July 25, 2014

Christmas in July Sale!

We're having a sale at the shop

Hurry, though, because after July 31st you'll miss out!

www.oldhousemercantile.etsy.com


4H and a Winner!

Hey all!  Phew!  What a crazy week!  4H summer judging is wrapped up and the kiddos have already started planning their projects for next year!

Before I share some pictures of the week with you I'll let you know that the winner of the Gooseberry Patch Grilling and Campfire Cookbook giveaway is...

Tracey Burrows!!

Tracey, please contact me at oldhousemercantile@gmail.com
within 7 days (by August 1st at midnight) to claim your prize! 
(If not contacted by then I will redraw for a different winner.)

*  *  *  *  *  *

Now onto 4-H...

Saturday was the Summer Doe show.  If you follow us on Instagram (OldHouseHomestead) you saw a few pictures from that day.  

Ready to go!!



Isaac won Champion Sr. Dairy Doe and Grand Champion Dairy Doe with his goat, Pixie!



Hannah won Reserve Champion Jr. Dairy Doe with her goat, April!


And Lydie won a blue ribbon with her little girlie, Daisy!


Sunday I came down with a stomach bug so hubby took the kiddos to summer judging on Monday since I was still under the weather (one of the perks for having a hubby that teaches school and has the summer off!).  He tried his hardest to get pictures from that day, but with kids in various buildings and he had all 8 of them there with him we'll cut him a little slack! 

 Foods:  Lydia made bananaberry muffins (recipe HERE) and got a blue ribbon.  Isaac made biscuits (recipe HERE) and got a blue ribbon.  Hannah made a peach and oatmeal tea ring (I'll share the recipe soon!) and won blue, honor, and champion ribbons (and is making another one for the state fair next week!).  Rebekah made a blueberry crumb top pie and got a blue ribbon.  (Crust recipe HERE, filling recipe HERE)

 Noah entered an electrical set and got a blue ribbon!



 Lego was tough.  Let's just say judging was...interesting.  Noah won blue, honor, reserve champion ribbons.  Rebekah won blue and honor ribbons. Hannah won a blue ribbon.  Isaac won blue and honor ribbons.
 Isaac's creation...a mountain camping scene.

Hannah's creation...a Lego Friend's strip mall.

Tuesday there was more judging and I was able to go!  
It wore me out, but I went and I'm so glad I did!  

 Hannah got blue, honor, and reserve champion for her embroidery!

Lydia got a blue ribbon for her embroidery!

Rebekah got a blue ribbon for her sign she made!  
(After fall fall and display she will be selling this in our Shop!  Half of proceeds will go to charity!)

Isaac won a blue ribbon for his punched tin art!  
You can't tell too well, but it is an Indianapolis colts helmet. 

Noah won blue for a pencil drawing of a black capped chickadee! 

Isaac won blue and honor ribbons for his step stool in woodworking!

Lydia won a blue ribbon for her pillow!


Hannah won blue, honor, champion, and state fair ribbons for her ironing board cover, organizer and pin cushion!  
It's going down to the State Fair next week!  

For her champion ribbons she was invited to attend an awards ceremony Wednesday night after the ice cream social!  She received two trophies for her efforts!  




We are so proud of all of our kiddos and their accomplishments!  
They learn so many life skills in 4-H!  That alone is worth it!  
The ribbons and trophies are the icing on top!  
















July 14, 2014

Chuck Wagon Beans

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!  We are in full swing of getting 4-H projects completed this week so we're hitting the ground running!  We have kiddos working on sewing, woodworking, Lego creations, baking, embroidery, drawing, and other arts and crafts projects this week.  It's crazy busy!  Here's a yummy recipe we're going to enjoy this week!

Don't forget...Wednesday (the 16th) is the last day to enter the giveaway for Gooseberry Patch's Grilling and Campfire Cooking book over HERE.

