Pictures of the Peanut Crew!

I am quite ashamed of myself for not posting since July, but it's a lot of work to sit down on the computer and type something! So without further adieu, I present our representatives of the Peanut Crew!

The goofy side to my 'serious' Joel. :)
And of course, the charmer of the family, Peter.
And presenting the fearless leader of our little band, Nathan!
Off on an adventure!
The happy side of the co leader, Anna.
Ahh, just before the annual PC ball.

The other side of Anna.


And of course, Princess Peanut! (Becky Jane).
Joel and Peter again. These boys know the true meaning of teamwork. They are always on Nathan's heels on any quest that involves danger, slyness, or just plain cuteness/goofiness.
Princess Peanut and her bodyguards.
Mmmm.
Get a real good sniff!



The Peanut Crew have been celebrating the admittance of a new member, Mark Joesph Young. Born on October 3, 2009. Mark is currently in the possession of the title, Precious Peanut.
Blessings,
Rachel

New baby bunnies! (I'm so happy!)

This morning my doe Fawn, gave birth to four baby bunnies. One was a peanut, (double dwarf gene), and died during or soon after the delivery. The other three, are the fattest babies I've seen this year. One is looking like a false dwarf, (no dwarf gene). They should be orange or fawn colored, but they aren't. Two of them are looking kinda like Chestnuts??? Or blue, or opal, or or orange with a blue undercoat???? They look like they have an Agouti pattern. The other one, is looking like a very light fawn, or a Ruby Eyed White, (REW)?? They are doing really well.

Can't wait for these little guys to grow up!

God bless,

Rachel

La Grenouille Geante

La Grenouille Geante is French for The Giant Frog. Last night our dogs started barking 

wildly. Josh went out, and on the porch was THE FROG!

Fully 7.5 inches long (Not including the legs), and weighed in at 1.5 lbs. Comes in

close second for the biggest frog found on our farm! Record was 8.5 inches, and 

1.8 lbs.

Anybody got a skillet? : )

Deiu benissent,

Rachel

 

Baby bunnies!

I was thinking seriously with my pillow last night, and suddenly I remembered the blog! So, here's a post for the sake of being a post. : ) These are just pics of cute things in my life, namely, bunnies!
These little guys will be just like the ones below in just a few weeks!

Now you can't tell me that those weren't the cutest!

I hope you had as much fun looking at these pictures as I had raising them.

Blessings,

Rachel

The Best Gluten-free Bread in the World.

Bread, a good, solid, yeasty loaf, has often been called the 'staff of life'. It's hard to explain, perhaps it's only tradition, but there is a certain something about a loaf of bread that gives such a feeling of comfort. As a non-confirmed Celiac, for years I have tried to find the perfect loaf: Not too crusty, but firm; Soft, but not fluffy; and with a versatile enough dough that it could be made into everything I used my old standby bread recipe for back in 'the old days'. I've been experimenting a lot lately, and, though I never quite felt it to be a hopeless cause, I just didn't think that it would be so easy as to just follow the recipe in a cookbook. I suppose that I've become a little gun-shy of gluten-free cookbooks, having been disapointed so many times. Well, a month ago, I was trying to put together a list of reputable gluten-free cookbooks that I could recommend to people new to the gluten-free way of life, when I stumbled across 'the recipe' in Carol Fenster's new 1000 Gluten-free Recipes cookbook. So, without further ado, I present, 'The Recipe'.


Dr. Carol Fenster's
Brioche French Yeast Bread
makes three large loaves, or about 40 rolls

2 Tbs. active dry yeast
3 cup warm water or milk or nut milk
2 1/4 cups sourgum flour
5 1/4 cups potato starch
1 1/2 cups tapioca starch flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbs. xanthan gum
1 Tbs. guar gum
9 large eggs
1 Tb. salt
3/4 cup coconut oil, or butter
2 Tbs lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
Herbs (optional)

1. Combine the water and yeast in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Grease bread pans and then combine potato starch, tapioca starch, sourgum flour, xanthan gum, guar gum, and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

3. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the eggs on high speed for 1 minute. Add salt, coconut oil or butter, yeast mixture and lemon juice. Stir in the flour mixture, and beat on high speed for 30 seconds, or until the dough thickens slightly. (it will be rather soft).

4. Place in prepared pans, and slash diagonally three times. Place immediately on the middle rack of a COLD oven, and turn to 425. Bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until the exterior is a rich brown, and the bread reads 205 inside when checked with an instant read thermometer.

Place on a cooling rack for at least ten minutes. Slice, enjoy!

This bread also makes a beautiful artisan loaf, by forming it in the hand and putting it on a baking sheet sprinkled with coarse cornmeal. And don't forget dinner rolls! I have also found that this bread freezes beautifully.




Happy Baking!
Cassie

Twins

I stumbled across this poem some years back, but I found it again this afternoon, and thought that y'all might enjoy it!

Henry Sambrooke Leigh
The Twins

In form and feature, face and limb,

I grew so like my brother,

That folks got taking me for him,

And each for one another.

It puzzled all our kith and kin,

It reached a fearful pitch;

For one of us was born a twin,

Yet not a soul knew which.

One day, to make the matter worse,

Before our names were fixed,

As we were being washed by nurse,

We got completely mixed;

And thus, you see, by fate's decree,

Or rather nurse's whim,

My brother John got christened me,

And I got christened him.

This fatal likeness even dogged

My footsteps when at school,

And I was always getting flogged,

For John turned out a fool.

I put this question, fruitlessly,

To everyone I knew,

"What would you do, if you were me,

To prove that you were you?"

Our close resemblance turned the tide

Of my domestic life,

For somehow, my intended bride

Became my brother's wife.

In fact, year after year the same

Absurd mistakes went on,

And when I died, the neighbors came

And buried brother John.

We have found that twins aren't quite so alike as the poem implies, but we thought it funny!

Cassie, for the Youngs

Lambs!

Every spring, starting at about the first week of February, our representative from the sheepfold tells us that 'Any day now!' we can start expecting lambs! Usually, it's not until the last weekend in March that the little ones arrive, but this year they were not so tardy in making their appearance, (much to the delight of said representative). They were born about a week ago, and we can already see how quickly they are growing!

Here are a few snippets from the sheep pasture!

Rachel, living up to

her name in being a shepherdess most devoted.

God is good!

Cassie, for the Youngs