Dogs, alpacas and bread.

This silly dog. She always has something in her mouth. Always. Yesterday morning she had this piece of firewood. I let her out and she took it with her.

This dog is so funny. She just cracks me up! She sees me coming and she just flops over on her back for a belly rub. I love this dog.

And it's so cool to look out my back windows into the back yard and see 2 alpacas. Not too many people can say that, right?

I have been getting day old bread from a store down town. I have gotten quite lazy about making my fresh ground whole wheat rolls and bread since. So I have decided this is the last week for getting the bread. I do feed most of it to the goats, sheep and chickens. But there is always a few good loaves of yummy bread for us to eat.

So I am making bread and rolls again. Tiny said he's been missing it. I love how the house smells when it's rising, then baking. I feel so domestic.

This morning at Outback Farm

 This morning, it was just 26 degrees. It was really beautiful out there. Frosty bushes and grass and frozen ponds. Just beautiful. So I grabbed my camera and snapped away. I hope you all enjoy some sparkly prettiness here at Outback Farm.

The last few leaves on this Silver Maple tree, hanging on for dear life. So pretty against the bright blue sky. The sun is VERY welcome here right now, after all the rain lately.

Sauteed collard green

I don't know if I ever posted this recipe before. But it's SO good, I just have to. And it's so easy and fast and so good for you too. If you like any kind of greens, you'll like this.

You just go out in the garden, or to the farmer's market, or the store, and gather a bucket of collard greens. Take them inside to the kitchen and wash them real good. I just stick them in the salad spinner to get all the water off. That's about the handiest kitchen gadget ever.

Then take about half an onion, chopped up. And about 5 cloves of garlic, chopped up.

Then chop up all the greens. I just take a handful and roll them up and cut that way.

Get your skillet hot and add olive oil. Add your onions and cook a few minutes til soft. Then throw the garlic in. I just stir them up good, then start adding the greens.

I'll add a handful, then some salt and pepper. Stir it all up good. Then add more greens. You know how fast these things cook down.

Get them all in the pan, then turn the heat down to about low, put a lid on, and let simmer about 15 minutes. You might want to check to see if it needs a little more oil. The greens really suck the oil up. But don't put too much in, because once they've had oil, if you add too much, it can get too oily. So be careful.

These are so good, you'll want to have some a few times a week.

You can also do kale a similar way. I do the same thing with the onions and garlic. But I add chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. Cook til tender, then add kale. Talk about some good eatin' right there! I took some to the community dinner a few weeks ago and they were all eaten up.

So go out to the garden and try some soon. You'll like, I bet.