The Lewis Family Farm

About Us

Hi Y’all, my name is Claudine and I want to welcome you to the Lewis Family Farm! We are so glad that you stopped by! Joining me on this thrilling journey is my brilliant & wonderful husband who we will refer to as the “the Mayor”. He has been given this name because he knows so many people and has the gift to gab! We also have my precious 1 year old son who is known as “the Sheriff” because he calls the “shots” around here. So grab your farm boots & cowboy hat and let’s go see what’s happening on the farm today!

Kettle Corn

I am in love with Kettle Corn! And up till about four years ago, I had to wait for summer fairs to come around just so that I could buy my kettle corn. I have tried several in the grocery store, but ugh, I just did not like them. So I started looking on the internet and found this recipe on http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kettle-corn/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=kettle%20corn&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Reviews

Here is what you will need:

1 Large Pan
¼ cup of vegetable oil (or oil of your choice—I have used coconut and peanut with great success)
¼ cup white sugar (can use brown sugar—gives it a caramel color and taste)
½ cup popcorn kernels
Salt

Pour oil and 3 kernels in pan and place over medium heat until you hear all three kernels pop.

Once popped, add sugar and stir it around well, then add the remainder of the popcorn and cover it. I then alternate every three seconds from leaving the pot on the burner to shaking it.

Once the popping has slowed, remove from stove top and immediately sprinkle with salt.

Let the batch cool a little, and enjoy! WARNING---this is highly addictive!

If I need to store (which rarely ever happens because I eat the whole batch), I will store in a glass container so that the popcorn stays nice and crunchy. I find that plastic containers will soften the popcorn. For gift giving, I like to use cellophane bags tied with a little piece of jute—very country looking. Why not combine a bag of kettle corn with a DVD movie for a movie night Christmas gift...after all Christmas is just around the corner y'all!

Enjoy & blessings....
The Lewis Family Farm!

George Foreman Grill & Panini's

Like many of us, I am excited when I find another use for something that I already own- like my George Foreman grill. This past week I was looking for something different & quick to make with the leftover turkey meat from Thanksgiving. I found a Thanksgiving Panini on the Pioneer Woman’s website http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/leftover-thanksgiving-panini-recipe/index.html which looked delicious, however, I don’t own a Panini machine. Immediately, I thought of my George Foreman grill and decided to give it a try! I was very happy with the results and the Panini was delicious! Below you will find how I made my Thanksgiving Panini—yum, yum!

Ingredients:

Two slices of whole wheat bread

Chilled Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Turkey

Stuffing (I made cornbread this year)

Butter

Directions:

1. Turn on your GFG so that it will be nice and hot. Be sure to have all of your ingredients out and ready to assemble.

2. Butter one side of each piece of bread.

3. Lay one slice butter side down on a cutting board, and put some gravy. Cold gravy works best so that it doesn't run off the sandwich.

4. Next put some cranberry sauce, then turkey & stuffing.

5. Lastly put the other slice of bread on top with butter side facing up.

6. Using a wide spatula, lift your sandwich and place it on the hot GFG and slowly push the cover down. I held my cover down so that the heat would penetrate through the whole sandwich. This took only a couple minutes and it was done.

My husband loved the sandwich and now I can make other varieties of Panini’s with my GFG.

Do you have a favorite Panini combination? If so, I would love to hear from you!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Lewis' Family Farm!

Sharing at TheHomesteadBarnHop

It Starts with a Dream.....

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always dreamed of having a farm. I grew up on the outskirts of the city which was country back then and have always had a love for animals and being outdoors. The reality of owning a farm was diminished by the fact that #1, I didn’t think farms really existed in this area anymore as more and more farms were being sold and developed. Reason #2, I did not have any farm experience. I grew up with a dog, cat and a small fish tank in my room. We never had chickens or even a garden. And Reason #3, would I find someone who would share my dream of moving way out to the country (possibly to a farm), raising animals, growing a garden and canning/storing food for our family? These three things held me back, but certainly did not keep the farm dreams from running through my head all of these years.

My husband was born and raised in the country and comes from a farming background. His love for farms came at a very early age when he would spend time at his Uncle’s farm riding the tractor or rounding up the herd. He was fascinated and so inquisitive with all the aspects of farm life.

At his own home, he recalls helping his parents in the garden with weeding and picking the fresh veggies. He was also responsible for caring and cleaning the chicken coops which housed both egg-laying and meat chickens. The taste of fresh meat, eggs and produce is something that has always resonated with him, even to this day.

In 2005, I married my husband and we started out living in the outskirts of the city but soon decided we wanted to live out in the country. So a year later, we began the process of building our home on a 3 acre lot. We loved everything about our little piece of heaven, with the exception that we wanted more land. Now fast forward 7 years, we are still living in our home, but have traveled to the south a few times (Tennessee, North & South Carolina, Virginia) and rediscovered our love for farms and our new interest in growing/raising our own food. Each time we returned back home we kept tossing around the idea of owning a farm; but where? And could we afford it? In 2012, we received surprising news that we were going to be parents to a little baby boy! We were so thrilled and now the thought of owning a farm becomes even greater because we want our little buckaroo to have the same country upbringing that we had and more! In 2014, the opportunity to own a farm became a reality for us and we were thrilled beyond belief. The farm did not come to us without years of preparation which included, saving, sacrificing and living simple not only in our married years but also in the years prior to us dating.

Those same preparations are taking place today as we are not living at our farm yet. We are busy making plans to move from the home that we built to the farm. Our farm needs so much work, but like the home we built together, our farm will be a labor of love that we can enjoy and make memories that will last a lifetime for our son. Won’t you join us on our awesome journey as we restore this old farm and learn to raise our own food. We don’t know what the future holds, but we invite you to follow us on “the Lewis Family Farm”!

The Lewis’

September 2014

Sharing at The Homestead Barn Hop & Simple Saturdays Blog Hop

DIY Brown Sugar

I love brown sugar and actually prefer it to white. A while back, I started using brown sugar in many of my recipes and found myself running out of it quite often. Here is an easy recipe for light or dark brown sugar:

For Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
1 TBSP Molasses

For Dark Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
2 TBSP Molasses

Combine sugar and molasses in a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer (I use my kitchen-aid mixer) on medium speed until molasses is totally incorporated. Store in an air-tight container. Enjoy!