The Pioneer Woman on Food Network

Howdy folks!  I have been on the go quite a bit over the summer, so I've been slackin' on the blog.  My hope was to write a post at least once a day.  When this didn't happen, I thought I'd blog at least three times a week.  Well, this didn't happen either so now I hope to make it happen at least once a month!  A friend warned me it is hard to keep up just doing three posts a week.  I didn't believe him, but he was right -- especially when you keep a schedule like mine!

Ree Drummond.  Food Network photo.

So, did any of you catch the debut of The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, on the Food Network on Saturday?  It was a great treat for a farm gal like me to see some farming stuff on the Food Network channel.  They were working cattle, too!  Plus, she made chicken fried steak and mashed taters -- you know, the type of food us country folks like.  Be sure to check her out as she shares her family life on an Oklahoma ranch.  Personally, I want her kitchen!  Click here to see scenes from Saturday's show:  Ree on the Food Network

If you are looking for a simple and yummy meal for your family tonight, try Ree's Sour Cream Noodle Bake.  A friend posted this recipe on her Facebook page a while back, so I gave it a try.  She said it would be simple, fast and good....and she was right!  I didn't think my daughter, who tends to be anti-cottage cheese, would eat it, but it has become one of her favorite meals.  The only thing I did different was add one more can of tomato sauce and a small can mushrooms to the tomato sauce/meat mixture.  This way you can be sure there is enough sauce to cover all of the noodles.  The ground pepper, green onions and sharp cheddar cheese -- oh my!  They make this meal.  There is something about the combo that isn't overpowering, but just right.  Since July 4th, I've made this recipe about seven times and it has been a hit every time! 

Photo from www.thepioneerwoman.com  -- Sour Cream Noodle Bake.

And if you are watching your weight, I figured out that the Weight Watcher points for a hefty serving only comes to six!  To calculate the points, I used lower fat food items (93% lean ground beef, 2% sharp cheddar, low fat cottage cheese and fat free sour cream) and then divided a 13x9-inch pan into eight servings.  Wella!  Guess what I am fixing for dinner tonight?    

The "Albino" Heifer?

Today on the Beef Daily blog I posted a comment about the funny inquiries or questions we sometimes get from non-farm folks about cattle or farming in general.  I thought I'd share my comment with you on my blog to see if it might make you chuckle, too. 

Photo from cattlemanagement.com.

As show season picks up, I am reminded about last year's North Carolina State Fair.  One of my 4-H kids was showing a beautifully white, fluffy-haired Charolais beef heifer calf.  While the heifer was in the grooming chute getting a last minute hair cut, the alley was open for the general public to see the cattle up close and personal.  Two families happened to catch a glimpse of the calf and got all excited.  The mother of the first family that came by said, "Wow…hey kids…look at this albino cow! Can we pet it?”

It was all I could do to not giggle. I quickly explained that the white hair coat helped to indicate her breed. The second family that came by also asked, “Is this an albino cow?” I jokingly said, “Yep…can’t you tell by it's bright red eyes?” Once they looked at it’s eyes and realized they weren’t red, they gave me a deer-in-the-headlight look. They knew by my grin that something was up. My response made for a good conversation starter!

The second funny thing that happened at the state fair last year was when a fair worker got cow poo on his brand new white tennis shoe as he walked through the barn.  Talk about having a fit!  He then proceeded to a big puddle near a spigot in the cattle barn to swish around his shoe to get the manure off. What he didn’t realize was that about five minutes earlier, a heifer urinated to make that nice big puddle.  Sorry to say it,  buddy, but that wasn’t water!  (Well, I guess it was...but not the kind he was looking for!) I would venture to guess he probably realized this the next morning when his shoe didn't smell too fresh!

There is always something that makes us laugh when we show animals -- making it one of the reasons why we do it.  There is nothing like a good fun laugh every now and then.  But in all seriousness, what better way to learn about animals than to ask the people doing the growing, right?

