Snow, Food, A Cookbook and a Baby Calf

That pretty much sums up our January so far. We've had snow. More snow. And more snow. I'm really starting to feel like a bear, and I would love to sleep this winter away. Emily has been happy about the snow. And I'm thankful that the snows seem to come around the time I have a few days off each week. So I don't really have to drive in the snow, unless I want to. Which I usually do not want to. What I do love about the snow, is when Emily has a snow day. I love it! She don't, but I do! I'm glad she loves school, but I do enjoy hanging out with her all day. Yesterday, she had a snow day, so what did we do? We sat in the kitchen and each had scissors and colored paper and we made paper snowflakes. I've put them in our windows and on our doors. It makes the house look so much more cheerful. We had fun!

Of course, being snowed in is a wonderful time to experiment in the kitchen. Well, I figured it's either dig out the cookbooks and cook, or organize the house. Cooking sounded a lot more fun...and I guess I did do a little bit of organizing too. My favorite recipe that I have made this past week comes from the Gooseberry Patch cookbook Speedy Suppers. We ended up having breakfast for lunch. It was yummy! Too bad Emily was in school and didn't get to enjoy it with us...yeah..too bad. More for Daddy and I! hehe...

Cheesey Sausage Bake

8-oz. tube refrigerated crescent rolls

1 lb. ground pork sausage, browned and drained

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

5 eggs

3/4 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Spread crescents in the bottom of a greased 13x9 inch baking pan; press together. Top with sausage. Sprinkle with cheeses; set aside. Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together; pour over cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serves 6-8.

January is not my favorite month. I don't care for the cloudy gray days. But, I have to say that when I received my free copy of Gooseberry Patch Homestyle in a Hurry cookbook, I didn't really mind the weather being nasty. I love getting a cup of coffee and sitting back with a new book and looking through it. My recipe, Renae's Taco Casserole, was picked.

Our farm work is much more involved this time of year. Things seem to break a lot easier when the temperature drops. Last Friday night into Saturday we were at -18. Not the coldest our farm has seen, but cold enough! I had to work at the Diner that morning, so it was Al and Emily who made their way to the barn to do morning milking. Emily went into the milkhouse first,and then came back out to inform her dad that it was "raining in the milkhouse". Never something you want to hear! The cold temps caused a water line to bust overnight. That was actually an easy fix. Unfortunately, the water spraying all night drained our cistern dry. Our cistern is our water source for our cattle while they are in the barn, and the water we use to wash up the milk lines with. We contacted the fella who hauls our water for us, and he brought some in the next morning. Until then, we had to haul water from our house well to keep the barn going.

We also had our first baby calf born for 2011. It was a bull calf. And mama looks like she will milk well.

Since I had the camera at the barn, I couldn't resist snapping a few more shots! Cows are perfect, they are so curious about the camera. Or they wonder why I have something that flashes light at them.

Hope that everyone is keeping warm and safe with all the crazy winter weather! And have a great weekend!