Hey yall!!!  WOW cant believe Christmas is over already!!  and the new year is almost here!!  2016!  I hope yall had a most blessed memorable Christmas, ours was very nice!  We spent one day with my family and then then next with my beaus family and then Christmas night I got to spend time with my precious boys at my exs house!  We had fun!!   The alpacas, my horse, goats and all the feathered kids got special treats and they enjoyed them.  Its funny how the alpacas only and I mean only like carrots!!   We got them all kinds of fresh produce and nope not having any of it!! nothing but carrots!  Oh well they enjoyed plenty of them.  
I am on to making new things and will post pics, more altered jewelry and I have been painting and altering canvas's and having fun with them,  my goals for next year are to create more and also be more inventive with my baked creations for markets!  LOL we shall see I only say those 2 things because life gets so hectic and crazy once summer comes I wanted to be at least a bit realistic!!  LOL
We got a blast of winter yesterday!!  3 inches in some places of sleet and ice.  It dropped down to 26 degrees and it came all day and we also had up to 50 mph winds come thru so many people are with out power, I am glad we didn't loose ours!!  So winter is here and I have a feeling its staying!   but then again you never know our winter thus far has been glorious!! yes I know what yall are thinking how much this country gal loves the snow but it actually has been nice not having it!!  I have a feeling are going to get blasted in jan and feb but really that is fine then it can be spring!! 

I am off to get some of my craft supplies organizied!! LOL I bought several clear plastic totes in various sizes and emptied my desk, counters off to start off the new year fresh and being more productive!!  And we got a trailer full of pallets to play with! happy happy happy.
Have a great week!!  Be back soon!

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~!

Hey all I am back!!  So here was an experiment with my crostadas.   I made a south western filling of black beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots and spices then baked that with a big of queso cheese and once cooled topped it with a homemade cilantro lime dressing.  Oh my goodness this was delish!!   

 Some cranberry pistachio biscotti topped with white chocolate. 

While I was out in Holland last week it rained and then the sun came out and we ended up with a double rainbow!!  So pretty!!

Hope yall have a good sunday, I am off to clean out barn and then hope to get some signs painted today for a craft show this week in Allegan MI  

HUGS

Hey yall!!  WE are at our new location for market today.  Inside my friends shop in South Haven at FARMHOUSE CHIC gifts, gourmet, and décor shop.

 So heres my sweet baby!!  Barney, he loves his stuffed animals and is soooo cute, he cries while sucking on the piggies of them?  He has done this since he was a little baby. 

So here is one of the tables set up with produce inside the store.  We have lots of great fresh produce to offer.

JoAnn explaining about her naturally raised pork, chicken, duck meat they sell. 

We also have plenty of samples out and will have each sat til Christmas.  Yummy dips, breads, jams, maple syrup, and cookies. 
So now that I have figured out how to add my photos from my phone here we go!! Be prepared I take a lot of pics! LOL

So here is Auntie Missy with my baby!!  Shes a good Autie to my boys!! 

Another pic of inside the shop today.  Missy is the owner of shop too

And here's Maverick!!  hes a cutie pie and his hair is soooooooo stinkin soft

This is Becca shes a sweetie too.

And Boss Man LOL one of our bostons.  Hes the clown of them all~!

  And the baby again. 

The girls Rosie (Heavens Angel)  the cream colored one and Rebecca the tan one.  They are both sweeties!! 

The black one who we haven't quite named yet.  I like Jet since hes solid black but not sure yet. 

And heres one of our first Curly hes a doll!!  Its funny how these guys eat only and I mean only grass and hay and sweet feed.  But this guy eats ONLY baby sweet carrots no one else will eat any of them though. I bought a bunch of produce for all the animals for thanksgiving and they wouldn't touch anything  picky picky picky little things. 

chocolate drizzled almond biscotti

Homemade bagels

Gluten Free chocolate hazelnut cookies

red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese filling

some caramel dipped, chocolate dipped pretzels topped with chopped pecans  so yummy!!  I love dipping pretzels in peanut butter or caramel and chocolate and oh sooooo good!! 

And I have been busy painting my snowmen signs again!!  will have more finished tomorrow!!  Been busy and its taking more time to do them.  Geeze we need a few more hours in the day!! LOL

So that's it for today!!  I will be back soon as I am excited to be able to post back on here and with pics!! WOO HOO!! 

HAve a wonderful weekend!!

hugs

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Cold n windy day

WOW what a cold n windy day we are having in sw mi today!  50 mph winds and let me tell you they are that if not more!  My mom and I went to see the lighthouse and beach in south haven and traffic was backed up!!  There was a long line to get down to the beach so we stayed ontop the cliff and watched the waves crash against the lighthouse.  It was crazy!!  I dont think I have ever seen such huge waves coming in.  Scary too! 
So I am excited to hopefully be able to share some pics of the alpacas with you.  I picked up the proper cords to download from my phone and tablet onto my laptop so we will see what happens now!! I did say hopefully I can figure this out!



LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

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generated with Smilebox   So here it is winter market first week!! I just cannot believe how fast the season outside has gone!  WOW!!  Well its been a fun week of painting signs for market and gathering up some fall deocorations to put outside the building where we will have our indoor market and oh my has it been a beautiful warm week here in MI  crazy last sat was only in the 40s and windy and oh so cold outside and this sat its gonna be near 70!!  Thats our weather though we are used to that!  I am thinking this might just be our indian summer and I am loving it!!  Lots of things to do to!  I cut a bunch of wood to make my painted snowmen signs and need to base coat them while its nice and sunny outside so they can dry and I can put another coat on them.  The fun part is the snowmen so cant wait.  And we went and picked up not the 2 that were planned but instead 4 alpacas.  2 boys and 2 girls.  They are such sweeties!!  The white girl is Rosie and then we have a tan one we named Rebecca.  One of the boys is Maveric (named already) and the other is ??? Havent figured that out yet.  Hes jet black and so pretty!  Our Curly is loving the company.  I dont know if I posted or not but we lost our other male Moe last Sat and since they are pack animals they need companions!  Well he has em now!! LOL  I will try and post some pics of them.  I love my tablet for pics since its not easy taking a laptop around to take pics!  especially without dual cameras.  So in the alpaca business!!  Theyre fur is amazingly soft and luxurious!!  Now we have to find someone who wants to buy it!  They will get sheared in the spring.  Oh my this was really funny too.... so we get them home and learn the females want the boys to come play! if you know what I mean and ... NOT now!  There gestation is 11 months and they would be babies next winter so we have to keep them seperated!  OK easier said than done let me tell you!! These girls lay down and dont move!  The boys were trying to jump the fences, they are in seperated pastures, so trying to put Rosie in her pasture was not easy!!  She laid down and that was it!  it took over an hour to move her into pasture, at least  Rebecca followed along and didnt lay down.  The boys were going crazy we had to keep chasing them back to their pasture since they would go right thru the electric fencing!  My word!  GEEZZEEE what a zoo!! we laughed so hard but it was alot of work.  crazy things! 
My Appy is doing great he turned 31 in april and is happy and healthy and my little Rosie May the goat is still with him and happy.  Love my furry kids! 
So if anyone out there reads this and can offer advise with the alpacas bring it on!  we are newbies and learning alot! and I am definitely smitten with them!!   Well I have some baking to get ready for market sat, pumpkin spice tea cakes, bagels, breads, and some cookies on the list to start today.  I hope yall have a wonderful day anda I am learning how to get the pics from my phone onto my laptop so will post pics soon!! 
 ~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Helloooooooo

Hey yall!! 
Well its august and I am finally having some time to post on my poor neglected blog.  Sorry!!  I got a laptop so it will be easier for me to actually make time to get on puter these days.   Things are moving along nicely at the café, it has been 4 months now and what a ride that has been feels like a year!!  LOL  
I am actually at market right now and its rainy and chilly.  IT is refreshing though and not windy!! yeah!  But I have to say I have a tshirt, sweater and now a rain jacket on and I am cold!! BRRR! 
Instead of making my lemonade I should have brought hot cocoa!! LOL that would work for me and maybe some hot soup!    Oh well I only have a few more hours and then can go home and curl up under a nice thick warm blanket with the boys. 
So I have sure enjoyed making  lots of new things!  I made homemade mozzarella cheese and boy what a difference from store bought!  and who would have thought it really was easy peasy!  Just really follow directions closely if u want to make it!! 
Also I have whipped up so many soups, it amazes me on hot humid 90degree days people want homemade soup!  I have done tomato basil which was absolutely divine!  cold cucumber which I never had made before and it surprisingly was delish,  cold gazpacho which is always yummy, calico bean with fresh swiss chard and 3 beans and oh so yummy, some of my gingered carrot soup which was very popular, and some chicken tortilla that I could have ate every day and not been sick of it and it was delish as a dip with chips.  I love to make thick and chunky soups that are very hearty and full of veggies and herbs.  And I love to make herbed veggie broth to use for gravy and soup bases.  
I am looking at buying an electric push button pressure cooker/canner?  Any thoughts on one?  I grew up scared to death of that dang spinning top on my moms old cooker that flew off and hit the ceiling in the kitchen and put a hole in it!!  When ever she brought that big ol pot out I ran out of the room for fear of my life~!  But now am thinking these new fancy dancy ones might be safer to be around! 
I have also become a pro at makin nut butters!  We make almond, honey cashew and peanut at the café and they are soooo yummy!  We even have a few customers that come in for toast and nut butter.  
I will try to figure out how to get my digital camera program installed on here now or maybe I can get a cable? usb? thingy to get pics from my phone and start posting pics next!  You can see some of our dishes. 
I also am on instagram with a lot of pics!!  under chicken scratch farm or Darlene Stumpf-Westfahl
Hope yall have a wonderful day!  
Be back soon!! hugs!
 

