A Day in the Life / Sunday October 4

We usually go to church on Sundays but with a case of the virus in the staff, services were called off for today. So we had a big breakfast (eggs and bacon, biscuits and gravy...) midday for dinner and then Lanny took me out in the MULE to see all the trails he is cutting.

I am experimenting with the Artisan bread and made cinnamon rolls this morning...I forgot to rest the dough so they were not as high as they should have been but were still edible. Lanny said they were perfect with the homemade apple butter.

This is a 6 quart container for rising dough...

As you can see, it rises a LOT!!

The scenery was gorgeous, as usual, on our ride...

The goats were trying to get to the greens on the "other side of the fence" of course.

Over the last two days Lanny and I have had to rescue two kids and a Momma after they climbed/jumped over the fence. Goats are escape artists!! And we are really getting too old to be scrambling around on a hillside in the weeds chasing goats!!

A day in the life.... Saturday October 3

Not much going on today...made a little bread. My friend Wendy introduced me to Artisan Bread...no knead, and so easy. So I made a nice loaf with the Master Recipe and started a Buttermilk soft bread batch to try tomorrow. If you are interested, the book is called "The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoe Francois, and they mean it! Super easy and super good!

Lanny took Mom out in the MULE. She had never really seen the property except the view from here in our yard. We didn't have a vehicle safe enough to get her out in...until the MULE! She had a great time and saw the entire 64 acres!

Then after dinner Lanny and Daddy went down to the big pond to wet a line...and catch a big fish!

And the goats are hard at work on the kudzu!!

They love to sunbathe in the middle of the day...

...but come afternoon they are like little vacuum cleaners. They will have this part of the hill cleared in no time!

Rendering Lard

It's that time of year...time to render some lard. My friend Wendy gets the best fat at the Farmers Market and brought me 10 pounds this time. I made 9 pints of the prettiest, whitest, tastiest lard ever!

I love this fat...this farmer cuts it in just the right size for my grinder...

I use my giant Instant Pot...

...melt it all down..

..strain it, fill the jars, and

Voila!