Wouldn't I Love a Cooking School Vacation?!

I LOVE to cook. I am sure you can tell that from the various posts on this blog. I have never taken any cooking classes but I have thought about it. Wouldn't it be fun to combine two loves - travel and cooking? Well maybe I can't but you certainly could.

How you ask...well, I'm going to tell you!

You can take a wonderful weekend vacation and Learn to Cook in Style on October 16th and 17th at the
Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel in Branson, Missouri. What could be  better? You will be welcomed in true Hilton style with a Wine Tasting reception. The next morning you will have a cooking demonstration  by the hotel's own Chef Nathan Read. He will show you how to make the appetizers you ate the night before. Yum!

Saturday night you will sit down to a sumptuous four course dinner paired with delicious wines and the next morning - that's right! - you will learn how to prepare the dishes.  Won't you have something extra up your sleeve for the upcoming holiday season! You will have a few new dishes in your repetoire to wow your friends and family.

I'll bet you think this weekend is expensive, don't you? Well, think again! The package for this one of a kind weekend includes luxurious Hilton accomodations for two for the Friday and Saturday night and the price is only $398! (plus tax).  And being in Branson you are close to all of the fun and excitement the city has to offer; shopping, concerts, entertainment and of course, championship golf.

Just to tease you a little here is a sampling of some of the dishes on the menu for this special weekend:

<sup>Shrimp Fritters with Green Chili Salsa
Smoked Potato and Ham Soup
Midwest Bison Short Ribs
Apple Normandy



Mmmmm, and that is just a SMALL sampling of the delicious food to be served. It looks amazing to me; I wish I could go. So why don't you all go and let me know how fantastic it was.....


I do know that if I COULD attend I would love to learn how to cook those short ribs. It is turning to the time of year when I want comfort food. Short ribs that have been braising for hours sure fill that bill. Hmmmm. I am going to have to dream about them.</sup>

Doin' the Random Dance

So it again is time to plug in that turntable and start groovin' to the Randomness that is Tuesday. So I show my age with that opening. Eh. But thanks to The UnMom it's time to let the thoughts free.........

Today I am finishing the batch of ketchup I started yesterday. Yup, ketchup. Our garden is finally done for the summer. The hard frost came. We knew it was coming so the hubby went out and in one long harvest pulled everything he could out. He gave me three HUGE boxes of tomatoes and put four more in the basement to ripen. I drily say this was a good year for tomatoes.... I have 10 quarts of sauce canned. Nine quarts of my zucchini and tomato sauce and for a little kick this year I have nine quarts of ratatouille canned. It would have been ten but one didn't seal and we ate it last night. It was good. This still left me WITH A FREAKIN' LOAD OF TOMATOES. So I though I would try something new. Ketchup. TWENTY FOUR pounds of tomatoes went into what ended up being two pots yesterday. They cooked and then went through my food mill. They boiled and boiled and boiled and boiled some more.

They are STILL boiling.

I should be able to can what will be about 6 pints of ketchup sometime today. It tastes heavenly - I will give it that. But man that's a LOT of tomatoes for 6 pints of ketchup. And I still have the crapload to deal with. Save me.

I also had a huge harvest of eggplant. Some went into the ratatouille, some we ate for dinner and many went into eggplant tapenade which I canned for munching during the winter. Who knew I could can that? I am so happy with the google!

I love my new kitten. He is just the cutest thing. He is sitting on my glasses right now. I realize that doesn't make sense to people who don't know me. I have four pairs of glasses; one pair to erm, see with, one to read, one pair for using the computer and one pair for making my jewelry. I still can't believe my husband brought him home.

I truly wish the frost had killed the damn flies. But they live. Until they fly over my coffee. Then they die. This continues to worry me.

I hope you all have a wonderfully random Tuesday. Be sure to check out the Super Hero of all things random, The UnMom!

The New Cat Has a Name!

The new kitten has wrapped both myself and my husband around it's little paws. We haven't had a kitten in so long we had forgotten what they were like.

That's OK. We don't need sleep.

We had originally thought to name him Carhartt because his color matched my husband's Carhartt's perfectly but then the kitten started doing something that just lent itself to a perfect name.

It started climbing.

Us.

Yup. Us. It climbs our legs and gets itself up on our shoulders to watch what we are doing. So the kitten is now officially named Sherpa.  The first morning he climbed my hubby to watch him making coffee.

Then he climbed me when I came in from taking care of the goats.

Then he climbed the hubby to nap while he read the paper.

Of course no one should eat their breakfast alone.

Look at that face.....

