Riding Different Horses

 

I had a busy week so I didn't get to ride till this weekend. I rode Daisy bareback and bridleless a little bit on Friday evening. I mostly did some walking, turning and backing but we did canter a bit. I didn't have much time to work with her on Friday as I had planned because I was helping here at home with the garden and some other odds and ends. I had fun planting our garden though. It is always fun working with my family!! I did get to love on both horses a bit and say Happy Birthday to Freedom. It is hard to believe (I know I keep saying that) that two years ago he was just a little baby!!

 

Friday evening I ate supper and spent the evening at Sharon's. My cousin's were there and then just Sarah and Maryrose and I stayed the night. Since Sarah and Maryrose had plans to go to garage sales around 7 this morning, Sharon and I decided we would go for a ride since we were going to be up anyway. We ate breakfast around 6 and then Sharon and I headed out. I rode Sugarfoot (Freedom's half brother. He is a year older than Freedom). I had ridden him last Saturday and he had behaved decently then. This morning he decided to spook at everything. I had fun working him through the things he was scared with. Really makes me look forward to working with Freedom under saddle. I haven't worked him much lately but I have done some more thinking and I plan to maybe just stick to groundwork and light driving over summer and then come this fall and winter (when he is 2 1/2) start some light riding and next spring do a bit more. We shall see how all things go. After I left Sharon, I came home and rode Daisy.

I was really impressed with how she did today. I brought her down here to the farm again. I came home right over lunch. She listened quite well on the way here. Once here, I tied her till after I had eaten my lunch. Then I decided to work her a bit in the field out behind the hay shed before heading back up to the barn. I didn't run her because she was giving me a hard time about walking. She knows how to be light on the bit but she is a horse that likes to test you to no end. Well I just worked her through it by stopping, backing, turning circles, making her weave and anything to keep her feet moving. I had to laugh at her because I could tell she was not happy that I wasn't allowing her to go as fast as she would have liked but in the end she accepted what I said. On the way home, she walked very nicely without me having to remind her to behave. I am hoping to ride her more this next week because I am not so busy but we shall have to see how it goes. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Food from the Cabin

FINALLY I am posting the photos of the food I took at the cabin :D I cannot believe it took me this long but I have been quite busy. Although maybe I shouldn't use that as my reason :) Anyway I am going to post the recipes with the photos. Some of the foods I didn't take pictures of but for the most part I did :) Although I won't be posting all the food here, so much food went into feeding 40 people, I probably would bore you all. Either way here it goes :)

 

Before

After: I don't have a recipe for this dish. We just thru it together. Although I can tell you that this is potatoes, carrots, and I think a bit of onion with melted butter and seasoning. Different but very good! We had this Tuesday evening along with chicken and cole slaw (pictured below). Delicious!

Here is the coleslaw recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Creamy-Coleslaw

For breakfast we had a baked omelet. Quite good :) What I loved about this breakfast is that it wasn't too difficult to make. My cousin thru this together as I shredded and fried the fried potatoes :) Must say that was ALOT of potatoes :D http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Baked-Omelet

Here are the fried potatoes :)

This is Texas-style Spanish rice. Different and a bit spicy but very good. http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Texas-Style-Spanish-Rice We made this along with the Enchilada lasagna which I don't have a picture of. The lasagna is like regular lasagna only with enchiladas. Tasty recipe! http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Beef-Enchilada-Lasagna-Casserole

Strawberries for the dessert right below. These trifles were SO DELICOUS!!

Strawberry CheesecakeTrifle. We had a minor issue because *HMM* here didn't read the directions right :D It turned out great but was a bit runnier than it should have been because I didn't whip the whipping cream. It was funny after it was all said and done but somewhat a dumb thing to do :) That is what you get for not totally reading the recipe. Speaking of which here it is:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Strawberry-Cheesecake-Trifle

These two pictures are of the DELICOUS Cappuccino Mousse Trifle. If you make nothing else of these recipes this is one to make :) Oh and one other one coming up. Very simple and very delicious!
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cappuccino-Mousse-Trifle

The one morning for breakfast we made sausage, buttermilk pancakes and Sweet Potato Pancakes (which are DELICOUS). I must say that was a lot of sausage to make on a griddle :) Good experience though!

Buttermilk pancakes, so fluffy, so light, SO YUMMY! :D http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Buttermilk-Pancakes

Here are the not as fluffy, Sweet Potato Pancakes. I wasn't sure if I was going to like them or not but I really did. They were delicious and I think if I have anything to say about it, I will be making some over Thanksgiving! http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Sweet-Potato-Pancakes-with-Caramel-Sauce

A photo of my plate for breakfast that morning. Tried the Sweet Potato Pancake with peanut butter on it and my cousin had hers with butter on it, both of us topped them with caramel. Can't say I had a preference over butter or PB, it tasted great with both :)

We had breakfast burritos for breakfast the one morning. They tasted quite delicious. This was something we didn't have a recipe for, we just made. Quite good though!

Now this is the other recipe I would so make if none of the others!! Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert, so much fun to make and so delicious! Ok I think I might be over using the word delicious but anyway :) http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Dessert

We had a salad bar the one evening for supper. Must say it was quite good! We had a cobb salad recipe we kinda went by as far as quantity for 40 people but as far as what we put in it that is totally up to each person!

