Natalie Schmitt

Cleaning up

I don’t know which is worse — cleaning up little kids or cleaning up big cows? It doesn’t seem to matter how hard you work to get them both clean, they always seem to find a way to …

Fair-winning recipes

After a nine-year hiatus, the Langola Livewires 4-H Club is back. We’re “plugged in” and ready to roll. After Austin graduated, the club became inactive because we had no young …

An expert?

What makes someone an expert? Education? Experiences? Distance? It is sometimes hard to be an exper in your own backyard despite your advanced degrees or life experiences. Some people still see you …

Summer salads

There are some things that are just perfect summer combinations, like a dash of salt on watermelon to bring out the juicy sweetness.   I replace the seeds of a cantaloupe half with a scoop of …

Summer dreaming

What a difference a year makes! I’ve mowed my yard more in one month than I did all last summer. The grass in the front of the house appears to have come back from the dead. It is now soft as …

Potluck desserts

I was thumbing through my sister Nancy’s recipe collection when I came across these special treats. She was known to bring these treats to potlucks to share with everyone. Once you saw her …

Adapt or adopt

What’s the difference between adapt and adopt?   Both are action verbs with the change of one little vowel creating a special moment. Think of this: Adapting old ideas by adopting new …

Beef for breakfast

As a former Tri-County Beef Queen, it is my duty to continue to promote my favorite source of protein and iron: beef. As dairy farmers, we are fortunate to support two commodity check-offs with one …

Goodbye, hello

I have an earworm song swirling in and out of my mind as I decipher the story I want to tell.   The Beatles sang, “You say yes. I say no. You say high. I say low. I don’t know …

Asparagus spring dishes

The sweet sound of robins serenading me during morning chores, heralding the arrival of a glorious sunrise, puts a spring in my step. I can’t help but feel excited and giddy of a new day. The …

Farm junk drawer

What do you do with a winter like ours? Things you could only imagine. Many of the projects on the bottom of the to-do list have suddenly pushed their way to the top of working projects. …

An early rhubarb season

I know the calendar says it is only the beginning of March, but did anyone tell Mother Nature? Golfers are taking swings and walking the greens. Novice gardeners are ready to start digging and …

Family names

Naming calves around our farm is considered a family sport. A mass email goes out to all of the kids and adopted family members for their most creative suggestions for the next generation of Ralma …

Muffins

The idea for this article started with a baking hack I saw on the internet. I like to make muffins, but I hate how the bottoms are always tough and overbaked due to the high temperatures required to …

Christmas wish

All I wanted for Christmas was to create memories with Mark. I told Mark all I wanted were 12 gifts. I would like for him to plan a date each month for the year. It could be a movie night, cards with …

Party treats

Now that we’ve made it through the holiday baking and cooking season, I’m looking for easy ways to enjoy family favorite treats.

Christmas games

Every year during the holiday season, the ghosts of Christmas past sneak into our consciousness as we recall special moments with family and friends. One of my favorite holiday memories is from the …

Decorating for Christmas

Many of us have already pulled out our family’s favorite Christmas recipes in anticipation of holiday baking. These recipes anchor family traditions through the generations and keep missing …

Second chance

Some would call our recent turn of weather an Indian summer in November. I like to think of our warmer and drier weather as a second chance, kind of like a snooze alarm for winter. Unfortunately, we …

Easy desserts and such

With the holidays just around the corner, I’ve been searching for new desserts to put on the table. I was craving traditional flavors yet wanted to find something the grandkids would like to …

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