New Reading Obsession

Now that fall harvest has hit a close, I have had a little bit more personal time lately and I decided to rekindle my love for reading. Also Tyson had given me a Kindle Reader last Christmas and I hadn't even used it all summer! So I felt the need to start using it! After finishing the hunger game series earlier this year I was determined to find something just as addicting. That is when I came across some Harlequin Romance Novels by Donna Alward. The first book I read was Hired by the Cowboy.

I have always been a sucker for a good love story, and then to add in a cowboy and his ranch, well I just couldn't resist.





Here is the description:

Wanted: one contract bride!
Alexis Grayson is good at looking after herself—she's been doing it all her life. So what if she's alone and pregnant? She'll cope! But gorgeous cowboy Connor Madsen seems determined to take care of her. And Alexis can help him—he needs a temporary wife; she needs somewhere to live until the baby's born. A short-term marriage will solve all their difficulties!
As Alexis gets to know the courageous, honorable Connor, she realizes that she might have made the biggest mistake of her life. Because all this wife-for-hire wants is a marriage for real!

Are you hooked yet???

Now it is no Fifty Shades of Grey but I loved the tale of romance between the two. Now I am hooked on reading all of Donna Alward's books.

What has been on your favorite reading list lately?

Right now you can download the Kindle Edition of Hired by the Cowboy by Donna Alward for FREE on Amazon!

Pumpkin Carving & Pumpkin Seeds

So much concentration. This pumpkin carving is hard work.

I am not quite as good of a carver as my husband.

And the finished product. I would say not too shabby of a job.

Reasons for caving pumpkins: 1) It is fun! 2) It is great bonding time! 3) My birthday is on Halloween and my Hubby's is just 3 days before so anything Halloween related is a must in our household! But this year the best part was the roasted pumpkin seeds, I found a recipe through Pinterest, and I must say they turned out pretty good! The recipe was posted originally here and she does a great job of explaining and pictures. But it is time I start branching into a new sector, so here is my first recipe blog post, with more to come! :)

Perfect Pumpkin Seed:

When cleaning out your pumpkins, try to keep as much of the seeds separate from the rest of the pumpkin goo, this will simplify your process. We waited until we were done carving before starting on the seeds. You'll need to clean the seeds and get all the goo off, it is a very tedious process! Hopefully your husband is as sweet as mine and helps you clean them off. After you have picked as much of the pumpkin goo off as possible, then rinse them a couple of times in a colander. This should remove most of the excess pumpkin guts.

1. Boil the seeds in salt water for 10 minutes. Use only about 1 tsp. of salt and after you bring the seeds to a boil, turn the pot on low and let the seeds simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Drain the seeds in the colander and pat dry with a paper towel. The seeds will stick to everything so don't worry about that and just spread the onto a baking sheet.

3. Spread all the seeds out onto the baking sheet and pour about 1 tsp of olive oil over the seeds and mix around on the baking sheet. Be careful not to use too much oil, otherwise your seeds will come out soggy. We used Lawrys Seasoning Salt on our seeds. Mix all around so all the seeds are covered. 

4. Spread the seeds out and try to minimize the overlapping. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

5. Cook the seeds for 10 minutes, then take them out and give them a stir and cook for another 5-10 minutes depending upon your oven. Don't let the outside of your seeds turn brown because the insides will brown and burn before the outside of the seed will turn. The inner seed should just have a golden color to it. Try a few to be sure that they are at your desired crispness.

Here is our finished product:

Potato Farming

Wednesday I had the chance to put on a training session with a large potato producer, who actually grows a large amount of the potatoes for Frito Lay potato chips! Before starting on this project, I didn't know much about the potato world. So here are a few quick facts!

One medium sized potato, eaten with the skin on:

• Is just 110 calories.
• Has nearly half of the Daily Value for vitamin C.
• Is one of the best sources of potassium and fiber in the produce section.
• Is a great way to eat your veggies
•  Preserve the most nutrients by keeping skin on. If you must peel, be sure to keep the peeling very thin, since many nutrients are found close to the skin.
•  Steam or microwave potatoes instead of boiling them, because water naturally leaches some of the nutrients from the potatoes 

Each year in the US there are more than 1 million acres of potatoes planted-that's like filling hte whole state of Rhode Island with potato plants. It's the leadinvegetable crop in the Us with a total Production of 41.3 billion pounds!

And a little History:

In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, created the technology with the goal of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.

During the Alaskan Klondike gold rush, (1897-1898) potatoes were practically worth their weight in gold. Potatoes were valued for their vitamin C.  And gold, at that time, was more plentiful than nutritious foods!

French Fries were introduced to the U.S. when Thomas Jefferson served them in the White House during his Presidency of 1801-1809.

Some of the most famous potato dishes we enjoy today were created by mistake Collinet, chef for French King Louis Phillipe (reign 1830-1848) unintentionally created soufflés (or puffed) potatoes by plunging already fried potatoes into extremely hot oil to reheat them when the King arrived late for dinner one night. To the chef's surprise and the king's delight, the potatoes puffed up like little balloons.

Potato Chips In 1853 railroad magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that his potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to the kitchen at a fashionable resort in Saratoga Springs, NY. To spite his haughty guest, Chef George Crum sliced some potatoes paper thin, fried them in hot oil, salted and served them. To everyone's surprise, Vanderbilt loved his "Saratoga Crunch Chips," and potato chips have been popular ever since.
(Source: potatogoodness.com)


In honor of all this potato talk I think I am going to make bacon wrapped pototoes on the grill tonight for supper. How do you like to cook your potatoes?

Wordless Wednesday: Sweetcorn

Along with my in-laws Tyson and I shucked, boiled, cut, and froze 6 bushels of sweetcorn last night!

3x5 Folded Card -Wedding Thank You Notes

Classic Band Thank You Card

Create unique thank you cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Recieved our wedding photos back in the mail on Friday and just in time to create these.
Created these wonderful thank you notes on shutterfly, it was so simply!
The templates are easy to use and relatively inexpensive for ordering.

Calving Season

First I must apologize for the lack of blogging! Finishing up my last semester of school at UNL and planning a wedding really keeps me on my toes! The following is an update on Calving season for the Narjes Cattle Company!

This year the boys have taken on about 150 more head of cows! That is a lot of extra mouths to feed and mommas to calve out this year, but is still quite manageable for two people.. plus the boys have some great spouses that love to help them out at well.



Replacement Heifers: A crowd of good looking girls!



This calf was born in the middle of the night with a windchill of -40.. brrrr! With two calves already in the heat boxes this little guy had to come into the house to warm up! The boys usually check cows every 2 hours to make sure none of the cows are having any problems, and when it is as cold as it has been lately at night it is imperitive to bring these little guys into the warm barn. A calf can freeze in as easily as 45 minutes in these extreme weather conditions.

I am partial to black baldy calves so here is one of my favorites. It also happens to be one of Tyson's Uncles favorites as well. The calves love playing on the piles in the yards.

Here is another one of my favorites with her momma. Hope we can keep this heifer as a replacement for next year!

Calving Season just happens to be one of my favorites on the farm. I love see all the young spunky calves around and the protective mommas trying to keep up with their babies. It is a great way to experience the blessings of new life! I am already looking forward to next year's calving season when I will be living at the farm full time and not just on the occasional weekend I venture out to see Tyson.

Be on the look out for future updates on calving. Hope everyone elses winter season is going just as well as ours.