A beautiful day~

this was an absolutely glorious monday!!  It was almost 80 degrees and sunny and just sw mi perfection!~!~ these are what our summer days are and we throughly enjoy with no humidity! 

After running a few errands this am my precious boys and I took a nice long nap this afternoon and sat outside and enjoyed the weather on our deck.

The weekend was about as miserable as they get at market.  Saturday was our big blueberry festival in South Haven and it was just terrible outside.  I got there around 5 am so I could get my booth set up before the storms were coming in, it was thundering over the lake and by 5.15 the lightning was actually scary and striking all around us, I got the canopies up and everything unloaded and the rain started, it was a downpour!!  My neighbors and I had secured our canopies down but the wind kicked up so hard it ripped a side and bent the pipes on their canopy.  We held it down but it still broke. 

The rain stopped for a short time and by daylight it looked like the sun might come out and it was clearing up... we could at least dry off a bit but oh no.........rain started up again and then just a steady downpour!~! it was like that for a couple of hours and by 11.00 they were saying there was another storm coming thru with high winds and torrential downpours.  We packed it up!  Enough was enough.  rain and baked goods just dont mix LOL

Here are some of my cheddar sweet pepper foccacia loaves

For my thursday market

I made some eggplant casserole!  YUMMY.  I am not an eggplant fan but I would definetly eat this for supper.

Blueberry bread loaves cooling off

Blueberry cheesecake bars these have been a big hit at makets~

 squash, peppers and brown rice simmering for my stuffed peppers

My stuffed peppers for market

This was a new recipe and will definetly be made again it was a keeper and super yummy!!  Blueberry and cream cheese filling in sweet bread braided. 

My blueberry cheese filled bear claws

Blueberry crumb cakes

Blueberry and peachy blueberry mini pies

braided bread loaves

After market on saturday I met my hubby and boys and my inlaws out at the campground.  It was nice to camp overnight.  We are goin back this comin weekend and we cant wait.  We have projects out at the flywheelers to finish up before the big antique engine and tractor show in sept!  That is our yearly vacation and we have a blast!  There are some great people there and my family and friends and best part my butt is in a tractor seat almost all week! LOL

So hope yall have a wonderful monday and I will try to post regularly, just have one more big market week for labor day and things will slow down!  YEAH!! I am exhausted these days.

Thursday is Allegan Market

Friday is Saugatuck Market

Saturday is South Haven Market

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Memorial Day weekend

Hope yall have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!   We are goin tomorrow to a memorial service in our little cemetary down the road.  It is so peaceful and serene there with lots of big ol trees and birds singing.  So many people we knew from when we first moved here and recently lost are buried there, I like to ride my bike thru it or one of our tractors and just say hello to everyone gone. 
Well I got a gift from my hubby yesterday, little stinker didnt let on one bit as to what he got me.  And it is very difficult for both of us to keep surprises from each other very long!! LOL  Anyway he finally found another suburban similar to my old one I absolutely loved loved LOVED!!  I remember the day we both spotted ol blue in a car lot and quickly turned around to check her out.  Bought her the next day!  a 1987 chevy, dark blue with silver trim.  Our new one is welllllllllllllll not so new but in excellent shape and no rust, it wasnt a michigan truck that is for sure.  This one is a 91 burgandy with silver trim and already has a lift on it so it is actually a bit taller than mine.  I had a 4 in lift on ol blue and this one has a 6 in.  It needs some work on the motor and transmission but I cant wait to drive it.

So onto the work for the week!!  I was busy busy gettin ready for market yesterday and it was one of our best market days!!  I had a few new recipes I tried out one being  First I made a big double batch of my grandma Rose's babka.  This time I wanted more coffee cakes so brushed on some apricot preserves topped with some chopped dried apricots

Rolled into a log and shaped into a circle

Once they were baked I brushed some heated thinned apricot preserves on their tops and more chopped apricots added  

finished chocolate babka loaf

we interupt this bake sale to bring you pictures of my boys! LOL Bruno with his frog

Buster playin with a bear

and Mr. Boopie Woopie Boo takin a break from playtime. layin on my leg

Chocolate almond babka ready to be rolled and shaped

rolled out and cut into 8 pieces

ready for rising, I will brush melted butter on the tops before they go in oven

So onto the work for the week!!  I was busy busy gettin ready for market yesterday and it was one of our best market days!!  I had a few new recipes I tried out one being  some mocha tarts filled with chocolate ganache'  not too sure this recipe was from better homes and gardens magazine and I really didnt like the batter of the tart shell so ended up givin them to the chickens, will come up with my own I think.   Susan played with some homemade fondant.  she made some little domed butter cakes. 

they are just too stinkin cute! 

