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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!:  Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 3:43:52 PM
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Helen Ettlin (Grandma Helen, #7130) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning a Beginner Level Recycling Merit Badge!
“We believe in recycling. Unfortunately, when our trash company was bought out by a conglomerate, we discovered that we no longer have recycling pick up with our trash. The trash company informed us that it was too expensive for them to bother with, although we still pay the same as when we did have the service.
So we trekked into town where there was a nice mixed recycling center near the farm center ... and then the trash company removed it. The remaining bins only take glass and paper. So now we drive over to Freeman (opposite direction) to the mixed recycling bins.
They will take paper, cans, glass, and plastics (#1-6). They also have clothing, shoes, and waste cloth bins. They do not take hazardous waste such as paint, aerosols, batteries, or cleaners. Those have to go to the county dump hazardous waste collection.
Since there is nothing else we need in Freeman, unless we are heading over to Kansas, this trip is a bit of a waste in time and gas. Fortunately, we have learned to use less items requiring the disposal of recycling. Much of what we bring in gets used for something else when it is empty.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 3:50:34 PM
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Jennifer Ettlin (MsKathleen, #7128) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Level Blogging Merit Badge!
“I started the blogging badge on November 05, 2016 by contacting the library and speaking with Mr. Brian (Thanks for all your help, by the way! who sent me a copy of the book, "Blogging for Creatives: How Designers, Artists, Crafters and Writers Can Blog to Make Contacts, Win Businesses and Build Success" by Robin Houghton. I ended up reading it in a little over a week and a half before returning it and buying my own copy. It has some great ideas and walk throughs for additional information.
Note: Additional bonus for parents: The book put the three year old and fifteen month old out like a light even though it was interesting to all the adults in the room. You would think that the bright and colorful pictures would keep them awake, but nope. Fifteen minutes flat for both of them. Also, the short descriptions and sections make it fairly easy to put down and pick up again when there is a sudden “emergency” (like the puppy accidentally knocking over the baby or the oldest crying because her brother took her crayon).
The book itself is very informative and I loved the step-by-step in chapter three. The only part I am a bit nervous on for launching a blog following this book is the very short chapter ten’s section on PR. Luckily, after reading the book out loud for my family, it was decided that my sister and mother would join in and we would make a group blog where they would “handle PR issues” (if there are any) and provide “articles” as I build and maintain it.
We’ve decided to utilize the blog to keep close family and other farm girls abreast of our achievements and personal lives, so our topic is going to be ourselves and chronicling our achievements. Just because every once in a while we need to be reminded about how far we’ve come especially on days where we feel like nothing has been accomplished or nothing is working out right. So here we go!
I'm excited about getting the blog up and running. I'm currently researching different methods and tips online and taking different platform courses for the next step. Just started working on the blog itself.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 3:54:02 PM
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Jennifer Ettlin (MsKathleen, #7128) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning a Beginner Level Shopping Green Merit Badge!
“This last September, my mother and I began to collect bags for shopping. Our old crochet bags just weren’t cutting it anymore and mom had too many plastic bags to crochet into doormats, but that wasn’t what set us off on finding reusable bags. Our new store in town doesn’t use plastic or paper bags and you have to bring your own. They claim it’s one of the reasons that they are cheaper than Walmart. We liked this, so we had no problem starting to gather our bags. In addition, many stores in our area give you a discount by bringing your own, reusable bag instead of using the plastic ones. So we gathered up the old cloth bags we’ve been saving for years and using for craft supplies and added to them. Each grocery day, we have been buying one reusable bag a piece. Right now we have about thirty between my mother and myself.
We’re hoping to get more. :)
The picture is the bags grouped together. Most were stuffed in another bag before I was reminded that I needed to take a picture. The rest of the bags still had groceries in them.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 4:08:46 PM
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Jennifer Ettlin (MsKathleen, #7128) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning a Beginner Level Recycling Merit Badge!
“I moved to my dream house in the country just over a year ago to be closer to my brother and his family and to be accessible to my aging parents.
The move was so exciting and I loved every minute of it ... until I met our trash and recycling company… I learned that our removal company did not take any recycling other than cardboard. They just took the rest of the recycling and threw it away. They claimed it was too expensive to take it and sort it out. A neighbor informed us that the local Family Center had recycling bins. So for a good eight to ten months, once a week, we would dutifully haul our recyclable good up to the deposit bin (with my brother grumbling each time how it sucked that they don’t pay for your cans like in California).
