Charlie's "Papa's Pockets" Blanket

Okay, I promised some of my Facebook friends I'd blog about the baby blanket I've made for our grandson, Charlie. I actually came up with the idea and cut about 7 blocks out 2 or 3 months ago, but, being the procrastinator I am, finally decided to get it done this past week for Christmas. I started Wednesday. Christmas was Friday. But it got done on Christmas Eve and my stress level really wasn't abnormal. Until I broke my last sewing machine needle I had...the stress level increased a bit.

Anyhoo, here it is from the beginning to the end...



This is the pile of blue jeans that I stole from Cowboy Cody's closet. You know the piles. It's those stack of jeans that you can't quite get into anymore, but you're going to get fit and trim and be able to slide right into them again. Yes, he had one of those stacks. Not anymore!

I stole the stack and took the scissors to them the same day!

First thing was to cut out all the back pockets. Those cute Wrangler butt patch pockets. All in a stack.

Once they were all cut out, I laid them out in a very nice quilt pattern. I think this is just called a Patch Quilt or Block Quilt. Very basic. But when it's Christmas Eve Eve, you want basic. Otherwise you don't have a Christmas present.

At least not for this year, anyway.








I purchased some baby blanket flannel material and cut out blocks of the same size for the backing and laid them all out in another very basic, yet very colorful and distinct pattern.
















This was to be a Rag Quilt, which means all the seam allowances are on the outside of the blanket making it kind of fluffy and giving it a different look than a typical quilt. First thing to sew was each individual jean patch to an individual blanket backing patch.

Then each patch would be sewn to make a row keeping that perfect pattern that was laid out earlier. Yeah, right. Who needs a blanket in a perfect pattern, anyway?!



This was about time that I broke my third and last sewing machine needle I had in the house. I love living in rural America, but I was very thankful on this Christmas Eve that my local Wal-Mart store was open for procrastinators like me. Although I've never seen our local Wal-Mart so busy as it was on this Christmas Eve. Thankfully, they had sewing machine needles. I bought 3 more packages. And toothpaste. We were out of toothpaste.






All the rows are then sewn together, making another lovely pattern different from whence we started...but, a lovely pattern all the same!





I chose to put a few random blocks of the backing material on the front of the blanket, as well.










Next step was to carefully cut all those seam allowances sticking out on the front and sides of
the blanket to allow them to fringe and get fluffy.

Cowboy Cody even got in on the fringe cutting! What a great Papa!

After all the fringe was cut, I then threw the blanket in the wash to fluff up the fringe and make it super soft.

And, voila! A Wrangler Pocket Patch blanket.

You won't find one of these anywhere else. You won't find any of Cowboy Cody's Wranglers anywhere else.

Oooh--those Wrangler patches!

Here's the blanket washed and wrapped and ready for gift giving.

And here's one happy Baby Charlie on his new Papa's Pockets blanket!

Who could resist?! Is that precious, or what?

Lamb Steak--ooh la la!

Believe it or not, we actually once in a while get tired of eating beef. Did I just say that? A cattle rancher and his wife tired of beef? Well, you can bet that the cowboys on the trail would've LOVED to have a Leg of Lamb Steak to cook on the fire once in a while! When we feel the need to feed ourselves a great meal that is sooo satisfying, and yet light, we go for lamb steak or lamb chops (the best!).
In this case it was lamb steaks, being as we are nearly always sold out of lamb chops. Kinda like bacon, sausage, and filet mignon, the lamb chops are the first to go!
Here's how I cooked these inside, since my Big Green Egg (the world's best smoker and grill) is still down at The Barn, our store and cafe'.

1. Drizzle a little olive oil in a skillet, preferably cast iron.

2. When the skillet's nice and hot, throw in a juicy lamb steak and let 'er sizzle.

3. Cooking our lamb is the same as cooking deer or any other wild meat. You do not want to overcook it; it's very, very lean and will cook quickly. Let the steaks sizzle just a few minutes on each side. I like a hot skillet to sear the juices in.

4. When the meat is cooked to your liking, sprinkle on some Worcestershire sauce and let the steak sizzle a few seconds more, soaking up all those tasty flavors.

5. Serve up your lamb steak with some Spinach Tejano' and buttered noodles. What a treat!

Spinach Tejano' for Barry

I love to cook. And I love to cook with fresh, real foods. After all, that's what we grow here at the Rockin H Ranch. Real Farm Foods. Real beef, pork, chicken, lamb, raw milk, eggs, honey, and seasonal produce. Makes me want to get in the kitchen right now.

Except my stove is going out. I think I'm going to ask for one for Christmas. That's not too much to ask, do you think? Especially since it took an hour and a half to cook a frozen pizza the other night. (I know, frozen pizza doesn't fall into the "Real" category, but I have my downfalls. Pizza is one of them!)

Anyhoo, my friend, Barry, has a hoop house he has vegetables growing in all winter. I should really talk to him about getting some of those organic veggies! So, here's a recipe he asked for that we love at our house.

Spinach Tejano'

1. Melt butter in a skillet. (I don't measure well--I'd guess it's about 3 Tbsp.)















2. When butter is melted, sprinkle in a generous amount of chili powder. A very generous amount! (Maybe 4-5 Tbsp?)

3. Let it bubble until your kitchen smells heavenly. This won't take long--don't let the butter burn!














4. Add spinach, preferably fresh. I didn't have fresh, so I used a bag of frozen, 1 lb.














5. Saute' until well wilted and the spinach has soaked up all the butter and chili powder. Heat through.



















6. Salt with sea salt and serve immediately. What a dish! (The cook is cute, too!)

Ice Milk

Wow! What a blustery day, as Pooh would say. It was 9 degrees this morning when I headed outside to milk. I am milking in a milk barn these days, though for the first 3 years of milking, I milked my cows outside in the pasture. I think this morning I would've rather been outside sitting in the bright sunshine. My little barn isn't heated and it really holds in the cold air when the temps get so low at night.

This is Annabelle being milked and Molly is patiently waiting. I'm smiling because this picture was taken in the spring. When it was much warmer than 9 degrees.

You wouldn't have seen much of my face this morning. A cow's normal body temperature is around 102 degrees, so when it's 9 degrees outside, you snuggle up real close to those cows! They don't mind. And I don't mind as long as they haven't laid in poop overnight. Uck.

Oops. I mentioned poop again. Cowboy Cody tells me that most folks don't talk so freely about poop. But we're very proud of our dung beetles. (You can see one in the photo above!) So in the warmer months, I can be seen crawling around on the ground following the cows taking pictures of poop. And dung beetles. They're really very helpful and interesting little creatures. But that's another blog.

Back to milking.

The barn cats didn't even offer to keep me warm this morning. They were at the door enjoying the sunshine.
Most folks have to get up and go to town to go to work in the mornings. I get up, put on my insulated coveralls and go to the barn. Oprah would love to do a makeover on me, I can guarantee it!

But I enjoy my cows. And we love the raw milk and the products we make from the raw milk. Cheeses, yogurts, kefir, butter, and the best homemade ice cream and whipped topping!

So, I'll continue to get up and head to the milk barn, even on days when it's only 9 degrees outside.