This Ranch Wife is STILL in the kitchen

Day 5 of 6. I apologize for more kitchen chatter, but cooking for the crew is a full time job and the only time I venture from the kitchen is when I move the sprinkler, take out the trash, or tend to the chickens and chores out at the barn. My MIL phoned yesterday and asked me what's been going on. I told her that I didn't know. If it didn't happen in the kitchen or the chicken coop, I am clueless.

Breakfast is a blur when it takes place at 4:30 and you've been up since 3.

I'm pooped, but I do love a packed dining room table:

Honey Bun Cake was the star of the show on Thursday:

I've posted this before and this is an old photo - there wasn't any left to take a new one, but here's the link:

Honey Bun Cake

"Dang! That cake is dangerous!" and variations of that same sentiment flew around my kitchen and the dining room so I figured I'd share it again.

We're just weaning today so I've got a short crew of 6.  I just made waffles, eggs, bacon, fruit, and Pecan Pie Muffins for breakfast and Salisbury Steak, Twice Baked Potatoes, green beans, salad, and rolls for dinner. A new Buttermilk Pie recipe  from a fellow ranch wife was baked for dessert - thank you R! A couple of the guys asked if I minded sharing the Honey Bun Cake recipe this week. Of course I don't mind! I love sharing recipes and I appreciate when friends share theirs with me. My best recipes come from friends and family and if I'm ever considered a good cook, I'll always give them the credit.

Yesterday the boys didn't come in for dinner until 3:00. I served breakfast at 4:30. You can bet they were ready to fill those plates! The difference between a good meal and a great one is about 3 hours and they thought it was an exceptional meal. -Grin-

It's been a good week, but you can bet that when the last dish is washed and the last corner has been scoured, this kitchen will be closed for a day or two!

And I'll leave you with this little tidbit that caught my eye when I reached for the flour sack. Really?! There is a need for this?

I posted this on Instagram and a friend commented that he wondered what took place in order to warrant this. That makes two of us. -shaking head-

Ranch Wife in the Kitchen

I'm an early riser, but 3:30 is pushing it. However, in the interest of putting a good breakfast on the table, it's a sacrifice I will gladly make...well, gladly may be stretching it...let's go with grudgingly.

I don't know a lot of folks who cook these days, but apparently a lot of them do because there are an awful lot of good recipes floating around Pinterest. I tried a new biscuit recipe this morning:

The Best Buttermilk Biscuits

Let's just say, it's a keeper.

Although I must have lost my mind because a couple of gals and I just started a fitness challenge today and eating a buttermilk biscuit with fruit spread probably wasn't the smartest way to kick it all off. Of course, since I'll be cooking for the branding crew all week, I'll have more than a little ole' innocent biscuit to tempt me.

I don't know how many biscuit recipes I've tried through the years, but there is always room for more than one in my book and this one pretty much gets top billing. The crew raved about them and they received the cowboy stamp of approval which is very high praise indeed!

So, thank you Tina, aka Mommy's Kitchen, for sharing this recipe! The only thing I did differently was to grate the butter into the flour and I never have self rising flour so I added the baking powder and salt. I also doubled the recipe because cowboys love their biscuits!

I'm adding my version of the recipe here because I want to keep a record of recipes on my blog for when I have it printed out for the kids, but the link above will take you to Tina's site...she has lots of helpful details and tips for making these successfully if you're a beginning biscuit baker. These are fluffy and tender on the inside and they have a wonderful crust.

Buttermilk Biscuits

4 1/2 C flour
7 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 C cold butter
2 C buttermilk

*Mix flour, baking powder. and salt in bowl. Grate 1 C cold butter into flour. Use a pastry cutter or your hands to mix butter into flour. Pop bowl into fridge for a bit. (next time...tomorrow...I'm going to put it in overnight so I can sleep in a few minutes more 😁). Add buttermilk and stir gently with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix. Dump out onto floured surface and pat dough out into a rectangle (about 1 1/2" thick). Fold over onto itself a few times. Pat out again, gently, and fold over again. Pat out once more and cut with biscuit cutter. Do not twist cutter or your biscuits will not rise as well.
Put biscuits on parchment lined or greased baking pan with biscuits touching. Bake at 450° for 12-15 minutes. Slather with honey or jam or gravy and sit back and savor the magic. 😋