This brings us to late September 2016 when our removal company was bought out by a large corporation. Yay! We would get recycling now, we were promised ... but we didn’t. Cost analysis showed that that it was the same for this company and the last ... too expensive. In fact, they removed a huge number of recycling bins from around town, leaving only one glass and paper deposit. And the glass could only have a 1 or 2 on it.
That’s okay, though. We would try something else. First, we looked for private companies. That option was quickly dismissed. The closest private company that would pick up our recycling was 56 miles away and would charge $.50 a mile for private pick-up in addition to the normal fees. Ouch.
My mother and I found a solution to the problem. Speaking to an old employee of the previous company, we learned that there was actually a public ordinance in the next town over that required for public recycling to be accessible to all individuals in the town limits. This meant, for us at least, there was a public recycling location. So now we trek up to the recycling center (20 minutes one way), once a week, and we deposit glass, plastics (1-6), paper, tin, aluminum, clothing, shoes and rags (nothing soaked in any fluids such as oil).
For the very rare and occasional outside item (like plastics 7 and 8) we reuse them in other ways, like for the kids’ play kitchen and on crafts with milk jugs and plastic jars (Thank you, producers of the show Noodle and Doodle!). Anything we can’t re-use is normally plucked up by the woman down the road who turns them into crafts for her stall in the spring, but she’s only been by once.
Overall, we are very happy with the result. There is no recycling laying around and we found an alternative to our recycling dilemma.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 4:13:20 PM
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Ginger Dawn Harman (Ginger Dawn, #6451) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Level Her-story Merit Badge!
“To Earn this badge, I choose to learn about Admiral Michelle Howard. Not only is Admiral Howard the First Four Star Female of The Navy but she is also the first African-American to hold this title! Oh and if you can only imagine having that honor. She has been the Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa.
Howard was born in Riverside, California on April 30, 1960 to former U.S. Air Force master sergeant, Nick Howard, and his British wife, Phillipa. She is a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982 and from the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College in 1998 with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences.
Howard knows exactly how far women have come in the world of defense over the past half-century. Lucia Graves Interviewed Admiral Michelle Howard last May and learned that “At the Leadership Summit for Women in National Security Careers in Arlington this April, she told the crowd that when she was just 12 years old, she knew she wanted to go to a service academy, but at the time they didn't accept women.” Her mother—whom Howard cites as her greatest role model and source of leadership inspiration—told her not to give up. "If you still want to when you're old enough to apply, and if they're still closed to women, we'll sue the government," she recalls her mom saying. (As it turned out, they didn't have to: The Naval Academy began accepting women in 1976, two years before Howard graduated from high school.)
When Michelle Howard was just three days into her new job as head of a U.S. Navy task force charged with countering piracy in the Arabian Sea, when a cargo ship sailing under a U.S. flag was hijacked by pirates. Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, was taken hostage in the waters southeast of Eyl, Somalia, and transferred to a small life raft; it was Howard's job to get him back. She did (the incident later inspired the 2013 movie Captain Phillips), which was no minor feat. "There certainly wasn't anyone I could turn to and say, 'How do you rescue someone from a life raft? How do you do negotiations with pirates at sea?" “Howard recalled in an interview last year.” “It had never been done before."
What I admire about her the most is that she does not let anything hold her back and she encourages all woman to not allow critics or others hold you back.
Admiral Howard states “Everybody has critics in life. ...
“I found that women who choose to be stay-at-home moms deal with a set of critics. I have found women who go into the workplace and try to be a mom have a set of critics. I think as women, we just seem to have a set of critics. And so you work your way through. But I've also found that a lot of times in an organization, the barrier gets down to an individual. There's not a grand conspiracy going on. It's really one person with a set of beliefs, and you just have to take a deep breath, think about it, but have the courage to figure out how to get to resolution with that one person. Otherwise you end up being skeptical about mankind ... and you create this figure of "the man" in your head, and it really isn't that at all.”
I was not able to find any books written about Admiral Howard but I did enjoy the interviews and reading about the many awards and information on the United States Navy Website. Now if you ask me… which you didn’t.. But I am, gonna tell you anyway. Admiral Howard is one heck of a woman and I just had to share Her Story!
Now how about you? What is Your Story? How can you encourage others and how do you become a better person? We have this opportunity every day and what a blessing it is!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 4:18:58 PM
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Ginger Dawn Harman (Ginger Dawn, #6451) has received a certificate of achievement in Make it Easy for earning a Beginner Level Music Merit Badge!
