The Begining Of The Barn

We live in an old house, built in the late '50's. There is an old brick "garage" in the back yard. I would say it's at least 500 sq ft. The garage doors were removed and boarded up before we bought the house about 13 years ago. It has a regular door and a bunch of windows, and would make the perfect barn. Crazy. I've been scratching my head for the last month, trying to figure out what to use for a coop and a goat pen, and this garage has been in front of my face the entire time.The problem is, it's full of junk that we don't use! I mean, almost floor to ceiling full. We've just been to lazy to clean it out. Hello! McFly! Now, I must say, my husband has NOT been into the whole "barnyard in the backyard" thing, at all.He thinks he can just pretend I'm not going to do this. Ha, ha. He should know by now that once I set my mind to something, it's going to happen. So, I told him I am going to clean out "the shed" this week, and he laughed at me. i told him that once it was clean, I was getting my chickens. He laughed harder. The jokes on him. I'll take that as a bet, bwaa, ha, ha. Plus, the kids are out of school this week. LOL. They're going to hate me by the end of the week. So. This is the beginning of my coop "design". Stay tuned.

Working, working, working. Yesterday, I made sourdough bread in my bread machine. Then I made mayo-parmesan chicken with the Helman's recipe. It came out so good. Next time I make it, I'm going to use kefir cheese. Today I worked my butt off in the kitchen. I scrubbed down the cabinets and rearranged everything. I'm trying to cut back on all the junk that I've collected. Oh my God, I have so much crap! So, anyway, it feels good to have that out of the way. I have sourdough coming out of my ears. Today I decided that I was going to divide and refriderate it. I figured I would give some away. Well, I went to stir it up and it looked like it had mold on top. I was so pissed. Weeks of work just got poured down the drain. I had to start a fresh batch tonight. This time I'll play it smart and keep it in the fridge. Lesson learned. Tomorrow will be all about cleaning up my 8 year old's room. I am not looking forward to that. It usually ends up be a full day's job, only to be destroyed again in a day. It's so frustrating. This time she won't be able to have friend's over for a while. Back to the grindstone. I have dishes to do.

Wow! I have sourdough coming out of my ears! I almost have a gallon at this point. I need to start, or refridgerate it to slow it down. Tonight we had sourdough pancakes for dinner, just to use some up. They came out pretty good. At least the family liked them, lol. also made another loaf of sourdough bread. Tomorrow night will be sourdough biscuits and gravy. My family is going to be sick of sourdough soon. I still need to make those sourdough chocolate chip cookies, too.

A Day In The Life

Wow. I'm so worn out tonight. It was a long day. I did the mad-rush, tornado cleaning this morning for a Mother/Daughter tea party. Then I gave Chocolate Facials at the party. Then, I had to dash over to my parents house for a dinner party for my brother. Ah, blessed, packed, weekends. I always feel like I've accomplished something once they are over. I just wish I didn't feel so drained afterward.

Sourdough Bread

With all of the fermenting I've been doing, kombucha, kefir, water kefir, I decided to try sourdough. This one is really fun. It's always funny to tell people that I have to feed my sourdough. Gets a good laugh. In a week, I have over two quarts. I decided last night that I had better put it to some use. Thank God for the internet and being able to find bread machine recipes. Yes, I know how to bake bread in the oven. Yes, it is fun to punch it down, too. I just hate the time it takes. Mix up the dough. Let it rise. Punch it down. Let it rise again. Bake it. It's just to much trouble babysitting my dough. This way, my bread machine does all the work, while I play on Face Book. So, it came out pretty good. It has a nice, crispy crust and a yummy, chewy texture. My family likes it. Next on my list is Sourdough chocolate chip cookies. Maybe tonight, after dinner... Right now it's time to pick up crickets to feed the frogs, lol. Ta, ta.

I was at the Racquet Club today. Don't I sound rich? LOL. Yeah, right. Seriously, we have friends who have a membership. And quite honestly, our Racquet Club is more of a YMCA with a bar added. It is a fun place to have a kid's party. The nice thing is there are lifeguards to keep the kids under control, while the parents enjoy some adult time. Very relaxing. And so fun for the kids.