And the piece de resistance?  The hubby was shaving this morning, sans shirt, when Sherpa climbed up to "supervise."

heh heh

So, we have a climbing kitten who likes to help. Sherpa.

Winner of the Large Format Poster!!!!

As posted I went to Random.org to pick the winner of the Large Format Poster. Without further ado
the winner is:

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 6 

Woohoo! Comment #6 

Alexis AKA Mom said...

OMGosh I just LOVE Pricilla and you're poster you picked! I would love to have a picture of my boys for a gift for my parents :)

 Hooray for Alexis! I will be sending an email to congratulate her.

Thank you to everyone who entered.  Please be sure to enter the giveaways for the Custom Greeting Cards and the Vinyl Banner.

My Husband ROCKS

I have had a bit of a rough week. First came the difficulties with my goat Michael. Then my cat Fred went missing. Fred didn't come home on Monday night and he STILL hasn't come home. This is very unusual behavior for Fred because he is a cat that likes his comforts. We have neighbors that have also had a cat not come home and there are reports of a cougar in the area. So at this point we figured Fred wasn't coming back.

I am devastated as Fred was my lap cat. After years and years of cats that were typical cats I finally had that one cat that would sit in my lap with me. He was super friendly and I just loved him.  So losing Fred on top of having to lose Michael and I was just not a happy person.

Things have been tight around here moneywise so one less cat to feed was probably a good thing. My husband has never really cared for my cats. He always has said he loves me and tolerates the cats. And I have had a LOT of cats in our 28 years of marriage. I used to take in the strays that people would dump in our old neighborhood in New Jersey. It was a wildlife refuge and there were plenty of cats dumped. There were also more feral cats than could be counted. I used to trap the females and have them fixed. I think we built the Vet's new office building.

I always complained that I have had cats of every color imaginable but never an orange cat. I have had black cats, white cats, grey cats, tabby cats and various combinations but never an orange cat.

Yesterday my husband had to go to Helena on business and was coming back through Missoula to pick up the paint for our house. (Hooray for that!) When he got home he handed me one of our cat carriers. At first I didn't get it. But then it dawned on me.....and I started to cry.

He had stopped at the Humane Society in Missoula and he brought me home and orange kitten!

Isn't he just the best?!

I will have better photos tomorrow on Pricilla's blog. The light was bad last night as it was late when he got home. Plus the little thing just doesn't sit still!  I haven't even figured out what to name him yet.

I love my husband.

The Holidays are Coming - So Why Not Win Cards?

My wonderful blog sponsor Uprinting has given me a wonderful prize for my readers! Just in time for the upcoming holidays I have a prize of 250 Custom Greeting Cards for you!  How exciting is that?

These are free to the winner - no charge for the cards and no charge for ground shipping in the US.

Uprinting offers fantastic greeting card printing; just think of what you can do! You could make Christmas cards, thank you cards, heck  you could make blank birthday cards and be set for life. So many possibilities!

Here are the details:


You will win: (250 ct.) 7 x 5" (folded to 3.5 x 5") Custom Greeting Cards ($96 value)

And how you ask?

MANDATORY ENTRY: Leave a comment mentioning how you would use the cards.

EXTRA ENTRIES:1. Follow my blog publically. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway - Broken Teepee and Uprinting.com are giving away Custom Greeting Cards @ http://tinyurl.com/yafqfl8 #giveaway
3. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to Broken Teepee and Uprinting.com  (this is good for 6 entries so leave 6 comments)
4. Follow my goat Pricilla's Blog publically. If you already do, just say so. And thank you.


I will pick the winner at Random.org on October 12th at 9PM MDT. The winner will have 48 hours to get back to me or I will pick another winner.

Doing the Can Can Can

Yes, I am STILL canning.

Yesterday I was able to can my zucchini/tomato base. I use this so much throughout the winter for so many different things. When I mentioned it in the Random Tuesday post a commented questioned about canning the zucchini; about whether it got mushy. Well, it does get soft but it suits my purposes for it to do so. When I use this sauce I will use it as a soup base or an add in for risotto. Sometimes if I am feeling lazy I will just heat a jar up and pour it over some spaghetti or penne and I have an instant meal. The zucchini does NOT turn to total mush and the combination with the tomatoes makes a delightful sauce.

To make it I chop and onion and press about 8 cloves of garlic into about 1/4 cup of olive oil in the bottom of my 6 quart pot. I cook them until they are just soft. Then I add in the roughly chopped zucchini and tomatoes. And some salt, of course. I really just heat it through because it's going to cook in the pressure canner.  I then just follow the canner's instructions for canning tomatoes. Yum!