What is your favorite show memory or funny moment?

Farm safety should be top of mind -- learn from me!

It has been a few days since I last wrote a new post.  I've been on the go running my daughter to end-of-school-year events as well as helping her prepare for a 4-H cattle show that was held last weekend. 

Now that school is out, I am reminded of the frequent summer time farm accidents that can often occur.  In church recently, someone said, "Let's be mindful to pray for our families as they begin their summer activities."  It is so easy to think about summer time fun, but so often we forget about being careful, too.  Not only should we be smart when it comes to camping, swimming, biking and baseball/softball activities, we shouldn't forget about what can happen on the farm. 

Tractors, silos, animals, gates, latches, power tools...while it is easy to go about our daily activities on the farm, we need to remember that we can't be complacent that nothing will ever happen.  I am a prime example of this statement.   

One of my nine lives?
Two years ago while setting up our cattle grooming chute, I experienced one of my worst farm accidents.  That's right....it involved me!  As much as I've preached to my daughter and my 4-H members about being careful when it comes to working on the farm, I should have been looking in the mirror telling this to myself. 

I've been very lucky over the years when it comes to staying safe on the farm.  I have had a few close calls, though, especially as a kid.  When I was nine, I nearly cut off my thumb when a pocket knife folded back on me as I was opening a feed bag (knives didn't have the safety locks like they do now).  Then there was the time my flannel shirt got caught in the PTO shaft on the tractor and ripped a huge whole in it.  How can I forget the time when I was sled riding down the barn bank and my sled turned backwards, forcing me back first into the bumper of our old Impala.  I thought I broke my back, but because of all of the winter clothes I was wearing, they padded the blow.  It still hurt like the dickens, though! 

I will never forget skidding on a slick spot of mud while rounding the corner of the house on our Honda 50 trail bike (with no helmet on).  The cycle landed on my leg while it was folded back under me.  Luckily enough, other than a sprained muddy leg, I was unscathed.  I still don't know how the muffler didn't tattoo a burn on me. 

And, the one that sticks in my mind the most was when I about 13 years old and I was bringing the tractor and manure spreader back down the road after unloading the spreader in one of our fields on the hill.  I was going way too fast coming down the road and couldn't slow down the tractor without it and the spreader swerving every time I'd hit the brakes.  Dad always told me to take it slow.  But did I listen?  Of course not...I decided to press it a little.  I was rushing so I could get done with my chores.  The feeling of no control on the tractor was horrible.  I soon passed our farm's driveway screaming for help.  I just remember the anxiety of whizzing by my dad and our hired hand who were running after me.  No one could help me at this point.  I was fearful that a car was going to pull out in front of me as I passed a side road.  Finally, as I started to go up a slight incline in the road at my neighbor's dairy farm, the tractor and the spreader started to coast and I was able to get them under control.  When I finally came to a stop, I remember breaking down in tears.  How I didn't flip that tractor with me on it is beyond me.  I truly believe divine intervention had something to do with it.

Grooming chutes hurt when they fall on you
But as for the grooming chute incident two years ago, this was a different story.  This was my closest call yet and I hope my last.  As we were lifting up (unfolding) the two ends of the chute, the front end slipped out my my husband's hands just as I happened to bend down to straighten up the chute's mat while I was still holding up the back end of the chute.  The front end nailed me right in the head at full force.  It hit me so fast, I honestly didn't know what happened.  I remember right before it happened, my husband yelled, "Look out!"  Although he tried, he wasn't able to stop it in time.  When the front part of the chute hit me, I saw a few stars (just like in the cartoons) and could feel immediate pain on the left side of my head.  I do remember screaming for help.  In a frenzy, my husband (who felt horrible at what just happened) gathered me up off of the barn floor and put me in the truck -- manure covered and all.  Off to the emergency room we went. Fortunately, the ER is only five minutes from our farm.

When I got to the hospital, my husband checked me in.  He said to the ER registration lady:  "My wife is down here on the floor....she was hit in the head by a metal pipe!"  Well, this probably wasn't the best description of what happened and it just about got him in trouble.  His explanation did, however, make for a quick reaction to the medical team, as two nurses immediately ran out to get me into a wheelchair when they saw me sitting on the floor with a head bleed.  Of course, Sam had to be questioned after his response as to why I was there in the first place, as you can imagine.  Once our stories were confirmed as a match, he was then able to come on back to my ER room.  We joke about it now, but I imagine at the time he was worried he might have to post bail!   

Unsure of whether I had any neck injuries, the ER team quickly put me into a neck brace as a precaution.  After going through a series of CAT scans, the nurses and doctors came to the conclusion that I have one hard head!  Fortunately, other than just a cut on the outside of my head from where a bolt slightly penetrated the skin, I had no skull fractures.  Two hours later, I was released.  Once again, luck was on my side.

Here I am in 2009 in the emergency room following a farm accident.

But while I was in the ER, I made my husband take a picture of me in my raunchy state.  While it is not a very flattering picture of me at all, I  wanted to share it with you as a reminder to think safety first.  Innocent mishaps can occur so fast, as I experienced first hand. 

Be safe out there everyone!  Trust me, you don't want to end up like me in this picture.  By the way, I also learned that you shouldn't mess with a chute mat until the entire chute is put together correctly and set with lock pins.  I learned the hard way!

Scotty -- The All-American Country Boy

I'll have to admit I've been a big watcher of American Idol this year, at least when it came to the selection of the top 24.  And from the get-go, I loved watching the 17-year-old, Scotty McCreery, from Garner, NC.

I've made several trips through Garner since I've lived in North Carolina.  It is a town adjacent to Raleigh and has seen a lot of growth and transitions over the years.  Scotty sure has done a lot in the past several months to put Garner on the map.

I was tickled to death when Scotty won the 10th season of American Idol last night.  So was North Carolina!  Nearly 10,000 people packed into the RBC Center in Raleigh to watch the night's finale festivities, including a few of my daughter's high school friends. (Click here to see the fans' reaction at the RBC Center when Scotty won.) 

What is it about this young man that everyone loves?  Yes, he can definitely sing using those deep tones.  But I believe it is his wholesome, kind, not-embarrassed-to-show-his-Christian-faith attitude, and his all-American boy character that made me want to pull for this young man.

My family and I thought it was funny that there was this push on the show last night to show the pop singers.  But when a Raleigh t.v. news reporter interviewed the youngsters at the RBC Center, they all said they "love country music."  Hey Hollywood, did you hear that?  They LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC!

Now, I like some of the pop songs that are out there, but it always seems there is this push to try and get people away from country music.  Why?

My hope is that Scotty -- and Lauren -- will draw folks to country music and prove to the music industry that country really is cool!  Just look at all of the country singers that have come out of North Carolina, especially from the American Idol competitions.  I have to give credit where credit is surely due -- the churches!  Look at how many of those kids got their start in a church.

Kudos goes out to all the dedicated school and church music directors out there!  North Carolina has many terrific ones.  If it wasn't for my high school band instructor in Ohio and church choir director in North Carolina, I would never have dreamed to get up in front of hundreds of people to perform and actually enjoy it like I do today. 

Congratulations Scotty!  You represent Garner, the state of North Carolina and the country music industry well!   I look forward to seeing you in concert soon!     

What sound takes you back in time?

I am a big country music fan, but in my growing up years I listened to a lot of pop music.  Two of my favorite groups to this day are Journey and Foreigner.  If I hear one of their songs now, I immediately drift back to a place as a kid that I vividly remember -- like a high school dance, a school bus ride home from elementary school, a drive to the livestock market with my dad, a stroll through the grocery aisle with mom, or when I would just chill out in my bedroom. 

