A Southern Girl – Page 14

More than ‘The Horse Whisperer’

If you don’t know who Buck Brannaman is, you owe it to yourself to find out. He was an adviser and served as inspiration for the movie The Horse Whisperer with Robert Redford. A few days ago while flipping through the channels I came across Buck, a documentary about Buck’s life and philosophies concerning horse training… at least that’s what I thought when I started watching it. About half way through I realized that it is, in fact, SO much more than that. His approach to horse training is promoting praise and cooperation rather than fear and punishment. Those principles have a far greater reach than just training horses..

Buck shares the story of his tragic upbringing involving an abusive father, which he credits for his compassion toward horses and the fear they have when learning to trust their handlers. He travels the country doing ‘clinics’, where he provides hands on training and advice for owners of horses.

After watching this, you will see that most of what he teaches aren’t just lessons in horse training.. they are also life lessons.

“You allow a horse to make mistakes, the horse will learn from mistakes no different than the human. But you can’t get him to where he dreads making mistakes for fear of what’s going to happen after he does.”

– Buck Brannaman

“Horses don’t think the same as humans. Something that’s most unique about the horse, that I love, is not what he possesses but what he doesn’t possess. And that is greed, spite, hate, jealousy, envy, prejudice. The horse doesn’t possess any of those things. If you think about people, the least desirable people to be around usually possess some or all of those things. And the way God made the horse, he left that out.”

– Buck Brannaman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IShjmWYuHZ0

BUCK’S WEBSITE

Cowboy Casserole

Recipes

Have you ever had one of those days… the kind of day where you would rather take a beating than to have to stand at the stove and cook dinner? The kind of day where you are tempted to throw a loaf of bread on the table and call it good? Well, that’s me on MOST days.

We eat out probably just as much, if not more than I cook. My Grandmother and Grandma would be so ashamed, I know. Well, faced with that dilemma AGAIN (like I said, it’s pretty much a regular thing 🙂 )

It’s pretty hard to find something my son Lane will eat. His diet pretty much consists of PB&J, chicken nuggets.. well, anything chicken for that matter, grilled cheese, and chocolate chip cookies.. you get the idea. Anyway, he choked this down quite easily. No gagging, crying or anything.. I was impressed. My husband and I really liked it. Simple, yet good.

Ingredients

2 lbs Ground Beef

1 Medium Onion Chopped

3 Cloves of Garlic Minced

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 15 oz Can of Whole Kernel Corn, Drained

2 1/2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

2/3 Cup of Milk

5 Tbsp of Sour Cream

1 Bag of Tater Tots

salt and pepper to taste

It works best if you let the tater tots thaw for a bit before starting, I actually forgot to do this, so I stuck them in the microwave for a minute or so.

In a large skillet cook the onion, garlic, and ground beef until cooked thoroughly add salt and pepper. Drain and transfer to large bowl. In a separate bowl combine together sour cream, soup, and milk. Add to hamburger meat and mix well. Mix in 1 1/2 cup of cheese and corn. In 9 x 13 casserole dish layer 1/2 of tater tots on the bottom of the dish, then spread the mixture over them. Top it off with remaining tater tots and cover with leftover cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until tater tots are browned. Serve with a dollop of sour cream to finish it off. 🙂 Enjoy!

Peanut Brittle (light, crispy, & oh so good)

Recipes

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Ingredients

2 Cups Raw Peanuts

2 Cups Sugar

1 Cup White Corn Syrup

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Vinegar

½ Cup Water

Add ½ cup water, 2 cups sugar and 1 cup white corn syrup in a large skillet (I used a 12” cast iron). Cook until sugar has completely dissolved, about four minutes. Then add the 2 cups of peanuts. This is the hard part. If you cook too long the peanuts will burn and if you do not cook long enough the peanut brittle will not have the correct flavor. Cook until the mixture starts to turn brown. Usually about 8 to 9 minutes. You can watch the peanuts to see when they start to turn brown. When it is done cooking add the teaspoon of salt, Baking soda, and vinegar. Stir the mixture. This will cause air bubbles to form in the brittle. The mixture will double in size this is why you need a large pan. Now pour the mixture into 3 disposable buttered pie pans and let if flow out do not spread the mixture out.

