I just noticed there is going to be a "food challenge" involving gingerbread houses on the Food Network at 7 pm Sunday night.
Looks like fun
Project Gingerbread House-followup
Reply
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Project Gingerbread House
I would probably agree to celebrate Christmas on a monthly basis except for the fact it is a birthday and those come but once a year. I think most people feel the Christmas season begins this week-end so lets kick-start the holidays with a project. This is project gingerbread house.
I built my first gingerbread house a few weeks ago. It was more like a children’s project as I kept it very simple. The gingerbread was actually graham crackers and I purchased pre-made icing that came in a container that looked like a glue bottle. I also used candy that was sorted by color to keep it easy but you could save money by sorting the colors yourself. . I do plan on more involved gingerbread construction prior to Christmas but I wanted to try swimming about a small pond before taking an ocean plunge.
I kept construction simple. I laid out a rectangular perimeter of the house in icing on a plate and allowed the icing to firm up. I then made a box with the graham crackers for the walls of the gingerbread house by pressing each piece into the icing on the plate. I also piped a little icing along the top of the walls for the roof to rest against. After each phase of construction, I would place the house in the refrigerator to firm up prior to adding more material or decoration. I would have to say that the end product looked like what any eight year-old could accomplish, however I find great beauty in simplicity. If you would like guidance on a more detailed model, ask grandma.
There was something lovely about building a gingerbread house. I believe that Christmas is simply the birth of Jesus however I now understand when people talk of the mystery of Christmas. When I was young, I always looked at gingerbread houses and wondered what wonderful things were happening behind the windows lit with yellow icing. I wondered of how the people who inhabited this lovely, sweet and tasty home would celebrate their Christmas. It was all a mystery that intrigued me to become even more interested in Christmas, which helped lead me to discover the true meaning of Christmas when I was older. This is truly a secular Christmas tradition with validity to say nothing of the time spent in construction with your child during this important holiday season.
This is a project that involves both young and old in Christmas, allows you as much creativity as you like plus beckons you to try again after you finish eating your work. You can take several days to make a really incredible structure or make your gingerbread house simple as I did. A gingerbread house is just graham cracker, icing, a little candy and some time It is, however, so much more.
(I’m posting early this week because of Thanksgiving so here isw this week’s Rural Reflections Radio also-GN)
http://grantnelson00.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/thehardwarestore.mp3
The Hardware Store
Today’s topic was suggested to me by Tim Lewis. I see him quite often at his workplace, Hardware Hank, because I really like hardware stores. I have vacationed, one hour at a time, at hardware stores for years and Tim has been there much of the time. Anyway, this week I wish to speak of my field of dreams, the hardware store.
First off, you will find nothing of any education in this story. I am no expert in the use of tools and I rarely do any projects that require a great deal of finish. I am “joe ratchet wrench” like anyone else but seek to get better through my attendance at Hardware University. Most times, I have a problem and can guess at how a tool would appear that could solve my problem. Other times I just ask, however I find the search is part of the education and the fun. Hardware stores are just that, fun. Gleaming chrome wrenches, things that run on 240 volt electricity or diesel fuel (or both,) plus an endless assortment of brass pipe fittings flesh out a checklist for time well spent. I also find the hardware store infinitely relaxing. I can get lost in aisles stocked with answers to the questions with which I am troubled. I even enjoy returning stuff I don’t use. It’s so much fun to see what the difference between the return and your new purchase equals.
I think I enjoy the electrical department best when I visit a hardware store. You can quickly make your home look nicer, be safer and more convenient with switches and lights. When you arrive at our home, there are a series of motion lights that follow your every move until you reach the front door. I just added two such lights yesterday which I picked up at (all together now,) the hardware store. Plumbing is also a great joy as I like to catch and re-use rainwater. The nice thing about plumbing fixtures is that even if a project doesn’t work out, you can easily take your fittings apart and use them on your next unsuccessful idea. I have a hope chest full of such orphaned parts awaiting an opportunity to be part of something.
Most hardware stores include a rental department. Floor sanders, log splitters, air wrenches, leaf shredders and pole saws are the magic wands that make rank amateurs into domestic titans. I truly believe that at least half of the difference between the poor or decent completion of most tasks lies in the choice of tool. I work by myself almost exclusively so if one hand can steady and level while the other directs a rented power tool, then I can do the work of two one-handed men.
There stands a handyman for whom hope and confidence are a given and the tools that ensure these emotions hang from a garage wall. For everyone else, there is the hardware store. It is the hardware store that holds the tools and knowledge that make men the husbands their wives say we are. Tim Lewis has helped me through many projects and this week he went beyond and helped me with a subject for my column. Tim, I am going to lean on you one more time this week; if people don’t like this week’s column, I’m sending them to you for their money back.
Cornstove Heating in Five Acts
The journey I take each year in an effort to keep our house warm is long and sprinkled with corn kernels. I start at point “A” then typically stumble to point C and D before finishing at B. This week I want to share with you burning corn for heat in five acts.
