I was asked how to make the mother for bread.  This is sorted like the amish bread where you keep the mother and give it to friends.  Here goes :

Mother –  2 cups unbleached white organic flour

1 1/2 cups purified water.

stir with wooden spoon.  Cover with wet dishtowel.  Now every morning thereafter, Monday-Friday, you are going to stir in 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 cup water   then on the seventh day  Saturday, your mother will be ready it should have bubles and smell pleasantly sour.  in the morning spoon 2 cups of your mother into a mixing bowl – then cover your mother don’t add anything set aside until Sunday when you start adding 1/3 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.

Basic White Farmhouse Bread   2 cups you removed add  3/4 tsp salt 1 T of honey.  Stir add  1  1/2 cups more white flour stir with a wooden spoon a couple of minutes.  You do not knead the bread. You can bake this on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.   I like to cook mine in a cast iron pot (heat the pot before you put the bread in).  Spoon your sticky dough in to pot put lid on your pot (tilt lid to let a little air in).  wait 6 to 8 hours.  After dough has risen preheat oven 425 degrees.   put water in oven in a muffin tin. lets center stay moist.  baking time varies by what you use check for doneness in twenty minues (closer to 30  to 35 with cast iron).  ( internal temperature 195 to 200 F.  EAT AND ENJOY.

Got to go knitting tonight working on my sweater.  Did some hooking today.  Made a new type of bread recipe that should be ready in about an hour.  I also made some delicious home made vegetable soup.

Well time has run out again here at the Yarn Farm  be back soon

Linda

I must say it was a very nice event.  About 80-100 people came.  There was a great band and LOTS of food.

I figure maybe tomarrow I can clean and work on some must do projects.  I need to do some weaving and sock making this week.

I am going to give you my Chicken and Dumpling recipe hope you enjoy it.

2 cups of flour

4 to 6 eggs

salt and pepper.

I don’t mix around on them to much they get a little tuff if you do that.

I roll the dough out on a piece of parchment paper until as flat as i can get it.

slice the dough in little square about 1 1/2 inches
I boil my chicken until it starts to fall off the bone and then I take it out of the water and remove all the bones .  I keep the water from the chicken and add different spices of your choice.

I like green onions (3)

cut up, parsley, salt, pepper, curry  powder   1/2 tsp of each spice

I put the chicken back in the water, make sure it is boiling good when you put your dumplings in to it.

I cook my dumplings until they float . Test one to see if it is done enough for you.

I also save the backs and parts that I don’t use for fried chicken and boil them and freeze the broth.  Then when I am ready for chicken and dumplings  I can use it to make more juice in them.

Well I better get to answering my emails and doing a little knitting before it gets to late.

Yarn Farm Closing for now will be back soon with more ramblin.

Linda

This week has been filled with election events.  I worked  the polls so I had to go and set up Monday at East Central College.   Tuesday, it was poll time and I had to be there at 5a.m.  Living on a farm and animals to feed means you get up at 3:30am.  I worked until about 8:30pm this made for a long day but, the election turned out the way I had hoped.  I was so excited when Santorum won Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota.

It snowed a little last night so things sure look pretty today.  Took my puppies Chloe and Spinner to get their grooming.  Made chocolate chip cookies and finished warping a loom.  Tonight the President of our Franklin County Fiber Guild can’t make it so I will take over.  Our group is great.  We have a program at our meeting and we show and tell what we made recently.  I started this group about 11 years ago and it is so much fun and we learn so much from each other.  We do all types of fiber related crafts and art.

I guess I better go pick up puppies, get ready for meeting, cook supper and the feed animals.

Meet you back here at the farm again soon.

Linda

Today was a day to find a new printer.  What could be worse Okay maybe a root canal.   There are so many many of them out there.  Each one does something more fantastic then the other.  Personally I think when they invent the one that dosn’t use ink and dosn’t cost WAY to much I will finally love my printer.  Do you think it really matters what kind you get in 3 days well maybe a week it will be out dated.  I did have a guy at the store help me decide which one would work best for me for the best price.  I decided on another HP don’t know why other then it was on sale and it said it was a good deal.  The printer is now at home with me sitting on the floor by my desk where YOU KNOW!!! I have to figure out how to stick it on my computer and make them like each other.  oh BOY I will deal with that tomarrow.