A layer of sealing buttercream frosting went on first then the rolled fondant!  Oh the yummy smell of almond paste!! 

Susan used a mini cutter to cut out dots and attach them to the cakes just some fun and whimsical cakes for market.

Oh and here's my Bruno now all tuckered out from playin with the froggy!  LOL

It was easier to pipe the cake batter in the pan than scoopin it out. 

I made a bunch of coconut macaroons and dipped them in chocolate before market.    I also made some of my rustic cheddar herb biscuit loaf, some of my berry berry banana bread, pineapple upside down cakes, my grandma Rose's recipe from long ago, some cinnamon struesel filled babka loaves, oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip cookies, lemon shortbread cookies, chocolate chip shortbread cookies, peanut butter cookies, cranberry pecan sandwich cookies with lemon cream filling and my peanut butter whoppie pie cookies, chocolate chip brownies, peanut butter cream chocolate chip sandwich cookies.    Oh and some lemon blueberry muffins, butter crumb topped coffee cakes, my loaded carrot cake, cinnamon swirl muffins, and some banana nut bread.  I think that might be all!~~  LOL like I said it was a busy week.  I did also find some new recipes to try out this week in the Joy of Cooking old book, one of my favos!  So will let yall know how they go!!  I am gonna make sure to remember my camera this week!!  LOL

So my boys and I are gonna go outside since the storms are over and sun is coming back outside!

Stay safe and have a great long weekend!!

HUGS

Darlene

HAPPY BAKING!!

 ~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Happy Weekend!

I cant believe it is saturday already!  The days just keep right on flyin by dont they?    I made a couple of my triple berry lemon buttermilk cakes for an order and they just turn out so pretty!  Love them too they are super duper moist and filled with fresh frozen from our farm blueberries, red raspberries and blackberries they are flavorful.  The bling here is a lemon glaze on top.  

I did some in the smaller 8 in pan too and they look just as pretty and is the perfect size for 3-5 people.

And it is that time to start doin my dipped pretzels for shows.  I take them to my craft shows with me and they are super good.  They first get dipped in my homemade caramel then in chocolate then rolled in toppings like crushed oreo cookies, asst nuts, m & m candies, kisses well pretty much any kind of topping.  I will be listing some on my etsy and ebay site too today.

My buster brown was tired here! 

It is windy windy windy here and is suppossed to start rainin round 10 am or so and rain thru monday.  I love fall but the winds sure take care of all the pretty leaves on the trees quickly.  

And the baby loves to be covered up!! 

So does Bubba too!  Everyone was snoozing except mommy!!   Instead of goin to the kitchen I worked around the house outside all day!!  Bry and I have a good system for wood this year.  He cuts and we both work on splitting it then when he is at work I haul it to our pile and stack it.   I cheat instead of using the wheelbarrow I use our golf cart and put a trailer behind it and haul it that way.  Much easier!!   Hubby finished making his log splitter last weekend so we have been havin lots of fun using that!!  I am so very proud of him it took all summer to find the right pieces and parts and put it together but he did it and it works beautiful!! It is on a trailer thingy and works off the pto of one of our tractors, the jubilee and is safe enough for me to feel comfy using it too!!  Easy peasy that is for sure!!  even the large knotty pieces slide thru and split with ease!!  Well our 10 anniversary was last night and we did exactly what we love to do had a nice supper at home with our "boys" and watched the blind side movie.  Oh my gosh I loved that movie!!  Love Sandra Bullock and it was a great touching movie!! so inspirational and sweet!  We usually get movies and this time of year we are in the house early so watch them in the fall and thru the winter and since it is gettin dark right around 7pm now the nights are a bit longer, otherwise we are outside til at least 10pm workin and putzin around the farm.  

Oh and these turned out just delish!!  Susan and I made these from a Julia Child book and oh my gosh I could eat a whole one alone!! I love a crusty fragrant brick baked bread and these french bread loaves are it!!!   I made them into smaller loaves for market and they are excellent just lightly toasted with a bit of butter and sorghum of cource!!  Oh and I am so excited to report my inlaws are in KY this week visitin kin and they found some sorghum so I will have the small jars for sale again!!  It was a bad year I guess because they went all over tryin to find some and no one had any in stock.    At least we still have some at home but really not much at all surely not enough to make it thru the winter and no one and i mean NO ONE sells it in michigan around us!!  I would much rather go and get it direct from the makers! 

so YEAH!! YEE HAW!! YIPPEE!! LOL

Well I better get myself together here and get the day started it is finally gettin light out now and I am late doin chores. 

Have a great weekend!! 

HUGS

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~