My very kind neighbor gave me access to her orchard and I have a large box full of apples and pears that will become applesauce and perhaps some pears in light syrup depending on my mood. I also have a HUGE box of lovely windfall apples for the goats. They will be very happy goats!

Now I am off to make some goat's milk ice cream to go with my goat's milk caramel sauce. Mmmmmmm.

Vinyl Banner Giveaway - Totally Free!!!

I have another great giveaway from my blog sponsor, Uprinting. I am sure you saw from my Large Print Poster giveaway that Uprinting has listened and now the giveaways are TOTALLY FREE! No shipping or handling charges for the winners. Hooray to that!!!!  This giveaway is a truly useful giveaway for anyone who does craft fairs or farmer's markets but it also has a myriad of other creative uses!

Uprinting is offering a 24" x 36" Vinyl Banner with grommets. How cool is that?! It has a retail value of $62.00. I know exactly how I am going to use mine; I am going to have a banner made for my Happy Goat Soaps. I will, of course use Pricilla's face 'cause she is a famous SpokesGoat!

Here is the information on these great banners direct from Uprinting:

Our 15 mil vinyl banners are top-notch quality and don't look cheap like low-end banners. UPrinting clients have used our vinyl banners (with photo quality printing) for weddings, parties, graduations, advertisements, rallies, political campaigns and backdrops. The banners come with heavy metal grommets that make them easy to hang for any event. The durable material and archival ink will ensure that these banners will last for years to come!

Uprinting is a fantastic source of banner printing so check it out!

You can now start to see the possibilities, can't you? Just think of a great Happy Birthday banner that you could pull out year after year for your child or children to make their day special. It could become a family tradition! Or if you have a wedding or other special event coming up just think how the special couple or person would feel with their own personalized reminder of the event? Or a holiday banner you could use to decorate your house. I am sure there are many more great ways to use this wonderful prize.

So, how do you win? It's easy but first, a few simple rules and announcements:

This is available to my US readers only. It will be send FREE by UPS Ground.

All entries need to be in by 10/27/09 by 9PM MDT (unless we have switched to standard time by then and then it is 9PM MST)

I will go to Random.org to pick the winner.

OK - now how to you get your entries:

1. Follow my blog publically. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway - Broken Teepee and Uprinting.com are giving away a 24" x 36" Vinyl Banner @ http://tinyurl.com/n5whc6 #giveaway
3. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to Broken Teepee and Uprinting.com  (this is good for 6 entries so leave 6 comments)
4. Follow my goat Pricilla's Blog publically. If you already do, just say so. And thank you.

Easy, right. So what to you have to lose?

Random Tuesday

OK it's a quickie today 'cause I don't have much time. Why you ask? Because my power is getting shut down at 10AM and will be off until 3PM. Yes, you read that correctly. I will not have power for FIVE HOURS. Yes, I live in the United States a supposed super power country. They have to work on the line - yes the LINE - and three towns will be without power while they do it. Is this not the most ridiculous thing you have heard? It is 2009! I swear to the heavens above I love it here but sometimes I think I moved back in time and not West.

I am STILL canning things. *sigh* Currently it is apples. I made my apple, plum pear sauce on Sunday and still have apples in the basement and I am going apple and pear picking today. As I type a box of ripe tomatoes is staring at me. I did get 4 quarts of tomato sauce canned. We have had two nights of hard frost so the hubby is pulling the rest of the green tomatoes in tonight to ripen in the basement. I THINK IT MIGHT FINALLY BE ENDING. Can I hear a big hooray?!  Today I am canning tomatoes and zucchini. It makes a great base for a zillion different things in the winter.

I am still sad about my goat Michael and now my cat Fred has not come home. It is not a good time for me and my animals right now. I think I might just go somewhere and cry. It won't help them but it might help me.

If my freezer thaws due to the 5 freakin' hour power shutdown I swear I am going to send the power company a bill for the vegetables in it and my time for processing them. That is a whole winters worth of eating. Not to mention the second freezer which has our meat, fruit and goat's milk in it. Do you think I am just a little wound up about this?

I am going to end with a shameless plug. Please, please enter my giveaway for the Large Format Poster. Please?! I don't have many entrants right now and I really enjoy my relationship with Uprinting. They are very good to me. I am afraid if my giveaways don't start doing better they may stop working with me. It's totally free and the prize is really cool. I have gotten one myself and the quality is excellent - I truly wouldn't say that if I ddin't mean it!!!! You could have a poster made of the kids or of one of those great vacation shots. There is no shipping charge or handling fee if you win this one so it really is a great giveaway to enter. Thank you!!!!