Today we had to get more feed for the rabbits.  They can eat as much as I do.  Maybe me having the rabbits  that only breed every two years is not a bad idea.  I also had to work on things on the computer today.  Do you not think someone comes in and moves the clock ahead two or three hours while you mess with your computer.  I mean. I sit down at 2pm and all of a sudden I get up from the computer and it is 5pm.  I have to place orders for things fill orders (don’t mind filling the orders) and check on facebook, twitter, website etc etc.  I would rather be out sitting at the cabin spinning.   I did work on some more rug hooking and warped on the loom.  Now it is time to go to a meeting at 7pm.  The weather was great today and I did get to clean the chicken house and rabbit area and then walked down to the lake.

I have a request for my sour dough receipe which I will have to find and put up next time.

Time to leave.  Will put pictures on my site of our lastest fiber tool.  Keep checking the site out.  There are some GREAT classes available.

That is  all from the Yarn Farm for right now.

Linda

I am making brownies today for  dinner dessert.  Tonight dinner will be a deer roast.  I know some of you are going yuk but, those who aren’t, I like to add lipton onion soup on my deer. I bet you could come to my house and never know you are eating deer, unless I tell you.

Got to go to the knitting class and my sweater is not to the point where Charlie the instructor told me I should be when I come back.  I will have to kick it into gear and get it done.

The plummer came today and fixed the sink faucets down stairs, finally  I will be able to do my yarn and fiber dying down stairs.  I do however love to dye out side on and open fire.

I need to finish the warp on my friends loom.  Always many things to do on the farm.

Got an invite to go to the St. Louis Weaver Guilds Class on Silk felting.  Sounds really interesting.   I do silk felting but, you can always learn something new (here we go again teach and Old Dog new Tricks) might try to go.

Well come back again for more on the Yarn Farm.

Linda

After  a day of cleaning I thought lets bake.  Perhaps a bunnie celebration would be nice.  So I baked up some Bunnie Turd Cookies.  What are those you say?  Well I made them up and I am going to share my receipe with you.  Here goes:

1 stick of Butter

1 pkg of Marsh Mellows

1 pkg of small chocolate chips

and of course 3 and a turd cups of  rice crispies if 3 and one turd is not enough make it 3 and 2 turds

First heat the butter and marsh mellows over medium heat until melted, add the rice turds and stir , remove from heat, let cool a LITTLE then add chocolate chips stir.  Then spoon imediately on to wax paper by the spoon full.  There you are Bunny Turd Cookies.  How easy was that.

The bunnies were so HOPPY to see them.  Below is a picture of the cookies.

Well I guess I have given you enough food for thought.  See you back at the Yarn Farm again soon.

Linda

I am back to let you know what’s going on at the farm.

Today one of the chickens decided not to hop up in a nest to lay her egg.  She just laid it on the ground in her Chicken House.  Talk about a lazy chicken.  Don’t know why she decided to do that.,there are 6 places for her to lay  but she wanted the nest the other chicken was setting in “naturally”.  The Bunnies are going WILD.  We are considering making another rabbit hutch for the bunnies.  Now let us see does the bunnie hutch  come before finishing the leaf raking, adding a side porch to the cabin , putting doors on the shelves down stairs WHEW I just don’t know.

Well I have to finish knitting my project for my class Wednesday at Bah Yarn Shop.  So far I have two (well almost two) rows done and I think we are suppose to do about 3 or 4 inches.  I also am knitting another sweater out of my handspun yarn, while trying to finish a warp on a friend of mines loom.  I am doing so many projects at once I need to start putting them in some kind of order.

