Mother Earth-Fall in Buffalo, NY

The view of our ice pond

New York in the fall should be considered one of the “wonders of the world”.  It is spectacular.  The air is crisp and smells of leaves and frosty air, the streams, rivers and lakes are filling up offering clear and cold water, the wildlife is roaming around more freely in search of tasty treats under the fallen leaves, and the skies overhead are more blue and full of white puffy clouds than ever.

We enjoy this time of year for trail riding, hiking, 4 wheeling, and relaxing.  Here are some wonderful pictures from just one weekend on our property.  I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did living them!

Our ice pond is stunning.  It’s called the “ice pond” as it is a pond we built shallow enough so it will freeze quickly and be used for ice skating all winter long.

The leaves are such a beautiful backdrop.  I can’t get enough of their colors!

Riding the horses with the sounds of the leaves under their feet and a happy dog chasing blowing leaves.

Pumpkin sales, carving and trick or treating (Bruizer and Two Bit of the book the Outsiders) end one of the most beautiful months.

And a sneak peek at the beautiful cabin we finally have for our campground by the ice pond.  More on that in my next post……..

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Ok….it was 4 ingredients for half the batch as I added chocolate chips to some.

1 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

mix all until smooth, add chocolate or butterscotch chips if desired, form teaspoon size balls and press with a fork.  Bake at 350 for exactly 12 minutes and you have a delicious cookie.  These are also gluten free!

This recipe is shared from Barefeet in the Kitchen and you can find the recipe on my post here:  Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

Chicken Pot Pie

Tonight I made Chicken Pot pies.  I made 2 full size pies and 3 individual pies to freeze for the boy as he LOVES to have them after hockey practice for dinner.

I have posted this recipe before here:  Chicken Pot Pie

This is an easy recipe and perfect for using up that leftover chicken!

Here are a few pictures from my batches today.  We enjoyed one full pie for dinner and the others are in the freezer for another time!

Recipe here:  Chicken Pot Pie

Chuckle for the Day

French Onion Soup

Onions are in season and this is a great recipe to use those red onions!

We love French Onion Soup and this recipe is perfect to eat for dinner one night and there is plenty left over to freeze for another dinner.

Cut your onions and get all in the stockpot to simmer

After it simmers down it looks like the above picture.  We baked some of ours and microwaved the other which you can see by the one with browned cheese and the other one with melted cheese.  I prefer it browned while the boy likes it melted.

French Onion Soup

6 Red onions peeled and sliced

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 Tbsp butter

2 large cloves of garlic minced

¼ tsp kosher salt

1 tsp white sugar

½ cup of white wine (I use whatever I have on hand)

8 cups of beef stock (try to get a very good flavored one such as Swanson)

Approx. ¼ tsp black pepper

2 fresh bay leaves

2 tsp. thyme or throw a fresh sprig in

Provolone cheese

Crustini bread or croutons

In a dutch oven or heavy bottomed stock pot heat the onions and the 3 Tbsp of olive oil until the onions are soft (about 10 – 15 minutes). Add the butter and caramelize the onions (they should be a nice golden brown do not burn). Add the garlic, salt and sugar and stir until incorporated. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom and sides to get all the nice bits. Pour in the beef stock, pepper, bay leaves and thyme and simmer on low for approximately 35 minutes.

Remove and place in a bowl (or crock if you are going to bake cheese). Toss in the crustini or croutons and top with provolone cheese. Place under the broiler if using a crock until the cheese starts to brown. Or you can microwave the bowl until the cheese is melted.

Summer Recap

Living on a farm with animals, property, gardens, a pool, and grounds to maintain makes for a rare opportunity to take a vacation.  This year the opportunity arose for us to get away from our farm for a week stay in Long Beach, Canada in the beginning of the summer and at the end of the summer, countless boat trips on the Niagara River and Lake Erie, days and days spent at our local County Fair, and a few “date” nights for me and the man of the house.

This was made possible by my niece being back in the area as she is more than capable of handling all of our animal and farm work.  Couple her with my 72 year old mother who can care for the pool, gardens, and dog and we were able to have some much NEEDED family time away from the house.