OH the cinnamon rolls with Caramel frosting. SO YUMMERS!! Here is the recipe:

Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water
2 pkg. yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
6 cups bread flour

Combine butter, salt and boiling water; let stand till lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Beat eggs and sugar; add yeast and butter mixtures. Work in flour. Let rise till double in size two times. Roll out dough about 1/2 inch thick. Spread with soft butter then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Nuts or raisins can be added. Roll up; cut in 1 inch slices and place in greased pans. Let rise. Bake at 375 for 15 min. Frost while still warm.

Caramel Frosting

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
powered sugar

To make frosting, melt butter. Add brown sugar and milk, heating just enough to dissolve sugar. Cool without stirring; add powdered sugar.

We made this for Saturday morning breakfast and one of the boys had their birthday that day and he requested we make this :) So we did and then they put candles in it for his birthday. Thought that was special!!

The scrambled egg casserole. We made this for Sunday morning breakfast. And actually since we didn't have much room in the fridge for four pans we actually mixed it the night before, put it in ice cream buckets and then put it in the pans in the morning. Amazing the things you can come up with when you need to improvise. That is one of the things Sara (my cousin) and I had fun doing. The cabin actually didn't have a rolling pin so when we had to roll out biscuits for the first day (as well as when we had to roll out the dough for the cinnamon rolls) we used big glass milk jars. Worked great although not as good as a rolling pin!

Scrambled Egg Casserole

1/4 cup butter divided
2 T flour
1/2 t salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham
1/4 cup sliced green onions
12 eggs beaten
1 can (4 ounces) mushrooms stems and pieces, drained
1 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp butter. Add flour, salt and pepper; cook and stir until mixture begins to bubble. Gradually stir in milk; cook until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cheese; mix well set aside. In a large skillet sauté ham and onions in 2 Tbsp butter until onions are tender. Add eggs. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until eggs begin to set. Add the mushrooms and cheese sauce; mix well. Pour into a greased 11x7x2 baking dish. Met remaining butter; toss with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over top of casserole. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hrs or overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 min or until top is golden brown. Yield 6-8 servings.

Now these muffins are the best ever. You almost cannot just eat one, they just melt in your mouth and are so AMAZING!! They don't look so fancy but they so make up for it in taste!!
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Lemon-Crumb-Muffins

We also made some cheesecakes and some rolls which I don't have photos of but here are the recipes. The rolls are wonderful and I actually made them again when my sister, Rose Mary and I, were out visiting our friend in WA. Great tasting rolls!

Crescent Dinner Rolls: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Crescent-Dinner-Rolls
Cool Lime Cheesecake: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cool-Lime-Cheesecake
Special Pleasure Chocolate Cheesecake: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Special-Pleasure-Chocolate-Cheesecake
Raspberry Cheesecake Bars: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Raspberry-Cheesecake-Bars

Overall it was a great week at the cabin. It was challenging, fun, a lot of work, but at the same time relaxing. We didn't get much down time but when we were finished for the evening it was nice to be able to go into our room and just unwind after working a long day :) Our days started around 6:30 and went till 8 or 8:30 in the evening. We had a bit of a break after each meal and usually about an hour or so downtime in the afternoon :) Saturday we made so we had about 3 hours or downtime but other than that they were long days! Well that is all I have to say for our week at the cabin. I had great fun, definitely was a good experience, and would do it over again!! Hope you enjoyed the photos and hope you also make some of the recipes!!

Trip to Washington State

We flew out from Philadelphia Pa to Seattle WA.

Seattle with the Space Needle

Space Needle

Some scenery on the way to my friend's house 

 more scenery (love this photo)

 Deception Pass Bridge from Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island where my friend lives

 A boat in LaConnor

 

Rainbow Bridge also in LaConnor

 My friend and I

 

 View of LaConnor

 Mussels

 Empty Fishing Crates

 

 My sister Rose Mary and I

 

 Admiralty Head Lighthouse close to Fort Casey

 

 View from the Lighthouse

 Dugualla Bay...this is one of my favorite photos

 Bowman Bay

 Dock at Bowman Bay

 same dock

 On top of the dock

 

Rosario Beach

 

My sister Rose Mary and I flew out of Philly on August 26th around 7:30 (Monday) morning. Our arrival to Seattle approximately 5 hrs and 40 some minutes later at 10:30ish Seattle WA time. We met up with our friend Lisa and headed the two hours north of Seattle to Oak Harbor WA on Whidbey Island. So we spent the week doing some sight-seeing, getting to know the area, and spending time with a dear friend and of course her family. I did some things that I have always wanted to do, one of them was riding on the beach!!

 

riding my friend Lisa's horse Aly on the beach

I'm on Aly, Lisa's on Julio her other horse

We also picked blackberries (some of which we brought home, I plan to eventually make some of them into blackberry jam which is AMAZING) which was quite the experience ;) Nettles and all :D Although I think the most fun thing for me was just hanging out with a wonderful and dear friend as well as traveling with my sister all on our lonesome, something we haven't done before! :) Overall we had an amazing trip and definitely would go back!! We flew home on Saturday, August 31st. It was short but fun!!