Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Hot Springs was the meeting place last weekend for the fifth 

Arkansas Women Bloggers Conference. 

As a blogging member, I've attended four conferences and made sure to

 attend the food blogging option called Foodie Friday. 

As part of this year's Foodie Friday, women in agriculture provided 

information about our involvement in food production in Arkansas.

I'm thankful for any opportunity to share information about agriculture, 

to see the passion and dedication of other women in agriculture like Lori and Donette, 

to enjoy the products produced in Arkansas

 generously give to us at the conference, 

and

to be inspired by the group known as 

Arkansas Women Bloggers.

Arkansas Grown

Arkansas Grown is a  branding label developed by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture to assist Arkansas farmers in promoting  products grown in our state. When I found this Arkansas Grown  bumper sticker tucked in my Foodie Friday swag bag at the Arkansas Women Bloggers Conference, I couldn't help but think about our dairy farm and the high quality milk produced every day for Arkansas consumers.

       A big thank-you to Arkansas Grown for sponsoring the Foodie Friday portion of the conference,
       for helping Arkansas farmers promote our products and for providing me with this fun bumper sticker!

                                                           

                      Our Holstein dairy calves are Arkansas Grown  on our third generation dairy  farm!

The milk that our Arkansas Grown cows produce is processed at the local Hiland plant for Arkansas consumers,

                                                                   and if that's not enough,

I'm an Arkansas Grown (born,raised and educated in Arkansas)  farmer

 living down on the Arkansas dairy farm!

Rice Farmers Connect with Arkansas Women Bloggers

Arkansas Women Bloggers gathered in Rogers this past weekend for an annual event of gathering,growing and connecting. What's not to love about an experience that motivates you,sends you home with  more ideas and knowledge and  inspires you with information about Arkansas companies that contribute not only to us personally but to our state?

Riceland Foods, a cooperative of family farmers,  not only sponsored part of the conference, they provided us with an insulated lunch bag filled with Riceland products! Here's a few facts about Arkansas Rice:

• Arkansas is the nation's number one rice-producing state.
• Arkansas produces almost 50% of U.S. rice.
• Arkansas farmers grow an average of 1.5 million acres of rice each year.
• Arkansas total economic impact from rice equals over 25,000 jobs and over $6 billion annually.
• Arkansas rice provides thousands of acres of migratory waterfowl habitat.
• Arkansas has designated rice as its official grain.
• Arkansas's top agricultural export is rice.

I'll have to admit, it seemed a little like Christmas when I pulled each item out of the lunch bag!

I can't wait to try the recipe for Brown Rice Cornbread--perfect for celebrating the fact that September is National Rice Month!

Brown  Rice Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked Riceland Natural Brown Rice

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup honey

2 large beaten eggs

1 cup cream

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup semolina flour

1/4 cup pickled jalapeno  peppers (finely diced)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole corn kernels

1/4 cup unsalted butter

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, except for the butter, and mix together well with a spatula. Melt the butter in the hot skillet,then pour off the excess into the batter and mix in well. Turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Pour the cornbread mixture into the skillet, place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly, carefully remove from the skillet and place on a wire rack to cool until ready to eat. 

                                                         Happy Rice Month!

Tale of an Arkansas Woman Blogger

Just a little more than a week ago, I traveled to Mountain View to attend my first Arkansas Women Bloggers Conference. From the Foodie Friday afternoon session, where I was given my very own Spotted Cow Review apron, till we departed for home on Sunday morning, it was jam-packed with useful information about sharing our passion through blogging and providing tools to improve that sharing ability--whatever the subject.  Nestled in north central Arkansas into the hills and around the curves, the Ozark Folk Center gives you a view of life about the heart of Arkansas--it's people. It was the perfect setting for the gathering of women from across our state and beyond  the state borders.

One of my favorite sessions on the Friday afternoon schedule was the tour of the herbal garden located in front of the Center. Herbalist Tina Marie Wilcox gave us a quick overview of the herbs growing in the garden and descriptions of how each can be used and grown for a variety of culinary and medicinal purposes (http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com/herbs/yarb_tales.aspx).

 Even though it was a steamy afternoon, Tina moved through the garden with the speed of a jack rabbit  sharing her enthusiasm and passion for herbs. Her knowledge about herbs was amazing but what really caught my attention was her ability and desire to share her passion and knowledge with others.

Now that I'm back on the dairy  farm with my apron hanging  proudly in the kitchen, my mind  is full of lessons learned and I've been   inspired by these  Arkansas women I met that are  sharing their passion with others.

 Most of all, I'm thankful for the fact that you stop by Spotted Cow Review to let me share my passion about life on and off the farm!

Boots and Blogs

In just a week, I'm going to step out of my dairy  farm comfort zone and head to Mountain View, Arkansas to "meet-up" with women bloggers from across the state to fulfill the mission statement of Arkansas Women Bloggers to 'Gather,Grow,and Connect.'

Blogging is all about connecting and sharing with others what we love and feel passionate about. While I'm hoping to improve how I share my passion about life on the farm with writing tips and techniques, I can't wait to connect with other women that have been sharing their creativity and passion so well on a variety of blog subjects!

Although I will be stepping out of my dairy farm comfort zone, I will be stepping into a pair of beautiful boots--compliments of Country Outfitter,one of the fun and generous conference sponsors (http://countryoutfitter.com/?utm_campaign=Sponsorship_Post_AWBU_2012_07_24_).    How  did they know I have a passion for boots!  With so many boots to choose from, it was not an easy decision.
Here's the pair I selected:

What I really love is that not only do I get a pair of boots for attending the conference, Country Outfitter is donating a pair for me to give away on my blog after the conference!! Don't worry,  I'll be sure and get the giveaway instructions so that one of ya'll can be the proud owner of a new pair of boots,too!

If you're curious about other fantastic sponsors of this event and  what happens at a "meet-up" of bloggers, you can check the conference agenda at http://arkansaswomenbloggers.com.