Christmas 2010

Oh what fun it is to ride...to your family's house for Christmas!

Another great time with the Hilburn and Stanley clan!

Brother-in-law Matt with his token pose!...James reading a blessing to little brother Trevor...Janey modeling the scarf I knit for sister Stephanie...

Little bro Trevor...Aaron the b-day boy (33!)...neice Ashley giving a shout out to the TMNT (old school, of course!)

Rheagan & Juan decided to drive from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. to Fair Grove, MO. this year (the returning trip was worst) and stayed for almost 2 weeks!

Jonas ready for a trip to Bass Pro...Elijah, Auntie, Rheagan and Jonas...Elijah and the Alligator Gar at Bass Pro ("is he steh-wee?")

Daddy and Elijah...Grandmother Stanley & Jonas...Christmas morning with new toys!

You're never too old to get a new toy for Christmas!

Jonas with his Great-Grandmother Gentry...Elijah on Uncle Aaron's tractor...looking at our nieghbor's pigs...

On the tractor with Papa...helping Auntie cook in the kitchen...

Here's hoping your Christmas was even better than ours!!

Raw Butter

I've been making our own butter for over a year. I make it in my food processor, which makes super-quick work of it. We love the taste of real butter and, since it's unpasteurized, all of the wonderful health benefits that come with raw food (http://westonaprice.org/food-features/519-why-butter-is-better).

I buy the milk from a local farmer, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight until the cream completely rises to the top and then skim off the cream (this is what you whip into butter)...


Here is cream from 1 gallon milk in January 2011. In the spring & fall, the cream will be much more yellow (and, therefore, so will the butter) due to the rapidly growing grass. Incedently, butter in the spring and fall contain a much higher amount of vitamins and as well as other good stuff.

The following pictures were taken last fall. As you can see, the cream is a brighter yellow.

After pouring some cream in the food processor, I let it whip anywhere from 6-15 minutes (depending on the temperature of the cream).

Now the cream has separated into 2 parts: butter & buttermilk. I pour the mixture into a colander, placed over a bowl that catches the buttermilk.

I squeeze the globs of butter a little and then place in a bowl of very cold water.

I "wash" the butter & squeeze out any leftover buttermilk several times until the water I squeeze out is relatively clear. I'm not too much of a stickler on this.

Now I have a lovely (albeit, visually imperfect) butter log that gets wrapped in plastic & frozen.

Oh, heavenly blob of butter, how I love you!

Nebraska Wedding

For Thanksgiving, we road with Aaron's parents, brother and Granny to Sidney, Nebraska for little sister Adrienne's wedding to Kenny Schwarz. Here's a little snapshot of our fun times...

Left to right: a 12-13 hour car ride is actually not too bad when you have good company and lots of knitting to occupy your time...the boys after Thanksgiving meal (ever feel like that?)...the happy couple (no, Kenny's eyes aren't really crossed, although they always seem to be for pictures).

Thanksgiving evening we went to Kenny & Adrienne's house and watched them open their presents and LOTS of gift cards!!

The next morning we decorated the reception hall...

Four generations: Granny Carter, Janey Carter Hilburn, Stephanie Hilburn Willams, and Ashley Williams (mothers and daughters)


After eating lunch at Cabella's (it's like Bass Pro...Aaron really liked the Elk burger!), we went to the church for the wedding rehearsal.

The day of the wedding and pictures before the big event!

The wedding reception!
left to right:

Beautiful cake...you gotta love those chocolate fountain yummies...and there go Mr. & Mrs. Schwarz!!

Cleaning up (once a janitor, always a janitor).

What a fun trip and, oh the memories made!

Family

In October, Rheagan and the boys came to visit! We drove down to Arkansas for the weekend, and it was almost like Christmas! Every Gentry family member was able to come (except for 3 of the inlaw/outlaw men). As you can tell from the pics, it was a fun time.