A lot of recipes call for the mixture to be spread.. to me that makes peanut brutal, not brittle. 🙂 It’s a matter of preference, by not spreading, the air bubbles stay in… giving it more of an airy crispy texture. When it is spread out, it removes all of the air bubbles, making it really hard.

Also, you can also use pecan pieces in place of peanuts for pecan brittle.. very good too! We’ve made almond brittle, cashew brittle, etc.

You will want to have you baking soda, salt, and vinegar ready to go so you can add it quickly to the mixture. Make sure your pie pans are buttered and ready before you start.

Pumpkin Roll

Recipes

It’s that time of year… pumpkin everything is hitting the shelves and coffee shops across the nation. I’m not much of a ‘Pumpkin Spiced Latte’ or ‘Pumpkin M&M’s’ kind of girl… but this Pumpkin Roll, um… yes, please!

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Ingredients:

3 Eggs

1 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Libby’s Packed Pumpkin

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

2/3 Cup Flour

Preheat oven to 350. Cover a jelly roll pan with wax paper and lightly cover with cooking spray. Beat eggs, sugar, and pumpkin. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into pan and spread to sides. Bake 10-15 minutes or until slightly browned. Lay a tea towel out flat and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. Flip the pan onto the towel directly out of the oven. Carefully remove wax paper and roll into the towel, lengthwise. Cool in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Unroll and fill with pumpkin roll filling below, then re-roll and chill for 1 hour. When firm, slice into desired thickness.

Pumpkin Roll Filling:

8 Ounce Cream Cheese

2 Tbsp Butter or Margarine

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until nice and creamy, then add powdered sugar and beat well.

Armadillo Eggs

Recipes

My husband made these and they are WONDERFUL! Our first experience with Armadillo Eggs was this past Summer at a local festival and we have been craving them ever since. Thankfully, he came up with this recipe… man they are good!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Mild Cheddar

1 Cup Sharp Cheddar

1 Cup Monterrey Jack

10 Jalapeno Peppers (diced, with seeds removed)

1 lb Hot Sausage

1 lb Regular Sausage

McCormick Golden Dipt All Purpose Batter Mix (this is the one we use, but any general purpose batter should work)

Saute peppers in large skillet then remove. Using the same skillet, brown sausage until cooked thoroughly. While sausage is cooling, mix 1/2 of batter according to box directions for dipping and reserve some dry batter in a separate bowl. Mix together sausage (while still warm), cheese, and peppers.

Form mixture into egg sized balls. Dip in wet batter, then roll in dry batter. Let set for 5 minutes. Deep fry at 350 degrees, making sure they are completely submerged in oil, for 2 1/2 minutes.

Rudolph Goodie Bags

Crafts • Party Ideas

I made these for Lane’s classmates, along with the Rudolph Hot Chocolate Bags. They turned out really cute!

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You will need:

Lunch size brown paper bags

Paper Hole Punch

1″ Red Pom Poms

Brown Pipe Cleaners

Wiggly Eyes

Step 1

Glue eyes and red nose on the paper bag. Be careful not to place them too high up because you will need to fold the bag in following steps. Allow to dry completely before proceeding to Step 2.

Step 2:

Fill bag with ‘goodies’, then fold bag twice about 1 1/2″ folds. Then use a hole punch to punch holes in both corners of bag.

Step 3:

Fold pipe cleaners in half with one side slightly longer.

Step 4:

Stick loop end of pipe cleaner through hole and then pull long ends through the loop. Play around with it until you get the shape of ‘antlers’ that you like. I just looped the ends and staggered them out a little.

That’s all there is to it!

Sure to make the kiddos happy!

Rudolph Hot Chocolate Bags

Crafts • Party Ideas • Recipes

I got this idea from a picture I saw on Pinterest, which led me to the blog Little Wonders’ Days… This blog has a lot of absolutely adorable ideas for crafts. Check it out for directions on making your own Rudolph Hot Chocolate bags, and much more. 🙂 If you haven’t experienced Pinterest, you are really missing out. You need an invite to join, so leave a comment with your email address if you would like one!