 Chuck Wagon Beans

1-1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. bacon, diced
2 onions, diced
6 to 7  15-oz. cans baked beans with molasses
1-1/4 c. ketchup
1-1/3 c. boiling water
3 T. mustard
2 cubes beef bouillon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 c. brown sugar, to taste

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, brown beef, bacon and onions; drain.  Stir in remaining ingredients, adding brown sugar a little at a time to desired sweetness.  Cover and simmer over low heat for 90 minutes to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Makes 8 to 10 servings.  Enjoy!


July 11, 2014

Weekend Sale!

Save 20% off over at the shop this weekend!
 (now thru Sunday at midnight!)
 (click picture below for link)
 Coupon code:

SAVE20NOW 

www.oldhousemercantile.etsy.com

Pie-Iron Pizzas

When we went camping up north we made pie iron pizzas for dinner one night.  They were super yummy and most of the kiddos could make them by themselves with just a smidge of help.  The older kiddos helped cook them over the campfire.  Our family of 10 has six pie irons so we have to be patient with each another.  I think a few more pie irons might be on our list of to-buy's at the end-of-season clearances, though. 

This recipe is another good one from Gooseberry Patch's Grilling and Campfire Cooking!  I'm giving away a copy HERE!

Dawn's Pie-Iron Pizzas

1 loaf sliced bread (we used white and needed more than one loaf)
1/2 c. butter, softenend
1 to 2 15-oz jars pizza sauce (we used a larger jar of spaghetti sauce...more veggies in it and cheaper)
8-oz. pkg. pepperoni slices
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, diced
8-oz. jar sliced mushrooms, drained
4-oz. jar sliced black olives, drained
8-oz. pkg. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat pie iron in campfire.  Spread 2 slices bread with butter on one side. Place one slice, butter-side down, on hotter side of pie iron.  Spoon desired amount of pizza sauce over both slices of bread.  Top one slice with pepperoni, vegetables, a handful of cheese and remaining bread slice.  Close pie iron.  Cook over campfire for several minutes; opening carefully to check how toasted the bread is. Close pie iron; flip over and cook other side to desired doneness.  Makes 6-8 servings.

July 7, 2014

Corn Dogs on the Fire!

I have another fun campfire recipe to share with you!  We tried this while we were camping and it was pretty tasty!   This is from the Gooseberry Patch Grilling and Campfire Cooking book that I'm giving away HERE.

For this recipe you'll need a pie iron.  A rectangular/square one is best!    


We had a little sticking problem at first so we added a bit more butter to the pie iron the second time around.


Campfire Corn Dogs

8 - 1/2 oz. pkg. corn muffin mix
1/3 c. milk
1 egg
8 to 10 hot dogs
Butter
Ketchup, mustard ... whatever you like on your corn dogs.

In a bowl, stir together muffin mix, milk and egg until moistened (we added a tablespoon of melted butter). Place two hot dogs inside a well-greased pie iron (more butter is better!).  Add enough batter to fill bottom of pie iron.  Close pie iron; turn over and cook over campfire for 3 minutes (give or take a minute).  Turn over; cook for another 3 minutes (again, give or take a minute), or until cornbread is set.  Repeat with remaining ingredients.  Slice between hot dogs; serve with ketchup and mustard.  Enjoy!
Serves 4.

July 4, 2014

July 2, 2014

Dutch Oven Breakfast and a Giveaway

A few weeks ago we went camping in northern Michigan at Tawas Point State Park.  It was beautiful!  We had a great view of the bay.



With gorgeous sunsets!

And a beautiful lighthouse to admire as well!



We had a lot of fun and plenty of time for relaxation.  It's so nice to just get away and do nothing but relax, have fun, and enjoy each others company.  We had a little snafoo at the beginning of the trip with our van breaking down, but the Lord provided the knowledge and skill my hubby needed to get it fixed and we were good to go. It was a bit chilly with temps barely hitting the 70's, but I thought it was heavenly and the kids didn't seem to mind not sweating as they rode their bikes and played at the playground with new found friends.  It was the perfect weather for a campfire!  We had one at least twice a day (unless it rained).  For Father's Day we bought hubby a grill thingamajig for grilling over the campfire so that's how we cooked our meals.  We had hot dogs, hamburgers, pork loin, and a few other yummy recipes I'm going to share with you over the next two weeks. 

