I know I have been announcing milestones on here with potty training.

I put the potty chair on the floor next to my desk the other day to make it more visible. Daphne was playing around my desk today and then she just sat right down and peed on the potty.

I was so excited I made a big deal about it yelling, “Good Girl” for AT LEAST5 minutes.

She is finally starting to get it.

Daphne is quickly learning to mimic what I am saying.

Today, when I was milking the goats, Daphne was walking through the field with me. I said, “Hi Goat.” Daphne repeated, “Hi Goat.” I said, “Hi llama,” Daphne repeated, “Hi llama.”

Today, when I was getting ready to leave Julie’s house, I said, “Bye Julie” and Daphne repeated, “Bye Julie.” I said, “Bye Copper” and Daphne repeated, “Bye Copper.”

How cute is it to have someone to mimic me?

When we go out to visit Grandma Diane and Auntie Melissa in eastern Oregon, we always stop in to see the pony.

In truth, Daphne doesn’t love horses so much, but I think she is coming around.

Daphne and Eli love to hang out in the car together. Don’t they look so happy?
This was taken in May (I know I’m behind).

I was up milking the goat with Daphne today. The goats don’t have water in the stall at night, so they head to drink first thing in the morning when I let them out. Daphne followed them over this morning and was trying to mimic them as they leaned down to drink.

I had caught her in the bathtub yesterday while she was on all fours drinking like a goat. I didn’t realize until today what she was actually trying to do. It truly was a moment that I had to stop and laugh for a while.

Last night I knew that I had to make dinner, but I didn’t have a hankering or a craving for anything.  I looked in my fridge and just started pulling things out.  It turned out that I made a very fantastic meal.

6 pieces of bacon precooked.

2 tbsp garlic

4 tbsp butter

2 cups shelling beans or other cooked beans

1 head of broccoli

6 mushrooms sliced

Shell the beans and put them in a pot of salted boiling water until tendar.  If you have no shelling beans on hand, you will want to soak the dry beans beforehand and then cook them when you are ready to make dinner.

When the beans have become tendar to a fork. Cut up the head of broccoli and put it in the pot with the beans.

Melt the butter in a large skillet until brown and then turn off the heat.  Add the garlic, the bacon and the mushrooms.  Stir to combine and then put a lid on the skillet.

When the broccoli is tendar, drain the beans and broccoli into a colander and allow the water to mostly drain off.  Toss the broccoli and beans into the skillet and mix to combine.  Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

Make sure you get as much water as possible off the broccoli and beans.  You don’t want a soggy, runny dinner.

I served this with a side of avacado, and it worked out to be just right!

I was mopping the floor yesterday out of sheer desperation to get the house back in order.

When I set the mop down, Daphne ran over and grabbed it and tried to mop the floor.

Perhaps my life just got a little easier?

Jared and I went to the Farmer’s Market yesterday.  The week before, I had happened upon a man that was selling his melons and after tasting them, I decided I needed to get some of my own.  Unfortunately, I was without money, and I implored him to return the following week, which he said he was going to do.

When Jared and I returned, I insisted that we go get melons.  I was intending to only get one, but after trying the different variates he had, we decided to get three of them while we dreamed of what we would do with them (breakfast fruit and maybe a melon sorbet).  One of them is not ripe yet, so I have about a week to figure it out.

I DID crack one open for breakfast this morning, and it was every bit as good as I imagined.

It is hands down the best melon I had ever tasted, and what a treat it was for Jared and I.

Unfortunately, Daphne decided she didn’t like it, but that’s ok.  More for us right?

Go to your market and get good food.  Ours is only around for 3 more weeks.

Our eating took us across the Pond last night, and oh what a treat it was.

We had some pretty fantastic fish and chips, and I thought I would share the recipe.  Fish and Chips has always been one of my favorite things to eat, but I never thought I would be able to make a BETTER version at home than I was able to find out in a resturant.

They had a beautiful red snapper at the store, and I decided to use it, but this would work well with cod or any other white fish.

1 fillet of white fish per person

1 potato per person

1 cup beer (the more stout the better)

1 cup flour

2 egg whites

2 quarts oil

Pinch or two salt

2 tbsp onion powder or dehydrated onion

Pinch smoked paprika

Cut the potatoes into french fry thickness (think McDonalds).  Leave the skin on.  Heat the oil to 300 degrees.  Blanche the potatoes in the hot oil for 3-4 minutes until fork tendar.  Pull them out and allow to drain.

Heat the oil up to 350 degrees.

Debone the fish if necessary and cut the fillets up into smaller strips.  Mix the batter by combining the beer and the flour.  Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and fold them into the batter.  Dip the fish in the batter and fry in 350 degree oil for a few mintues until golden brown and delicious. Remove and sprinkle with a bit of salt.

Add the French Fries to the 350 degree oil and allow to cook until golden brown.  Mix the smoked paprika, the salt and the dehydrated onion in the bottom of a bowl.  Add the french fries after removing from the oil and toss until coated.

Recipe Notes:

The fish will go soggy if left for too long because it still has moisture in it.  Avoid this by cooking it last.  You can use any spice on the French Fries, but I found that the one above was quick and tasted delicious!

I’ve just finished canning 6 quarts of apple cider, and I thought that I might post the recipe for anyone else that was interested.

I don’t own a cider press nor do I have the funds to buy one now.  I picked WAY too many apples last week, and with the leftovers, I decided to make apple cider.

Apple Cider

Apples

1/4 cup Cider Mate per gallon of juice

Run the apples through your jucier to get the juice out of them.  I have a Jack Lalaine Juicer, and I had to run them through very slowly to get the maximum amount of juice out of them.

Set the juice aside in the fridge.  The foam will separate out to the top.  When this has happened, pull the juice out of the fridge and skim off the foam (my chickens really liked it).  Pour the juice into a saucepan.

Tie the cider mate in a cheesecloth and put it in with the juice.

Bring the juice to a boil and let it boil at least 10 minutes.

Pour the hot juice into hot sterilized jars (specific for canning) and process for 5 min at sea level.