Saturday, April 30, 2011

Margarita Cake

This is a take on my Taste of Summertime Cake.


Margarita Cake
Margarita cake with strawberries

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of 2 limes
5 large eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups butter
1 cup Jarritos lime soda
2 teaspoons triple sec
2 teaspoons tequila

Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup tube pan. Combine flour, salt and zest in a bowl. With a mixer, cream butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reduce speed to low; add dry ingredients and soda, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Add the liquors and mix until just combined. Spoon evenly into prepared pan and bake 1 1/2 hours or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Invert onto wire rack, remove pan and cool completely.

Margarita Glaze

Ingredients
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon triple sec
1 tablespoon tequila
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions
Combine ingredients and beat until smooth. Add lime zest. Drizzle over cooled cake.


Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Pallet Projects

I don't know if it is because I have been building little things out of wood since I was young or if it is just a quirk of homesteading, but it seems like there is always some small something or 'nother that needs to be built. Luckily, I work in a warehouse with a good supply of pallets.





There are some downsides to re-using pallets. The wood is not the highest quality and breaking down the pallet is time consuming. I usually could build my current project from new wood in less time than it takes me to reclaim what I need from a pallet and time is a precious resource. But, so is money and the pallets are free so, I am really just trading my time to save money.

There are as many, if not more, advantages; the largest being that every bit of wood and nail I reuse is something saved from a landfill. I started by taking only the double-length and odd sized pallets that would have gone to the dumpster but, as I think of more things to do with reclaimed pallet wood, the more I start eyeballing the nicer pallets that would mostly likely be reused by someone else.

The pallet wood has character. Most of the time it is rough cut, often with knots, bows, splits, and breaks. Even on the same pallet, most of the slats aren't the same thickness since many have been repaired at a couple points in their lifetime. They are darkened by age, stained, and covered in the insidious 'warehouse dust'. That character gives the finished product a rustic feel that fits right in with rest of the homestead. The challenge is to take this ragged wood and put it to the best use.

I have built a few things already from this retired wood:



A 6-hen nest box



A hopper feeder for one of our rooster pens that holds 5 gallons of feed. You add feed from the top and it drops down into the trough as the chickens eat it.




A cold frame

A seedling box


The seedling box is 12”x24”. An upcoming post will be directions on how to build one, but the example will be a 12”x12”. You can put soil directly into them or, of course, use small pots like I did in the picture.



Framing raised beds in the garden using two slats nailed together for stability


This bed is framed using the 2x4 runners from the double-length skids


Unfortunately, every time I finish one pallet wood project I think up at least 2 more.

Some things I hope to build in the near future:
  • Chicken Tractor
  • Greenhouse Foundation
  • Potting Table
  • Shade Shelters for the Chickens
  • Garden Bench/Chairs

I am sure there will be more before that list is complete. Good news is that there are more pallets for the taking than I have time to break apart.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Spring 2011 update

So, I finally had some time to make an update. Now that it is actually spring and we are doing farm time things, I have something to write about.

We finished fencing in the garden finally. Sorry the pic is a little blurry, was taking pics quickly while there was light.

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It is 48'x20'.

We got it tilled, which was absolutely no fun. Established centipede sod has some mighty deep roots to dig though.

Garden before tilling

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In process of tilling

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We found an old foundation in one corner of the garden.

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The blocks were about 4-6 inches below the ground and made of solid concrete in a partial rectangular panel. The tiller wasn't too happy since I kept running into them once I thought I had dug the last one out. It was quite a surprise since Krystal's grandparents had the land since the early 50's and no one remembered a building being there.

After tilling

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For the first tilling, we rented a front tine for the weekend. Of course 2 weeks later the grass was making a strong comeback. Luckily, which is not something I say in regards to myself often, we found a used tiller for sale online just a couple miles from our place. It works great and cost about 1/3 the price of a new one.

Last weekend we bought some tomato and pepper plants from the local farm store and got them planted. The spring kinda sneaked up on me and I never got around to starting my own plants so we bought some local ones.

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We have just gotten started, we still have to lay down a frame around most of the beds, get the beds leveled out and soil amendments added.