Lazy Pierogies

Did you catch the Real Farmwives of America & Friends over the weekend? We had a freezer cooking extravaganza! (Search #FarmGirlsFreeze on Twitter or Instagram to see what we were up to.) Ten of the ladies got together and cooked 11 batches of each meal to share. Holy moly – that was a lot of cooking! We worked hard, we had a blast, and we each came home with a freezer full of meals for this harvest season!

We all cooked from Gooseberry Patch’s cookbook, “Our Favorite Freezer-Friendly Recipes”. And we found some great stuff in that cookbook! I made the lazy pierogies, and from what I hear, they were pretty tasty!

Carhartt for the boys

Er, men.

Last fall, we had a great partnership with Carhartt where the Real Farmwives got to show off some of Carhartt’s new women’s line. Now it’s the guys’ turn… Carhartt partnered with the Real Farmwives again for the men in their life (the Real Farmers? The Real Farmhusbands?) – the guys got a chance to try out some of Carhartt’s spring line early!

And want to know the best news? Carhartt and the Real Farmwives have a giveaway for you! Check out the Real Farmwives website and enter for a chance to win some Carhartt gear for your guy!

Hubby Doc tried out the Astoria Jacket in black. He’ll be the first to tell you that he’s a big guy, and needs a big jacket. We did have a bit of a hard time finding a jacket that was available in the 2X size he was looking for. But, Carhartt came through with this choice.

Even though this March has been unbelievable warm, it still is cool in the mornings and evenings around here. And I may have mentioned before that it gets just a tad windy up on our hill, so the jacket has come in handy on a few occasions. The farm dogs take their pills/treats every night. (They’re such good girls!)

These boots have done their walking

I have this pair of Merrill hiking boots. I got them during my residency, and they have worked hard.

They have been worn on 16-hour shifts, working in the large animal hospital. They have been worn at 2am to see an emergency in the middle of the night. They have been worn at 10pm when the work isn’t done for the day yet.

They have been in horse manure, sheep manure, cow manure, alpaca manure, and dog poop.

(I had a different pair of boots I wore when I helped cows give birth. THAT is a different kind of mess…)

Now they mostly sit in the corner and collect cat hair.


The cats are fans of these boots. Something about the smell of all that poop is just so great to rub on.

Love on Leontein

One of our Real Farmwives is having some trouble. Leontein, from Four Leaf Clover Tales, has been through the cancer battle before, and won. She just found out that she has to fight it all over again.

I met Leontein through the Real Farmwives, and am really just getting to know her. I do know that she has a great sense of humor, and is one seriously strong chickie. It’s not just everyone that comes to the US from the Netherlands to start up a dairy farm from scratch!

One of the things I love about Leontein is that she is not afraid to talk about her underwear. She has these skull panties that she wears to every doctor’s appointment – they are her “Power Panties.” Everyone needs a little good luck charm, and these are Leontein’s!

It looks like she is going to need some extra pairs for the coming months, so if anyone knows where she can find them, please let her know!

Please stop by the Facebook page we set up for her, Love for Leontein, and leave an encouraging message. Or stop by her blog and leave some love there, too.

We’re all behind you, Leontein. Kick cancer’s butt!!

Gooseberry Patch winner!

I am so pleased to announce the winner of Gooseberry Patch’s Autumn with Family & Friends!

There were 89 comments on the giveaway post on Blogger, and 2 comments on the giveaway post on WordPress. So I added the two WP comments, and did a random drawing of 91 entries.

(Part of the problem of maintaining two sites… but I had some die-hards who started with me on WordPress, and it has been hard to convince them to move over to Blogger. Cause I love you, I stick with both!)

The winner is…

Number 28 from the Blogger site… hondagal!

Please email me to claim your prize - alarmclockwars-at-gmail-dot-com, or use the “Talk to the Clock” link on the sidebar.

Congratulations!

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and share with you. If you would like to purchase this or other cookbooks, please visit their store. If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com.

Gooseberry Patch cookbook giveaway!

I have had a blast cooking through Autumn with Family & Friends with the Real Farmwives of America & Friends and Gooseberry Patch.
I hope you have found a recipe or two that you have wanted to try! And now, it’s time for a giveaway, so you can try the recipes I’ve shown you, and all the others you want!

I did not have any trouble picking out recipes to try from this book… The trick was narrowing it down to ten!

We tried some great main dishes like

Perfect Cheesy Pasta Bake
Sweet Autumn Pork Chops

Connie’s Meatloaf Roll
 Pumpkin-Sausage Penne
Party Ham Casserole
I checked out a new comfort food recipe – Dad’s Best Mac & Cheese
There were the kid- and adult-friendly Crunchy Chicken “Toes”
Some fantastic side dishes…

Cinnamon Pineapple
Grandma’s Buttery Mashed Potatoes
and a new favorite, Garlic Bubble Bread (I am so making this to go with lasagna tonight!)
And I managed to stick to only one dessert (but, oh, was it good!) – Pumpkin Custard Crunch
Are you hungry yet?

I have a copy of Autumn with Family & Friends to give away!! Try all these recipes, and tons more! How about New England Cider Doughnuts… Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes… Bacon Bread (Hubby Doc has been after me to make this one)… Pumpkin Bread Pudding! They all sound so good… who can choose? (I think I’ve held off on the desserts long enough!)

