the 3 times
that was required before entering them along with their
record book in the Chase County Fair. (Circa 1994ish.)

I was a proud member of the Challengers 4-H Club from the age of three to age 18. Now, I know what you are thinking, “legal” 4-H age is eight by January 1^st of the current year. So maybe I should say I was an “honorary member” of the Challengers 4-H Club until I reached the cut-off of eight by January 1.

My mom and her cousin led a group of 14 ornery boys – and me – God blessed them with more patience than most! There was a five-year age difference between their youngest “of age” member and myself. I was also was the only girl in the club.

Together, we did every project we could squeeze in from showing all species of livestock, rocketry, to baking cookies the night before entry day. We spent a lot of time together at meetings and shows.

Just like all our other projects, I wouldn’t let them leave me out. I let my parents know I wasn’t going to sit out of the game when my eight-year-old brother got to purchase his first show steer from a neighbor, so my parents and I compromised and I got to purchase a bucket calf for my first Pre-4-H livestock project.

Here I am, in 1991, watching the boys get
their steers ready for the show.

I watched my brother and the other club members throughout the year feeding, watering and bathing their steers, hogs and sheep. So I then fed, watered and bathed my bucket calf, just like they did. I was their shadow, and they were my heroes.

What my heroes didn’t know is that I was watching their every move. I tailed all of them, mentally noting their every move when fitting their steers, (complete with shaved bellies – thankfully that trend subsided in the early ‘90s), washing their hogs and shearing their lambs in preparation for the show. I took my mental notes to my “open class” animals and mimicked their actions, so that I could be just like them! If one of them balled a tail, I balled my bucket calf’s tail. If one of them wore black, lace-up Justins to show, I wore black, lace-up Justins to show. I mirrored their actions to a T.

I saw them occasionally dunk a younger 4-Her, who had been ornery to them earlier in the day, in the tank. I watched them be the instigators of the annual wash rack water fight. I saw them play tricks on the unfortunate soul that fell asleep in a lawn chair in the barns.

My mom is still the leader of the Challengers 4-H
Club. I helped her make these posters to hang in
the show barns for all species at the 2015 Chase
County Fair in Nebraska. The response from
parents and exhibitors was great! Yuma
County in Colorado also has similar signs.

But I also watched them be good sports about winning and losing. I watched them shake the hands of the Grand and Reserve Champions after each show, even though their steer might have only received a blue ribbon. I watched them help each other and their neighbors in the show ring when a stubborn animal wouldn’t cooperate. I watched them help younger members of the program get their animals safely to the ring and back to the stalls.  I watched them thank the judge for their time after the show and also thank the exhausted extension agents for their efforts as well.

These young men had no idea I was watching all of this or the impact it would have on me for the rest of my life.

As a retired showman, I now sit back in the barns and watch the juniors, intermediates and seniors and I see the same pattern – the older showmen have no idea that the beginners are watching their every move and essentially idolizing them.

I challenge every showman, over the age of 12, to start paying attention to their actions in front of the novice showmen in the barns. I challenge them to remind themselves and their peers that: SOMEWHERE, IN THIS BARN, THERE IS A LITTLE KID THAT WANTS TO BE JUST LIKE YOU. YOU OWE IT TO THEM TO BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE.

Be a good role model. Set a good example. In a few years, when you too are “retired” from the show ring, you will see your efforts come full circle and it will be more rewarding than you could have ever imagined.

The BEST Cinnamon Rolls

THE BEST Cinnamon Rolls

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• ¾ cup buttermilk (room temperature)
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 3 packets regular yeast
• ½ TB salt
• 2 eggs
• 5-6 C. bread flour

Filling

• 3 TB butter, melted
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 3 TB cinnamon

Frosting

• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• enough milk to make it spreading consistency

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix together water, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter and yeast. Allow to sit for 15 minutes..
2. Add in salt, eggs and flour. Mix for 5 minutes and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
3. Prepare your filling by mixing together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. On a floured service, roll dough into a 12 x 16 inch square.
5. Spread your filling over the top and roll up. Cut into 12 large rolls.
6. Place rolls in a 9x13 baking dish.
7. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
8. While baking, mix together your frosting ingredients. Spread on warm rolls and serve.

Recipe Adapted From lil' luna.

Taos the Snow Dog

(As written by Taos.)

My mom came home from work Monday night and made chili and homemade cinnamon rolls. The house smelled great. I didn't get any chili, but she did let me sample part of her roll after supper. It was delicious.

Dad is busy calving heifers, so this time of year he gets home late. I waited and I waited and waited some more, but he never came home.

It got late (about 8:30 p.m.) and I could barely keep my eyes open, so I retired to my bed (the one that mom and dad think they need to sleep in too).

The next morning, I woke Mom up so I could go potty and to my surprise everything was WHITE! The trees, the lawn and even most of mom's Jeep was covered in SNOW!

SNOW IS MY FAVORITE OF ALL MY FAVORITE THINGS!



Mom said Dad had to spend the night at work because the baby calves would get too cold if they were born outside. This disrupted my normal routine, but because I am Taos the Cow Dog, I suppose I understand the importance of keeping those babies warm.

Mom bundled up in her winter clothes and we headed out the door to do chores.

I ran. I spun circles. I bounded through the drifts. I even made a few snow-puppy angels.

It. Was. Glorious.

