Fluffy Cows

Spring calves in their early winter coats



After the killing frost Thursday night I was up early trying to take some video of BTAP ZZ Tom. Tom is for sale and I wanted to try to show some video of him walking on You Tube so prospective buyers could get a look at him without traveling to the farm.  It was just at sunrise and Tom was a bit sluggish so the video didn't work out, but I snapped some pictures of the spring calves in their early winter coats. they look so soft and fluffy, you just want to cuddle them. As you can see from their attitude they are not in to cuddling - all but BTAP Samantha that is.

BTAP Samantha

Sammy, as I like to call her, is a daughter of BTAP Blackberry Bramble and granddaughter of Buttercup. All of this cow family is very gentle and naturally comes to me to be petted. I was trying to get Tom to pay attention and Sammy wanted me to pet her. You can see how annoyed she is that I wasn't paying attention to her in this photo. Sammy is BTAP Thor's daughter and will be a beautiful cow next year. She was the first calf born this year. If you go to www.YouTube.com/vtappy1 you can see video of Sammy, Frosty and Lady's Man last April having a race.

BTAP Zooey at the salt feeder. The mud begins!



Wrought Iron Trivets

My AGA Cooker making breakfast. Sausage in the oven.

Distelfink

I've been cleaning out the basement and came across a box of wrought iron trivets my mother gave me when she and my Dad moved out of their old farm house 20 years ago.  I kept them on the kitchen counter for a few days trying to decide what to do with them. My counter tops are granite so iron trivets aren't necessary there.  I could use them on the kitchen table. Then it hit me, they would look pretty good on the wall behind the AGA - that major blank space that was supposed to be tiled and enhanced with a decorative hood - but never was.

I picked up the heart shaped one from Helen English at the Old Post Office Flea Market. It is stamped on the back "Distelfink T-47. It's very Pennsylvania German looking and the  Distelfink is a Pennsylvania German graphic.

 The other three my parents and grandparents had purchased on the travels in the 1950's and 1960's. 

The round one has a picture of Robert E. Lee on horseback embossed into it. It says" 10-18 Confederate States of America, "Deo Vindice".  The back says CSA Trivet,  Copyright 1962, VA Metalcrafters". There are some makers marks as well.

The one at the top is the heaviest and my favorite but it has no marks.

The one at the bottom has a broken curlicue and is signed on the back "JZH 1952".  There is also a number 17 and a number 23.  All of the information is stamped into each piece.

The Distelfink is the most useful because it is the largest.  They are all reproductions of trivets from the 18th and 19th century.

 

Pecan Pie

  I hadn't had homemade pecan pie in years and decided to bake a couple for the family dessert night. The Save-a-lot grocery in town had a 6 oz bag of pecans halves for $2.99.  I bought two bags, because its always good to have pecans in the freezer this time of year and that was a good price.

  Then I dug out my old recipe and saw that it called for only 2 oz of chopped pecans.  That just didn't seem right, so I put 4 oz of halves in the pie shell. That still didn't look right, so I tossed in the whole bag.  The result was a pie that tasted like pecans wrapped in a sweet custardy sauce, not a lot of custard with a few pecans.  It was great and every body loved it.  Here's the recipe:

Helen Hill's Pecan Pie with Extra Pecans

 

 

Line a 9 inch pie plate with either homemade or store bought pastry. Blind bake for at least 8 minutes at 350 degrees. I put a round of either waxed or parchment paper on top of the pastry in the pan and add some dried bean. That holds the pastry flat while it bakes.

 

1 cup Light Karo syrup

1 tablespoon butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

6 oz pecan halves

 

Mix together the Karo, butter, eggs and sugar either with an electric mixer our a wire whisk and lots of elbow grease until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed - a couple of minutes with the electric mixer.  Meanwhile line the blind baked pie shell with the pecans. Pour the sugar and egg mixture over the pecans and bake in a 300 degree oven until set.  Serve with sweetened whipped cream flavored with a 1/2 teaspoon vanilla is you like.