Today I am making a pot of chili and a peach pie .  The peaches I picked off my neighbors tree last year (he said it was okay to pick the peaches I didn’t just take them).   As soon as I get this stuff cookin I am going out and rake leaves for a while.

I have a couple of new patterns I need to crochet to see if the pattern is correct so I can  put it on the site.  I added my rag rug loom, if you get a chance look at it under products.  Let me know what you think.

Below you will see a quilt I am working on.  My First quilt.  Don cut the squares and I put it together and now I have to Quilt it.

Well off to rake.  See you back here at the Farm soon

Linda

Trying to make my first quilt

6C – Warm water 100 degrees

3  tbp.  Active Dry yeast

13 C . unbleached  bread flour.

3 tsp. kosher salt.

Mix together water, salt, yeast add all the flour.  stir with a wooden spoon until moist.  Let it sit and rise 2- 4 hours with a lid on top of it (not air tight).  Then Chill for 3 hours.  Then you can start using it at any time.  When ready preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put a pan of water in your oven while baking bread.

To use sprinkle flour on top and take a piece of the dough  about as big as a grapefruit.  Then cloak the dough  and lay in pot (I use a cast Iron pot) with corn meal on bottom.  Leave it sit for 40 min. After 40 min. make slits in top of bread and bake 20 min. to 1/2hr.  HMMM!!!

Hope you enjoy.

Well back to the farm.  Bunnies are hopping around and getting big so fast.

Eleven chickens laid 8 eggs last night.  Eight eggs  is pretty good for this time of the year.

Tommy Boy the baby lama was sucking on his mommy this morning and I thought what a great mom and boy they are.  He is SOOO cute.  He is still little for a llama his age.

Last night I went to Bah Yarn Shop in Washington.  Lots of great yarn and a very cute shop.  We were learning to make a sweater with Charlie.  Charlie is a VERY good instrutor.  We are making and Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern.  Hopefully, I will get some time to work on it today.   I finished my Grand daughters shawl purple, silver and black.  I found the buttons I needed.   I went to Wally World, and Michaels and finally found the buttons in my basement button box.  They are antique with rhinestones.  I will give it to her tomorrow.   Hope she likes it.

Tonight I go to a friends house and we are going to work on a small little loom  called the li’l  weaver.  Her husband makes the looms at their shop called Dewberry Ridge.  I will let you know how that goes.

Big job keeping the mud off the floor from spinner (my lapa, poodle, shtizu) known as a  laposh and his girlfriend Chloe a shitzu.  But, they are worth it..

My husband finished my Rag Rug Looms and my kntting needles for my classes and to sell.  They look great and I am looking forward to selling them all.

Well time to sign off -  Need to sweep the cabin and make dinner (Deer Roast) before I leave.

Hope to see you back here again soon at the YARN FARM

Linda

My Precious Grand daughter Emma Rose is going to a winter dance at school and needs a wrap in purple and black to wear with her new dress so Gram needs to get busy and make one this week.  I started it today and I am knitting it with a wool and silver thread that I spun together and am adding a black chenile.  No matter what I am sure you will make it look adorable.

I also will need to send out my Future Farmer of America post cards to all the board members to make sure they come to the meeting on Jan. 23rd.  Oh you ask why do I need to do that well I said yes to a question “will you be secretary”.  I must practice NO NO NO.  Don’t we all need that practice in today’s world.

Well we are getting ready to finish the night chores and walk down to the lake and spread some corn for our deer.  We love to take pictures and see who and what comes.

Have a good evening and meet you back at the farm real soon.

Linda

I am working on a rug hooking project while my bread rises.  It is a picture of a fox squirrel.  I am new at this so I am hoping it turns out looking like a squirrel.  I will give it to my grandson Augustus.  He had a squirrel for a while that his sister found on the ground cold and freezing and they brought it home and raised it.  I thought it might be a little reminder of peanut the squirrel.

Also, I will be teaching Maggie to weave tonight.  She is a new student so we will be starting something small.  Oh my! another fiber addict starting.

Well that is the day on the farm so far.  Have a good evening.

Linda