Pitter Patter of Little Feet

Woke up at crack of dawn on a Saturday to take a ride out to Cornerstone Farms Bed&Breakfast in Clarksville VA. Special visit today to pick up 4 mini goats :) October made for a really pretty drive. Spotted fields with wild turkey, the start of fall colors beginning and lots of country scenery down windy roads. 3 hours later arrived at Cornerstones dairy goat barn for my special pickup. They have lots of mini's- mini donkeys, mini-chickens - even mini-cows!Couldn't wait to get them home. They fit into the car with doggie crates, only about 25-30lbs. of adorableEasy to just pick up, like puppies...After a surprisingly quite ride home, it didn't take long for them to stretch their legs and get familiar with the new crib. Oh yeah, right down to finding and testing out any gaps in the fence already!
Yep, you hear it, thats the Pitter patter of little feet around the farm. They are really called "kids" ya'know. Hanging out with the goats the first few minutes -it was impossible to not share the happiness of this grand occasion.Btw, have you ever tried to take a picture of 4 goats at the same time on your iphone walking backwards with a container of goat treats in your hand?

Well...it results in friends making a b-line to the farm.

BFF (best farm friends) Lizzy and her hubby stopped in to say hello...it was fun to watch Dave -massive hulk of a powerlifter dude - melt like butter. With a gush of "aww how cute" - he descended to the ground to get eye level with the little ones. They are instant happiness!

The mini-herd of dwarf nigerian dairy goats consists of 3 girls, 1 boy. Their names are - Kourney, Kloe, Kim and...Lil' Wayne. (well what did you expect.. he's too short to be Lamar!)

All de-horned or dis-budded they can't fight like the real Kardashians though... ahahaha. Their names are kinda fitting since they each demand to be the center of attention. Never knew there was such thing as a "lap goat" but they are so gentle and loveable - Lil'wayne - is by far my favorite. Little man will nibble and tug at your sleeve if you stop petting him for a minute!

Here is Lizzy picking him up for a big hug...

Liz:"He likes my hair, I can hear him sniffing my hair"

Me -"aww his eyes are closing, he's totally relaxing."

Liz "oh-oh he just sighed."

Me- "I gotta catch this - he's totally passed out in your hair liz! this kids asleep"

yep tucking the little muffins into the stall tonight was hard to leave..like my own little collection of stuffed animals.

Must be off to bed now too...Tomorrow is fence enforcement 101!

and more pics to come soon. :)

Pungo Apple Pies In a Jar

With the sun starting to set by the time I get home, experimenting with baking seem to be one of the productive thing to do in the few hours of darkness I have after work.

Nice to squeeze in something blog-able before the day is over!

Lots of things going on with the farm and will update soon, but a change of gears as I have been in the mood to have fun with baking skills this month. Working on some cool ideas in the kitchen.

Decided tonight to combine an American classic - Apple Pie- and give it a Pungo twist: Add the country mason jar.

Peeling 5-6 Granny Smith'sToss in the Cinnamon and Sugar with the Apple filling
Lining jars with the pie crust.

Heck, who needs to cook these pies when you can just eat these cinnamon and sugar apples straight up! yum..Great little way to make your kitchen smell like grandmas house if you are expecting guests.

Get crazy experimenting with pie tops. Can imagine kids could get into this with a few cookie cutters. The great thing is you can tuck these mini-pies away in the freezer and pop into the oven when visitors are driving over.

An added benefit of these little jars is they are great way for automatic portion control! Better yet, use this as as easy way to customize with all kinds of fillings so everyone can have their own favorite fruit pie filling made just for them.

I can see that these "in a jar" ideas will be great way to toss fun into picnic baskets and the idea can translate into all sorts of baked breakfast delights.

Pungo Apple Pies in Jars

12 mini-mason jars

2 Pie Crusts

6 Cups peeled apples sliced and cut into bite sized pieces

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

In large bowl, mix filling ingredients.

Using fingers, gently Line jars with pie crust

Spoon filling into jars

Use jar lid to cut out crust topper

cut slits or shapes into top crusts

Put lids back on and put into freezer until needed.

425 degrees until golden brown.

Baking @ Back Bay

Fall on the Farm. Switching my hat from project manager of construction projects to spending some time indoors.
With daylight dwindling, egg production has slowed considerably. Whipping up some country recipes to make use of some great egg-mobile breakfasts, while supplies lasts! Thanks to the ladies:

Here is a fancy way to dress up your eggs.

Egg-Mobile Quiche

6 Eggmobile Eggs

Pie Crust

1 1/2 cup cream

salt and pepper

Swiss Cheese

(customize by adding bacon/spinach/cheeses )

Directions:

Collect todays fresh eggs from coop.

Mix eggs, cream, swiss cheese, salt, pepper in blender or food processor.

Pour the egg mixture into the pie crusts. Bake @ 375 for 40 Min.

Make it your own with some topping decor! This is a great base to add in your own taste of veggies like mushrooms, spinach, or cheddar cheese, sausage or bacon.