You can earn entries in this giveaway for a copy of this wonderful cookbook by…

• Leave a comment here telling me which was your favorite recipe, or which you want to try first.
• Following AlarmClockWars through Google Friend Connect (or sign up for email updates through my WordPress site).
• Following @AlarmClockWars on Twitter
• Becoming a Fan of Alarm Clock Wars on Facebook
• Following The Real Farmwives of America and Friends and Gooseberry Patch through Google Friend Connect. Leave a comment telling them you are new! (Psst…  GP has another giveaway going on right now!)
• Following @realfarmwives and @gooseberrypatch on Twitter
• Becoming a Fan of The Real Farmwives of America and Friends  and Gooseberry Patch on Facebook
• Joining the Gooseberry Patch Circle of Friends email club

Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each entry.

The giveaway will close at midnight (Central time) on Friday, September 9. I’ll announce the winner on Saturday, September 10!

Good luck! I know you will love each and every recipe!

Bonus side dishes, recipe #10+

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m giving you two side dishes in this post. And you’ll love them both, I promise! First… Warm Cinnamon Pineapple.

Start with a whole pineapple. Cut off the top and bottom, and then slice off the skin.
Mix together 2 cups of sugar (I used Splenda) and 1/4 cup cinnamon. Roll the naked pineapple around in the cinnamon sugar until he is nice and sticky. (I had a bunch of leftover cinnamon sugar. Next time I would only make up half the amount.)

Wrap the pineapple in aluminum foil, put it on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

When it is warmed through, take him out of the aluminum foil, stand him upright, and slice vertically around the core. Throw out the core, slice the pineapple thinly, and serve warm.Trust me, you will love this!!

Second, Grandma’s Buttery Mashed Potatoes. Because no Autumn meal is complete without mashed potatoes!

Peel, cube, cook, and drain 6-8 potatoes.
Add 1/2 cup butter, and 1 cup evaporated milk.

Beat everything to a pulp.
I didn’t pay attention, and added a whole can of evaporated milk, instead of just 1 cup. So things got a little runny. Lucky for me, I had some instant mashed potato flakes in the pantry. I added some of these, and things perked right up.

Of course, I could have boiled some more potatoes to correct the runny problem. But I wasn’t feeling that patient.

Seriously? Some of the best mashed potatoes I have ever tasted!

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and to share with you. If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com.

Printable recipe cards: 

Next up? A giveaway! I have a copy of Autumn with Family & Friends to giveaway to one lucky reader! Get ready…  It’s coming next week!

{Affiliate links were used in this post.}

Party Ham Casserole, recipe #9

We’re getting closer to Autumn (well, some days it feels more like it than others), and I’m wrapping up my cooking from Autumn with Family & Friends from Gooseberry Patch!

I’m always looking for something new to do with ham, so this recipe was calling to me!

I started with one of our ham steaks, cut it into cubes, and gave it a quick cook in some olive oil. I may have also used some of Shoup’s Seasoning. It’s a possibility. You can start with a pre-cooked piece of ham. We didn’t have any of that “fancy” food. :)

This recipe calls for medium egg noodles. I am a big fan of the Amish-style noodles, and used those instead.I cooked and drained half the package of noodles, and set them aside foe a few minutes. In the same saucepan I cooked the noodles, I combined 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup milk, and stirred over low heat until smooth. Then add 1 teaspoon of minced onion, 2 teaspoons of mustard, and 1 cup of sour cream. Heat, stir. Beautiful. The recipe calls for layers here. Noodles, ham, soup, repeat. My casserole dish was clearly the wrong size, so I just dumped it all in at the same time.Mix together 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1-1/2 tablespoon melted butter for the top, and then top with grated Parmesan cheese. Yum! Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, and it is ready to go!I will advise you to stick to the medium egg noodles. The noodles I used were so long, it was hard to serve this casserole without everything pulling apart.

Other than that, this dish was a hit!   

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and to share with you. If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com.

Printable recipe card:
Next time… a two-fer! I made two quick and easy sides, and I’m going to give them both to you in the next post!

{Affiliate links were used in this post.}

Dad’s Best Mac & Cheese, recipe #8

I have already told you about one of my favorite comfort foods – homemade macaroni and cheese. While I am perfectly happy with my family recipe, I am also always on the lookout for some variations. And boy did I find a good one in Autumn with Family & Friends!!


Mix together one egg, 1 tablespoon hot water, 1 teaspoon ground dry mustard, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the egg mixture, and 1 cup of milk to cooked elbow macaroni. (Or spirals. I like spirals. I just didn’t have any.) Add most of a 12-ounce package of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
I had only bought an 8-ounce bag of cheddar. So I added some mozzarella to make up the difference. Mix that all up. (We’re not aiming for cheese melting, just everything mixed together.)
Spread one tablespoon of softened butter in the bottom of your pan…
And then pour in the macaroni. Top with extra cheese.
And bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until the top looks like this.Oh, yum!! This was mac & cheese heaven!

I do like a crunchy topping, so maybe next time I would add some crushed cereal with butter to the cheese on the top… But this was still so good!

We had this with Gooseberry Patch’s Crunchy Chicken “Toes” and garden broccoli.
I will say, all that butter in the bottom of the pan made for some seriously yummy mac & cheese, but it left my stoneware pan feeling pretty greasy. I ended up using a little bit of dish soap to clean the stoneware (which you’re not really supposed to do). There was no other way of getting around the butter. But it was so worth it!

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and to share with you.If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com.

Printable recipe card:

{Affiliate links were used in this post.}