Fattening Food = Pure Joy

Today has been a great day so far. Although John was on the schedule to take care of lunch, I volunteered to make it instead. As his usual contribution is Papa Murphy's Take'n Bake, I figured he would not be too upset if someone else wanted to shoulder the responsibility of feeding the masses. Plus, there is such an awesome assortment of spices here, that I've been anxious to get in the kitchen and play. I'd never been scheduled for lunch, though, and I was a little intimidated. The food coming out of the kitchen gets fancier every day. With so many connoisseurs to please, I thought I'd better make something foolproof that anyone can cook and everyone will eat: Lasagna.

I started early. I like to use every dish in the house when I cook, and, after all, it takes a lot of time to do that in such a well stocked kitchen! Plus,the stove top doesn't always work, and I was worried that the water would take two hours to boil. It has in the past. I had time to make my own homemade marinara, then I sauteed the veggies and put it all together with ricotta, parm, and mozz. For side dishes I made some bruschetta with an artichoke/tomato topping, and a spinach salad with walnuts, craisens, pears, sunflower seeds and shaved parmesan. Luckily, I didn't burn anything with the broiler, and it all turned out awesome. Of course, there was cheese in every dish so how could it not be awesome?! It was so fun to be back in the kitchen again, cooking for a group. And this is one of the few places I've cooked where there is no such thing as too large a batch.

Its about two o'clock, and I am just taking it easy for now. I am working tonight, so I'll have to get motivated pretty soon. Marcia said she would throw hay today, so its a little easier shift for us night milkers than usual. Meanwhile, some goats are going into labor, so I'll probably pop up to the barn in fifteen minutes or so to see if they are ready to deliver. Pretty soon there will be about five more babies running around, unless Marcia pre-sold some. There are only six right now, and the barn already feels so much more chaotic than when I arrived. One of the crew favorites is going to be picked up on Saturday. We all call him Kong, because he is a huge baby boy who is just super fuzzy and he lumbers around all clumsy and has a big ol' face and is just darling. He'll be sold to guy who will train him to be a pack goat. That sounds like the perfect career for him!

I have been trying to post a baby goat video, so everyone can see them playing and jumping and hopping around like mad things. It is probably the cutest thing in the world.

Unfortunately, technology has foiled me again though. Either I don't understand how to do it (likeliest explanation) or iPhoto is just not the best way to get video from a digital camera to a blog. So until I figure it out, there will only be photos.

Below are photos of me and my other favorite kiddo. He has been named Percival, but we call him Parker instead; we like it better (because then its cute and clever to call his twin sister Posy). In this photo, he is about five days old. I think I am likely to put him in my purse and bring him home with me when no one is looking!