For one day of the year, I got to be Taos the Cow SNOW Dog! I played until I got so tired that I, once again, couldn't keep my eyes open and Mom let me back in to sleep on my nice warm bed.

Something to WINE About!

Last weekend I did some DEEP spring cleaning....well...sort of.

In between working 400 calves with the neighbors, AI'ing our cows and putting fly tags in the neighbors' and our's, there was only so much DEEP cleaning I could do! (Good thing our house is small!)

Anyway...I pulled out the night stand in our bedroom, expecting to find some dog hair around the base, because when you have a huge dog that often sleeps in front of said night stand, that is bound to happen.

I had my Dyson ready to suck up the poodle-size ball of Saint Bernard fur I was sure to find -- but then noticed some red specks in the carpet. Since we are not known for having knife fights or throwing Ninja stars at each other, there was only one culprit it could be......WINE! Yes! Wine! Deep, red, dark, dried-on-the-carpet-for-months WINE!

Yes, I am guilty. I can't blame it on anyone else because I am the only wino living in our residence. However, I don't recall ever spilling any in that room since we moved in....8 or 9 months ago! And I really thought I had cleaned it up pretty good -- it's still a mystery how it even got under the heavy, huge night stand in the first place. I have tried a million remedies to remove wine stains, and yet this is the only one that has ever worked:

John Deere Carpet Stain Remover works miracles.

Animal poo - gone.
Cat/dog puke - gone.
Ketchup - gone.
Mud - gone.
Blood - gone.

I know you must be thinking that we sure have gross carpet -- I have not had to use it on all of the above items, but the people I work with have, and they sing its praises just like I do.

Wine - yes, even wine - GONE!

Spray it on the stain. Scrub with a brush (or towel). Let Dry. STAIN GONE!

I once spilled an entire glass....not a 4 oz. glass...more of a fishbowl size glass of Merlot on our BRAND SPANKIN' NEW carpet. This happened less than 24 hours after my husband read me my rights about drinking wine in the basement living room with said new carpet. They went as such:

1. You will NOT drink red wine in the basement living room on the new carpet.

And that about summed it up. However, he was roping that night at the arena and I had an unwatched upside of ABC's Mistresses to watch....so I figured "what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Imagine the panic I felt when I tripped trying to grab a blanket off the other end of the couch and SPLAT! My whole glass of wine "runneth over." I did what any good wife would do -- HURRY UP AND HIDE IT! Except, because I had this lovely, magic bottle of carpet cleaner, there was no hiding to be done. STAIN. GONE. in about 5 minutes. PHEW! To this day, Mr. Wine Police still doesn't know it even happened...and I doubt he will ever read this, so my secret is safe!

Get up from your computer, go to your local John Deere dealership. And buy a bottle....of carpet cleaner....then go buy a bottle of.....RED WINE!

 You can't thank me later.

Taos, Ted and the No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day

This picture was NOT taken the night we found the "black and
white cat with the pointy nose and big tail." Mom had too much
tomato juice on her hands last night to take a picture of us when
we were "in big trouble." (Ted is on the left, Taos is on the right).

Yesterday evening the weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. It wasn't too CRP grass.
windy. Perfect weather for two strapping, young Saint Bernards to run and play and frolic in the

Mom was by the barn planting her gladiolas and my best friend, Ted, and I were wrestling around on the grass beside her. Ted ate too much grass and threw up.....twice....even after Mom told him that would happen. Mom kept telling us what good boys we were for not digging in the dirt where she planted her flowers.

When she got done, she put her spade back in the shed and was feeding Titsy and her kittens in the barn when, to say the least, all hell broke loose.

A black and white cat with a BIG tail and pointy nose came out of the CRP and then waddled back in....Ted and I are very protective of our yard, and that wasn't "our" cat, so, out of necessity, we chased it.

Mom heard the commotion and came out of the barn. She yelled "NO!" and I stopped in my tracks. Teddy, on the other paw, was on a mission. While mom continued to call him and yell at him to STOP he did.....but then started flopping like an idiot around on the ground and barking. I couldn't take it anymore so I joined him.

Mom continued yelling at us and when we finally listened, she was furious.....and we smelled funny. That black and white cat must have had some "issues" because when we got close it shot a stinky, yucky liquid in our direction.

I heard mom call dad and tell him that the dogs had been sprayed by a "Skunk" - what a strange name for a cat. Anyway, we got loaded into the back of the pick up and hauled to Dad's calving barn. Then, mom started pouring red water on us...very strange behavior.

Her and dad dumped 8 big cans of this stuff on us, then sprayed us with the hose. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. Baths never have lasted this long in the past.

After we were dried with the same contraption I have seen Mom use on the show calves, we looked and smelt like a million bucks.

I haven't seen the black and white cat since last night, but I sure can still smell him in the yard. Once we are out of what I overheard Mom call "doggy jail," we will plot how to chase him down again.

Get Crafty

Last night, a great friend of mine hosted a Girl's Night In where we drank wine and beer, had yummy snacks and made burlap wreaths.

     A dozen of us were there and we had a  fantastically patient "craft-structor."

     I've been to a few cork and canvas/wine/painting get together a, but have never been proud enough of my painting to actually hang it up. And usually my living husband teases me so bad about my painting it gets put in the back of the closet. 

   


Not this time! I hung it on the front door first thing this morning!

Here's my final product: