Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Ha! I actually took the time to look up where the phrase "winner winner chicken dinner" originated. Supposedly, it had its start in Las Vegas years ago. Back in the day when you could get a complete chicken dinner for under two bucks in that glittery gambling mecca. I guess if you were a lucky $2.00 winner you could go treat yourself to a tasty chicken dinner with all the fixin's!
For some reason those words are just stuck in my head right now...whenever I'm putting together some goodies for our hens it starts playing in my brain. :/
The days are still short here in the Northern Hemisphere and the temps are downright chilly. There is about 8 inches of icy frozen snow on the ground. We have a flock of 11 laying ladies. We are only getting 1 or 2 eggs a day. Mother Nature has slowed everything down and the chickens are conserving energy to stay warm and they keep taking turns molting! Some days there is hazy sunshine and they squawk to get out of the coop and roam freely like usual. When we let them out they are sorely disappointed that their tender juicy grass shoots are covered with an icy layer. They can't find their wriggly worms and hidden bugs.
One sunny day after a large snowstorm they were begging for their freedom. I gave in and let them out for a bit. Sadly...they would walk into the snow, be taken by surprise and completely stop! It was like a game of "statue"! They didn't know what to do, so they just came to a complete standstill! I ended up lifting them from their snowy prison cells and carted them all back to the coop!
We don't feed our chickens laying pellets or crumbles. We supply them a never ending supply of organic hen scratch. For three seasons they supplement with all the bugs, worms, snails and growing greens they can stuff their bellies with. This time of year I feel we need to help them out!

In the almost four years we've had our feathered friends it never gets old being able to give them all our produce scraps. I absolutely LOVE not filling up the garbage can or disposal with fruit and veggie trimmings. We keep a nice sized stainless steel bowl close by the chopping and dicing board and make sure none of these yummy scraps go to waste.
They really love cabbage and they were getting bored being all "cooped" up in the snowy weather conditions. Hubs decided to rig up something to entertain them as well as supplement their usual grub.

How 'bout a hanging head of cabbage?!

Then we remembered that birds like "suet". Back in the day I remember making suet bird feeders with my own Sprouts. We started saving our bacon grease and layering it in a freezer safe container with random goodies. Nuts, dried fruits and grains.

A little here, a little there...and soon you have saved a container full...I layered a bit of uncooked quinoa and some dried cranberries this time.

The frozen and solid grease and goodies! Oh...may I point out my amazing vintage pastel yellow Pyrex dishes? May I mention I am in love with them and that I found six of them at a yard sale for $1.00 each?! I was giddy when I found them and they haven't disappointed. They are the perfect teeny size for all kinds of fun!

If suet cakes could be considered adorable I think this one would be.

Another hanging surprise! I have a few more of the awesome little Pyrex containers getting all layered up in my freezer. The girls all seem pretty happy with the extra treats this winter.

I'm still trying to come up with ideas to supplement their diet through the cold and dark weeks ahead. I'm happy to report they all seem healthy and happy this winter despite the freezing temperatures and the occasional boredom from being confined to the coop on the super cold and snowy days...

Our friends and family are anxiously awaiting the increase in egg production that will come in the next month or so...once you've had farm fresh eggs you just can't go back!

How To Make Cheese Crackers!...

Holiday merriment is in full swing. Or, possibly holiday stress and dread is in full swing! Either way, it's inevitable that December 25th will a make an appearance...
I wish I could say I get all giddy during the Holidays...I don't...Years of working in retail management squeezed the Holiday right out of me.
The upside...I don't get stressed over the impending festivities. What little shopping I do is from the comfort and warmth of my own computer. Wrapped in a warm blanket, wearing nubby socks and drinking green jasmine tea is my way of taking on the task. I enjoy the UPS or FedEx workers dropping packages at my front door. I don't miss the frenzied shoppers and short-tempers permeating the mall halls and shops. I don't miss frazzled sales associates doing their best and trying to keep their mouths shut when being berated by someone who can't understand why the doll or outfit or perfect color is already sold out for the season. Somewhere along the way the "reason for the season" got lost in the fray. At least for me...
This year, the cookie baking party was one of the highlights of the season. I DO love party planning anytime of the year! Nothing more warm and fuzzy than a kitchen full of little sweethearts rolling dough and sticking teeny fingers in a bowl full of frosting.
I am attending a few festive gatherings with close friends and family. Such fun to get together and catch up with good people.
Saturday night I went to one such get-together with a group of 8 women that I golf with. We met years ago golfing on a local ladies league and have stayed in touch ever since. These women are fabulous friends and this party is highly anticipated each December. It includes good food, good fun, good beverages and good conversation. It always lives up to expectation...this year was no different. I did have a hard time deciding what to bring. One of the gals mentioned she was making soup...aha! I decided I would make homemade crackers to compliment her delicious cauliflower, bean and bacon soup. She promised she would share her recipe with me!
I'm still searching and learning how to make better quality food and have found that making things from scratch is a must. When I can source my ingredients, choose organic and GMO free as often as possible and use meat and dairy with no added hormones or antibiotics I feel good about the finished product. I make it...I know what's in it!

I was so happy with how these crunchy little crackers turned out! I used the small tree cookie cutter I had hiding in my cupboard. They are really crispy and flakey and cheesy. I plan to search out some fun cookie cutters for future baking. A goldfish cutter would be adorable!

Please don't be intimidated to make your own food! It's really very easy and takes less time than I would have thought.

Cheesy Crackers :)

3 TBSP cold butter

1 1/2 cups organic all-purpose flour

1 tsp. dry mustard powder

1 tsp. of ground pepper

1 tsp. salt

6 oz. of good grated Cheddar cheese

2 tsp. organic distilled white vinegar

ice cube

Combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk together. Cut the butter into 1" squares and add to the mixture. Mix on low speed until crumbly and the butter is incorporated. Add the shredded cheese and mix on low for a few more seconds.

In a liquid measure combine 3/4 cup of water, the vinegar and the ice cube and let sit for a couple of minutes. Start by adding 6 TBSP. of the liquid to the dough and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Continue to add liquid 1 TBSP at a time until it forms a ball around the beater. Form a dough ball and wrap in plastic wrap for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove dough from fridge 15 minutes before rolling. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place parchment paper on 2 large baking sheets. Roll dough on a floured surface to 1/8" - 1/4" in thickness. Cut with cookie cutters of your choice. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and place in oven. (optional...lightly sprinkle with salt)  Set timer for 15 minutes and rotate pans. Set time for addition 10 -15 minutes, watching closely until the edges are lightly brown. Turn off oven leaving crackers inside as the oven cools down and for at least an hour.

note: I tried one buttered cookie sheet and one with parchment paper! I liked the parchment results the best!

It's incredibly satisfying to make your own crackers! Ha...seriously...we loved them. I can't wait to make up another batch with the Sprouts!

Hoping you can find ways to enjoy a peaceful and meaningful holiday season. Stress free of course...

How To Host A Cookie Baking Party...

I LOVE parties. I actually like hosting parties even more than going to parties. Parties are the bomb.
What could be more fun than hosting a cookie baking party for a bunch of adorable little tidbits!? Not much in my opinion...
I am one lucky woman...I was graced with two beautiful little granddaughters within 7 days of each other. The gift that keeps on giving! A Grammy that loves all things "party" and 2 baby girl sprouts to share the fun. Need I say more???

I invited 8 little girlies. They ranged in age from 2 1/2 to 11. Our Sprouts are the 2 1/2 year olds. I thought they might be a bit young but they need to be versed in the way of parties in my opinion! I also invited the Mommies. I figured we would need some cookie building experts...

I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with a party menu that I could feel good about. Something kid friendly but also clean and relatively healthy. The cookies of course would have to be made completely from scratch and with the best possible ingredients. I had a bit of a dilemma with this. It's holiday time and I wanted to bake some tried and true traditional cookies. I didn't want to experiment with subbed ingredients for this. I needed everything to turn out. So, I opted for pure cane sugar and real organic butter. Sugar is a fact of life I'm still trying to navigate around. I decided to invite it to this particular party. 

In hopes of counteracting outrageous sugar highs I opted for a fresh and kid friendly mini buffet.

A bowl of mixed nuts, thinly sliced carrots and celery (organic of course!) and some grape tomatoes. A larger bowl of clementines and homemade chicken nuggets with organic ketchup. (You know that most ketchup has high fructose corn syrup...right?) My beverage choice for the shorties was carrageenan free chocolate almond milk. All in all I was pretty happy with it.

Hubs helped me cut up the organic chicken into nugget sized pieces. I thought they looked pretty authentic!

Here they are just before I popped them in the oven. No pink slime here folks! I was so happy with them that I'm going to share the recipe I used. Hubs and I ate the leftovers for dinner! They are yummy!

Chicken Nuggets

1 1/2 pounds of organic boneless chicken breasts

1/2 cup of mayonnaise ( I use Whole Foods 365 brand)

1 teaspoon of lemon juice from 1/2 a fresh lemon

3 cups of breadcrumbs ( I use Panko crumbs for a nice crunch)

1 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

olive oil for the baking sheet

Wash and dry the chicken and cut into 2 X 2 pieces. In a shallow bowl combine the mayo and lemon juice and stir until smooth. In another bowl combine the breadcrumbs with the seasonings. Drop several pieces of chicken into the mayo mixture and coat. Then coat with the Panko crumbs and set on the oiled baking pan. Refrigerate the tray for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the chicken for 25 minutes, turning once halfway through baking time.

I wanted the party to go smoothly and not have any lag time or down time waiting around for cookies to bake! I decided to go with three different recipes. A basic sugar cookie, a gingerbread cookie and a peanut butter blossom cookie. Hmmm...

I decided to make the gingerbread dough the night before. It needed to sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

It only took a few minutes to mix up. I divided the dough into two round discs and covered with plastic wrap. Boom...now all the "peanuts" would need to do is roll it out and make little men!

I also decided to make and BAKE one batch of sugar cookies. I wanted to keep things moving and have cookies ready to frost and sprinkle. Actually, I just baked half the batch and left the other disc of sugar dough in the fridge. Ready to go quickly if necessary. 

My party supply station! Aren't the little rolling pins adorable? And, how bout those awesome red striped paper straws? I filled a soda fountain glass with plastic knifes for spreading frosting. Not pictured here but I purchased a roll of red plastic table covering. Slick for topping the tables for cookie making workstations...

Perfect weather for a holiday baking party? I think YES! (Hubs wasn't as excited about that part. He was out snow blowing the driveway for about 4 hours before the guests arrived)...

My favorite part of a party! Decorating the room and laying out the tablescape. I found red striped napkins to match the red striped straws that matched the red striped aprons! Booyah...

I have these amazing little glass vintage looking milk bottles. I get giddy every time I bring them out of storage! A couple of years ago I invested in these little white ceramic tapa plates. I use them a lot for entertaining. ( I found them at CB2)...I like serving on real dishes...even for the little ones. I find they are surprisingly careful...

My plan was to start off the baking with peanut butter blossoms. A quick and easy recipe that doesn't need the dough chilled. And, a fun hands on right off the bat! The Sprouts got to roll the dough into little one inch balls after helping me measure and pour the ingredients into the mixer. This is the recipe I used and I was really happy with it...except...I ended up having to use Hershey's kisses. I don't love Hershey's kisses. I couldn't find any GOOD chocolate brands in the shape of a kiss? Maybe they don't exist?

http://tideandthyme.com/peanut-butter-blossoms/

Aprons first of course!

Here is some serious cookie biz going on! These little cuties loved making the cookie balls and dipping them in the bowls of sugar. Bonus...these cookies were surprisingly "forgiving"! ;) Once baked they all turned into pretty uniform little circles! Ha!

I will definitely do this recipe at my next cookie bash...sans the Hershey's kisses if possible!

Once these guys were in the oven I pulled out the gingerbread dough. Oh my...I lost count but I think we made about a thousand ginger men! The little rolling pins were a big hit. Mommies did help occasionally with a "real" rolling pin...but, for the most part...these little guys rolled out dough like there was no tomorrow! Impressive!

I was blown away by their commitment to cookie making! The focus was crazy! The teeniest girls rocked it! 

After the large army of gingerbread fellas were in the oven I pulled out the already baked sugar cookies! I had the Sprouts help me make butter cream frosting. They got to choose what colors to dye the frosting. I only did 2 colors...(lots going on!) How cute is this...they chose red and green! They were pretty intrigued at how the food coloring works! At this point, while the men were cooling off, the Sprouts went to town frosting and sugar sprinkling the sugar cookies. Have I mentioned how on task these little babes were??? Yes, I know I have, but it was truly amazing...this was a big deal!

For variety, I had a little sugar sprinkling tin and I let them sprinkle powdered sugar on the gingerbread men. Then, I had this funky colored chocolate in tubes. You put them in a bowl of hot water until the tubes are soft and pliable. When they were finished with the sugar cookies we re-visited the little powder sprinkled men and they got to put colored chocolate on them. I was thinking

like little faces and buttons and such...

Honestly...I'm pretty sure these are the cutest little kids on the planet! I love these girls! They amazed me...

Yeah...possibly the coolest cookie ever! Made by a very determined 2 year old. I can't lie...I'm proud!

Good times people! I LOVED this cookie baking party...I LOVED these adorable girls. 

Each of them got to take home as many cookies as they wanted. We put some in little clear cello bags and tied them up fancy and special! They thought that was pretty cool, too!

I got over my white flour/sugar dilemma for this party. I took satisfaction in the fact that nothing came out of a tub or a box. There was no HFCS and no weird oils and additives. I was reminded again how quick and easy it is to make your own cookies and frosting. Over the years I lost sight of that...

Biggest thrill?! Realizing that my precious Granddaughters are going to LOVE parties like I do...I can't wait for the next adventure!

Do You Need To Heat Your Chicken Coop?

I haven't posted anything about our chickens in quite awhile. You know, life just goes on and the chickens are just doing their thing! Of course egg production is down this time of year. There are a couple reasons for that. The shorter days and decrease in daylight slows them down. It's also common for them to "molt" this time of year.
When we were new chicken owners it was shocking to see a molting chicken for the first time! The poor girl looked completely battered and abused! We assumed she had been roughed up or was terribly ill! It took a bit of research on a favorite website to find out what was going on and that she would be just fine! It's perfectly normal in the life of a chicken to molt!

This girl is about mid-way through a molting cycle. These are actually new little pin feathers sprouting out and soon she will be beautiful with her new feathered cloak. It takes so much energy to go through this process that she doesn't have any left over for laying eggs! The whole process takes about a month. We have two others molting right now as well!

Yesterday a snowstorm blew through town and temperatures dropped dramatically. It's just down right cold!

I don't care much for these temperatures. I feel chilly inside my warm house! I'm wearing layers and fuzzy socks and have a blanket around my shoulders. I've already had hot green tea and hot chocolate!

I started thinking maybe the chickens need a little bit more TLC and a few more hearty food scraps...
A friend of mine called to get my opinion about the best way to keep her chickens warm. I guess us "chicken" people are all thinking along the same lines...

I don't presume to be an expert about this...I'm just telling you my opinion from our experiences and from doing a bit of chicken research. We don't heat the chicken coop! We don't put a low wattage bulb in the coop. We don't lock them up tight inside the coop. It's just biz as usual around here. Except for the temporary egg shortage! I guess we just think of the chickens as we would other birds. They seem to do just fine around here all winter.
We have some pretty hearty chicken varieties. They seem to do well in most weather conditions. We have New Hampshire Reds, Rhode Island Reds and some odds and ends Sexlinks. If you have foofy chickens it might be a different story. You know, like Silkies and such.
We also don't put a light in the coop to trick their chicken bodies into thinking there is more sunlight than there actually is. I figure good ole Mother Nature had a plan and I'm deferring to Her wisdom! If the chickens need to slow down a bit in the winter it's okay by me. I pretty much feel the same way!

Our chickens have an unlimited supply of chicken scratch in their coop. Sadly, all the sparrows and starlings in the neighborhood are aware of this. We are feeding the masses. We also have a large bowl of oyster shell inside the coop. It seems to be a nice snack from time to time and does make the egg shells nice and sturdy and strong. Now that the snow sprinkled itself all over the yard the chickens don't like to free-range like they normally would. So...every time it snows Hubs shovels a nice long path down the driveway so they can access their beloved grass.

They like the pathway and it seems they are still able to find a few random and mostly frozen bugs from time to time. Being out in the sun is good for them and wandering around as usual warms them up and keeps their circulation moving.

It was soooo cold when I went out this morning I decided it was time to make them a delicious and nutritious bowl of goodies. I was needing to clean the fridge out anyway from Thanksgiving.

Carrots, Brussels sprouts and cooked yams seemed like a good start.

I accidentally burned my toast this morning (it was much darker than this picture depicts! I was bummed) but figured the hens would be happy to have it. I found these raspberries on the bottom shelf hiding behind the leftover turkey gravy. These will be a real treat!

They were excited to see me! They LOVED their smorgasbord. They seemed happy and healthy and normal despite the cold. One thing that baffles me...we started out with 3 chickens...now we have 12!!! Sheesh...

Tomorrow they are getting a large bowl of stuffing, sweet potatoes and veggie soup. We will continue to keep an eye on them in this extreme cold. So far so good!

Oh...it's important they have a non-frozen water source! This is a heated bowl. There are many options for heated water dishes. The feed and farm stores have all shapes and sizes and systems. This one serves a dual purpose...The dogs drink out of it during the day as well!

So, as we speak, they are all roosting on their branches and puffing up their feathers to stay warm and cozy inside their snazzy coop. And, I'm still wrapped up in my blanket and thanking my lucky stars I'm inside my radiant heated house!

How To Have a DIY Funeral or Memorial Service...

I recently read this article that appeared on my Facebook page. I found it fascinating and insightful.

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/11/diy-death-natural-home-funerals

I had no idea there was growing interest in the idea of " Do It Yourself" funerals and such. I guess it shouldn't be surprising. Here I am with a blog about all sorts of DIY projects, simplifying your life and trying out old and new methods for being greener and healthier. This totally makes sense!
I found the article to be very sincere and touching and was a bit teary eyed watching the video of the sweet young couple talking about the passing of their precious little girl. It just seemed so "right" the way they handled her death and the hands on way they approached it. I was especially touched that her Dad made her tiny casket and took such care of her remains. It was right for them...
Honestly, I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment. I am ready to show my respect for anyone that would honor a deceased family member in the loving and dignified way these people have.
I believe our Western society has been programmed to do things a certain way when it comes to death and the passing of a loved one. Until recent years it never occurred to me there were many ways to mourn or memorialize a deceased family member.
The idea of embalming does seem quite antiquated to me. The expense of a funeral with all the trimmings really is quite obscene. Being presented with a $10,000.00 bill in your darkest hours just doesn't seem right. It just seems like that's the way it is. But, maybe it doesn't have to be...
I had no idea you could build your own casket. I would guess each State has their own rules and regulations and you would need to do some research for your own area. I have every intention of doing just that. My Hubs built our home. He built our beautiful chicken coop and our amazing outdoor kitchen. He built our deck and our front porch. He built our square foot garden. I'm sure you can see where this is going...
When my sweet Mother died an untimely death many years ago we escorted my Dad to the funeral parlor and took time and care picking out her casket. It wasn't ornate or fancy. It was a beautiful polished wood casket with a delicate velvet pale pink lining. I believe the price tag was around $5000.00. It was lovely as caskets go. It served its purpose and as the final bed for our Mother. It was viewed for one day and then gently lifted into the ground in a lovely spot in an old city cemetery. That beautiful wood casket didn't lessen the pain of losing our Mom. It was just the thing to do at the time.
I personally don't see the need for such a casket. I would be honored to have my final resting place in a plain, unfinished pine or cedar box lovingly fashioned by my husbands hands. I would like knowing that in his time of sadness and grief he wasn't presented with a $5000.00 bill for a casket that would reside underground for eternity.
Five years ago my husbands Mother passed away. She was visiting family at the time in another State. It was decided to cremate her remains by extended family members and not try to ship her body home for burial. My Mother-in-law was elderly, with little relatives and family remaining. She wasn't a social woman and didn't care for fuss and ceremony. A funeral didn't seem quite right. Yet, we felt strongly we needed to have some sort of memorial for her and we wanted to honor her in a way that seemed right for her and for us. We wanted our children to be able to mourn their Grandma with family and friends and find solace and closure. We felt it especially important as we had not been able to say good-bye and it all seemed slightly unreal.
We decided to run a small obituary in the newspaper and to host an intimate gathering of friends and family in her home. My son and I went to a store specializing in tropical plants. He picked out two beautiful orchids for the open house. They were his Grandma's favorite. We put a small photo album together and opened it on her coffee table for anyone interested. We had a lovely catered buffet of smoked salmon and hors d'oeuvres. We offered wine and other assorted beverages. We had no idea if anyone would come. It didn't matter. We did it to honor Grandma and to honor ourselves in our grief.
As it happens about 40 people came throughout the afternoon. It was warm and special and meaningful. People stayed for several hours and told my children unheard stories of their Grandma. They browsed pictures and shared memories. There was no impersonal funeral home. It didn't follow the expected "norm" in our city and local culture. It was the right thing to do...
The above mentioned article hit my Facebook page about 2 weeks ago. I was interested and intrigued by the timing. My Father had passed away just 3 weeks before. Of course his passing has been on my mind and this article caught my eye.
"Funerals are for the Living"...how many times have I heard this over the years and what does it really mean? I would guess that we all have different ideas about what a meaningful funeral or memorial service is. What's right for me and my family certainly may differ from what is right for your family. I don't believe there is a right way or a wrong way. I think that what's important is that it's right for you. I believe it needs to address your own grief and mourning in a healing and positive way. I like the idea of getting rid of rituals that no longer serve a purpose for you or are costly and ineffective in the grieving process. I think DIY funerals are important and sincere and meaningful. I think they are for the "Living".
After my Mother passed away my Father remarried. He married a woman who wasn't interested in a relationship with his children. Nor was she interested in HIM having a relationship with his children. Sadly, as the years went by my Father became less and less involved with myself and my brothers. A surprising awkwardness grew and spread like a noxious weed. We faded into the background and became insignificant in my Dads life.
When my Dad passed, me and my siblings were not included in any funeral or memorial planning being done by his wife. Really, it was no surprise. Whatever was planned on her part would not have been meaningful or healing to us anyway. "Funerals are for the Living"...My Dad was gone...It was time for our DIY memorial. It was time for us to find a way to grieve and comfort each other and honor our Dad in our way. I have 3 living brothers. I live in the same State as only one of them. One brother arrived from out of state and one arrived from out of the Country. What a lovely reunion it was. It had been years since we had all been together. It had possibly been since my dear Mother passed away and everyone arrived for her funeral decades ago! There was excitement and sadness and highs and lows. There were bright, happy cousins reuniting and hugging and loving each other. There were brothers and a sister that were mourning the loss of a father that had been gone from their lives for a long time.
We learned a lot from this experience. We made it ours. We made something meaningful and loving and special. We jointly composed an obituary and emailed it back and forth until it seemed just right. We found a beloved picture of my Father as a small child in Canada and chose to attach it to his obituary. We all felt good about that. Some of us felt strongly that we wanted to see Dad and say our good-byes in person. I was able to locate the funeral home he was a guest in. I called and inquired about having a private family viewing with my Dad. They happily accommodated this request and we set up a time for the visit. We were discreetly escorted to a beautifully outfitted room on the lower level of the mortuary. I hadn't been sure what to expect. The Funeral Director encouraged us to spend as much time with Dad as we'd like. He offered to bring us beverages if we wished. As he left he closed the ornate glass doors to our viewing room. Inside, my Father was laid out in his casket (I bet it had a $5000.00 price tag!) He was dressed in his burial clothing and he looked quite like himself. I hadn't seen him in 3 years. He seemed small and fragile. Me and my brothers stood at the side of the casket for
a time. I'm not sure how long. We chatted a bit with Dad. It was quiet and serene in the room and it made me want to talk in a low voice. One of my brothers patted his hands...
We migrated to the plush overstuffed velvet couches and sat for over an hour. We talked and reminisced and it brought back memories of when we came to this same funeral home and picked our  Mothers shiny wooden casket. We mourned in private and without having to do or say the right things that would be expected in a crowd of his acquaintances. We began the healing process.
When we left the mortuary that afternoon we all headed to our favorite restaurant. An institution in our family. A place we have gathered for most family celebrations and weddings and for after funeral sustenance.

Me and the Boys!!! What a reunion...I love these guys...Yeah...I'm the youngest ;)

My Fathers grandchildren and great-grandchildren all gathered around and loving each other.

The following evening me and Hubs hosted our "official" memorial service in honor of Grampy. Our home was filled with love and laughter, tears and memories. Brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, first cousins and second cousins sitting together and hugging each other and holding each others babies.

The beginnings of a "memorial" table in Grampy's honor. I found some ancient fun pictures from our childhood and a small and rusted toy gun that belonged to an innocent little boy living in Canada many years ago. The original color picture used in our obituary hangs in this room in my home. This same small boy holding a little ball and posing for the camera.

Hubs built a warm and inviting bonfire in our backyard under a huge bright moon. We shared stories and memories. Bittersweet...Some of us had written letters and good-byes and after reading them we tossed them in the fire...There was so much warmth around that fire and it wasn't all because of the flames.

I made dinner for everyone in honor of Grampy. A simple dish compliments of my Dad. Something we ate all through our childhood and still crave today. "Funerals are for the Living" and we are all very much alive.
I'm going to continue my studies of alternative ways to mourn our loved ones. I think this DIY may really catch on. I hope it does...it was the right thing for us.

Grampy's Famous Beans and Ham

(I amp his recipe up a bit from the depression era it came from...HA!)

In a large stock pot cover a package of Navy beans or Great Northern beans with water and soak overnight. (I love this recipe because it can be as big or as small as you decide) I made a huge batch to feed everyone.
The next day, rinse the beans well and return to the pot. Add a ham hock or bone in ham and several cups of the cubed ham. Cover beans with organic veggie broth and simmer for about 2 hours or until the beans are tender. Add any amount of carrots and celery and continue to cook on a low simmer for another hour or so. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Just before serving add an entire cube of good quality butter and 1 can of canned evaporated milk. When butter is melted and milk is stirred and incorporated it is ready to eat!
It's seriously delish!