“Last year my son joined the High School band. I admit that at first, I was totally against it. It is a huge commitment and I was sure if it would work with other activities that my son is involved in. However, after much thought and discussion as a family we made the decision to embrace the opportunity. My husband and I both have no musical background. We don’t know how to read music and thought, “Hey, this will be an opportunity for us too. Therefore, we decided to take music lesson from our Son’s private instructor. Sam Jannotta from Shepherdstown School of Music. The adventure began! We first leans some of the basic terms such as rhythm, melody, and harmony.
Rhythm is the element of "TIME" in music. When you tap your foot to the music, you are "keeping the beat" or following the structural rhythmic pulse of the music. There are several important aspects of rhythm:
DURATION: how long a sound (or silence) lasts.
TEMPO: the speed of the BEAT.
(Note: Tempo indications are often designated by Italian terms):
Largo = "large" or labored (slow)
Adagio = slow
Andante = steady "walking" tempo
Moderato = moderate
Allegro = fast ("happy")
Presto = very fast
METER: Beats organized into recognizable/recurring accent patterns. Meter can be seen/felt through the standard patterns used by conductors.
Melody is the LINEAR/HORIZONTAL presentation of pitch
(the word used to describe the highness or lowness of a musical sound). Many famous musical compositions have a memorable
Melody or theme.
THEME: a melody that is the basis for an extended musical work
Melodies can be derived from various scales (families of pitches) such as the traditional major and minor scales of tonal music, to more unusual ones such as the old church modes (of the Medieval and Renaissance periods: c. 500–1600), the chromatic scale and the whole tone scale (both used in popular and art-music styles of the late 19th and 20th-century periods), or unique scale systems devised in other cultures around the world.
Melodies can be described as:
• CONJUNCT (smooth; easy to sing or play)
• DISJUNCT (disjointedly ragged or jumpy; difficult to sing or play).
Harmony is the VERTICALIZATION of pitch. Often, harmony is thought of as the art of combining pitches into chords (several notes played simultaneously as a "block"). These chords are usually arranged into sentence-like patterns called chord progressions.
All these terms above were taught to me and explained in a great book titled, “Elements of Music” It is a very good book and I noticed that this book is very popular in the schools. My next task was what sorta genera or music do I want to play on the piano. I listened to several different styles but decided on learning some classical, Jazz, and a seasonal song. I am going to keep this part as a surprise because I plan on making a video of this in an upcoming blog post. It really felt great to be able to learn a bit more about music and pick out the different elements.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 4:22:05 PM
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Ginger Dawn Harman (Ginger Dawn, #6451) has received a certificate of achievement in Make it Easy for earning an Intermediate Level Music Merit Badge!
“I have always had a passion for learning and I find that music is not only a way to connect but creates an amazing feeling inside.
I chose Ludwig van Beethoven. Hey can you blame me! He is from the Romantic Era and well everyone knows what a huge heart I have. Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany. He was an innovator, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto and quartet, and combining vocals and instruments in a new way. His personal life was marked by a struggle against deafness, and some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life, when he was quite unable to hear. He died in 1827 at the age of 56.
It is rather easy to find information on the internet about Beethoven. Beethoven never married or had children. He was, however, desperately in love with a married woman named Antonie Brentano. Over the course of two days in July of 1812, Beethoven wrote her a long and beautiful love letter that he never sent. Addressed "to you, my Immortal Beloved," the letter said in part, "My heart is full of so many things to say to you -- ah -- there are moments when I feel that speech amounts to nothing at all -- Cheer up -- remain my true, my only love, my all as I am yours."
The death of Beethoven's brother Caspar in 1815 sparked one of the great trials of his life, a painful legal battle with his sister-in-law, Johanna, over the custody of Karl van Beethoven, his nephew and her son. The struggle stretched on for seven years during which both sides spewed ugly defamations at the other. In the end, Beethoven won the boy's custody, though hardly his affection. Biography.com gives more details about the above and his Short-tempered, absent-minded, greedy and suspicious behavior. Nevertheless, Beethoven had extraordinary talent and the fortitude to overcome personal trials. Ludwig van Beethoven is widely considered the greatest composer of all time. He is the crucial transitional figure connecting the Classical and Romantic ages of Western music.
