Snapshots of Life

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The BEST Cranberry Sauce!

This is so simple and the finished product is very tasty!

I used this recipe from Gracious Pantry but adjusted a few things to fit what I had in my pantry.

Cranberry Sauce
12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries (approx. 3 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
zest of one large orange
1 cup water
Place cranberries in pan with water. Stir in maple syrup, cinnamon and zest.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Simmer on medium till liquid is reduced. This will take 15-20 minutes or so. Be patient and stir often. The longer it cooks the more it will thicken (the berries will pop, making it fun!)
Let cool completely.
Makes about 1 – 1/4 cups

*I froze mine to use on Thanksgiving and it was a big hit!

*I made two batches one with honey and the 2nd with maple syrup. I prefer the maple version. It just had an added depth and overall better taste.

*This recipe may seem sour to those of you who are used to sweets. I've been off sugar for a while now so this recipe allowed the flavor of the cranberries, cinnamon and orange to burst through without all the overly sweetness of canned cranberry sauce. But you can add more "sweet" if you prefer!

Let me know how it turns out for you!
and
Happy Thanksgiving...a few days late.

MadCounty Mama

Friday, October 12, 2012

This and That

Wow, it's the middle of October!!! And my favorite time of year!

Crisp air Red leaves Nutmeg

Steaming drinks in my cup Yellow

Garden harvest                       Apple picking                   Canning

Piles of Leaves       Orange Cloves
Football

Cinnamon    Brown   Piles of Leaves    Pumpkin
*******************************************************************

Life in the Donaldson home:

Nana and PopPop came for a wonderful visit in September. They accompanied us to the Alpaca farm. The kids got to spend some great quality time with them and we are hopeful that we can make a trip to visit them around the holidays. My parents came down for a day and there lots of "old stories" going around - one of my favorite things about family gatherings is all the reminiscing.

While on a visit to my parents house to make "no-mato sauce" (more on that later!) my Dad showed up with a couple of his buddies and a dirty rusted snowmobile on the trailer. Turns out a few years back some crazy sled-necks were trying to ride their snowmobiles across the lake. Clearly no one told them that sleds should only be rode on frozen water.
A local rancher saw the sled sticking out of the lake and called up my Dad to see if he wanted it. After bringing the sled home several creatures began making an appearance! We caught 5 crawdads and got to see lots of barnacles attached to the sled. It turned into a great science day!

Last week we went on another field trip. And I forgot my camera. Again. Very sad because the kids had a wonderful time!
We visited Summit Aviation at our local airport. All the kids got to sit in a plane and pretend to fly. We learned how fast and how far the small four-seater could go.
Then we got to go visit the airport fire station and sit in the fire trucks! These fire trucks are lime green, not red! And one truck had the steering wheel in the center rather than the side; the reason for that is one fireman can drive the truck and work to put out the fire!

We started homeschool in September. Bug is working at a 1st grade level. I had planned to My Father's World for his curriculum but it is not challenging enough for him. I've come up with a program for him that is working quite well!
Cowboy is at the preschool level. He is learning to write his name and other pre-writing activities. He is also working on the phonetic alphabet and some pre-reading skills.
I plan to post more on school and our schedule.

AWANA is underway and going well. The boys are enjoying time with friends and get so excited to memorize scripture for which they earn patches on their vests.

We helped decorate and then rode on the AWANA float for the local Fall Festival parade.
We will also be participating in Operation Christmas Child - something I used to do with my mother every year. A great family tradition to carry on with my little ones!

What we are gearing up for:

Field trip to Museum of the Rockies - Yay!

Harvest Festival at our church - Fun!

Field Trip to a local Donut Shop - yum!

Packing our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child - more info here

Making Apple Cider - even more delish!

Building a "Thankful tree" for November

Happy Harvest!
MadCounty Mama

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Field Trip!! MT Alpacas

Let's pet some alpacas!

Turns out, they like to touch noses...

And eat treats

"Mom, it tickles!"

Cookie, 1 of 2 GIANT guard dogs

Princess not one bit afraid

asking for a kiss

Walking with Pop-pop

We took a short field trip out to the Alpacas of MT farm. Nana and Pop-pop were visiting so they came along as well! We learned all about the history of the breed and what their fleece is used for. We also got to feed the alpacas, pet some babies and hear stories about them.
On the farm they have a couple llamas to protect the herd as well as 2 very large guard dogs. These dogs fought off cougars and bears this summer! The llamas are just as impressive as they will take down strange dogs, coyotes or any other perceived threat.
We had a great time learning something new!
Thanks for Alpacas of MT for allowing us to come to their farm and to Little Explorer Tours from the Parks & Rec Dept in Bozeman for setting up these field trips!
Next week we will be going to Summit Aviation to learning all about airplanes and the world of flight.
MadCounty Mama

Friday, September 14, 2012

Photo Blast

MadCounty Mama

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Princess 2nd Birthday

3 days old

Princess turned 2 on Monday; we celebrated with family and friends and a giant chocolate cake that she picked out! It was a beautiful fallish afternoon, perfect for a party.
A few pics to remember what a sweet blessing she is...