baking new things!

wow! What a week it has been we are getting ready for the grand opening which is May 16th of the cafe!!  ~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

this amazing humidor display case is going to be for baked good. in it right now I have some cheddar and chive scone that are amazing! And a coffee cake with an almond streusel crumb topping.

 a good friend came to teach me how to make french macarons! a lot of steps involved but it was fun and they are so good next I have to make the chocolate ganache filling for the pretty light pink green ones

 you have to have the egg whites be just perfectly

so here are a few of them piped out they have to dry a little while before you can have them in the oven

a close up of the cheddar chive scone. after trying one we decided they were lacking just something, so we have some of our red onion marmalade made and tried that oh my gosh!! That is absolutely perfection together!

 So here's a picture of the coffee cake I made in a sheet pan with a very good coating of almond streusel crumb topping just out of the oven

 and here you can see the squares I cut up after putting a little bling of just a dusting of powdered sugar on each one

 these are large loavess of our house made challah bread let me tell you this bread makes the most amazing french toast! so we are going to have French toast Fridays at the cafe using the challah bread

 and a pic of our PBJ panini which is our house made almond honey butter with red onion marmalade and some cream cheese this is absolutely yummy!

 we are making everything as much as possible in house so made some cheddar dill crackers to go on one of our farm boards these turned out amazing also

 it's just cheese butter flour fresh herbs and kosher flake salt and we have a winner! I can see a bag of these in the takeout cooler with a bowl of our house made fresh hummus! I think I'm going to try and do some seated ones with sesame poppy seeds and maybe parmesan on top yeah that sounds really yummy too!

So as you can see we're pulling things together we have a training tomorrow Saturday of employees and making coffee or coffee supplier Uncommon Grounds will be here to help support and teach! if you like coffee you will love their coffee it's absolutely wonderful! so I am off to bake and I will be back to share more very soon hope you all have a wonderful day!!  Happy happy baking and cooking and creating!!  

~hey yall!!   Wow spring has sprung full force here in beautiful mi!!  Yeah. Yippee. Yee haw!!  So love springtime here!  Well acruall love all our gorgeous seasons!  Babies and more babies coming!  At my friends farm, where my precious kids are there are 4 pregnant heifers ready anyday to calf.  We get so excited each day thinking today is the day. I need to get better pics of the girls while they are still pregnant cant believe how big they are.  Clarise, Penny, Ashtabula and Touch are the ladies names.  Sweeties too!!  
my sweetheart happy my horse turn 31 this month I can't believe he's not order any I've had him for 24 years now and he amazes me each and every day he is completely blind but that does not stop that worst one bit big baby!   Miss rosie may is my only goat now and that little doll is 13. Good grief how time flies!!
We are still doing winter farmers/artisans market in south haven and have a few more weeks to go until the crazy busy season!  At winter market  we have baked goods, produce, fresh eggs, goats milk products, seasonings, teas, honey, maple syrup, and handmade product that make wonderful gifts.  And a lot of things I didn't mention!  I get to see and visit with customers ( friends) and a gal I worked with a few years ago!  Fun fun fun!  

this little cutie pie is Jax my boyfriends dog and I'm his mommy too 

this is Tank and he is just that!  But actually a big baby!  Lover boy though!!  

So life is good I see my "boys" regularly at my ex's house so that works. I do miss those kids though but life does go on and when one door closes definitely another opens.   Wow its gonna be 68 today already it's 57 and still morning!!  

Well I will be back to share more pics at Root. Dawn worked there yesterday with a few friends finishing details up.   Have a wonderful day talk soon!!  

~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Here are pics!!

Table top with history of fennville on aged papers

a peek at our counter. It took Dawn and I 5 hours to cover with pennies and epoxy on top but is so cool!  

Ahh my little Barney!  Lol such a doll baby with his giraffe toy

a glimpse of the board table top love the pew seating!  

Our menu chalkboards. They so remind me of little house on the prairie school!  

Dawns farm cart complete with coffee sac awning!!  

Strawberry n cheese galettes.  Let me say these were super yummy. 

Mr tank in his tommy sweater I made him.  

Gakettes after baking. Yummo!  

And here's Dawn writing on our daily special board. 

And playing this winter at Dawns!   I can tell you we made homemade honey cashew butter and put it on a panini with other ingredients and wow!  Will let you know more asap!!  I'm hungry and gotta go cook!!  Too much fun. 

Root coffeehouse and cafe fennville, mi!! 

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~