And as always, thanks to The UnMom for the whole random universe. Go check her out. She does random good.

A Decision

It has been a challenging weekend - and not a fun one at all.  I have had to make a very hard decision regarding my goats. For those of you who read this blog and my Pricilla's blog you know that I really enjoy my goats. I have my girls Pricilla, Abby, Jillian, Mallory and the boys Michael and Luke. Plus now we have the three kids hopping around - Emily, Jeffrey and Matthew. They entertain me, provide me with milk (well the girls do) and give me a reason to push through a lot of my pain.

Michael was my first baby - with his sister Sarah. We sold Sarah a couple of years ago and that was very hard. It is always hard for me to let my babies go. We really don't need two bucks but my husband has let me keep Michael because he knows how attached I am to him.  Michael's temperment is not easy going to say the least. He has charged my husband and he has charged some neighbors. He usually is gentle with me but as he has aged he has gotten more aggressive. He has given me several nasty bruises and has knocked me down a couple of times. I have started to be afraid of going in the pen with him and this is not good.

On Saturday, for no discernable reason, as I opened the gate he just up and charged me. He hit me on my left leg, totally upended me so that I landed on my stomach flat on the ground and then he started stomping on me. The skin on my leg was cut open and I have about an inch long gash. There is a large knot and a nasty bruise. There is also a bruise above my knee on the same leg; I suspect from his other horn.

This was the last straw so now Michael's fate is sealed. My hubby has made an appointment with the butcher for next Thursday. We can't possibly give him away with these problems. I don't want to breed this into any more goats. I am so very upset but I also know it is for the best. I can't be afraid to handle my goats. And once he senses I am afraid it will only get worse.  I am lucky he didn't break my leg. He almost broke my finger last week. So it has to end.

I know this is part of farm life and I accepted that when the hubby and I embarked on our lifestyle change to be more in control of the food we ate. This is just the first goat to go. And he is my baby.
I have so many health problems including poor balance. I simply cannot risk a further injury from him.

Luke on the other hand is the most docile buck I have ever encountered.

Are You Ready to Lose Your Ugly?

It's time to lose your ugly. It really is. And how do you do that you ask? Well, LG is giving you the opportunity to chase away the ugly and find your bliss. Here's how:

From 9/11/09 through 11/6/09 you can upload an image of your ugly or something you want to lose to the LG Bliss Facebook Fan Page.  It can be either an image or a video (keep it clean people).

The Gallery of the Utterly Ugly is where you can lose you ugly stuff to clear the way for more Bliss, as well as browse through other people’s ugly leave-behinds. Examples include:
• Trashy Trends (fabulously ugly fashion)
• Mutant machines (these mutant machines and outdated electronics belong in the junkyard)
• Ugly wonders of nature (naturally occurring wonders that make even the ugly tree look good)
• Ugly-mobiles (rides that are heading non-stop to Ugly Town)

Ugly behavior such as violence, indecency, or illegal activities aren’t tolerated. Photos of people are not allowed.

Be sure to tag your entry with "findyourbliss" or "#findyourbliss"

This enters you into the contest!

The Grand Prize is an LG Bliss phone (there will be five awarded) and the second prize will be a $50 gift card so you can buy your own bliss (there will be 50 awarded). So you can see there are lots of chances to win!

You must be 18 or older to enter and win.

So be sure to lose that ugly and start thinking about finding your bliss!

You will see I have a widget off to the right to make entering easy for you.

Large Format Poster Giveaway - Totally FREE!!!!!!!!

 I have exciting news!!!!! My wonderful blog sponsor is providing me with another 18" x 24" Large Format Poster to give away to my readers.  And the best news of all - IT IS TOTALLY FREE!!!  No shipping or handling charges for winning. Hooray!!!!

I had offered one before and when I received mine I chose to have a poster made with Pricilla, my SpokesGoat so I can use it when I go to craft fairs. It looks like this:

The printing is sharp and clear and I just love how it came out. This time I think I will get a photo from our travels around the country blown up to use as artwork for when the house is finished. It will make a wonderful memory of our time in the trailer. We saw so many beautiful places.

Just think of what you could do with such a lovely prize; you too could use it to remember a great vacation. Or use it for a wonderful portrait of your children or a shot from your wedding. It would make a perfect gift for the grandparents! The possibilities are endless.


LargeFormatPosters.com is a great source for Poster Printing and any Large Format Printing you might need.
You are given the opportunity to proof your poster before it ships. I know how important this is because my first photo was not sharp enough.

