A Traditional Farm Life
By Shasta Hamilton
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! It was a year ago today that we rolled up
the back door of the U-haul and began moving in to our ramshackle farmhouse on
eleven wooded acres near the outskirts of Enterprise.
“This old house” may now have a new sewer line, plumbing and
heating, but I assure you its “rustic” character remains largely
unchanged. Our weekly routine is so set
that there never seems to be a large enough window of time to get out the paint
and get a room painted.
The grass-is-greener-dreamer in me can see the possibilities
for remodeling, but the busy mother of six never finds the time to turn those
dreams into reality.
Thankfully, the boys are making great progress with projects
outside this old house. After
finishing some projects for folks in town, the boys have been able to turn
their attention to things here on the farm.
Antique farm machinery no longer serve as lawn ornaments for
the front yard, they’ve all been moved to “equipment row” out back. Some shuffling in the shed has allowed the
horse tack to move from temporary quarters on our front porch to permanent
abode in the shed.
Today the boys removed the tin from the front of the lean-to
on the shed in order to provide draft horse access from the front. They have put in a hitching rail close by,
and are making preparations to make that space more usable.
All in all, it sure feels good to do some “fall cleaning”
around the place. Soon we’ll clean up the garden—it looks like the tomatoes and
cucumbers are probably done for the season.
A high garden note for me has been the success of the
asparagus crowns we planted this spring.
They’re my kind of plant—they have prospered without any attention from
me save a couple weedings throughout the season. Maybe we should plant the whole garden to
asparagus!
Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, we are gearing up for
something new and different. We will now
be offering a From-Scratch Brunch every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
We will serve our own Buttermilk Pancakes, make French Toast
with Buggy Stop Bread, and offer Gluten Free Buttermilk Waffles for those who
refrain from gluten. Potato Cakes and
Sausage Patties made on site with our own special blend of herbs and spices
will round out the meal.
We plan to make this a Saturday fixture at The Buggy Stop,
so give the morning cook at your house a break next Saturday, sleep in, and
come on over for a real treat!
We recently received a treat ourselves—a 5 gallon bucket
full of Granny Smith apples. They’re
tart, but the kids enjoy snacking on them anyway.
Thinking back to my own childhood, one of the first desserts
I learned to make was apple crisp. Years
ago, my mother put the recipe we used at home in the church cookbook under my
name. So when I get a hankering for
apple crisp, I get out my old cookbook and smile, remembering that little girl
in the kitchen slicing apples and preparing a comforting dessert for the
family.
 |
| Apple Crisp - Double Batch |
Apple Crisp
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
4 cups tart apples, unpeeled and thinly sliced
1. Preheat oven to
350 degrees.
2. Lightly butter an 8-inch
pan.
3. Mix oats, flour,
sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add melted
butter and mix with a fork until well blended. Mixture will be crumbly.
4. Place thinly
sliced apples in pan. Spread oatmeal
mixture on top of apples and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until topping is
browned and apples are tender.
5. Excellent served
warm with vanilla ice cream.
Yield: 6-9
servings
Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton
Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in
Enterprise, Kansas. She and her husband
own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled
children. You can reach The Buggy Stop
by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.
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