Big Changes.

As usual I have been MIA from the blog (here's the blog post you've been asking for mom.) Lots of news and changes going on around here. Eric and I got engaged on Oct. 12 (opening day of pheasant season). He'd been waiting for a special day and since we typically have run of the mill days up here, planning an extra special day would be very obvious and a dead give away. He decided opening day of pheasant season was a special enough day and happens to be one of his favorite days of the year. Once we got our first rooster and Turk retrieved it while it was swimming across a river, Eric popped the question. All in all it was totally unexpected, very us, and of course memorable. The celebration in the moment was short lived however, because as we were hugging Eric looked over my shoulder to see Turk kick up two more roosters and we had to keep walking. Typical.

A few weeks after that I had a job interview for a position in Colorado and got the job. We are currently in the process of closing on the sale of our beloved little green house, packing up, moving home, and figuring out the next adventure. So, to join the bandwagon of facebookers out there listing things they are thankful for and making me read them every day in my feed...I am thankful to be engaged, to be engaged before thirty (barely),  and to know that I will not be spending that milestone birthday or the next ten years of my life in the state of North Dakota.

Still here, don't stop reading..

We're still around with the yearly case of the winter blah's. I usually do well until the end of January then the blah's set in.The Christmas season and New Years resolutions keep me going till February then the last 3 month's of Winter (yes I still consider March, April, and May Winter up North) are pretty tough. Luckily we have a vacation planned this year and garden fever will hit me soon (I like garden fever, I should start calling it something more positive.) I think I will start plants here inside at the beginning of April and need to get the seeds chosen and ordered ASAP. I plan to try some new things this year, scale back a little more, and do a lot of soil work in the plot.

The other thing Eric and I have been up to is some training. If you haven't heard of the tough mudder  then it's worth a look on their website. I have agreed to do this race/obstacle course/team building exercise and have been trying to train for it daily (although I am not there yet). I feel that it may be the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have attempted in a long while, besides sticking it out in ND the last 4 years. I will admit I am weak in both these areas and trying to gain upper body strength, consistently make it to the gym after a full day of work, and push myself during a cardio circuit training routine is taking a lot of determination. I've lost about 10 pounds and have to watch the inspirational clips of the race to get my butt to the gym otherwise I drive home in the freezing weather, put on my sweatpants, and park it on the couch for swamp people on the history channel. Hopefully it gets easier once it starts warming up and my perrenials make an appearance. I say every year how I never truly appreciated spring until I lived in North Dakota and it still holds true even during the mild Winters. Watch for an increase in blogposts. Garden season, branding time (not sure if we're going), and vacay are all coming soon. Also fam and friends if you happen to be in the Colorado area mid June and would like to come cheer Eric, myself, and our team on while I get my butt kicked by the tough mudder you can purchase spectator tickets on the website link above. I think they are $20 bucks and you get into the party, can watch me attempt to run through fire, get shocked by electrical wires, fall off ascending greased monkey bars and maybe take some photos for us.

From the Garage Sale Cookbooks of Dickinson

Here's the disclaimer folks: I am making fun of Midwest cuisine. If you don't like it, don't read it. While living in North Dakota I have come across many a dish I find enjoyable. However, for each one I like there are more I would never consider making, eating, etc. Hence my periodic blog posts sharing the lovely cuisine of Dickinson garage sale cookbooks.

First for you all: Tiger Meat (no not from tigers). Pretty much it's raw hamburger on a cracker. I get it that some fancy restaurants serve beef carpaccio but I can honestly tell you I probably wouldn't eat that either and as some might say "don't knock it till you've tried it," I am knocking it anyway because to me it sounds SICK (not the good kind of sick). So for your reading pleasure from this cook book's appetizer and dip section:

Q: "Oh this book is from 93-94? Haven't things changes up there since then?"

A: "Well yes they have, we have more oil production and things are a lot more expensive, but otherwise it's still pretty much 1985 cuisine save for the fact you can buy greek yogurt and agave nectar at Walmart."

Tiger Meat

1.5 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1 chopped green pepper

garlic powder or salt

salt and pepper

1 can jalapeno mix

mix to taste and serve on crackers

Stay tuned for more....

Red Chile

I found some leftover tamales in our freezer from some friends who brought them and their own red chile. A quick google led me to this recipe and we tried it out last night. It really turned out great. It was slightly bitter at the end, but it was totally worth repeating with some modifications. 

I added a few tablespoons of brown sugar (2) to the red chile mixture as it reduced. I think next time I might use chicken broth instead of water or do 1/2 and 1/2 and see what that is like. We used mild peppers but I might do medium if I make it again. I think it may be the closest I've gotten to authentic Mexican food made at home.

New Bed

With a little help from Ana White plans and inspiration from Bower Power, Eric successfully constructed his first piece of furniture with my recommendations. We build our own bed and upgraded to a queen size (yes we used to fit two people and two springer spaniels on a full size bed).

We pretty much just followed Ana's plans for the farmhouse queen with a platform option and Bower's glazing suggestions and it turned out fabulous. It was a much better option than the thousand dollar platform beds at the local furniture store. We estimate for all the materials our bed was around 200 bucks. Can't beat it.

Christmas Crafts

I finally made a to-do project this Christmas season. Using this pillow tutorial and some thrifted sweaters I whipped up some winter pillow covers and there will likely be more to come as I have been obsessed with cable knit anything for a while. Then, after some holiday shopping and outrage at Target that their cable knit tree decorations were almost 20 bucks, I used the sleeves of the sweaters to make some of my own.

For the trees I stuck some styrofoam tree forms into the sleeve of the sweater and pulled the sweater tight around it and trimmed it to the shape I wanted. Then I sewed down one side and tucked and glued the rough edge under.

Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year. One resolution I make every year is to blog more. Let's see if I can stick with it this year along with the also frequent failed resolutions of drinking more water, working out, and making my bed every day. Last night we went to a party and I took dessert. To me it is the perfect New Years Eve dessert because it is something you surely won't eat after the new year, new diet, new work out plan starts. This dessert is called Swedish creme (I have no idea why). It contains mainly heavy cream and full fat sour cream, and sugar. It tastes awesome. I remember my mom making this when she had any type of fancy get together and I could never have any unless there were leftovers from the party. There were rarely leftovers.

Here's the recipe:

Combine 1 cup sugar, 2 cups heavy cream, and 2 teaspoons gelatin in a double boiler. Cook for at least ten minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Cool the mixture and then beat in 2 cups sour cream and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Pour into glasses (I chose jelly jars to make the dessert easily portable) and top with fresh berries,