So, how do you enter? It's EASY! Plus you have the opportunity for multiple entries - here you go!

MANDATORY ENTRY - Leave a comment telling me how you would use your large format poster print. Also, leave me an email address so that I can contact you if you win.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

1. Follow my blog publically. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway - Broken Teepee and LargeFormatPosters.com are giving away a 18" x 24" Poster Print @ http://tinyurl.com/omybh4 #giveaway
3. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to Broken Teepee and LargeFormatPosters.com (this is good for 6 entries so leave 6 comments)
4. Follow my goat Pricilla's Blog publically. If you already do, just say so. And thank you.

See, I told you it was easy. The offer is open to US residents only and the shipping will be FREE by UPS Ground.

I will use Random.org to pick a winner on September 28th at 9PM MDT. The winner will have 48hrs to get back to me or I will choose another winner.

So come on and play - it's FREE!!!

Random Tuesday

So it's Tuesday. AGAIN?! How did that happen so fast? So random calls and I must answer. I mean The UnMom has put forth the Random call and we must answer, right? So here goes....

My cat Stinky is going to drive me nuts. In and out. In and out. In and out. ALL DAY LONG. What do we do you ask? We check the food bowl to see if it has miraculously filled with something new or different. Uh NO IT HASN'T. It's the same damn food that was in there the last time you checked. It won't change until dinner time. Is she stupid or does she really think I am going to open a new can every time she pulls on the screen to come in.

And why can't she meow like the other cats? No, she pulls on the screen which lets in the damn flies I was so annoyed with last week. They are still here. My husband has managed to kill some of them but the stupid things are procreating faster than we can kill them. Scarier yet is that they die every time they fly over my coffee. Makes me wonder what my husband is putting in my coffee and does he want to off me....

We have new kids on the Farm. Twins. We were expecting one so of course we got two. They are very cute -pause while I put the damn cat out since the food bowl contents hadn't changed and now of course she must go out to come in againg in 5 minutes - back to the kids.

They are black and white and the female looks like a little oreo cookie. They are named Emily and Jeffrey after my niece and nephew.  All together now, AWWWWWWW!

I am supposed to be cleaning the trailer. Obviously I am not. *sigh* There are so many fun things to do besides cleaning. Like going out to play with the kids. They are such fun when they are this little. Their little bleats are so cute. Their nanny is very nervous as this is her first time being a mama goat.

Both of my freezers are full. I don't know where I am going to put anything else that comes out of the garden or out of the goats. I realize this is not a bad thing but it is a challenge.

When are my tomatoes going to turn red?

I made goat's milk caramel sauce the other day. Boy I will never go back to the stuff in the store again. I have been eating it with apples just picked from the tree. Not my tree as I don't have one but someone gave me some apples and some pears for that matter. But the fresh fruit and this caramel sauce are just to die for. It's made with goat's milk, vanilla beans and sugar. That's it. I am thinking that maybe it needs brownies.....

That's it for today. Why not head over to The UnMom and get YOUR random on! It's fun. It's easy. And it doesn't cost a thing.

Win a Beautiful Apron

The Apron Goddess is at it again! Well, every week she has a gorgeous apron available to win and I forget to post about it but this week I have remembered! It is a beauty...I just wish I could figure out how to get the photo to copy so you could see it here. But you can see it here! It is from Heavenly Hostess and I was browsing through the site and there are some G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. aprons there. *sigh* Makes me wish I were rich.

It is easy to enter - just head over to The Apron Goddesses and follow the directions in the post. Perhaps you could be wearing a beautiful red apron. Or maybe I will.....

Winner Announced for the Wall Graphic!!!!

Yay! Melodie is the winner of the Custom Wall Graphic from Uprinting!
Hooray for Melodie and Congratulations

New Earrings!

I squeezed out some time and made some new earrings! I was very happy about this as I just haven't had a lot of spare time lately. Making jewelry really feeds my creative side and it was hungry.

I had my emeralds out so emerald earrings it was.  The first pair started with some gorgeous AAA Baltic amber rondelles that I just adore. Amber is one of my favorite gemstones to work with - if you can call it a "gemstone" since it really isn't a stone.  This is high quality amber and it shows. The color is rich and it holds the light and just glows.  The emeralds are oval, faceted and a lovely grass green color. Oh, and Colombian. What more could one ask for in an emerald?  They dance at the end of gold fill chain and I think pair beautifully with the amber.

