Happy Christmas Birthday

New babies are always special on the dairy farm

 but having a Christmas baby  is a great gift for a dairy farmer.

Having two is even better!

                                                                    Merry Christmas
                                                                               from
                                                      down on the Arkansas dairy farm!
                     

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Getting ready for Christmas down on the dairy farm includes

 making sure we have plenty of feed for our calves and cows.

I'm thankful for the feed truck driver that works long hours

 before holidays to make sure feed is available for our animals

and 

                                                           for the unexpected delivery
                                                                          of a
                                                             herd of Christmas cheer!                                                                

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Cows just love to mother a new calf and often try to take

 over another cow's mothering job  before delivering a calf of their own.

Some mamas allow this behavior and others will work to stop this invasion  of their space.

I'm thankful for the natural  God-given mothering instinct 

that protects and  insures a healthy  start in life.

Dairy Delight

Sweet memories are made in the kitchen and shared through generations especially during the Christmas holiday.  One of our family favorites is   Raspberry Delight also known as  "Purple Puddin". Ryan's mother made such sweet memories for us,  spoiled us rotten with great holiday meals and established a Christmas family tradition  that always brings delight down on the dairy farm.


Raspberry Delight

Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 pint whipping cream,whipped
4 Tablespoons Seedless Black Raspberry Jam
1 box vanilla wafers
1 cup nuts (optional)

Directions:

Mix together sweetened condensed milk and the juice of 2 lemons; set aside. In a separate bowl, whip cream and gently fold in raspberry jam. Stir mixtures together.
Place a layer of vanilla wafers in the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch dish. Cover wafers with pudding mixture,sprinkle with nuts if desired. Repeat layers ending with wafers on top. Chill.

 You can find more #DairyChristmas at these sites:

• Posset-ively Eggnog Is Ice Cream by Farmer Bright
• #DairyChristmas: Peanut Butter Balls by Messy Kennedy
• Winter Iowa Corn Chowder (as featured on Cheeserank) by Little House on the Dairy
• #DairyChristmas Farm Barbie
• The best Christmas cookies in the world by Truth or Dairy
• Recipes for a Dairy Christmas by Cow Spots and Tales
• #DairyChristmas: Cherry Mint Sugar Cookies by Kimmi's Dairyland
• Perfect for a Party – Cheddar Olive Bites by DairyCarrie
• Dairy Christmas Traditions by Knolltop Farm Wife
• #DairyChristmas: Love and Latkes by New Moon Dairy
• Family at the Table by The Deere Milkmaid
• French Onion Soup – Our Family Christmas Tradition by Eat Farm Love
• Dairy Delight by Spotted Cow Review
• Christmas Cookies and Holiday Hearts by My Barnyard View
• Italian Soup by So She Married A Farmer
• Christmas Tapioca Pudding by Guernsey Dairy Mama
• #DairyChristmas: Festive Parmesan Frico by Dairy Good Life

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

This new baby was all snuggled in the  bed of straw at the back of the 

calf hutch when it was time for her afternoon  bottle of warm milk.

It took a little persuasion to move her towards the bottle

 but  in a short time she drank every drop.

I'm thankful for a healthy calf that grows up to become the cow

 that produce milk for my family and yours.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Carving the Thanksgiving turkey is serious business but when I pulled

 out the ancient electric knife, the challenge began for Casey.

I'm thankful for these memories that are made with my family  in the kitchen 

and 

the holidays that bring us together around the table

                                                     
                                           after a day working together down on the dairy farm.

Busy Day Supper

All of our days are busy down on the dairy farm, but there's all those  additional to do lists in December. The lists I'm referring to are  the shopping, the baking, the decorating and all the extra  activities like practice for the church Christmas cantata or the school play. Midwest Dairy's  Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole fits into a busy schedule perfectly!

Cheeseburger Macaroni Casserole


Ingredients:
Non-stick cooking spray
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
whole-wheat elbow macaroni
1 medium tomato,chopped
1-8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt,optional
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 x 8 baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.
In large skillet over medium heat,cook ground beef and onion until
beef is brown and onion is soft; drain. Cook macaroni according to package directions,drain.
Spoon macaroni into prepared pan. Spread beef mixture and chopped tomato over macaroni.
 Pour tomato sauce over beef. Sprinkle with seasoned salt,pepper and shredded cheese.

Yield: 4 servings

Options:
To spice it up, use your favorite pizza or Italian style tomato sauce instead of tomato sauce
 and seasoned salt.
For a later meal, double the recipe and place the second casserole in the freezer for later use.

                                        
                                        Happy December!