The kind peeps at Gooseberry Patch have given me a copy of this fun Grilling and Campfire cookbook to give away!  There are so many yummy recipes! I dog-eared so many pages of recipes I want to try in the next few weeks, too!



Today's recipe is

Skillet (Dutch Oven) Breakfast

1 lb. bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
32 - oz. package frozen diced potatoes
10-16 eggs, beaten (we used one dozen)
8 - oz. package shredded cheddar cheese
*we added 1 lb. of ground pork sausage, but you can skip the step if you like
(We also added a little hickory hamburger seasoning that we had on hand and that was yummy!  You could just go with salt and pepper with a bit of onion powder.)

Cook bacon in large skillet or dutch oven over medium-hot campfire.  With a slotted spoon, remove bacon to a plate and set aside leaving grease in the pan (we wrapped the cooked bacon in aluminum foil and sat it by the campfire to keep warm).  Cook and brown the ground sausage removing the meat with a slotted spoon and cover to keep warm.  Add potatoes, cover and cook until golden (cook about 3-4 minutes and then turn them over and cook another 3-4 minutes).  Pour eggs over potato mixture and stir with a spatula until cooked to desired consistency. Stir in the bacon and the sausage and sprinkle with cheese.  Remove skillet (or dutch oven) from the campfire and cover.  Let stand until cheese is melted.  Enjoy! 
Serves 8.






**GIVEAWAY**
 
Starts today and ends Wednesday,  July 16th at midnight (EST)
 
One winner will receive a copy of Gooseberry Patch's Grilling and Campfire Cooking cookbook!

*  *  *
 
Entry 1
Leave a comment with your favorite camping/campfire memory, song, recipe
(One entry)

Entry 2  
  Go visit our Etsy shop HERE.
Leave a comment here with your favorite piece in our collection. (One entry)

Entry 3
Share the link for this giveaway on Facebook.
Leave a separate comment telling me so. (Another entry)

Entry 4
Blog about this on your own site.
Leave the web addy in a separate comment.
(Another entry)

Please be sure you leave something that distinguishes you from other comments like "Carmen from northern Indiana".


**All entries need to be a separate comment for drawing purposes.  I count up the total number of comments and then enter it into random.org.  Random.org picks a number then I count down to that number in the comment section.  If all entries are left in one comment unfortunately you will only get one entry.**

July 1, 2014

Well... Hello There!

Hey all!  I know it's been forever since I've popped on here. I apologize.  Last year I had some sort of viral bug that wouldn't let me go.  Then in January, when I thought I was on the mend, we got pregnant!  With that came all day morning sickness.  Morning sickness mixed with the last of this viral thing meant I felt pretty cruddy 24/7. My family has been super helpful.  Between hubby running more than the usual errands and the kids cooking more and taking care of more things around the homestead I haven't had to do too much.  I've kept up with the shop with their help, but blogging kind of was put on the back burner.  It's kind of hard to want to write about food, recipes, and decorating when you feel mighty cruddy and exhausted. I'm still not 100%.  I get tired easily, it takes me a while to get going in the morning, and I can't walk too much because of pregnancy aches and pains, but when you're near 40 and pregnant with your ninth child I guess that's to be expected. We can't wait for the new little one to make their arrival mid/end of September! 


So. I'm back (to a minimal extent) and ready to share our lives and home and some yummy recipes with you all.  You won't see a post every day, or even every other day, but I'm here and hopefully there's someone here to read it. 

If you haven't visited the shop in a while go take a peek!  There are lots of new signs that have been added in the last month or so. This Family Rules one was just added yesterday!

www.oldhousemercantile.etsy.com


I'll be back soon with a recipe and a giveaway from Gooseberry Patch!  A while back they asked me to review their new campfire and grilling cookbook and since we went camping a few weeks ago I jumped at the chance to try some new campfire recipes! 

Blessings!
Carmen
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