My Crazy Life as a Farmers Wife

Mom's Homemade Hamburger Buns

Once the weather begins to warm up, one of the things we look forward to the most, is having a BBQ or hot dog roast after being cooped up indoors all of those long winter months. This recipe for homemade hamburger buns will take your burgers to the next level, and you can even shape them into longer rolls to become hot dog buns. We also like to make Sloppy Joes and serve them on these delicious buns.

Mom's Homemade Hamburger Buns

-2 Tbs. sugar
-2 Tbs. active dry yeast
-1/2 cup warm water

Dissolve yeast in warm water and all to sit for about five minutes. Transfer to a large bowl or mixer fitted with bread hook. Add the following:
-2 cups warm milk
-2 Tbs. olive oil
-2 tsp. salt
-6-7 1/2 cups flour (just enough to pull dough away from sides of the bowl, but don't add too much...you want dough to be slightly sticky)

Knead dough well until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a greased bowl and cover and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled. Divide dough in about 12-15 pieces. Grease hands before shaping. Shape dough pieces into a roll shape, and then flatten gently with your hand when you transfer to a greased baking sheet. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover and allow buns to rise about 30 minutes. Beat the following in a small bowl:
-1 egg
-1 Tbs. water

Brush egg wash over tops of buns (this will give them a nice crusty brown top) and sprinkle tops with the following:
-poppy seeds
-sesame seeds
-any herbs you might like

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Allow buns to cool completely, and slice in half using a serrated knife. Enjoy!

Hand Painted Garden Stakes

 

It's not secret that I love to garden, and year after year, I resort to marking my crops with cheap wood shims, written on with a sharpie. I've been wanting nice garden stakes for years, but because my garden is so large, and individual markers are expensive, I decided to take matters into my own hands this year. Inspired somewhat by a hand painted set I saw on Etsy, I decided to make my own. I purchased large redwood boards from Lowe's (12' long, and they are 2.5" wide). Redwood or Cedar work best because their wood won't rot in the wet ground. David cut each board into four sections and cut a sharp stake point at the ends. The next step was to white wash the boards. I did two light coats of white wash, and let the boards dry completely. I spent several evenings sitting at the counter painting, and while I love to draw, I must admit that I am not a painter. I simply used cheap acrylic paints from Walmart, and a few nice brushes. Again, I'm no painting expert. I just did a lot of layers, paint mixing, and it seems that the more layers I added to each vegetable, the better they looked. It's nice to look at online photos of each vegetable for reference. I plan on painting the stakes with two thick coats of polyurethane before I put them in the garden. I bought a special variety of polyurethane that has a UV protectant in the paint, so I'm hoping it will help protect my paintings.

This first set includes watermelon, tomatillos, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, squash, broccoli, corn, cucumbers, green beans and pumpkins.

The second set includes cabbage, green onions, onions, raspberries, strawberries, lettuce, peas, and carrots. I would still like to make some for potatoes and my herbs.

I sketched the general shape onto each stake and started building layers of colors and shades.