Thursday, May 23, 2013

A week of Instagram: Shellac, Beef and Poshmark

The weeks are flying by. I seriously can not believe that we are almost through May. When June 1 hits our crazy life becomes crazy. For work we have several big events that we are a part of that stretch over 42 day, and 30 of those days I am on the road. Oh, and did I mention we have to pack and move to our farm in there? Yes, it's crazier. But we are also incredibly blessed so I am just going to keep rolling with it. So what was going on this week?


We finished planting all our corn and soybeans! The boy, his family and the other members worked nonstop (and I do mean nonstop) to get all our crop in the ground. I spent a little bit in the tractor one night riding with the Boy. Now we wait for it to sprout out of the ground!


Poshmark = Addicting. I have sold more than $100 worth of items on Poshmark now and it has become additive to see what else I can find in my closet to sell. It has also really made me decide what I wear all the time and what can go. I figure the cash is helping pay for all those summer wedding dresses I bought and less clothes in the closet means less to move in July! (If you are on Poshmark leave a comment with your name, I'm Crystal Cattle). 


I had to share this cute picture of this baby calf we call Orb. He was born on the Kentucky Derby and therefore was named after the winner. I was really hoping we would have a Triple Crown Winner this year, but no such luck. This calf looks different than our others because he is out of this black cow and a Hereford bull resulting in the a color pattern we call brockle face. He's cute. 


I've been getting my nails Shellacked (is that how you spell it?) with all these weddings/events we have had going on. My Instagram capture for this was "I don't think this is what they meant by a statement nail." I was so good and went almost two weeks without picking at them. I got them redone the other night in a pale pink and would show you but my hands are a little pooped stained from working cows this morning. That's what farmers do - get poop on their hands so you don't have to. 


And speaking of food... this is some of the beef we raised. I am really proud of the beef the Boy and I are selling this year. We have sold a lot of it privately and then some will be available through Bass Farms in Mount Vernon, Iowa. We have got steaks sitting out for lunch (yes lunch) because tonight we jump on a plane for Canada to spent a weekend with my sister and rest of the family for her big bridal shower. 

I hope you have an awesome holiday weekend planned, and for my Canadian readers I hope you just had an awesome holiday weekend!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Turquoise Thursday: Brahmin Handbags

In 2011 I wrote a blog post with this same name. Back then Brahmin had an amazing collection of lighter turquoise bags. Now, as you can see below, they have added some vivid turquoise to their collection.


This is definitely a bold statement piece. This handbag is from Brahmin's Melbourne Collection and some in lots of other more subtle colors if turquoise isn't your thing. 

Sometimes you only need a little turquoise like this Alexis Clutch.

This turquoise crossover bag also comes in a hot pink. 

Happy Turquoise Thursday! We are getting more rain today, which is great for our grass, but not great for planting corn and soybeans. The Boy is starting to get a little anxious. 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Hunk of Meat Monday: Jalapeño Popper Pastries

This weekend we had a few friends over to watch the Kentucky Derby. The Boy made his first Mint Julep ever, which if you like whiskey you'll like, if you don't don't bother trying them. The food portion of our evening took on a much more Cinco De Mayo feeling including my Baked Tacos and a new recipe Jalapeno Popper Pastries, which I'll definitely be making again. 

I found the original recipe on Pinterest from Lady Behind the Curtain. She put hers on popsicle sticks. Here is my recipe below with a couple of suggestions. 

Ingredients

Pre Made Pie Crust Dough - 2 sheets (usually there are 2 sheets in a box)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons picked jalapeños, chopped

1 table spoon pickled jalapeno juice

6 bacon slices, cooked and chopped (I didn't have any bacon on hand so I used those precooked bacon pieces and did 1/2 cup. They were great this way, but I think would be better with real bacon.)

1 egg

salt and pepper

2-1/4 to 3 inch biscuit cutter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 

Mix together cream cheese, jalapeno jucie, jalapenos and bacon until cream. I think you can best control the hotness of this dish with the jalapeno juice. Add a little more if you like hotter, take away if you don't like as much heat. I would stay as is these are mild to medium hot. 

On a lightly floured surface lay out your pie crust and roll out any edges if necessary. Using your biscuit cutter cut out as many circles as you can. Mine was probably around the 2-1/4 inch size and I was able to get 26 circles out of my two pie crusts to make 12 pastries. 


Place half of the circles on the cookie sheet, and spoon in about a tablespoon of mixture. Mix up your eggs with a tablespoon of water. Using your finger dab the wash around the outside of the circle. Place your other circle on top of the mixture and using your finger to gently press together the two pieces of dough. 


Use a pastry brush to brush egg wash onto pastry, sprinkle with salt and pepper. I like the course ground pepper. Using a sharp knife cut a little slit in the top to make an air vent. 

Bake for 23 minutes, let cool and serve! 


You'll definitely want to serve these at your next get together or they would make a great side to some grilled steaks or hamburgers. 

More more Hunk of Meat Monday recipes visit the Beyer Beware Blog and link up. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

Five Guys and Raspberry Coke

I love burgers, which is a good thing. This month is National Beef month so I'll have even more reasons to grab a burger. I have blogged about my love of Five Guys Burgers before but now there is even another reason to visit them... Raspberry Coke!


I was so excited about my Raspberry Coke discovery that I am now just noticing that machine had Coke with Lime. 

Yes, you heard right. Forget about vanilla and cherry it is time to grab a Raspberry Coke. During our hours of Food Network watching the Boy and once watched a show about the history of Coke. During the show it featured something called the Coca-Cola Freestyle. This single machine contains every Coke product that exists and some unexpected twists like Raspberry Coke.

Now, I'll admit when I saw Raspberry Coke I was excited, but nervous. So I only put a little bit in my cup, and it was pretty sweet. So I decided that half a cup of regular Coke and half a cup of Raspberry Coke would be the perfect combo - and it was.

(If you click here you can find the closest Coca-Cola Freestyle to you.)


Nothing washes down a juicy burger like a Raspberry Coke! 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Have you ever heard of February 82nd?

We are lucky. No snow here, yet. Not a very pretty day though for our friends from Australia to be making a visit.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...