Happy Birthday To Me

Birthday's in our house are a big deal, if you can still count your age on two hands. For The Farmer and me, we don't really celebrate as we once did. This concept completely baffled the children in our house. So they decided last week for my birthday I would be celebrating.

On the night before my birthday, my Panda did not want to read a story before bed, say prayers or have anything to do with me and the bedtime routine. She basically shoved me out of her room with a grin on her face. After tucking in Monkey and Lion Cub, I headed back to my room to find this waiting outside my door.

I hate surprises, even ones my kids make. So I had to flip the paper over and peek.

The splotches are from me dripping water on the paper. But I was so excited to get a birthday card! And she ran into my room the next morning to see if I had read it. Fun.

Not to be outdone, Monkey was insistent that we would celebrate my birthday. She even told me she invited all of her friends to my party.  Never mind that I wasn't having a party, her friends were going to be there. And then she started worrying about who was going to make my cake and what I wanted on it. After the disappointment of no party and cake, she made The Farmer take her to town for present shopping. When they came back she told me she bought my present at Menard's. Great. Cans of paint, hog barn materials or 2x4's.  I was excited to open this gift.

Instead of barn material, I received a very pretty flowering plant. And then another surprise...

I'm fairly certain these didn't come from Menard's. I added the bottle of wine myself.  But the roses were from Monkey. She was so proud of herself! I think the last time I receives red roses from The Farmer he may have been proposing a lifelong celebration of birthdays together. It's been awhile.

Supper was prepared on the grill by The Farmer.  Steaks and pork chops, we couldn't decide what we were really hungry for.

And since I knew no one would be preparing a cake, I bought a butterscotch pie from the local Amish store.  Who needs cake when you can have pie?!

It was a good day. And the kids were so proud of themselves. Even if there was no party!

Wordless Wednesday: A Run With a View

I am travelling this week for work. This is the view from my hotel room in Geneva, Ohio.  On Tuesday morning, I had the chance to run along Lake Erie before my meetings started. Absolutely beautiful!

Hunk of Meat Monday: Really Fresh Meatloaf

There are plenty of benefits to living on a hog farm. Not the least of which is a good supply of meat whenever the freezer starts to run low. This container of sausage was walking around in one of our hog barns a week ago.

I know many people don't like to talk about the end of an animal's life. However, it is reality that livestock are raised for food. And we are grateful to have an abundant supply of pork in our barns.

My husband butchered with my grandparents. Last Monday the hogs were killed and hung in a barn to cool down until Wednesday. Then my husband, grandparents, uncle and a few various helpers cut the meat off the carcass. Since we were doing the cutting, we got to choose what cuts of meat we wanted. I needed pork chops, sausage, bacon, pork loins and ham. Once you take the cuts of meat from the hog, the rest goes into making sausage. At the end of the day we had a lot of meat! The meat all gets packaged in freezer paper and labeled and sorted for our freezer.

However, The Farmer saved one container of sausage to go straight to the refrigerator. He brought it home for the sole purpose of me making meatloaf. My meatloaf recipe is simple. So simple I don't use a recipe.

I take a pound of so of sausage. You can use hamburger or mix up half and half of sausage and hamburger. I decided to use all sausage for this batch.

Add to it some bread crumbs, an egg, Worcestershire sauce and mix. Use your hands to mix it. It's much easier! For this recipe I made my own bread crumbs by simply toasting a few slices of bread and then pulverizing the slices. Simple! Be sure to add seasonings to your taste. I add salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, and whatever else sounds good at the moment!

Spread the mixture in a 9x13 greased dish. For the sauce mix ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. I use honey mustard as I like the flavor it adds.

Spread on top of the meatloaf and bake for 1 hour and 350. I regret that I didn't get a picture before my family devoured the pan!

I can promise it was good!

Thanks to my friend Leah over at Beyer Beware for letting me add this to Hunk of Meat Mondays!