But there is one sound that still is my favorite.  The fan.  There is something about its cool soothing nature that takes me back to several places, like my Grandma Hines' kitchen.  In the summer, I would often walk into her kitchen on a Saturday afternoon right when the west side of the house was getting its strongest rays from the sun.  There'd be grandma peeling an apple at the sink and standing right in the path of the breeze.  The powerful fan would be humming its tune in the front hall doorway, which led into the kitchen.  And this wasn't just any fan.  It was one of those high-powered machines that could blow you over!  I'd sit on the chair next to the fan to cool off.  It was almost hypnotizing.  Our family enjoyed grandma's fan so much, we soon started sporting the same model in our farm house living room.  And like in grandma's kitchen, I began enjoying the soothing sounds while watching t.v., which pretty much always led to a quick summer time nap before the next round of farm chores.

Photo from Dover Projects.

Then there was the metal box fan that was in the hallway window upstairs in our farm house.  This fan scared me.  While it definitely served a purpose to cool down the upstairs bedrooms, little did my parents know that this particular fan brought fears to me when I was nine years old.  For one thing, I hated storms.  After all, we lived in the eastern-most section of Tornado Alley (see map below at red arrow).  Whenever the fan would start pulling hard in the opposite direction due to an incoming weather front,  I knew we'd be in for a bad one.  I started to believe that because I was getting so good at figuring out the fan's reactions, I had physic powers!  The hall fan was never wrong.

Early one night while in my bedroom, I noticed the hall fan started pulling direction.  I rushed to turn it off, took it out of the window, shut the window and then headed downstairs to be with the rest of my family in the living room to watch t.v.  Sure enough, the fan was telling me something.  A tornado warning had just come across the t.v. screen for the county located just west of us.  We were in the path of the storm. I can remember going outside with my family to watch the pea-soup colored sky just over the line of trees opposite from our house -- a definite sign that bad weather was coming.  The calm before the storm was eery.  No animals or birds could be heard.  It was if they knew the fan was telling them "to take cover now," too!  Everything was so still UNTIL the front arrived.

I remember my family rushing to their places when the storm got closer.  Dad starting yelling to my brother to go with him to shut the barn doors.  I ran inside our house to shut every window to keep the wind and rain out, and then I went back outside with mom on the front porch to anxiously wait for my dad and brother to return.  Just about this time, a state highway patrolman whizzed by our house to take post on the overpass bridge located up the hill so he could watch for funnel clouds.  As the winds started to howl and huge rain drops began beating down, pea-sized hail began to fall and trees limbs started breaking off.  Deep in the background, we could hear the faint sound of the tornado siren from the nearby town, along with an emergency alert on the local country music radio station (WNCO) to let us know we needed to take cover. 

All night long we listened and watched as storms hammered our area.  As for me, I shook in panic.  Luckily, we received little damage from this particular storm.  But it was during this same summer that we had to dodge several tornado-potential storms.  I believe the thing that helped prepare me for them was that ol' 20-inch box fan in the hallway window.  Would you believe I now own two of them and have used them in the upstairs bedroom windows even though we have central heating and air?  Of course, I only use them when the temperatures aren't too hot and I long to hear the humming sound again that takes me back to my childhood on the farm.  However, I do keep a small fan by my desk in my office at work that helps me cool off in the heat of the South and to get that special "sound fix" I enjoy from time to time.   

So, what is the one sound above all others that takes you back in time?  

Teenage ag students make excellent help on the farm

If there is one thing I've learned in middle age, it is that I don't move like I used to.  Now, I am not saying I've completed my "bucket list" and am on my way out.  I am far from it (hopefully).  However, when it comes to farm work, weekends are brutal.  But Monday's....well, they are the worst! 

