About Tricia

I am Tricia. Momma of nine, homeschooler, artist, foodie and maker of all kinds of things. It's a pleasure to share here our family homesteading adventures, the things we make, and what inspires our days. Read more about my family and work here. Thanks for visiting!

Author Archive | Tricia

Easter peeps sunflower cake tutorial

By on April 23, 2011 in Handmade Easter Craft along, Holidays, Patticakes, Tutorial

If anyone missed me, I have been in bed with the flu for two days!!  Yuck!  I have not had the umph to get up and make anything else for Easter but I scraped myself out of the abyss this morning long enough to pull together a very simple little cake if any of you want to make it for tomorrow. This cake is very simple and quick to make.

Here’s what you need:
Chocolate frosting
Your favorite cake recipe
Chocolate chips (I used the big ones but the little ones would be even cuter)
15-19 chick peeps
Bake two 9 inch layers of cake.  Cool them completely.  Level your cakes by cutting off the rounded tops.  Put down your first layer and top it with a layer of icing.  Place your next layer on top, make sure it is level all the way around and ice the whole cake smooth.

 with a star tip, pipe a border all the way around

 now take your peeps and without taking them apart, place them on the edge all the way around.

                                      
fill the center of the cake top with the chocolate chips starting from the center of the cake going around and around to the edge

Enjoy, if you can’t bake or don’t want to you could also pick up a chocolate cake at the store and decorate it.   And now I am going back to bed!
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I am back

By on April 21, 2011 in Moss Flower Farm, our animals

So I went AWOL and missed the last few days…let me explain.  My dog ate my homework,  I was kidnapped by aliens and I got lost in the mail!

I have not had one extra minute since Saturday and I am sorry for leaving you all hanging with the craft-along but my farm was screaming for attention and then I was flooded with last minute Easter orders and just sent out the last ones yesterday.  I love getting orders of course but when a holiday is looming it is like a great big deadline hovering over my head wherever I go. Later today I will be back on with two more Easter crafts and tomorrow I will be posting the Easter dresses.
So really I have at least one great excuse and pictures.  I have been looking for a Jersey milk cow for our farm.  I have been far and near and guess what…I found one.  She is four years old and is in milk right now and ….she is 2 months pregnant.  
Ms Penelope at the dairy
(I’m not upset in this picture, just trying to not slip and fall in cow poop in flip flops)

 the boys loved the baby calves

Yesterday, I was invited to come back to the dairy to work.  We helped wash cows, wash udders and hook up milking machines to over 50 cows.  It was super funny to watch all the cows line up to get into the milking barn.  Some cows would hold up the line and then the rest behind her would start protesting.
I got to hand milk our cow and came home with two half gallon mason jars of beautiful Jersey milk which is in the fridge right now waiting for the cream to rise so I can skim it off and make some butter!!!  So see, I had at least one good excuse.  I will be back later today.  See you then.
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