For a modern composer, I chose David Lang. He grew up in Los Angeles in the ’60s, in a family of upwardly mobile, education-oriented intellectual Jewish immigrants. His father was a doctor whose parents had come from Lithuania, his mother a librarian, born in Germany. Their cultural tastes veered toward art, literature, sports—Lang’s dad taught him to keep score at Dodgers games—but not music. One rainy afternoon when Lang was in elementary school, instead of playing in the yard, his class watched a Leonard Bernstein “Young People’s Concert” featuring Shostakovich’s First Symphony. To introduce the piece, Bernstein explained that Shostakovich wrote it when he was 19 and instantly became world famous. The music enthralled Lang. He was 9, and his first thought, he said, was: “I have 10 years.”
Much like Beethoven he creates from a very emotion foundation within his soul. This passion began at a young age. “Lang is one of America's most performed composers. Many of his works resemble each other only in the fierce intelligence and clarity of vision that inform their structures. His catalogue is extensive, and his opera, orchestra, chamber and solo works are by turns ominous, ethereal, urgent, hypnotic, unsettling and very emotionally direct.” I have several cds by David Land and the above statement by biography.com is very true. The New Yorker states, “With his winning of the Pulitzer Prize for the little match girl passion (one of the most original and moving scores of recent years), Lang, once a postminimalist enfant terrible, has solidified his standing as an American master.”
I find it almost impossible to write how both composers are similar except that they both were passionate about music, highly educated, and were very private about their personal life. Some refer to Beethoven as shy but some say he like Lang have an introverted personality. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this. So much is constantly published in the media that it is hard to know what is or isn’t true. I can understand why Land keeps his personal life private.
I have always had a passion for learning and I find that music is not only a way to connect but creates an amazing feeling inside.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 4:27:36 PM
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Marie Bostwick (MarieBee52, #7185) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Aprons Merit Badge!
“I dug out some fabric from my stash and stitched up a cheery yellow and purple half apron. Then I took the leftovers and made a matching apron for my oldest granddaughter, who is not quite 3. I've done a lot of sewing in my life, so this was a pretty quick project.
I think they turned out really cute! Tomorrow, I'm heading out to Oklahoma to see my granddaughter and help take care of her mommy and brand new baby sister for a week. I'm sure that big sister will enjoy helping grammy keep house in our matching aprons.”
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MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2017 : 4:32:32 PM
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Marie Bostwick (MarieBee52, #7185) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Cheesemaking Merit Badge!
“I read about cheesemaking techniques and proper milk handling by reading the first part of Mary Jane's "Milk Cow Kitchen" book. I was glad I did! Otherwise, I wouldn't have known to look for milk that was not Ultra Pasteurized when I went to the store. I also bought a yogurt maker, some probiotic starter, and have now made two batches of homemade yogurt. We eat a LOT of yogurt, so I think this will help us save some money. Plus, I am happy that there will be a few less plastic containers in the world now that we are making our yogurt in reusable glass jars.
It was really pretty good. The texture is a little softer than I am used to but I think I prefer it. One thing I want to work on is figuring out how to improve the flavor. I made two batches of blueberry yogurt. The first one was kind of blah. The second time, I doubled the amount of berries and added a little more sugar, but it still doesn't have as much blueberry flavor as I would like. I'm going to go on the chatroom and see if anyone has any suggestions to help me improve it.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 3:27:55 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Nellie Make-do Merit Badge!
“We are a family of nine ... seven children. This equivocates to lots of missing socks, lots of random buttons, and lots of stuffing from torn stuffed animals and pillows. Okay - I guess I have to blame the dog for the stuffing extras, rather than the children.
For Christmas, all of my children (read me) make one another gifts. My five year old looked at me a week before Christmas, in desperation, saying he had no idea what he was getting anyone. For some reason I had thought my hubby was covering his and the three year old's needs. I was sadly mistaken ... he was only helping the three year old. After searching the internet for ideas, I finally came up with the solution ... Sock animals. We made a pony, cat, monkey, frog, owl, and dog. It took me three days to get these made!!!
These animals came out so cute! I am hoping to make my nieces and nephews some, but we will see. I didn't reuse the embroidery thread or quilting thread, but reused socks, buttons, and a hair ribbon for the bow on the cat. I used felt scraps from the trash pile.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 3:32:15 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Apples Merit Badge!
“Apples are known world-wide, with the first mention of apples being in the Garden of Eden. It is often the fruit that is believed Eve ate as the “forbidden fruit” from The Tree Of Life, though the Bible does not say this. The origination of apples is actually credited to the Tien Shan Mountains of Kazakhstan. In 1066, apple varieties were introduced to England from France. In 1607, settlers of Jamestown harvested apples, started from cuttings and seeds they had brought with them. These apples were used for cider, and their seeds began producing the more widely known varieties of today.