You see, my husband and I work full-time, agricultural-related jobs off of the farm and we stay very busy with agricultural organizations.  During the week it is hard to do major farm tasks because in most cases we are too mentally exhausted at the end of the day to even think about picking up a hammer or chainsaw at 7 p.m.  Plus, daytime hours have diminished by the time we stroll in.  I have an hour commute to and from my job, and this doesn't help much either.   

Daddyman (my husband) and my daughter usually hold down the fort during the week.  A typical weekday involves feeding animals, making supper, watching a bit of t.v. and going to bed!  And when the next day rolls around, we do it all over again.  Honestly, sometimes the schedule can be a total drag.

Saturday means "go" on the farm
When Saturday rolls around, there is no down time at our house.  We are up and at it early to get things done on the farm.  First, there are things to go pick up like feed, farm supplies, groceries and dry cleaning.  Then there is the mowing, which requires the use of two riding lawn mowers going at the same time.  After two hours of mowing, there is weed-eating, followed by fixing things -- and I mean anything you can imagine!  This could include fixing a piece of equipment, removing old trees around fence lines or repairing holes in the barn.  It NEVER ends!  Why does it seem you can never get ahead on a farm?

We go so hard on a Saturday, it is pretty much a regimen for us to pop a couple of ibuprofen before we go to bed in the evening in anticipation of the next day's pain.  Sunday includes church in the morning, and then house chores in the afternoon that didn't get done on Saturday because of farm work.  It can be a busy cycle...and one that wears you slam out!

Monday is the worst.  It seems like the pains from physical farm activity on Saturday skips a day and hits us on Monday.  When you've gone at it all weekend with no down time and then Monday comes back around...oh my...it is tough.   

Young farm hands
The one thing that has helped our family both mentally and physically is hiring good young help.  However, we have been fortunate for many years to get some excellent help from a retired extension agent friend.  But ever since my daughter started high school two years ago and joined FFA, we have made several connections with area country kids that know how to work -- and I mean work without us even telling them to!  Now, no offense to the urban boys and girls out there, but there is nothing like country kids for working on the farm.  They know how to get it done and they require little direction.  Plus they love working on the farm!  There is something about the work ethic of country boys and girls that makes us adults smile from ear to ear.   

Last weekend my daughter and two of her ag buddies went to work on her show cattle pen, which needed some serious spring cleaning.  They did an awesome job and they didn't require any direction.  Now, I ask you, would I have gotten the same work ethic out of a non-ag girl or fellow?  Maybe.  But would they have griped the whole time about how the pen had a smell to it or that they got manure on themselves?  Maybe or maybe not.  We don't take that chance.  The country kids get first dibs on the jobs every time.  We don't have time or patience for whining.

To show our appreciation for hard work,  we always treat help to lunch at the local hamburger dive.  It gives them a chance to socialize and get energized for the second half of the day.  I try to throw in a treat in the afternoon, too.  And, of course, they get paid for their hard work.


Country Kids vs. City Kids
Don't get me wrong.  I know of many hard working, terrific non-ag kids, but when it comes to farm work, I can almost bet every time (from experience) that non-ag kids will be the first to ask if you if they are done with a project even when they are far from it.  You just have to sit back and chuckle at em' and hope that your effort to get them to appreciate the value of hard work will pay off with them later in life.

Photo courtesy of Proyecto Asis.

This reminds me of the time when a girl in my dorm in college was telling me she wanted to be a veterinarian.  She was a pre-vet student from a northeastern U.S. city.  She always dressed to the max and had those long pretty fingernails.  She wanted to be a small animal veterinarian because she loved pets.  I said to her one day, "You know that you are going to also have to get some large animal experience as part of vet school training even though you don't want to be a large animal vet, right?"  She looked at me in horror.  I went on to say, "Oh, you will love it, because you will get to do cool stuff like preg check cattle and everything...but you'll have to trim those pretty fingernails."  She looked at me and said, "Why?"  I said, "Because I don't think a mama cow will appreciate you scratching their hiney with them!  Besides, your fingernails will bust through the extra-long OB gloves." 

