Vote with your dollar

Forget about Chipotle

A couple weeks ago, I read a great BEEF Daily post that hit the nail on the head. A lot of us have been up in arms about Chipotle's stand on animal agriculture and our feathers were ruffled even more with their recent ad campaign, Farmed and Dangerous. So much of our attention was focused on Chipotle, not the good kind, that we forgot about the good other companies do. It actually made me feel bad for companies like Culver's. They have invested a lot into supporting our industry and have basically been overshadowed and placed on the back burner with media due to Chipotle's stand.

Vote with your dollar is a key take away in this post. After reading this post I needed a pick-me-up-- so off to Culver's I went with my coworkers to support an company that supports us. I love seeing the Thank you, Farmers billboard as I drive down the highway. It makes me proud of where I've come from and what I do. And let's not forget about last summer when Culver's donated a dollar to the National FFA Organization for every thank you note sent to dairy and beef producers who help raise the food Culver's serves.

My family's been an avid supporter of Culver's since the get-go. They originated in Wisconsin ya know, so there is one in just about every town. Sometimes Culver's is the only place we can all be in agreement on when we're in the car headed to a .....cattle show, cattle sale, wedding, Fleet Farm, Tractor parts store, Mall, Panache, feed mill, graduation/anniversary/birthday party, random meeting...well you name it, with my family we could be headed anywhere! My dad's favorite part of Culver's is the flavor of the day. So much so that he picks up the Flavor Forecast calendars at his usual "Culver's stops" across the state so he can plan his sales calls accordingly. Oh, the perks of being a traveling salesman, hitting up multiple Culver's for your favorite flavors of custard. Yes, flavor forecasts can be accessed from your phone, Dad just hasn't quite updated to that "type" of phone!
N.Starr   

High Five for Spring

This post was actually intended to be a High Five for February post. But, since I've been MIA and busy it obviously didn't happen but the five things are too good not to share. So here are five things worth a shout out.

1. Introducing Miss Charlotte Starr Johnson
   I have a new niece born February 10. I couldn't be happier about having a girl to spoil. All along Isaac insisted he was going to have a sister, and called her baby ham). We're happy he was right, otherwise my mom and dad would had to be the bearer of bad news to explain he had to live with a brother. Forever. Now out of the blue, Isaac has started calling her 'Charlotte Baby Ham O'Johnson'. Poor thing, she's going to have to put up with a crazy brother.
2. Wisconsin Hereford Association-- Hall of Fame
   A week before Charlotte was born, my parents were inducted into the WHA Hall of Fame. It was so nice of them to honor my parents. A surprise to my parents, Lindsay and I did the introduction of them. We decided a roast would be the best route. Like any cattle family, we have a lot of good stories, that are just too good not to share. Thanks again, Wisconsin Hereford Assoc. for honoring my parents.
    
3. Winter, yes it's still here.
   Will it ever go away? It's March and still no signs of spring. It's been long enough, we're ready for the temperature to rise. At least there are nice people my work who surprise you by cleaning off the snow on your vehicle. Yes, a mystery. It was such a nice gesture that I immediately paid it forward and helped the person next to me brush off the 6+ inches we were so lucky to receive.

    

4. Escaping from the winter
   Luckily I got to get away from the cold and spend a week in California for World Ag Expo. A good tradeshow, tasty wine and comfortably being outside without a jacket is a win in my book.
5. Back in shape
   And now that things are calming down, working out has made its way into my routine. And here's to sticking! Bader Rutter Boot Camp is back and I've also joined the Sweat Shop at SnapFitness. On a side note, my mom has started doing personal training through a Snap Fitness and LOVES it!

N.Starr

The Luck of the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I love this holiday, not as much as Christmas, but it's fun! I'm 50 percent Irish (my mom is the leprechaun :)) so we always look forward to a reason to celebrate our heritage. This year was much, much calmer than last year. Last year, we had a big family reunion/90th Birthday party for my great Uncle Ralph, the Happy Birthday video is a must-watch if you haven't seen it!
With the holiday falling on a Monday, it was a pretty low key day. I did however get to wear my Irish Guinness jersey, its once a year outing! And made chocolate-dipped pretzels with shamrock sprinkles-- which were a hit at work.

Luckily, I'll continue wearing green. For sure this week and if all goes well over the next couple weeks too. Not because of my Irish heritage but to cheer on the Spartans in March Madness. Before Thursday I'll have my bracket filled out and be ready to cheer on the green & white! What's your method to a winning bracket? I'm taking advice:)
N.Starr

Year in Review

Another year is over. Where do the days, weeks and months go? For me, 2013 flew. But I think that's the sign of a good year. Here are my 12 highlights of 2013.

January: What better way to start the year than in the Mile High City for the National Western?! Love the people, cattle and atmosphere. Only a few more weeks and we'll be back in Denver for the 2014 NWSS.
February: My godson, Isaac, said my name. And I've answered to "Cole" or "NA-Cole" ever since.

 Looking forward to spoiling another niece or nephew in February 2014.



March: I got a taste of my true Irish heritage when my GREAT Aunt Sally from Virginia came home for St. Patrick's Day. We also celebrated Aunt Sally and Uncle Ralph's birthdays (88 and 90). I captured a YouTube worthy video of the Hurley birthday song.
April: The ground thawed and we saw green grass. Thank GOD.
May: A trip to Kansas City for Cinco de Mayo and watching the Kentucky Derby in the Power & Light District. Which meant one thing... drinking mint juleps out of margarita glasses. KC for the Derby? It was cheaper and we got to visit my sister.

June: Was able to cross off New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine from states I've visited. Had a blast at Logan and Marissa's wedding in New Hampshire and I've decided to save up for a vacation home in Maine. (You'll find there was a wedding theme in 2013:))

Even took a family photo which was the Starr Christmas card.
Never have we gotten that taken care of so early! Clean up pretty good don't we!?

July: To Kansas City again, this time for the Hereford Junior National and conveniently another trip to the Power & Light District. 
August: A college/cattle friend's wedding in Indiana. So happy we were there to celebrate with Cody & Lindsay and get to see so many of my favorite people in one spot!

September: A sad month as Grandma Starr passed away. But we're so lucky to have had her in our lives for so long. Good memories that will be cherish forever.
October: Christa & Aaron's wedding, a 2013 highlight! So blessed I was able to stand next to Christa on her big day. Plus seeing so many high school friends brought back sweet memories.

The class of 2006. We haven't changed a bit!

November: A quick trip to Louisville for the NAILE to help celebrate my college professor and family friend be inducted into Saddle and Sirloin portrait hanging.
December: Here we are. Another year closing and excited to see what 2014 brings.

First up in 2014 is cheering on the Spartans in the Rose Bowl!

Cheers to a prosperous year.

N.Starr

Oh Christmas Tree

It's the day after Christmas, some of who are already back at work (over-achievers) and some of you are like me... still in your PJs ignoring all the empty boxes and wrapping by sipping on your second cup of coffee. The thought has crossed my mind to workout but I think I'll settle on another of my Dad's homemade chocolates and hit the new year hard. This Christmas was a blast and I can't wait to share more with you. But first, I want to show you the Christmas trees that Mom and I slaved over the whole month. You remember reading about blinking barn lights and untangling extension cords, right? Well, here's the final result. Complete with trees, garland and old-fashion bulbs. It was worth freezing off fingers and all the swear words.

Believe it or not, our indoor tree was less work than the barn trees! How long do you keep your tree up? This tree is pretty dry so I have a feeling it will be coming down soon. I once heard that you'll have bad luck in the upcoming year if you take your tree down before January 1.

Does anyone hide a pickle ornament on their tree? My family just started doing this a few years ago. The old tradition is whoever finds the hidden pickle ornament gets an extra present. I was the lucky one who found it.

N.Starr

 

 

The Things Farm Girls Do...

On Black Friday

It was a low key Thanksgiving weekend at the Starr House. You see, we celebrated the weekend prior when both my sisters were home. That meant spending Thanksgiving Day resting up and energizing for the Black Friday door busters. We aren't your typical hard-core shoppers. For us it meant getting up 9am and eating pumpkin pie & ice cream for breakfast. Because why not, it's still technically a holiday. Splurge one last time and have dessert for breakfast. Such rebels! We were fairly certain our Black Friday deal would still be there when we got to town. Where at? Wal-Mart. Best Buy. Target. None of the above. Stine's Garden and Gifts was where it was at for the Starr ladies and where we would brag about the best deal we got on...

Yep! $15 dollars a piece and the high school boy even loaded them in the bed of the truck. A STEAL! Why so many? Well, get this: None are the Starr Family Christmas Tree. These didn't make the cut to be "the one" in which we put presents under or sit by while watching Hallmark movies (FYI-- we don't really do that! :))

Once again putting the cows before ourselves. These trees are for in front of the barn. This wasn't all glitz and glamour. Only half the strand of lights were working and the second string was blinking. We had more extension cords out than what you'd need on show day. And of course they were found at the bottom of the show box in a tangle mess, completely stiff from the cold. COLD! Yes, we were cold, fuses were being blown, our lives were risked being electrocuted from changing out so many bulbs. Finally we removed ourselves from the situation and blamed it on the fact that maybe we were pulling too much power with the dryer going on the corn. Turning the corn dryer off wasn't an option, can you imagine how thrilled my Dad would have been the next time he went to check the moisture?! But hey-- we get so many complements from friends when the barn is decorated for the holidays. The thought crossed our mind to get the generator out. But that's where it ended. With blinking lights. Until the corn is dry.

 

It'll get done. Because when it is its' picture is going straight to Pinterest and everyone will think 'well why didn't I think of that'. And everyone will be running to Stine's for the Christmas tree deal, but wait oh.... that's right it was a Black Friday special and they'll all be paying full price! Totally joking.
Want to know the real reason we're the crazy people in BFE who decorate their barn? Because it make a perfect Christmas photo-opp for our Red Healer.

 What was the Black Friday door buster you bragged about today?
N.Starr

Pumpkin Pie Practice Run

Thanksgiving prep

I know I've mentioned this before but the Starr Sisters aren't the best of cooks. Our Mom is hands down awesome in the kitchen. And she made several attempts of passing her skills down to her daughters, she can't say she didn't try. Each summer we had to master a meal. Yes, from start to finish an actual meal that you'd serve a group of people. When she decided it was "that time in the summer", she'd search for us in the barn. We'd either be hiding or able to convince her Dad left us a long list of chores that needed to be crossed off before he got home on Friday. It was miserable. Miserable as in crying, screaming, blood on the cutting board and burned skin. All in which resulted in eating burnt food, frozen pizza or running in town to the local Drive-In. Mom came to the conclusion that she was just going to have really clean and well-fed show heifers. Instead she decided to focus on our strengths and teach us things like helping a cow calve, the importance of calves getting colostrum (mother's first milk) and fixing fence. Because those things are best learned first-hand. A complicated recipe could be explained over the phone.
As we get closer to the holiday's (and the spike of pins to Pinterest board we'll never use increases) some of us get a bug to be the next Becky-Homecky, a term us Starr girls use when describing the domestic types. Last Sunday I dug out the rolling pin and pie pan for a practice run at Pumpkin pie. How hard can it be the recipe is on the back of the can, right? Well, in my family we have a crust recipe and it fails every time I attempt it. It's not my fault though, you see it's a temperamental recipe. All the ingredients have to be added in a certain order and you can't stop in the middle of crumbling to call your sister.
All was going well this go around, mom was in the background "really busy on her iPad"; pretending to not really be in the room. The crust was made and into the greased pie pan. The hardest part was done, smooth sailing from this point. The filling was made, even added INSERT FAMILY SECRET HERE, and before I knew it I was proudly pouring the filling into the crust. Then mom says calming while making the upward swiping motion to catch up on her latest Facebook gossip. "You did add sweetened condensed milk, right?" Me, "WHAT?? AUGHHH How did I miss that!" Add in a few swear words, foot stomping and slamming of the spatula on the counter. The good news is, a Starr sister can always figure out a solution, probably because we've had to get ourselves out of so many bad kitchen situations.


Forgot an ingredient? Just stir it in when it's in the pie pan. Who knew this doubled as a mixing bowl!

Then the wait. Would it turn out? I sure hoped so because it'd be a dirty shame to ruin the beautiful crust that I concentrated so hard on.

Of course it turned out!

So Sunday night (and maybe Monday night :) ), I splurged and enjoyed a slice without any guilt. But let's just say it's a good thing a practice run was involved and that I'm not hosting Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cattle and Crown Royal

The two go hand in hand.

If you've ever been around any cattle event you know Crown Royal is the drink of choice. Why? I don't know. But it's common to find a handle of crown in just about anyone's showbox. Most drink it with coke, the calorie conscious prefer diet, the hard core drinkers order it up over ice. Me? I'm a crown and water gal.
This past weekend's open house just happened to land on my brother in-law's birthday. Again. For the second year in a row. My sister thinks he plans this on purpose just so he can have a party!
Crown was a logical choice, but it needed a birthday spin. Luckily a co-worker shared with me a Crown Royal cookie recipe. Bam. Sister in-law of the year right there! So that's what he got and let me tell you it was a crowd pleaser. It got me thinking...what other recipes can we sneak a little CR into?
And as promise, here's the recipe. I used regular crown as I'm not big into anything maple-flavored except for syrup and only when it's over my pancakes, waffles or french toast!

 

 

 

 

InstaLife

Hard to believe we're already breezing through April, where did March go? I want to relive St. Patty's Day and Easter because A) who doesn't love celebrating their Irish heritage and B) Easter candy is the best. Yes, it trumps Christmas candy (however not my Dad's chocolates).
So I thought I'd share with you a few of the highlights captured through Instagram. If you're on it, follow me @starrnicole
Here we go...

We kicked off the month with a trip to Lancaster, WI to sell one of our bulls. Pretty sure that he went to a good home and even better was we go our money! It was a busy, but entertaining weekend with my nephew Isaac. I learned that I'm in no way shape or form ready to be a parent that takes kids to cattle events. How do people my age do it? By Sunday I was exhausted, my back was killing me and I was in desperate need of a bottle of wine.

My GREAT Aunt Sally from Virgina was home for a whole week. We had a huge get together and celebrated these two younging's birthdays, it was a wild bash. Aunt Sally turned 88 and Uncle Ralph hit 90.

 Continuing on with the green... the Spartans. They had a good run at it, but bummed to see them lose to Duke. I filled out a bracket but didn't put any money down. Wishin' I would have now, I have Louisville and Syracuse going to the Championship, with Louisville winning. Guess I'll know if I was right after the final four this weekend.

March brought lots of cow watching. We have a few cute little Hereford babies on the ground. We are so ready for the snow to melt. It's a tundra! Can't complain too much, we need the moisture.

I had Isaac for a whole weekend. To myself. The weekend before Easter. So what does the world's best Aunt do? Take him to see the Easter bunny. As you can see there's no reason to stand in the long lines at the mall to sit on Santa or the Easter bunny's lap. He was less than impressed and never even make eye contact. I'm sure he'll appreciate this photo someday.

And lastly, my Easter bunny rocks! She brought me wine to-go in a screw off! LOVE it. And sipping my first glass now.

N.Starr

Hurley Crest

Time for a lesson on the family tree.

Yesterday I mentioned that I learned something about my family. This was part of my 101 in 1001 goals. I thought I'd continue this week's theme of St. Patrick's Day, only a few more days till the big day of drinking green beer. Remember last Friday when I went to an Irish reunion/birthday party? Being the leprechauns we are, we dressed in green. My Aunt Jo was wearing a small pin with her green sweater. I kick myself for not taking a picture of the pin. I asked what it meant and she told me it was the Hurley Family Crest. I always knew we had a family crest, but wasn't sure what it looked like. Neat knowing a family has it's own symbol to represent themselves. It must be equivalent to family farms having their own logo passed down for several generations...

Is your family represented by a crest or symbol?

  N.Starr

Irish Birthday Celebrations

Hurley Family Reunion -- St. Patrick's Day Style

Last Friday I cut out of work early for an Irish family reunion and wouldn't have missed it for the word. You see, my GREAT Aunt Sally and cousin Kathleen were visiting from Virginia. So a reunion was in order and we just so happened to celebrate a few birthdays. My Great Aunt Sally will be 88 on St. Patrick's (how lucky, I know!) and Great Uncle Ralph just turned 90. The birthdays in combination with family home called for a big party. The basement of my mom's cousin house was packed with people (most whom I didn't even know their names), but it didn't matter we knew we were related in some way, shape or form. Since the Hurley Family loves St. Patrick's Day we decided to get a head start on celebrating our Irish heritage.

You know you're Irish when..... you pack your flashing shamrock jewelry
just in case there's a party when you're coming home to Wisconsin. Aunt Sally,
my pen pal since before I could write, and Uncle Ralph are siblings. And remember my
Aunt Jo who makes jam? She's also their sister.   

I hope their good Irish genes are passed down to me! Over and over Aunt Sally (who is turning 88)
said, "Wow, I mean Ralph (her brother) really looks and gets around good for being 90 and all!" 
Talk about calling the kettle black.

 

I've always known (and been proud at the fact) that I am 50 percent Irish. But it didn't occur

to me just how true these genes were (and how lucky I am) until we were all gathered

around in our best Irish attire; telling stories, laughing ourselves silly, drinking beer and

SINGING. Enjoy the grand this grand finale! 

 

 

Battle of Cell Phone Carriers

First encounter with Sirri

This Facebook post describes the start of what I thought was a good, solid, entertaining relationship with a potential cell phone company. I was seconds away to being the owner of an iPhone (finally).Until things went south at check out when we began the process of porting my number from the old to the new carrier........

Sirri had the balls to tell me my current number was not transferable due to a Verizon/US Cellular agreement. After going into detail about it being a federal offense, he started "searching" for my soon-to-be new phone number- Just like that, like it was no big deal. Apparently Sirri didn't know that a cell phone number now days is considered a form of identification. In my opinion, it carries just as much weight as your social security number. I didn't hold back, I let him know what I thought. And from the blank look on his face, he was wishing he wouldn't have drawn the short straw in having to serve me. Now I don't know if they actually drew straw, but by the looks on their faces when I entered the store in my post workout wardrobe, they wanted to pass me off to the lowest guy on the totem pole. I may or may not have thrown a temper tantrum in the store and I may or may not have called my Dad to talk to Sirri and inform him that I MUST keep my current number. One thing for sure is, I walked out without the iPhone. I'm standing my ground on this one. Stay tuned to hear who wins this battle.
I'm off to the next cell phone store tonight. Here's to meeting another Sirri and not throwing a temper tantrum two nights in a row!

N.Starr

Take me back to summer 2012

Escaping the winter blues

Yesterday was a very special person's birthday, my great Aunt Jo. My Aunt Jo is quite the lady and we're very lucky to have her in our lives. In terms of the family tree, she is my Grandma Lindsay's (my mom's mom) sister. Did you get all that? I consider myself lucky because not a lot of people are close with their great aunts, uncles, second cousins etc. However, I am close with these people. And when the we get together we love every minute of it whether it be... to talk, laugh, cook or shop. God bless the men currently in and yet to come into our lives that have to put up with all these women! Anyways, my Aunt Jo is something else. Remember when we went to the National Western Stock Show? Well she traveled with us and spent the trip in Denver to see her son and daughter in-law. She was a good travel companion and made the long direct flight to Denver more entertaining.

Since Wisconsin is in a winter storm warning, I'd give anything for warm weather. So yesterday during the winter blizzard I drifted off to the summer of 2012 and recalled a weekend that Aunt Jo spent with us. She let me in on one of her talents. She passed down the tradition of making strawberry jam to the next generation. Me being the next generation:) It was a blast and boy is that strawberry jam a treat to enjoy year round. If you missed the post, you should really check it out. And if I remember right it was my Aunt Jo that convinced me to go car shopping and she also cheered  me on at Lambeau Field during the Packer 5K run. We packed a lot in just 48 hours.

Since I won't be taking a spring break or tropical island vacation to escape winter, I'll settle for the good summer memories made with family and friends when the weather was warm. And to be honest, I don't need to escape anywhere when everything I need is right here.  

Happy Birthday to Aunt Jo!

Jamin' with Aunt Jo.
Learning to make strawberry jam from a pro!
I've never had to follow directions so exact.
Timing is everything with jam making:)

 N.Starr

Back to Reality

So close to Friday

It's always hard coming off a fun trip to a cattle show, getting caught up on work and on top of that dealing with the Denver crud. Yes, it's hit me and by the looks of my newsfeed I'm not alone. Most everyone that was in Denver is dealing with the annual January crud.
The weather has been MISERABLY COLD. So cold your checks turn cherry red and you just want to cry (I'm a baby). You also know it's cold when you get excited to see 30* in the 5-day forecast. Yes, I don't appreciate dealing with dry skin and having to bundle up but during the week the weather doesn't inconvenience me. I start my car 15 minutes before heading to work, sit in an office (which may be a bit chilly for me), start my car again to warm up before driving home to a warm house. If this is you then you're probably not aware of how the cold affects farmers and ranchers.
It was back to reality this week at the Starr Farm as well. I was talking to my mom one evening earlier this week; they had just gotten in the house from unthawing a waterer. Because of the below freezing temperatures it had froze up, so the cows couldn't get anything to drink. Just like people it's important they stay hydrated. It just so happens this one is the only water source for two of the pastures, located near the grand buffet. So mom and dad bundled up in their Carhartts and unthawed the "water fountain". 


A cow version of a drinking fountain.

So case in point, the next time you're complaining about how cold and miserable it is, is it really that big of an inconvenience? Think of all the people going out in the cold to feed wagons of hay or milk their cows, bed down huts with straw for warmth and get up in MULTIPLE times in the night to see if there are any cows calving that need help.  Have you thanked a farmer today? 


Let's have a party - Thanksgiving style

Hostess&Mostest

We're a few days out from the day where it's perfectly acceptable to consume thousands upon thousands of calories, so why not have a party. That's what we're planning on doing at the Starr house. We're doing something new this year: It's just going to be us, the immediate family, for Thanksgiving. This won't be like most years when we host a bunch of people or when we spend it at my Grandma's with lots of cousin, aunts, uncles etc. This year it won't matter what time we eat or what we're wearing. Just a low-key, relaxing day with my parents, two sisters, brother in-law and nephew. We're each making a little something, hopefully I can pull through on the family recipe. Stay tuned.

Feeling overwhelmed with all the Christmas commercials? It's OK, I get annoyed with the rush to Christmas too. Thought I share the most uplifting, make-you-wanna-throw-a-turkey-in-the-oven-whip-up-some-mashed-potatoes-and-have-a-party Thanksgiving commercial. It's my favorite and I hope it gets you in the spirit.

There are so many fun Thanksgiving words that go together, which were your favorite?

Mine were New & Tradition, Hostest & Mostest being second.

N.Starr

Jamin' with my Aunt Jo

Strawberry Jam Time

What's summer without strawberries? Luckily even with the drought we're still able to enjoy them. I wanted to put some of the strawberries that I cut up and froze back in June to good use. You can read more about that time consuming project here. So I did the most resourceful thing and called my Great Aunt Jo, the strawberry jam expert and now teacher! Last Saturday she passed down the jam-making techniques to the next generation. We had so much fun and much to my surprise making jam isn't really that hard. The biggest take away: EVERYTHING measurements and timing must be EXACT.   

Mash 2 cups of strawberries, add to that 4 cups of sugar. Stir for 3 minutes.

We make quite a team...And there wasn't any crying or fighting! The strawberries and sugar has to sit and merry for 10 minutes. 3 minutes before the 10 minutes is up boil 3/4 cup of water with 1 packet of Sure Jel (this is what Aunt Jo, on right, is doing), mixture must boil for EXACTLY 1 minute. Remove from heat and slowly pour and stir (Yes at the same time, that's why jam making is a team effort) into strawberry/sugar combo. Stir for 3 minutes, then pour into sanitized jam jars. (what I'm doing on the left).  

Sure Jell is the key ingredient. This is what the box looks like in case you're a jam-rookie like me.

TaDa! So pretty! And I think they'll taste even better come February after a cold day of feeding cows.

 What family tradition has been passed down to you?

Starr Report: The Grand Buffet

It's Supper Time

Like people, cows like to eat at set times. Our cows like to be fed gain in the mornings and at nights. During the day they have free range of the huge pasture, and when there's isn't enough grass to met their food requirements we put a round bale of hay out for them to snack on.

At sunrise and sunset our cows come up to what we call "The Grand Buffet" to eat their grain. It sounds so uppity-uppity to say our cows have a grand buffet, huh? Well after all we do treat them like queens so they deserve it:)

Listen to the how loud it is when they lick up their feed from the bunk.

  They sure do love it! Luckily, I'm able to come home on the weekends and feed my queen-bees as while watching the sun set.

N.Starr

Cookin' with Crown

I love to eat meat, especially the 29 cuts of lean beef. But I also have a sweet spot for chicken wings and when it's smothered in barbecue sauce, even better. But what's better then BBQ chicken wings is when it's made with whiskey. Like every other livestock person I love to drink whisky, Crown Royal is my whiskey of choice.  This weekend while I was at my parents, looking at my new Pioneer Women Cookbook I saw this recipe and couldn't resist. Grabbed my purse, put Rex in his kennel and told my dad I was headed to our fine local grocery store.
There's a little story behind my new cookbook. It's from our great family friends, The Geodderz, and they gave this to me for my 24th Birthday. How sweet right? So I thought it was only appropriate that the first meal made go to them to enjoy. Some may say they were my guinea pigs. But when a recipe calls for Crown Royal how bad can it be?
When making something with Crown Royal, why not double the batch right? That's what I thought too. Making enough for my parents and I to enjoy during the week. So tonight I had 2 CR BBQ chicken wings, and let me just say it's dangerously good! Can't wait to hear the reviews from my taste-testers. Never tasted such a sweet, tangy sauce, I'm guessing you could use the sauce in other recipes... baked beans, ribs, chicken breast.
I've now found my go-to BBQ sauce recipe, but what is yours?

Photo courtesy of the PW Blog. Make sure you enter in her turquoise pot giveaway. All you have to do is comment saying which color you'd like to be for the rest of your life! Click here to register.

N.Starr

Starr Farm Report: Chickens

White or Dark Meat?

These are the chickens at 4 weeks old.
Clean water is kept in the white container in the upper-right-hand corner.  

Actually the Starr Farm is not in the chicken business, but the Johnson's (my sister & her husband) are. Which is why it fit under this series. They've recently gotten into the broiler business and have had good luck. They get a few batches each spring/summer raise them until harvest and then sell the meat at the Shawano Farmer's Market held every Saturday.
This is new to me, so I'm learning as they go too! The baby chicks arrive when they're just a few days old, it take 8 weeks until the chickens are big enough for harvest. During that time they have access to food, water and even get a heat lamp when they're just babies. They're such cuties when they're little; soft yellow hair and a baby chripping noise. That wears off in a few weeks when they lose their baby hair and grow in white/grayish feathers. This year it was fun to watch Isaac's reaction to the babies. However, they had to keep a close eye on him, I guess it's pretty tempting for a 1 year old to want to squeeze the yellow fur balls!  

This video shows the chickens enjoying their dinner while under my watch. Besides having enough water, it's important for them to get feed so they are able to gain the right amount of weight. 

Sweet tooth edition: UPside Down Cake

Who likes Rhubarb?


Some do, some don't. I however, love it and in my opinion it's a true sign of summer. I'm sure many of you have wonderful pie and bar recipes that your family has been making for generations. If you do, feel free to share the recipe in the comment section below. I'll let you in on my family's favorite rhubarb treat. Most of yours are probably elaborate and take hours to prepare and bake, this however is simple and sweet (just like my life!). 

Rhubarb grows out of the ground, when ripe has big green leaves and green to pinkish stems.
Cut off the leaves and bottom inch of the stalk and throw away.

Chop up about 3 cups of the good stuff (green to pinkish stems), place in a
mixing bowl and stir in 1 1/4 cups of sugar. Let sit while you prepare the cake.

In going with the "Simple and Sweet" theme, we use a yellow box cake mix and follow the instructions on the box. But if you make everything from scratch (more power to ya) go ahead and follow that recipe. Before putting in the oven to bake pour over the rhubarb/sugar mixture from step 2. The fun thing about this recipe while in the oven is the rhubarb bakes down to the bottom. When serving flip it up so the rhubarb and sweetness is on top! Unfortunately it was eaten before I could get a final product shot! Best with ice cream, perfect combo of sour & sweetness! Enjoy!