Everyone in the house is sick or recovering right now, so I thought I'd post a great recipe for a hot drink that does a great job of soothing sore throats.  

Russian Spiced Tea
3/4 c. instant tea
1 c. instant orange drink (Tang)
1/2 c. instant lemonade mix
1 -1 /2 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix together and store in a airtight container. Use about 2 tablespoons per cup in boiling water.  Feel free to adjust any of the ingredient amounts to suit your own tastes.

I posted this recipe for apple butter that I got from my friend Holli last year on my previous blog, but I've had several requests for it again recently so here it is.

 It is very simple to make and since I usually make it overnight we wake up to a wonderful smelling house in the morning.

All Day Apple Butter

5 1/2 lbs of apples
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

Peel, core and finely chop apples.  (I shred the quarters in my Salad Shooter) Place the apples in a slow cooker (crock pot).  In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt.  Pour the mixture over the apples and mix well.  Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.

Reduce heat to low and cook 9-11 hours (now you know why I do it overnight) stirring occasionally , until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.

Uncover and continue cooking on low for 1 hour.  Stir with a whisk if desired, to increase smoothness.  Or you can use an immersion blender if you want to make it extra smooth after its finished cooking.  Personally I prefer it a little chunky.

Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.   This makes about a quart total.

I have found that if you put this into hot canning jars and with hot lids they will seal and then there isn’t a need to freeze or refrigerate.  If you want to be absolutely certain you could run them through a pressure canner like you would applesauce.

Our local paper ran a front page story today about the dog we adopted last month after I discovered her through a Facebook application.   They did a very nice write up about it, and Bekah was so thrilled to see her picture in the paper.

You can read the article on-line at the Lebanon Express using this LINK.

Cindy does not like to have her picture taken, and every time the cameraman would raise his long lens she would go on high alert.   When he wasn't trying to take her picture she would relax and happily give him kisses.

The new goat shed was framed and roofed back on Sept 11th, but I fell ill that day and haven't been able to do a thing on it since.  Finally broke down and realized I wasn't going to be fit enough to do it myself before the winter weather set in and hired a local contractor to get the siding up for me.

So far three sides are done and the final side should be completed tomorrow and then I just have to put on the corner pieces and build the front door.  However those things do not have to happen before occupancy, so I fully expect to move all of the does to their new home on Friday afternoon. 

Eventually the interior will be lined up to 4ft to keep the goats from crashing into and denting the metal siding.   In the meantime I'm crossing my fingers that they will behave themselves for a week or two. 

Oh and if you are wondering about the color of the building, the metal siding is used.  So its both dirty and bleached out a bit.  Plus it has small tears that will require patching.  But it was half the price of new, and I don't think the goats care much one way or the other.

I won the monthly caricature give away on Facebook fan page for TenBuckToons.com and although Tony usually draws people, I asked if he would draw my herd sire "Sunshine". He thought it would be a fun challenge and agreed to have a go at it.

I was hoping to get a blue eyed herd sire quality buck kid out of Jasmine, but it turns out she wasn't bred.  The breeder I bought her from said I could bring her back and have her bred to the buck of my choice, but that they wouldn't have room to host her for a while.     I noticed that they had a couple of blue eyed bucklings that had just been born so I asked for a discount on one of them instead of transporting Jasmine up there and they agreed.   The buckling I liked the look of the most is out of Riyes Fioina and Celtic Stars Tiger's Java Jolt.

Now this is where the story takes a twist.  I was supposed to be getting Riyes Lexxus in a trade, but she was injured in a bear encounter and we will be getting a doeling instead.    The picture of the young buckling reminded me of her and then it dawned on me - his mother is the half sister of Lexxus.  So we will end up with that line in our herd after all.

This little buckling born the 7th of September, looks a bit like my other buckling Rio, and he also brings a quality pedigree to the mix.  Between the three boys I have now I should be set for awhile - if of course they all sire progeny that is an improvement on the previous generation.   He will be joining our herd in November.