With a bewildered look, she went on to ask me more questions about raising farm animals.  Halfway through the discussion I replied, "Are you sure you are ready to be a vet?"  She said, "Not after what you've told me."  I said, "Did you not think poop, blood and afterbirth were not going to part of your veterinarian profession?"  She finally fessed up and said, "I have no idea what I am getting myself into."

As we finished our conversation and after witnessing her green facial expression, I told her that she might want to consider another profession.  She piped up and said that she loved fashion, which was very obvious by her obsession to look her best every day.   

Later in the quarter, she dropped by my dorm room to say hello and said, "Hey Jules, I decided to change my major to Fashion Merchandising!"

I just smiled and said, "I think that is a wise decision!"  And it was.  She would have been miserable as a vet student, but she makes one heck of a clothes buyer for a major department store!

  



 

Learning from the kids: Where do they get this stuff?

NC A&T University provided animals from the college's farm.

On Friday I set up a booth on behalf of the company I work for at an "FFA Day" sponsored by the FFA chapter at Southern Guilford High School near Greensboro, NC.  FFA Day was held for the entire student body (approximately 1,200 students), and I have to give the chapter members and advisers credit for their efforts to help educate non-ag students about agriculture. 

Since my daughter, Kaylyn, was out of school for Spring Break, and since she is the NC Jr. Beef Ambassador, I told her she should come along to help educate the students about beef.  So, she grabbed her box of educational materials, and I packed the truck with what I needed, and off we went. 

A real eye-opener

Kaylyn with beef educational materials.

Let's just say it was a real eye-opener for Kaylyn to participate in a school event in a fairly urban area.  It was very opposite of the rural-based high school she attends.  When students came by the booth, they asked us both questions.  I got a lot of the typical "What does your company do?" questions and Kaylyn got a few unanticipated "I don't eat meat!" comments.  One boy asked Kaylyn with all seriousness:  "Doesn't beef get stuck in your stomach easily?"  I guess you could say we were stunned at some of myths that have been thrown at these young people.  Stuck in your stomach?  Seriously!?

I have to give credit to Kaylyn for her ability to think quick on her feet.  She asked the boy who thought beef would get stuck in his stomach where he got the information from.  He said, "The t.v.!"

NC Department of Agriculture food shopping cart...always a hit!

Ah yes, the television.  Let me guess.  I would bet they've been listening to some well-known talk show hosts who tend to never have farmers on their programs, but rather only self-proclaimed food experts who spend very little time on a farm or who aren't involved in the production aspect at all.

Something to Crow about...
I had to laugh recently when a popular national morning news show featured Sheryl Crow and her personal chef Chuck White to promote Crow's new recipe book.  They were actually making a beef recipe from the book.  As a beef producer, this was an encouraging sign.  The chef went on to say that he prefers grass-fed beef because of its leanness and flavor.  Okay.  No problem there.  The beauty of the beef industry is that it provides different options to consumers.  But then Crow piped in and said that she likes to buy her meat locally and looks for organic.  I raised an eyebrow a bit wondering where this was about to go.  Okay, again not a big deal if she is looking for organically grown meat; HOWEVER, did she mean that just because the beef being used in the recipe was grass fed beef that is was organic?  If she did, then she may be a bit misinformed and is doing what a lot of people do by taking current food "buzz words" and confuse them with the true meanings.  Just because a cut of beef is grass fed doesn't mean it is organic.  This is a common misconception.  My advice to Crow and other consumers who like to buy locally is to make sure they ask local beef producers how they actually grow their beef.  This way they know exactly what they are getting and they'll be more educated about their food production.     

Folks, the bottom line is this.  If you don't understand something regarding how your food is produced or raised, ask a farmer or call your local cooperative extension representative.  Like your teachers always said, "There are no stupid questions!"   It is better to be informed with the facts.