Pumpkin Pie, mmmm!

Last year, my first autumn in the US, I had my first slice of Pumpkin Pie. I have to admit that my first thought was hmmm, I'm not sure! But I tried it and I was hooked!! It is a very signature dish for Fall. I made a pumpkin pie yesterday for Sonny and I, it's Sonny's favourite! Here are some pictures, sorry you can't taste it or 

smell it cooking - absolutely delicious!

  mixing ingredients

Pie fresh out of the oven

Here is the recipe I used, it is quick, easy and delicious! Enjoy!

Famous Pumpkin Pie

3/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15oz) Pumpkin or leftover pumpkin from carving
1 can (12 floz) evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9inch pie shell

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Beat eggs in a large bowl, stir in sugar mix and pumpkin. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shell

Bake in preheated oven 425F (200C) for 15mins. Reduce temp to 350F(180C) and bake for 40-50mins or until inserted knife near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Milky goodness!

Also at the Farmers Market we came across a stand selling Raw (unpasteurised) milk. There was a huge queue with people bringing back their crate full of empty bottles to be exchanged. We thought it must be good if all these people are returning each week for refills... and it is good! There is a lot of controversy over the sale of raw milk in the US but thankfully the State of South Dakota allows it.

Black Hills Milk are on a mission

We believe milk should be treated as a natural wholesome food untainted by over-handling, over processing ,overheating , ect., ect.!  We intend to produce, process & deliver to you, our consumer, the most natural form of dairy products possible. We believe in keeping things simple and fresh as God intended it. We do not use growth hormones or steroids and we believe in good common sense for proper medical treatment  and vaccination. All dairy products will be tested for safety and quality control.

Here is their story, please visit their website www.blackhillsmilk.com 

to find out more information.

We are very proud to present our farm, Habeck Dairy, and future dairy processing plant, Black Hills Milk.  We are a third generation family farm and intend to continue this tradition as we feel God has gifted the land and livestock to our care.

     The declining number of dairy farms in western Dakota from lack of processing plants has left our community with no fresh dairy product, not to mention the loss of income these farms once generated for our western South Dakota area.  Our farms have been faced with a very high transportation cost to ship milk 265 miles away only to have it processed, packaged, and hauled back to western South Dakota for consumption. (go figure!)   Because we feel that people deserve the option to have fresh local dairy products, we are in the beginning stages of our plans to process milk in western South Dakota.   We will keep you updated on the progress!

The Message hasn't changed:

Stop over-regulating an already safe, healthy
and reasonably priced local product.

  

  

The consumer should be able to choose for themselves  where to purchase Raw Milk.  This should not be a government controlled issue.

 We also bought what looks like  delicious Sirloin steak, can't wait to see if it is as good as their milk! Will let you know!

Farmers Market fun

Last Saturday Sonny and I were in town early enough to catch the Farmers market! 

Here are some goodies...

 

 

There are so many fun kinds of pumpkins and squashes. My favourite are the multicoloured ones that are all gnarly! 

A selection of all different kinds of peppers from jalapenos, hot cherry to bell peppers.

 

Shop Update

I have finally got myself organised and i have added things to my Etsy shop. 

Please take a look!

Inspiration

I am in need of some inspiration today, we have a very dull, damp and dreary day here and I'm finding it hard to get going.

I share with you below, some lovely photography that i found. 

I hope they inspire you too.

poptartsrox123

the_girl_me

hitmewithatext

sasha123411

leahhaudrey

pumashi

Meet the neighbours

Source

A female mountain lion looks down on South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Wildlife Division employees on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010. The mountain lion was treed and then tranquilized so that its fault collar could be replaced.

Wouldn't like to meet her on a dark night, thankfully they live high in the hills!

A Walk in the Woods

We had a somewhat chilly weekend here. It had been in the twenties most of last week and then, wow, 7C on Saturday with fog and rain - a very Scottish day as Sonny calls them! It was a bit of a shock to the system for it to be that cold. It's okay though we are back up to 20C today. I'm just hoping it will get gradually colder and ease us into winter! 

Yesterday we went for a walk at Little Elk Creek, the air was so fresh and crisp and the trees are just starting to turn. I hope they will keep their leaves longer than last year! Here are a few pics from our walk.

This little chap was making a huge racket as we stood under the tree he was in. There were another couple of squirrels on our walk that sounder like they were having a domestic!!

A game of cat and mouse...

We have had a little night visitor in our camper for the last couple of weeks. Yesterday was the day to finally say goodbye! Sonny set up this (huge) and ingenious mouse trap with lots of yummy peanut butter...!

CAUGHT!!

He is so cute but not something that I want living with us!

Here he is all ready for Sonny to take him far away and let him go and just hope that he doesn't remember his way home!

Fall is in the air!

FiionaKATE

The weather has taken a sudden change here, were are back to Jeans and cardigans and occasionally having to put the heating on! I love the fall season and I'm loving big mugs of hot tea, macaroni cheese, cardigans and blankets! I can't wait for the trees to start turning, it's going to be so beautiful and i'm looking forward to sharing some 

pictures with you!

 

Timea_ft

 

Art Alley

As Bugs Bunny says, welcome to Art Alley! This is a service alley in downtown Rapid City, where graffiti artists have free reign. They have spray painted walls of businesses (with their permission!), bins, anything they can get their hands on really! There are also other painted canvases dotted arond. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as i enjoy walking down Art Alley!

Boulder, CO Wildfires

These images are from our local newspaper and others of the terrible wildfires. While we were enjoying our holiday weekend, the poor people of Sunshine Canyon, CO were battling with these erratic fires.

As of Wednesday 8th September, authorities say at least 136 homes have been destroyed by a wildfire burning in canyons and foothills west of Boulder. The 7,100-acre fire in the foothills west of Boulder isn't contained at all. At least 300 firefighters are fighting the fire that started Monday, Sept. 6, 2010.

My heart goes out to all the people who have lost everything.

source: Rapid City Journal

source: Rapid City Journal

source: Rapid City Journal

source

Source

Labour Day Weekend

Monday was Labour Day here in the U.S, known as May Day everywhere else, so it was a three day weekend for Sonny and I and unofficially the last day of Summer. The weather was really nice on Saturday and Sunday and then on Monday it dropped 10C! 'Fall' is definitely in the air, and i am looking forward to the turning of the leaves and the crisp cool days. I have enjoyed summer but autumn is by far my favourite time of year, so I am ready to look out the cardigans and trousers again.

Saturday was a fantastic day so we went for a walk in hills and Sonny did some fishing - he caught two fish but neither were big enough to eat. Here are some pictures from our holiday weekend.














I think the fish below is a Brook Trout, it's so colourful!