Eager for Dairy

We kicked off Dairy Month a day early yesterday with a whole lot of dairy. Beginning the day with our own local 4H club's annual 4H Project Workshop and Chicken BBQ.

The workshops are held to help instruct 4H members how to show or just to practice showing different animal breeds at the local fair.  Non 4H members are also encouraged to come out and learn and try handling the animals as well.  Fun for all.

In the photo above, Paige is practicing her Showmanship techniques in the ring with her cousin's Jersey dairy cow, Ruby.

Many of the kids attending, eagerly awaited their turn to participate. 

(Thanks Jenny for the cute photo below)

We also had a beef cow workshop, which is completely different than showing a dairy cow.

A rabbit, cavy and poultry workshop....

(Two additional photos by Jenny, thank you!)

Much was learned about showing swine as well.  The beach balls doubled for the actual live animal in the swine workshop.  So much fun!

Appetites were on fire after the workshops concluded, so after washing up we enjoyed a fabulous chicken BBQ paired with plenty of Clover Stornetta milk and Three Twins Ice Cream..

June kicks off Dairy Month and we have an entire month+ of dairy related excitement to come!  My kids are eager to show their dairy heifers at our local fair in a few weeks, hope to see many of you there!

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TT w/Linky: Low Fat Dairy and Lowering Stroke Risk

Dairy products with vitamin D,  may help reduce the risk of stroke, according to a Swedish study published in the journal, Stroke.

WebMD reported that the study tracked 75,000 men and women over 10 years and found that those who ate the most low fat dairy foods and beverages, were 12% less likely to have a stroke than those who ate the least.

The explanation given is, low fat dairy products lowers blood pressure.  Previous research suggests that adequate vitamin D levels may help prevent development of high blood pressure.

Researchers found that those who ate a daily average of four servings of low fat cheeses, yogurts and milk significantly lowered their risk of stroke compared to those who did not include any low fat dairy in their diet.  Even after taking into account factors such as having high blood pressure, the researchers found that the risk reduction remained significant.

Dr.Wayne Clark, MD, director of the Oregon Stroke Center at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland says the calcium in dairy products may also help to lower blood pressure, and he recommends two to three servings per day.  However, he points out that diet is only part of stroke prevention.

Link up with anything you’re thankful for! And if you’re not a blogger, just let us know in the comment section what you happen to be thankful for on this day.

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Obsessed - Cupcake Wars while Tweeting with American Farm Bureau

Photos from Food Network Cupcake Wars

It's official.  I'm obsessed with Cupcake Wars .  Okay that's not the only thing I'm obsessed with, if you ask Dominic he would say I am also obsessed with Twitter, social media and agvocacy and today it became clear to me {and probably him} just how obsessed I am.

The day today, here in northern California is a foggy, damp 40 degree one.  So what better to do than sit on the couch in front of a cozy fire, Droid in hand following the hash tag of #AFBF11 on Twitter{American Farm Bureau's annual meeting is being held in Atlanta} and simultaneously watch Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. But that all ties into together doesn't it?  Cupcakes, butter, cream, food network ~ farming, farms, food, Farm Bureau.  Works for me.

Okay, if you've never heard of Cupcake Wars, let me let you in on it.  Cupcake Wars starts out with four teams that face off against each other in three elimination challenges until only one cupcake baker remains.

I don't know why I watch.  After the shows over, all I want is to bite into a creamy, buttery cupcake.....not so good for my post Christmas sugar detox.

Here's a couple of recipes from the show that I'm sure to try in the up-coming weeks......

Strawberry Thumbprint Cupcakes



Ingredients
Cupcakes:

2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup pureed strawberries, frozen and thawed, or fresh
1 cup chopped walnuts
Strawberry preserves

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions

For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line regular sized cupcake pans with 15 liners.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale yellow. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture alternating with the sour cream. Fold in the pureed strawberries.

Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full with batter and bake until baked through and golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool completely.

Fill a piping bag with strawberry preserves. Cut the tip of the bag off and insert the tip into the center of a cooled cupcake. Squeeze to allow a small amount of mixture into the center. Release and remove the bag from the cupcake. Repeat on the other cupcakes.

For the frosting: In a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream and vanilla until fully whipped. Remove from the bowl. In the same bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until blended and smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the whipping cream. Mix until just blended. Fold in chopped walnuts.

To assemble: Generously frost the cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.




 
 
Almond Cake with Fig Filling and Maple Buttercream


Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup shortening
4 large eggs
2 cups superfine sugar
2 3/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 24 count regular-size cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

In a heavy-duty mixing bowl, cream together the butter and shortening on medium speed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time until, completely combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the superfine sugar with the mixer set to low speed. Once combined, set the mixer to medium speed and mix for 5 minutes.

Sift together the cake flour, almond flour, salt, and baking powder. Begin to add the sifted dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the warm milk. Fold in the sliced almonds.

Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 16 to 20 minutes. Use a toothpick to poke in the center of the cupcake and if it comes out clean then the cupcakes are done. Remove from the pan and place onto a tray to cool.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, fill the center of the cupcakes with 1 tablespoon Fig Filling. Using a pastry bag and piping tip, frost the cupcakes with the maple buttercream. Pat the sides of the buttercream with the toasted almonds.


Fig Filling:

10 ripened black figs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend for 1 minute. Once blended, move the mixture into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until thick, about 2 minutes. Mix well after microwaving.


Maple Butter cream:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
7 cups powdered sugar, divided
3/4 cup non-dairy whipping cream
1 tablespoon maple extract

In a heavy-duty mixing bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add 3 cups powdered sugar and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and pour in the non-dairy whipping cream. Mix on low speed until completely mixed. Add the remaining 4 cups powdered sugar. Fold in the maple syrup.

Do you have a Food Network or other obsession?


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Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte with Whole {raw} Milk Fresh From the Dairy

With the holidays bringing seasonal flavors and scents and if you've been a frequent reader here, you know how much I LOVE all things pumpkin.  Starbucks makes a great pumpkin spice latte but the Starbucks in my area move onto Gingerbread and Peppermint lattes as soon as they can and pumpkin spice is no longer available after Thanksgiving.  So I thought I would try and recreate my own pumpkin spice latte at home.

I began with one cup of whole {raw} milk.  Now of course you can use 2% or nonfat milk but I use what we have on hand and that's whole {raw} milk.  And now that my kids are old enough for me to feel comfortable enough to feed them raw milk, it's what we drink. 

Heat it up the milk until it's hot.  I used the microwave.

For my recipe, I used a dash of French Vanilla creamer and some pumpkin pie spice.

And if you don't own one of these Aerolatte tools, you might want to ask Santa for one, because in the long run, it'll save you lots of $$ if you're a frequent visitor to Starbucks.

After you've heated the milk, use the Aerolatte, until the milk is nice and foamy.  The Aeorlatte is battery operated whisk which froths up your milk in no time......no need for an expensive espresso maker and steamer.

Add your one cup of milk to one cup of your favorite coffee, add a dash of the French Vanilla creamer and top with the pumpkin pie spice.    There you go!  I'll still go to Starbucks when I'm on the go, but for a special treat at home, I'll be putting my aerolatte to use.  Now, I wonder if I can find Gingerbread spice?  Is there such a thing?

I can honestly say, that I enjoyed my homemade version more than the Starbucks version.  Maybe it's the use of the whole milk compared to the 2% I normally order.  Mmmm, so creamy and sweet with a touch of pumpkin spice.  Such a treat.

Related Posts you may enjoy:
Everything Pumpkin
Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Happy Tuesday!

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Stuck in the Dairy Farm Cow Tofu

There are many, many days where we begin the afternoon looking like this.  Happy to be driving the feed wagon with Daddy.  Helping feed the dairy farm cows. 

I see especially witness large smiles when the kids can help Daddy drive the tractor.  I mean what four and six year old doesn't like to be in control........of anything, especially a large piece of machinery?

But inevitably, on the second or maybe third ride back up to the commodity barn, they end up staying  to play in the feed.  They can't help themselves, it's SO much fun!  Plus they know their mother LOVES doing laundry.

You may remember in one of my posts, that our dairy cows eat tofu mixed in their daily feed......14 tons weekly!  I'm not a tofu fan for myself but boy, the dairy cows sure like it!

With the wet weather we've been having lately, the tofu is a bit wet.  Bryce actually got his rubber boots stuck in it.  Just like wet cement. {I guess it's better the tofu than something else he could get himself stuck in on a dairy.....right?} 

I pulled him out.  I don't think he was too distressed over it.

We take a lot of baths at our house.  Sometimes two a day are required.

Happy Monday!

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October Morning on the Dairy

It's mornings like this that I just have to stop and take in the surrounding beauty and be grateful for where and how I live on this dairy.  This morning, as I was getting Bryce's lunch ready for school, I happened to glance out the kitchen window and spotted this beautiful sunrise.  It wasn't early, about 7 a.m.  but I knew if I didn't just drop what I was doing, this beautiful salmon colored sunrise would be gone.  It only took a few moments to walk out the slide door, onto the deck and snap a couple of photos, hoping they would do what I was witnessing, justice.....of course they didn't.  It was much more vibrant in person.

And just like that, it was gone.  More clouds moved in and there was no sign of the sun for the rest of the day.

Another thing I'm grateful for, living on the dairy is all the wildlife that makes this land their home and the fact that I am able to have visual contact with it on a daily basis.  On the way back from dropping Bryce off at school, one of our resident Cooper's Hawks was perched on a branch on the side of the road that leads up to our house.  I was glad I had brought  my camera with me on the ride.



















I was able to snap two quick shots before my feathered friend flew off.

Happy Friday!
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What do Farmers, Facebook, Twitter and Blogging have in common?