The second pair are a more classic pairing: emeralds and pearls.  I started with some lovely handcrafted posts - not by me - that have a cubic zirconia set at the post. They are sterling silver covered in a heavy layer of 14kt gold. Then I added creamy white AAA Akoya pearls and then the ascher cut emeralds at the bottom. These are also Colombian. I love the spring green color you can only get with Colombian emeralds.

Both pairs are available in my shop. Of course! And as always, I offer free worldwide shipping.

Hopefully now that the garden is coming to its end I will have more time for creating. The holidays are coming with all the parties and gift giving so why not start shopping early.....heh heh heh.

Business Card Winners - Yay!!!!!

I am very happy to announce the winners of the Business cards.  Since it was one set per winner I counted up how many people entered and used good ole Mr. Random.org.  The winners are:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

4
2

Yay! Hooray!

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts
Margo

I will be emailing the winners and they will have 48 hours to get back to me. Congratulations to both of them and be sure to enter my giveaway for the 24" x 24" Custom Wall Graphic.

My Computer Posts

.........mmmmmmmmmmmmggggrrrrooooowwwwlllll.

It's good to be awake again. It was a good night's sleep but I like it better when all my circuits are humming.
Oh, wait. Here come the guy and his music. MORE DYLAN?! How much Dylan can a guy listen too? Boy amd I glad when he's done and the woman turns off the music.

OK. Here she comes and we get to go surfin'. COWABUNGA! I love my travels around the web. I never know what I might learn. I am not that old and I know I have lots to see yet.  But I worry about the woman. She looks at other computers. I don't think that's necessarily nice. I mean the other day she was looking around on this site called HP.
 
I see her drooling over those little laptops. I am not blind. What does she think? I know I am not thin and sleek. I know I can't be carried around but I have lots and lots of memory and I don't have a battery that is going to run out. My screen is big and my colors are bright.

Now I see they are having a sale over there at HP. Uh-oh! Am I going to be replaced? I hope not! I have a lot left to give. But wow! Look at this:

$30 stackable site-wide coupon
Suggested messaging: $30 off orders $150 or greater at HP Home Store. Use coupon code SV2132.
** Valid through 10/31 or while supplies last. Restrictions and exclusions apply.

Is that a deal or what? Now I fear for all my desktop friends. Everyone will want to run out and buy sleek, shiny laptops. Hmmmm....

Frost!

I knew it would have to happen. It does every year.
The end of summer. *sigh*
Why, WHY is summer so short? I know, I live in Montana. Not exactly known for warm, balmy breezes.
This summer was an unusual one. Not the hot, dry summer of years past but rather a cooler, wetter season.
For this, my husband, the Fire Chief was exceedingly grateful.
He did not have any big fires to contend with. Montana has had a relatively mild fire season. Unlike the poor citizens of California. I hope they catch the animal that set the Station Fire.

So last night the temperature was looking to be on the edge of frost.
The alarm was set for 3AM so as to check. UGH!
It was 34*
My husband climbs out of bed to go put the sprinkler on the garden so we can try and save the tomatoes. They are STILL green. We are probably going to have to pick them that way and put them in boxes in the basement to ripen as we did last year.

But he is hopeful.
Hopeful that the warming trend predicted will let them ripen on the vine.
For there is nothing quite so tasty as a tomato, just picked. With a bit of salt and olive oil.

We keep that hope alive.

Stay away frost. Stay away.

Win a 24" x 24" Custom Wall Graphic - It's Peel and Stick!

It's time for another great giveaway from my blog sponsor Uprinting - the great source for online printing! They are introducing a great new product;

Wall Graphics!!!!

Not just any kind of wall graphic - they are like giant stickers and you can peel and stick them on any flat surface. How cool is that?!

Just think of what you can do with one; your child could have one made to move all around his or her room wherever they wanted to put it.  I am going to give mine to my husband to use in his Firehouse for training purposes.

And you want to know what is even better? THERE WILL BE TWO WINNERS!

So of course you want to know how to win one of these cool new wall graphics but there is some info I need to pass on first:

Winners and bloggers must pay $5 Handling Fee to claim prize, shipping is free. Only open to US residents.

BONUS: We will be hosting a Video Blog Challenge in October to find the most creative Wall Graphic Print! The winner will receive a cash prize, so make sure you participate in this giveaway and make your own Wall Graphics video entry!


That second part is especially cool! Cash is always good.

