Personalized Hair Care

Mar-Kell's wife is a cosmetologist and so we get our very own

specialized service.

Thank-you Nora for doing such a terrific job

and being patient with Brigitta and all of her wiggles.

Southwestern Chili Cheese Bread

This is an amazing loaf of bread. It is full of flavor and goes well with any soup. Our family enjoys it toasted and served with a bowl of chili.

For three loaves or 16 rolls:

• 2 Pkgs active dry yeast
• 1 Cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 Cup oil
• 1 Cup buttermilk
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup cream-style corn
• 1/4 Cup Dried minced onion
• 1 4oz Can green Chile peppers
• 2 Cups cheddar/jack mixed cheese
• 5-51/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• Cornmeal
  

Place your cornmeal, yeast and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

In a saucepan, heat the oil, buttermilk,

salt and sugar to 110 degrees.

I used my homemade buttermilk.

Add the warmed ingredients to the cornmeal

mixture and stir well.

Add corn, onion, chili peppers and mix well.

I used Anaheim chilies fresh from my garden.

If you prefer you can use Jalapeno peppers

for a spicier flavor.

Add cheese and eggs. Mix well.

Add 4 cups of flour. Mix well.

Add enough additional flour to make a

stiff dough that you can turn out and knead.

Put dough on a lightly floured surface and

knead until smooth, approximately

10-12 minutes.

Shantell is my "cook in training".

When the dough is smooth and elastic it is ready to rise.

Place in a greased bowl.

cover and let rise until doubled.

This will take about 1 hour.

Prepare a stone pizza round by greasing

and sprinkling with cornmeal.

Divide dough into three equal parts.

Form into round loaves and place on

prepared cooking stone.

Cover and let rise until double.

This will take 1 hour.

When it has doubled in size

Place in a preheated 400 degree oven.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately take the butter and rub over the top.

Let it cool completely before slicing.

This bread freezes well,

if there are any leftovers.

Peaches

This is only a portion of the peaches from our dwarf peach tree. I am so excited to have peaches this year. Last year our dog ate nearly all of our fruit, and what she could not get to the neighborhood squirrel devoured. This year we were smart and not only put a temporary fence around the tree but also a net as the fruit developed. It looks like I will be canning this week. I can't wait!

Precious Memories Found!

The cord to Kendrick's camera went missing several months ago and so we were unable to download his pictures from his camera until today. To my delight, he had recorded the Father and Son's outing that was held this past May. Added to the group of four sons are two adorable grandson's.

The pictures say it all.

They had a wonderful time.

What a great tradition to continue on through

the years as the family continues to grow.

New Used

I was given this pice of furniture last year. It filled it's purpose but was hideous to look at. Someone had tried to antique it and did a very poor job. Finally this summer I found the time to transform it and customize it to fit into my daughter's bedroom. I only wish I had taken a before picture so you could appreciate more fully the final product.

Sunflower Harvest

With the monsoons finally upon us it has

become necessary to harvest our sunflowers.

This is the head of my 12 footer.

It is huge!

Today I had a special helper, my husband.

What a delight it is when we can work together.

He fashioned a hook and placed it in each

sunflower stock so that we can hang

them to finish drying.

He tied a rope up in his garage.

Notice the knots in the rope,

this is to keep them from sliding to the middle.

They will hang for a few more weeks

until time to prepare them for storage.

I will have enough seeds to last another
three years until I plant sunflowers again.

Summer Garden

The sun is scorching hot with temperatures over 100, and so I am amazed that my garden is still alive. The strawberries are a bit sunburned on the edges but they are still producing about 2 quarts a week.

We have several basil planted intermittently

throughout the garden as well as marigolds

to attract the right kind of bugs and

discourage all others.

It seems to be working well.

Tomato and tomatillo plants.

Our Anaheim chilies are doing great.

After we lost all of our squash to borers I

immediately replanted and now we have

6 thriving zucchini plants.

We have not been able to purchase canned

pumpkin for a year in this area and

so I planted a pumpkin patch.

Looks like I will be canning my own pumpkin.
Of course, I couldn't plant pumpkins

without planting some for carving.

I also planted corn.

In fact one of my gardens

is a fall garden with corn, pumpkins,

and miniature sunflowers.

All I need now is a scarecrow.

Our peaches are starting to ripen so it

is time to bring out the nets.

I noticed a few holes in some of the peaches.

I harvested my first grapes of the season.

They are on the small side....

...but they are sweet and delicious.

There are 16 more bunches

just waiting to be eaten.