Whoosh!

That's how the weekend went. We took two goats to the goat show and they both placed last. Actually, one was a single entry in her class, so you could say that she was first, but she didn't look so good in comparison to the other goats at the show. I have to admit that my goats simply were not in show condition - they are genetically as good as the others that were there, but I have been letting things slip around here even more than I realized. Seeing the other breeders at the show, which was the first we have gone to since State Fair three years ago, was bittersweet. Some of them are very nice, and I always wanted to belong to that group, but I never did fit in.

I sold my herd (except for one doe) to another breeder at the show. My goats will be in a prominant herd where they will be well taken care of and shown, and I will have an option to get replacements back when I am ready. It really couldn't have worked out much better. I know it is the right thing for me. Still, I cried all day after making the deal to sell them. I felt even worse for my kids, who will miss the goats even more than I will. We did keep one doe, and also took home a new one that was offered to me as my part in a trade from several years ago. It was just too hard to let go of all of them at once.

That leaves the sheep. For my birthday, DH said that I can keep four sheep afterall, which is a relief since I just couldn't let them all go. This year we finally got some of the colors we always wanted. In case my involvement with going back to school becomes such that I can't keep any animals at all, I do have a friend who has offered to board those that are left for as long as needed in exchange for babies born while they are boarded with her. So I have a security net. There are still several very nice sheep that must find a home.

Carrot Cake

For my birthday I got to make one of my favorite kinds of cake. I tinkered with the recipe and it turned out pretty good IMHO.

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon (optional)
• 3 cups finely shredded carrot
• 1 cup applesauce
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
  

Mix the dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Bake in a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan at 350* for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

You will notice that there is no oil (I substituted applesauce). In coarser textured cakes such as carrot cake I find that whole wheat flour works just fine too. The cake is as moist and flavorful as you could want. I didn't put nuts in the cake since I had my wisdom teeth removed last Tuesday and I'm still afraid to eat hard or crunchy foods.

The frosting is what makes a carrot cake so good. Here's what I did for frosting:

• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup soft goat cheese
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• powdered sugar
  

Mix butter and cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and enough powdered sugar to desired consistency.

Frosting just isn't that hard. I don't know why we think we have to buy it pre-made in the little tubs. Well, except that it probably costs more to buy the ingredients and make it from scratch, doesn't it? You could use cream cheese instead of the goat cheese if you like, or experiment with other soft (spreadable) mild cheeses. How about flavored cream cheese or even something like ricotta?

My Latest Friday Five Yet

I was just too swamped to get the friday five done, so here they are three days late since they were good questions this time. I did notice that several other people posted theirs today too, and maybe I won't even be the last.

1. What's the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country?
If you have been following my previous entries, you already know that would be the camping trip to California. (The goat show was right here in Vernal.)

2. What's the most bizarre/unusual thing that's ever happened to you while traveling?
I guess the time we took the Greyhound bus to California for my sister's wedding. Greyhound really does not care about your belongings. We got off the bus and the driver didn't unload our luggage. We told him it wasn't there and he said it must have been taken off at another stop then, and just walked off - wouldn't even look for it! But he also didn't bother to lock up the luggage compartment, and we looked around in there and found it.

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go?
Norway. I'm planning to go within a year from now.

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car?
I would really prefer to be able to teleport instantaneously, but since I can't, plane would have to be my choice. I usually travel by car though due to financial constraints. Lately you can fly for less than gas costs a lot of the time if it is just one person travelling, but if you are taking the whole family, plane tickets add up. I would really like to be able to travel more than I am able to, since there are so many places where I would like to be and people I would like to visit.

5. What's the next place on your list to visit?
It depends. I am planning a trip to Norway, but I don't know that I won't be going someplace else between now and then. My brother is going to be getting married sometime soon (no, he's not engaged - it's just fairly obvious that it is going to happen) and I wouldn't miss it. It wouldn't surprise me if that happens fairly soon. Then again, if travel is defined as in question #1 above as going outside your home state - I live in the corner of Utah and could wind up travelling to Colorado or Wyoming pretty much any time even just to go for a drive. They are right there. Going most places in Utah is more of a major trip for us - it takes 3-4 hours to get to Salt Lake City from here. I've done my share of travelling, having lived all over the U.S. and also in Spain, but there are times when I don't get out of Vernal for a year at a time.