So now for how to enter:


1. Comment as to how you would use the graphic
2. Follow my blog publicly or comment that you already follow 
3. Follow me on twitter; there is a button off to the right.
4. Tweet the giveaway: Broken Teepee and Uprinting are giving away 22" x 24" Wall Graphics to  2 Winners @ http://tinyurl.com/moxnke

5. Blog about the giveaway for 5 entries - be sure to comment 5 times

Easy, right?  So come on - enter away. The giveaway will end on September 13th at 9PM MDT .
I will go to Random.org and pick the winners. They will have 48 hours to get back to me or new winners will be chosen. 

PLEASE LEAVE ME AN EMAIL ADDRESS SO I CAN CONTACT YOU. THANK YOU. 

It's Random Time

It's Tuesday so we all know what that means:  it's time to be random! All thanks to The Un Mom! Big round of applause for The Un Mom please....

My little goats went to their new farm this weekend. I am sad. It's not that I didn't know that they would eventually be leaving it's just that I get too attached. In this I will never make a good goat farmer.

I now have nine, count 'em, nine rounds of cheese in my refrigerator made from the goats' milk. That amounts to 18 gallons of milk. THAT'S A LOT OF FREAKIN' MILK. And I am making another one today. 4 Colby, 2 Parmesean, 1 Monteray Jack and 2 Cheddar. Much better than last years two....

I hate flies. There must be 6 of them buzzing around the computer screen right now. I want them to die. I try and kill them but it means beating up on the computer screen which is just not a good thing. I particularily hate when they head straight for my eyes. Stupid flies.

"Friends" came to visit this weekend. Asked my hubby to go and reserve them a spot at the local forest service campground. He did. They found him at his Fire Company fundraiser (his fire company is beyond poor and in need of any and all help it can get - let's just say his NEWEST truck is a 1986) which they knew about. It was a barbeque - hot dogs and hamburgers. They stopped by and paid him back for the camping fee but were "too busy" to stay for the barbeque. AND DIDN'T EVEN GIVE HIM A DONATION. They know all about the state of his fire company. And it's not that they don't have the money. They just got back from Hawaii from where they had just gotten back from a trip to Philadelphia....
My rant for the day.

I finally got to make some new jewelry. Hooray. It felt good. I really feel happy when I am playing with color and texture.

So that's as random as I am going to get today. Why not head over to the creator of all things Random yourself and get all unglued.

One Perfect Apple

One forgets how beautiful an apple can be.
One forgets that an apple is not supposed to weigh a pound.
One forgets that an apple is not supposed to shine so brightly that you can see your reflection.

An apple picked fresh from a tree in the backyard will sit perfectly in your palm. It is warmed by the sun and that perfect balance of sweet and tart. It is crisp, juicy and delicious. All the more so because you picked it yourself.

You picked it and countless others that have now become 26 quarts of applesauce but that one perfect apple was the reward for all the work.

Memories and Dreams

Back in my younger days I spent a fair bit of of my vacation time visiting the Hawaiian Islands. I was lucky enough to have a father who traveled. It was a much easier time to share frequent flier miles and traveling in general was just simpler.  My hubby and I visited all of the Islands because we wanted to figure out which ones we liked best. We saw Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Hawaii and of course, Maui.  Hawaii and Maui are the only two Islands we visited more than once - well of course we saw Oahu more than once 'cause of airport change overs but we didn't stay long.

I loved Maui. It was lush, tropical and full of fun things to do. One of the best places to stay is on the Ka'ana- pali Coast. The views are heavenly, the breezes cooling and you can see the whales at the right time of year.  If you are looking for a great Maui Resort try the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel. It is classy, comfortable and full of the Aloha Spirit. They offer rooms with great amenities and have those ocean front rooms available to take your mind off of anything.

And if there are any weddings in your future why no go for  Maui Weddings . The resort offers a variety of wedding packages to suit any budget. You could go super deluxe or basic. Check it out I think you will find just the perfect package to suit your plans. If it is not in place the event coordinator will work with you to make your wedding perfect. Or renew your vows - what a wonderful way to celebrate that special anniversary. Hmmmm.......

Maybe I could use a little Hawaiian vacation in my future. I have my memories now it is time for my dreams. Dreams of warm tropical winds, turquoise water and dinners full of delicious seafood. Wouldn't that be the perfect vacation in the middle of a Montana February. Gee, my anniversary is in February. Maybe I should send this link to my husband. What do you think?

The Coming of the Corn and other Random Things

No it's not Random Thursday so as to compete with Random Tuesday but I have stuff to write and limited time to do it so it's all going in one post whether it fits together or not. Maybe I'll just stay random and write a cohesive post on Tuesdays and screw everything up - HA!

