Still a bit of November Weather

Last weekend we had a bit of a thaw.  The temperatures rose, and the snow melted. 

It was really nice to take a walk outside without all my layers. 

I took a stroll out back to check our wood supply. 

Not nearly enough, so Truckin' Man is going to be spending some time cutting this week.

Hazel loves to follow along with me, and always stops to scratch on a slab of wood.

 Then chickens were THRILLED to be out and not have the winds pushing them around.

This young lady is so beautiful. She has an attitude though, and I am NOT allowed to touch her. Someday I will convince her it's ok to be nice to me :)

 This young lady must have been rolling around in the mud?

I found this last bit of color out by the berries. 

A raspberry slipped past me, and will now be a treat for a bird!

Hope you enjoyed today's walk around the farm!  What kind of temperatures do you prefer? 

Hot? Cold? Or like me, somewhere in between?

Chocolate Bliss Cake

It's been a long time coming, but we finally bought a new stove last week. We desperately needed one, I just couldn't make up my mind on what features we should have. After looking at tons of stove, at tons of stores, weighing all the options, I finally narrowed it down to "the one". Just had to wait for Truckin' Man to have time to go shopping with me, and make sure he agreed. No debate from him, as long as I was happy, it was all good!

Of course, once it was installed I HAD to bake. So, chocolate cake it was. This cake was so freaking good, I couldn't believe it. Was it really that good, or had it just been that long since we had chocolate cake? Based on what my co-workers had to say, it's really just that good! It is such a moist cake, and the perfect amount of chocolate.

I had to make it twice, just to be sure I loved this as much as I thought I did! Truckin' Man isn't going to be happy about this, but I already have half of the second cake packed up and ready to go to a friends house. We don't need to eat that much cake! Besides that, I need to bake some cookies!

I'll share this frosting with you another time, I need to test it a bit more. Trust me though, it will rock your world!

Chocolate Bliss Cake

1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, plus one egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9 x 13 pan, and dust with flour (or extra cocoa), set aside.  In small saucepan, whisk cocoa into water. Bring to boil over medium heat. Once boiling, remove from heat and set aside.

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add white sugar, mix well. Add eggs, salt, and vanilla. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add cooled cocoa mixture, mixing until completely combined.

In small bowl, mix sour cream with milk and baking soda.  Add milk mixture to batter, alternating with the flour. Mix well after each addition.

Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Frost or decorate as desired.

Enjoy!

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Saturday Snapshot

Our first snowfall of the season.

Road Trip to Peck's Market

The things you learn online, even on facebook, are amazing. Back in October, one of my online friends from the UK, shared some pictures taken at Peck's Farm Market in Spring Green, Wisconsin. That's about an hour away from my house! How did I not know about this place, and what are the odds I would learn about it from my UK friend? Strange, but we now had a weekend roadtrip lined up! 

Truckin' Man has driven by Peck's Farm Market like a bazillion times, but he really didn't think of it as more than a place to pick up vegetables, and a traffic hazard because of all the traffic and accidents he unfortunately see's there.

I LOVED this place. I will be waiting to see if they get all decked out as much for Christmas as they do Halloween! AND... I have since learned that they have two locations! Next trip down maybe we will go to the other market.

I loved the creativity of the different squashes to make these horses!

Aren't the hay bales cute?

Garden of Eaten? Clever! They had so many varieties of squash, I loved this shopping trip!

I have never seen so many varieties of popcorn. We decided on Apple Blossom, it's a new favorite!

Biggest pumpkin I have ever seen!

 I won't tell you how many years since I have been to a petting zoo, or I will be giving away my old age, but it has been a LONG time! 

It was so much fun seeing all the animals! 

I wanted to bring this little miniature cow home with us!!

 The goats were so clever, they knew how to work their stuff to get as many treats as possible!

I don't know if this ol' gray goose was as ornery as he looked, but I certainly wouldn't try to pet him/her!

Geese everywhere!

I loved the colors on this lil' goat.

So many rabbits!

 Do you see the shape of the pond?

 Look at those eyes!

Guinea's are such a unique bird. Honestly, they scare me a little bit!

I have never been so close to a swan before!

So many pumpkins!

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