This morning I made my breakfast pizza, bacon, biscuits - with butter, jam, and honey - and fruit.
Dinner is Barbecue Sandwiches, corn on the cob, coleslaw, roasted potatoes, and jalapeno poppers with Pea Pickin' Cake for dessert. The Pea Pickin' Cake is posted here:

Pea Pickin' Cake

Dinner has been served, the dishes have been washed, and I'm heading back into the kitchen to start on tomorrow's dessert: Buster Bar Dessert...it uses Oreo's for the crust. See? Temptation. 

Starting the Week Off Right!

I survived the grocery store and Sam's on Saturday:

 And started cooking on Sunday. And no, the milk bones are not on the menu. :)
 I also needed to give the bunkhouse a lick and a promise. Alas, no water did flow and DH ended up spending his Sunday morning plumbing

                         

and cleaning out tree roots from the septic tank. Oh what fun! So, you wanna be a rancher?

                                      

I see a lot of amazing photos posted about ranch life and I love looking at and taking those kinds of photos, but let me introduce you to ranch life reality. Plumbers don't work on Sundays, but ranchers do.

                           

One of the crew showed up in the afternoon and not long after it started to rain:

I'm telling you, that is the sweetest sound in the world and I am certain that heaven is going to smell like sweet rain falling on a parched desert.

It didn't last long, but it washed the dust off of everything. I told Flint he was my new favorite person and that if he was going to bring rain, we were holding him hostage all summer.

                             

I'm going to entice him with cinnamon rolls and bribe him with buttermilk pie.

I am headed to work this morning. The boys have been fed breakfast and the dear wife at North Camp is feeding them dinner.

Last night I fixed chicken fajitas and we'll have leftovers tonight. Yes, chicken. It is a quick meal for me to throw together and the boys will get beef all week so don't judge me. -Grin-

Long week ahead, but as long as everyone stays safe, it'll be a good one and the little shower was just the perfect way to begin it!

Before We Fire Up the Branding Pot..

there's a lot that has to happen. DH is busy putting the crew together. Everyone needs to be on the same page and he tries to find open dates on the calendar that work for everyone. Last week his phone had an unfortunate run-in with his horse:

 Makes it a tad complicated to conduct business. He figures out what he needs for medicine/vaccine and gathers that together. The medicine box is resupplied with syringes and needles. Propane tanks are filled and pens are fixed.

And I begin to build my menu:

I've been doing this for 31 years and I fall back on the dishes that have stood the test of time, but it still takes me a couple of afternoons to pull it all together. By then, my menu is made. I have taken stock of my pantry and my grocery list has been finalized. And I take a deep breath for my trip to town to gather said groceries. I'll do that on Saturday.

That'll give me Sunday to cook up 10# of ground beef and 3 big roasts as well as the dessert and salsa for Monday. The preparations I make ahead of time are a big time saver.

We're supposed to have a big sale at the sale barn on Monday, but I'll have a short crew to feed...just 5, and I'll fix them breakfast and leave dinner in the crockpot.  Probably Tortilla Stack. I'll leave corn in another crockpot and salad in the fridge with chips and salsa on the side. And dessert. Always dessert. :)

I'll have a few extra in the bunkhouse this time around so it'll be 3 meals a day. However, most days leftovers are on the supper menu.

On Wednesday, I made a 4 hour round trip to pick up our beef:

                         

We've got 6 days of branding next week and then another 6 in June. That'll make a good dent in this.

But for now, I'm deep in menu mode and looking to add a few new things to the old standbys.

Yesterday we fixed a leak.

Well, DH fixed the leak.

I just supervised, or to be entirely honest, I just handed him things.

Fixing leaks isn't part of our pre-branding ritual. It's just part of everyday life around here.

After that, it was time to chore and then I was too tired to work on my menu. It was dark when we walked back to the house and I don't get a whole lot accomplished once the sun goes down. But I'll probably wake up hungry because there's a good chance I'll be dreaming about food tonight. :)

Photo courtesy of google images.