I did mention in Tuesday's random post that the corn came in - or at least the first harvest. My beloved presented me with 228 ears of corn. It was actually more actual ears but when you get a stubby ear that measures about 2 inches I combine them 'til I get what would be considered a reasonable ear of corn. We had already eaten about 10 ears that we just randomly picked (see the theme continuing?) so we have gotten 238 ears from this years planting. Last year I put up 248 ears so we are close. He planted more this year so I am sure when he hits the garden this weekend I will have lots more to process. We are thinking of selling some at the Farmer's Market as I CANNOT FIT ANOTHER FREAKIN' THING IN MY FREEZER. Which I suppose is good, but I think I am going to have to can the next harvest.

It is beautiful corn. As I mentioned somewhere on the blog (I am too lazy to go look for the post) he grows an organic, short season corn that is colorful. Yup, colorful. It has blue and red kernels along with the traditional yellow and white. Isn't it pretty?

And then we had a few of these merlot colored babies....

He couldn't remember if they were supposed to be the uber-sweet ones so we did a side by side taste taste with ears that just had some red and blue kernels and found the dark purple ones to be OK but rather starchy.

I blanch them and cut them off the cob. After I dry the cobs in the sun the goats get to eat them - they love 'em. That and the stalks. Nothing goes to waste here. This is what 50 ears of corn looks like off the cob.

Pretty kernels - all full of color. It was so sweet. And it stays that way all winter. It is so nice to have that fresh taste of summer in the middle of February.

OK - other random things.

You may have noticed some new additions to my sidebar. I have some spiffy affiliations; of course you know that Uprinting is my blog sponsor. Now you can order your printing supplies (Business Cards are 20% off) right from the sidebar - click on the lovely ad there and help a girl out. 

I also welcome Altrec - a great supplier of all things outdoors. I will be writing more about them later but they are having an AWESOME Labor Day sale so why not check it out!

Lastly there is a picture of my goat Pricilla in her milking stand. It leads to a cool site called Whrrl where you can tell YOUR story in pictures too. Either from your computer or your phone.  I am trying to win a vacation to Las Vegas to go to SITScation so I would appreciate it you wouldn't mind clicking on Pricilla's picture or here and clicking "I like it" on my story. Only if you like it, of course :)

I also have a widget for the UGG Boot Giveaway. If you click on it I get an entry and it shows you how to enter yourself. Mmmm, warm boots. Just what I need out here in Montana.

And last but not least the Madson Bike Contest. Is that not the coolest looking bike EVER! I think I could even ride it without falling off. I have severe balance problems and can't ride a regular bike so this might just be the answer for me. The hubby keeps threatening to get me a cart and to hook up the goats. Please, PLEASE click on the bike widget or here and save me from that embarrassment. You might win one too...they are giving away a bike a week!

I think that's it for today. Tomorrow I will be adding another great giveaway. Be sure to enter the Business Card Giveaway I have going right now. 2 lucky winners will receive 500 business cards from Uprinting. I have gotten my cards from them and I loved them. They were bright, colorful, sharp, clear and very well done.

Random Tuesday

It's Tuesday, the Random Day. Thanks to The UnMom. I wish I could be truly random today but it's not my lot. Why, you ask? My constant posting topic lately...my hubby's garden. The corn came in over the weekend; all 228 ears of it. I will do a solo post on its beauty and bounty. BUT I AM TALKING ABOUT 228 FREAKIN' EARS OF CORN. And that was only the first harvest. We had 248 ears last year and you know men - more, more more!

Today I get more eggplants. Enough eggplants that I need to make eggplant lasagne and freeze it or the eggplants will rot before I can use. them. Fortunately I still have ricotta left from my cheese making odyssey of the other day. I have to make the sauce and assemble the buggers and then put them in the freezer. I know I will appreciate them later but right now I just want to do anything NOT associated with the garden.

I am sure you want to read ANYTHING not associated with the garden.

My buck goat Michael is out to get me. He thinks I am a doe and he wants me. This is not good as he outweighs me. I have a bruise on my thigh that is in the exact shape of his horn. He got annoyed at me when I wouldn't erm, cooperate. I told him he is this close to the crock pot. I am not sure he totally comprehended.

I am making butter today. My girlfriend has a milk cow and has tremendous amounts of cream. I now have tremendous amounts of cream. Wish me luck.

Why, WHY does my cat go in and out all day long looking at a food bowl that does not change? Does she think it is magic and by returning it will suddenly hold tuna or something? She drives me crazy!

That's it. The eggplants have arrived I have a LOT of work ahead of me. So head off to The UnMom and get your Random on.