I won’t bore you with hundreds of pictures and tons of details….ok…maybe a few.  We kicked off our summer right after the Fourth of July weekend by heading to Long Beach in Wainfleet, Canada.

 

Our beach spot 

This is a beach area and that is it.  There is literally nothing but a beautiful beach, one restaurant, a local marine shop that serves only the catch of the day fresh out of the lake, and a cute little putt-putt course.

We treasure this area in Canada as the man and I both had spent time there when we were kids with our own parents/family. We first rented here in 2006 when our children were very young.  The cottage we rented is directly on the beach in a very private family owned area.  The family has owned the property and cottages for generations.  The picture below is of the main house built in the 1800’s.  You can see the house hasn’t been lived in or taken care of for years, but the granddaughter of the original owners (who is in her 80’s) has decided she is going to refurbish it.  I so want to be a part of that project!!!!  I did ask her if she would save the door (yes the partially boarded up white one on the second floor) for me.  She said she would.  I LOVE that historic piece!

This is our cute cottage we stayed in while there in July.  There is no WiFi, there is no TV, there is no telephone.  But it is full of special family memories we created that will last a life time!

We enjoyed our stay so much we rented the cottage next door to it (which was the one we stayed in in 2006) for the end of August.  This trip was extra special as we were able to celebrate the boys 11th birthday with some friends and family and we let the kids each have a friend stay with us for a few days and rented jet skis.  Even my niece and mother came for a few visits as this little paradise is only a 35 minute drive from our house.

Here are a few pictures of our Island hopping on our boat and our local county fair.

A big thank you to my niece, Brittany, and to my mother for the wonderful gift of “getting away” they provided for us this summer!!

Half way through the week!!

Meatloaf Cupcakes

Who can resist dinner when you put this on the table???

Another super easy VERY kid friendly meal

Mix the 1 lb of beef, 1 package stuffing mix, 1 cup of water and 1 tsp. garlic salt in a bowl until fully incorporated

Lightly spray your cupcake tins (I used the jumbo tins) and place even amount pressing down lightly so the top is smooth

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 30 minutes (or until cooked through)

“Frost” with your mashed potatoes (store bought are fine in pinch) and sprinkles with corn

I promise they will all be back for seconds!!

Grandma’s Applecrisp

This is such a delicious comfort food/dessert.  It makes your house smell wonderful while it bakes and it’s such a sweet, buttery and moist dessert your family will love it!

I know I say it often but this is truly very easy!

Prepare your apples

Add some brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and melted butter and stir it around

Set it aside and make your buttery mouthwatering crumbly topping

Once it’s incorporated and crumbly, pour the apple mixture into a lightly greased cake pan and cover evenly with the crumbles

Bake at 375 for approximately 32 – 35 minutes or until it’s golden brown in color

Grab some vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or eat it plain while it’s still warm!!  YUM

And then hide it where you can’t see it and slice a little piece every hour on the hour so you can enjoy it for more than 3 hours 🙂

Recipe

6 large apples peeled, cored and sliced

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp white sugar

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

4 Tbsp melted butter

Combine all in a bowl and set aside to marinate together

Make the sweet buttery topping

½ cup quick cook oats

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

¾ cups heaping all purpose flour

1 ½ sticks of room temperature butter

Combine oats, sugars, and flour and mix until well incorporated. Add in the room temperature butter and use a fork or a pastry cutter to form crumbles

Place the apple mixture in a lightly greased 13×9 cake pan. Sprinkle the crumble top evenly over the whole top.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 32 – 35 minutes (or until evenly browned)

Hand and Heel Scrub

This scrub is perfect for buffing your heels and keeping your hands moisturized for the winter months.

You can make this in about 5 minutes total.  Very economical and a little goes a LONG way.

I posted how we make ours on my Facebook page and see my step by step pictures of the Teen making a batch last night here:  Hand and Heel Scrub

It’s literally 3 ingredients:

1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil

Honey (until your desired consistency)

Mix all together, store in an air tight container.  Use in the shower by scrubbing on heels and hands and rinse.  Apply a daily moisturizing lotion and you can keep the dryness at bay!