Cleaning and Hard Lessons to Learn

Hello Everyone! 
I hope you are all having a great week thus far. How can we have a bad week when we can look around and see just how blessed we are?

Since my last post, I've had a chance to travel  I went to a sustainable agricultural conference in Arkansas. (Little Rock has a really cute downtown area) At this conference, I got the chance to interact with growers.This conference was quite different from the typical grower conferences that I attend because the attendees were not typical growers. This conference is for "specialty crops" which include fruits, vegetables, organic production practices, and sustainable production practices and generally smaller operations.

I had to learn a hard lesson of accepting those who a bit different from me. The growers at this conference were primarily "historically under-served"  growers (which means the group that has not always received help from the government agencies like Extension and are primarily African-American from my experience), and what my friend, Aaron (he's from California so that makes this ok) "hippy" types. All of these people are very different from me, and it was hard trying to fit in with them. We all dressed very differently, so I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb (I absolutely did). I've never had people not want to talk to me and not act like gentlemen/ladies in the South before. Normally, I can find anyone to talk to but this time it was hard for me. Mama and Grandpaw (Mama's daddy) have always said that I have trouble talking to people who are different then me, and I never believed them until now. I was finally in a place that was way out of my box, and I couldn't hardly talk to anyone without immediately judging them. I know that God accepts everyone, so why is so hard for me to accept people who are different from me? I'm working on this. 

Another thing I'm working on is having a clean house. I despise cleaning my house or anything actually. You can ask my Mama. Actually... you better not ask my Mama. She may be a bit too honest when it comes to my cleaning habits. I can fix this problem a bit more easily than my problem with acceptance. Drum roll please......

I MADE A CHORE LIST!! 

I hated chore lists growing up, and I had a hard time sticking to those...even the cute ones with the stickers that I got to put on the chore after I finished it. I made this quick and easy to follow list that takes me about 5 minutes a day (this doesn't count the washing dishes part because most people...besides me... have a dishwasher). 

I am posting the picture on the site. If you want, I can post a blank one for you guys use if you, too, have trouble keeping up with cleaning your house or want to do something other than cleaning your house all day on Saturdays or in the 10 minutes before someone arrives for a visit. 

I hope you guys enjoy! Please let me know what you think of the new design and if you'd like a blank chore schedule.

Remember, pretty is as pretty does!

-McKenzie

Welcome back!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a most wonderful break over the holidays and had time to enjoy your friends and families. 

I am finally back and ready to rock and roll this semester, but as you can see, I still have yet to finish updating this blog. That's happening soon.

Over the break I got the most wonderful present. I got a family recipe book. I made one for myself of the family recipes that I received from There (that's my mom's mom's mom--you got that?), but this one is one from my Aunt Janet (my great-aunt) with recipes from my Granny in 'Tucky (my mom's dad's mom), her mom, MaBuckle (mom's dad's mom's mom), and my mom's dad's dad's mom, Mamaw. Got all that? 

In this recipe book, I found a super quick roll recipe. We love having rolls with dinner at our house, and the roll recipe that I usually use is about a two hour recipe. This recipe takes 30 minutes from start to out of the oven goodness! They are not quite the same as the regular 2 hour rolls, but they are mighty good and definitely worth a try for your weeknight dinners (and cheap too!!)

This recipe is called Easy Yeast Rolls, and it belongs to my Granny in 'Tucky.

Easy Yeast Rolls

 (Makes about 24)

   
2 pkg. dry yeast 
2 cups luke warm water (about 100-110 degrees)
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups self-rising flour
1 egg
3/4 cup melted shortening or butter

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix in large bowl with all other ingredients. Spoon batter into well greased muffin tin (about 1/2 full). You can let them rise for a bit if you want, but it is not necessary.

As you can see, I tend to over fill my muffin tin. (Note: This is the recipe halved)

 Bake in 450 degree, pre-heated, oven for about 20 minutes. (You may want to start checking them early. Mine are usually done in about 15 minutes.) Take them out, and you're ready to eat!

If you want to make this ahead of time,  wrap the bowl up and store in the refrigerator. The mix will keep for a few days. 

I was amazed at how good these were for the short amount of time it took to make them. 

I have so many posts in the works for y'all! I made up some yummy chicken 'n' dumplins, and I have adopted a new schedule for the house that I can't wait to share! 

Y'all have a wonderful weekend and remember that pretty is as pretty does. 

Yours Truly,

McKenzie

Updating and Pumpkin Cream Cheese

Hello everyone! 

Yesterday I finished my last final of the semester and the hardest semester that I will have, which is wonderful news so that I can devote more time to you guys now!

I received a most wonderful scrap book from my Aunt Janet over Thanksgiving. It has beautiful, hand-written recipes from my great aunt, great-grandmother, and 2 of my great-great grandmothers on that side of my family along with a short biography about them. This blog is actually named for my great-grandmother so it is even more wonderful that I can bring those recipes to y'all now. I hope that I can get started making some of those soon!

As you may have noticed, I am in the process of re-vamping the blog so that it will be more user-friendly. For me, this will probably be a slow process since I am new to this type of formatting and coding. But, that's neither here nor there. I hope that you guys like it, and if you have any suggestions let me know! 

I am obsessed with Einstein's bagels, and we have one here on campus. However it is all they way across the Drill field from me, and I am too lazy to walk over in the cold for breakfast. My favorite thing at Einstein's is the pumpkin cream cheese. I got this recipe from Pinterest, and tweaked it until it tasted like Einstein's. 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese

8 oz. Cream Cheese, slightly softened
(I use low-fat-generic-whatever's-on-sale cream cheese)
 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (NOT PIE FILLING) 
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 TBSP vanilla
4 TBSP dark brown sugar
dash of salt (I measure in my hand so probably a little less than 1/4 tsp)

Mix it up with a hand mixer, and add it to your morning bagel or what have you. 

You won't be sorry. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We will meet again soon, and in the meantime remember that pretty is as pretty does. 

-McKenzie



 

Food Issues

Happy Monday!

I have been working on a paper to present at a meeting in February which is why I have been so MIA lately. My paper is about what drives people in the Southeast to buy foods directly from the farmers who grew it. I say this to preface what I found today. Looking for some popular media to demonstrate why the local movement became so large with consumers, I found this video. It moved me to tears. It is a long video, but please take the time to watch this video. 

What this video talks about is real. Children today are expected to live ten years less than their parents. This statistic is for the United States and other developed countries. It is not for those people who live in 3rd world countries. This problem is real. Obesity is a real problem, and the food we eat will surely kill us if we keep living and eating the way we do. 

Please enjoy this video, and remember that pretty is as pretty does.

-McKenzie

End of the Semester Woes

Lovely followers, 

I just wanted you all to know how terribly sorry I am in being so behind on my posting. The semester is almost over, and I am working to quickly finish so I can get back to y'all. 

I hope to able to be more reliable after Thanksgiving. Until then, remember that pretty is as pretty does.

-McKenzie