If you answered, 'Agvocating' and being proactive, you are correct because over 1,200 farmers, nationwide use social media as a tool to 'agvocate' thanks in large part to the AgChat Foundation.

As most of you know, over the past two days I have been in Chicago attending the 1st annual AgChat Social Media Training Conference. The conference was held at the offices of Dairy Management Incorporated {DMI} in Rosemont, Ill. The offices of DMI take up two floors within an office building and the attendees rotated between three presentation rooms for our breakout sessions amongst the two floors.

Let me just say, what an amazing experience with a fantastic group of 80+ Farmers. There were farmers and agribusiness attendees from across the U.S. and North America. Some of the attendees included farmers from the following industries; dairy farmers, pig farmers, row crop growers, beef cattle ranchers, goat and sheep farmers, cotton growers {and many more that I can’t think of right now}. I had the pleasure of meeting many of the attendees in person for the first time, and many of them I had already befriended on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, so it was great to finally meet them in person. Meeting face to face and getting to know someone’s personality, I believe, gives us a deeper connection with one another. I would now, feel completely comfortable calling them on the phone if I had a question for them, regarding their farm. This conference was such a great networking opportunity for all of us.

Collage Cow and the DMI office.

Within the 24 hour packed schedule, we covered topics such as using social media to its fullest potential, how to better utilize social media tools to connect with a wider audience that extends beyond the Ag world and different ideas on how to tell our farm story. I came away with quite a few new ideas that I hope to implement in the near future. Stay tuned!

We enjoyed getting to know each other at dinner on Monday night.
Sitting at my table from left: Mary Ellen, Mike- "Farmer Haley", Colby and Liz.

On the other side of the table: Lori Anne, oh my I've drawn a blank!{update: Jan}, Kathy and again Liz.

I stayed at the Sheraton Gateway Suites Chicago O'Hare. After dinner I walked back over to my hotel and should have hit the sheets considering I had been up since 3 a.m. to catch a flight to Chicago, but instead I ended up on-line trying to implement some of the things I learned.

A 1 a.m. bedtime makes for a groggy 6 a.m. wake up call.
Back to the conference on the second day. For many more informative meetings.

Michele Payne-Knoper, one of the AgChat Foundation founders, giving her closing speech. You can read more about Michele at Cause Matters, her blog.

Some of the AgChat board members and trainers; Jeff Fowle {center} is a Cattle Rancher and you can find out more about him on his blog,  Common Sense Agriculture or on hisTwitter account, where he is followed by over 22,000 followers and Ray Prock {right}, is a Dairy Farmer, you can find at his blog, Ray-Lin Dairy or on his Twitter account, where he is followed by over 10,000 followers.
Both Jeff and Ray are from California.

I found myself leaving the conference wishing it hadn't yet ended. I made so many great connections and learned many new ideas. I feel proud to be a part of such a dedicated Team of Farmers {which are definitely not limited to the conference attendees}, dedicated to getting the correct and true Ag story out there to the public by telling their own personal Ag story.


Again I would like to thank my sponsors, Dairy Management Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America for covering my costs to attend this event.

Happy Wednesday!

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Zucchini {garden & bread}~Heifers~ Wannabe Cow Dog

Finally, we have zucchini and squash blooms!  The summer squash is the first to bloom, zucchini is about ready to.  I really had my doubts about my garden this summer, but I think we'll be okay.

I even spotted a tiny summer squash.

The strawberry plants were not so lucky however.  Something has been munching on the plants themselves in the middle of the night.  Probably a pesky rabbit.  Don't get me wrong, rabbits are cute and all but boy, can they do some damage to a garden. {anyone have a good recipe for rabbit?!}

After I finished up watering this morning, I spotted  Chloe spotted the heifers coming down the hill behind our house, making their way back down to the barn for some water after grazing all morning.

Chloe SO thinks she's a cow dog...poor thing.

After the heifers made it down the hill and Chloe stopped barking her head off we came back inside to make Zucchini Bread.

Since we don't have any zucchini as of yet, I took some out of the freezer that I had grated and frozen from last summer to make Zucchini Bread.  I kind of made up my own recipe.  This is what you need:  {full recipe below}

Cream together the brown sugar, butter and eggs.

Add the grated zucchini and mix that in.

Add the whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt and sunflower seeds.

Mix well.

Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray and place the batter in.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Done.  Doesn't this look like the meatloaf I made just the other day?!....not sure if that's good or bad!

Definitely didn't  taste like the meatloaf!  This version of Zucchini Bread is a little bit healthier by adding the whole wheat flour and no oil added.  And the sunflower seeds added a great touch! 

Enjoy!  Here's the recipe:

Healthy Zucchini Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 eggs

1  1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups grated zucchini

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt (fine)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (or nut of your choice)

Cream together butter, brown sugar and eggs.

Add grated zucchini and mix

Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nuts

Mix well

Bake at 350 degrees in a loaf pan for 45 minutes

Happy Saturday!

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