Act I: The Corn Barge
I have always had corn delivered to our farm. I finally acquired a gravity box so I could purchase corn directly from the bin as it is cheaper. The little hopper that holds the corn sat atop the chassis from a 1941 Buick automobile. I purchased this little corn hauler from Jerry Sorenson, a fellow corn burner, who told me to never haul more than 100 bushels at a time. I decided to test the reasoning behind the load limit when I filled that 1941 Buick gravity box to well past overfull then set sail for home. I never got past eight miles per hour without the top-heavy box swaying dangerously from port to starboard. Lana Bruggeman happened to be walking her dog at the same time I was hauling my corn home. Granted, Lana walks pretty fast, but my speed was such that I was able to hold an extended conversation with her through the pick-up window as I attempted to pass her and her pup. The corn load was so great that he wheel hub had tilted inward which almost sheared off the brake mount. I arrived home a full one and one-half hours after embarking on my overloaded trip; 100 bushels meant exactly that. I should have listened to Jerry.
Act II: The Push
I have always unloaded our corn bin directly into a wheelbarrow then hauled it up to our house. This is a simple act and but did not fulfill my need for automation. I recently set-up a vacuum system that uses a shopvac to pull the corn directly from our hopper bin through the garage wall and into a 55 gallon drum. I can then open a trap door that releases the corn into my wheelbarrow. I have effectively taken one simple action and turned it into three that are dependent upon an electric motor instead of simple, reliable labor. In my defense, this new system also cleans the corn and I get to stay indoors. The benefits balance the complications and so I would call this one a push.
Act III: Corn heating season
No animal loves warmth more than our cats; except maybe my wife Lisa. We have been heating with electricity as I have yet to find time to load corn. Lisa has started asking me, “is it cold in here or just me?’ with a great deal of regularity; she is so subtle. The cats have little need for subtlety and so have taken to simply placing themselves in front of either stove and giving me that stern, feline stare. All seek the comfort of direct heat, derived from burning corn which has yet to come into season. I need to find time. I need to start the season; else I will become an outsider.
Act IV: Jerry’s Gravity box, the auger and me
I did arrive home with my load of corn. I set the auger up to load into the hopper bin and began dumping the load. It was so sunny that day. I was filled with endorphins at the release of tension from my drive home and felt great. I ran the auger slowly and quietly while I watched the corn drain from the gravity wagon. All that weight which had been such a liability to the wagon was becoming an asset as it loaded into storage for winter heating. I looked around and wondered how many times harvest had been brought in by someone like me who didn’t follow load limits, tried things that were a mixed blessing but really just wanted to keep his family comfortable. I could almost see it, but not quite.
Act V: Heat, blessed heat
I plan to start the corn burning season this Saturday. I will vacuum corn from the hopper to the barrel to the wheelbarrow to the stove. The cats will have warmth and Lisa no longer will need to quilt herself from nose to toe. We have invited guests for Saturday night and they will hopefully arrive to warm fires and happy occupants. They will believe that it has always been so; only we will know the truth.
Tall Grass, Open Skies
Let’s get this straight before we get too far, this week’s column is not about anything but what I’ve done to improve the way we raise cattle. It is not about factory farms, family farms, global warming or any of today’s flashpoints in agriculture. I just want to finish telling the story I began this spring.
This summer, we buried new water lines for the cattle, replaced the fence we use to separate pastures and protected the lanes our cattle use to go from one pasture to another. We also have provided them an all-season waterer in the pasture so that they can easily graze well into late fall or even a portion of winter after the first killing frost.
Water takes a second place to food on many farms. It’s interesting that people will make sure their cattle have quality food then let the same herd stand and urinate in the very water they are drinking. Cattle who don’t have readily-available water don’t eat as well and are not as productive. Country music singer Marty Robbins explained how important this element was to our survival when he sang about “cool, clear water” and cattle instinctively know this fact.
By controlling how long our cattle graze each portion of pasture with interior fence, we can control the quality of the grass. We don’t allow them to clear-cut the grass but rather leave enough to absorb the sunlight to re-grow quickly. We get way more high-quality grass and therefore can add more chairs around the dinner table.
Cattle will always choose the easy path, I have observed them walk in tire tracks during deep snow and so know this to be a fact. This why we improved our cattle lanes. I have noticed that they not only travel from each pasture better but that they also like to relax on the lane and sun themselves. If I can remove trouble from their path, my cattle are more productive and happier.
Okay, so that’s the how and why but there has to be more to allow for the time and work to make these improvements. Will farming in this way make me rich? Maybe not rich, however it does make me more productive and remove the overhead of the equipment I would use to harvest if I didn’t have cattle to harvest for me. I think the inspiration comes more from my ideals than from a balance sheet.
My inspiration to farm like I do is that I want to do what seems right to me. I want to be a good steward of the land. I believe that by keeping the cattle out of the river then I improve the water not only for them but also for folks downstream. By keeping cattle on grass, I get to watch the miracle of a plant using sunlight to re-create itself over and over again. The growth of grass results in deeper roots that will die back during grazing which creates natural fertilizer and aerates the land. The farm equipment you own really owns you so I choose freedom over convenience. I would rather use my labor and the labor my cattle perform when they graze than harvesting with equipment. I get to see the miracle of cattle using their fourth stomach to convert grass into meat and energy. I also get participate in their lives instead of playing mechanic all day. The cattle eat the food they were meant to eat and live the best possible life until their inevitable end. I walk in the sunshine in tall grass and the cattle think I am good, even though I am a carnivore.
That’s my story of how we’ve improved our cattle operation. I gave you the facts, ideals and emotion behind what we have accomplished. However the story still seems incomplete to me. As I learn to manage the cattle and grass better, I believe the rest of the story will reveal itself. Until then, I will stay on my feet instead my seat and move our cattle through tall grass under open skies.