Four ways apples have been used in everyday living for generations include as the fruit, cider, dried for decoration such as on a tree, and as pectin.
We go apple picking in Hendersonville NC each year. Our favorites for just eating from there are Honeycrisp, GingerGold, and Fuji. For cooking/canning, our favorites are Mutsu, Granny Smith, and Jonagold. For cider making, they sell Gala, Stayman Winesap, and September Wonder.
The two fun facts I shared is that Thomas Jefferson is credited as one of the founding fathers of the fuji apple and that in colonial times, apples were called melt-in-the-mouth as well as a winter banana.
Apples are such a versatile fruit... not to mention delicious and nutritious! It has been awhile since I actually completed this badge, but picking apples and learning about them is a joyous time by all!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 3:36:31 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Buttoned Up Merit Badge!
“When I was an adolescent, I wanted to start collecting something. Not wanting "junk" in the house, my mom suggested buttons. So I started collecting buttons. For this past December, I was busy unpacking and going through things. This led me to finding LOTS of buttons!!!
Buttons are so much fun! I have found buttons in some weird places... in the cars, the yard, in stores, and on playgrounds. When you think about the story those buttons have... where they fell from, who might have been wearing them and on what article, I find my imagination working over time. My children and I have actually made a game out of it, of where we think that button came from, what article of clothing it was on, and where the wearer wore it.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 3:42:07 PM
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Becky Gilson (Bearprairiechick, #6695) has received a certificate of achievement in Make it Easy for earning a Beginner Level Make it Pretty Merit Badge!
“I used pencil and colored pencil for a rendition of my favorite coffee mug photo. I've never been much of a drawer so I was both surprised and very happy with how it turned out.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 3:45:11 PM
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Becky Gilson (Bearprairiechick, #6695) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Knitting Merit Badge!
“For this badge I chose to knit a dishcloth. I lost track a couple of times and had to tear out some rows, so started keeping track on paper that helps a lot. Thought it turned out good in the end.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 3:55:50 PM
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Becky Gilson (Bearprairiechick, #6695) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Crochet Merit Badge!
“For this badge I crocheted a scarf. I think it turned out great.”
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MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 4:20:32 PM
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Rebecca Riccio (ladybek9756, #4932) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning a Beginner Level Recycling Merit Badge!
“Moving to Maine we had to learn the recycling aspects as well as waste removal. Living in the country things are very different than the city. Our first visit to the transfer station we received a pamphlet that explained the recycling process and was given a tour of the facilities of where we would bring our recycles and waste.
The pamphlet was detailed in explaining the process and made it easy to understanding the procedure. The tour of the facility gave us ideas of how to set up at home our own recycling program.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 4:23:16 PM
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Rebecca Riccio (ladybek9756, #4932) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Intermediate Level Recycling Merit Badge!
“The pamphlet and tour of the facilities helped to devise a plan that we could use at home. Securing the seven boxes for the different categories of recycled products was the first step. Finding a place in the garage was our next step. Once that was all in place all we had to do was bring the stuff and put it in the correct box. Then every other week we made a trip into town and visited the transfer station and empty our boxes in the proper containers for the recycles and trash.
The initial setup took the longest as we had to determine which recycles we actually had. In the end we set up all seven boxes just in case. The setup proved to be easy to use and made recycling easy to maintain.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2017 : 4:24:32 PM
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Rebecca Riccio (ladybek9756, #4932) has received a certificate of achievement in Cleaning Up for earning an Expert Level Recycling Merit Badge!
“Once the system was in place, I explained the procedure to my husband. I placed the pamphlet on the refrigerator so it was handy to view to determine where the item went. Having a visual proved useful for him as he got use to the recycling process of our new home.
The initial setup took time and Paul was able to look at the pamphlet to determine where the trash went. He finally got on board to recycle instead of the convenience of the trash can. Both of us have develop the habit of recycling everything we can or finding new uses for it instead of putting it in the trash can.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2017 : 3:16:26 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning an Intermediate Level Aprons Merit Badge!
“My children and I all enjoy wearing aprons. My oldest, however, wears an apron all. the. time! I decided to make her an apron based off ones that I had bought, so I could make her a horse themed apron, as she loves horses. I carefully laid the bought one on top of a paper bag I had laid out, and drew pattern pieces, adding seam allowances. From there I made my pattern and created her apron.
I was happy with the results, and my oldest was thrilled! She wears her horse apron the mass majority of the time. I need to make the pattern a little longer next time, but other than that, I am happy with it and will be using it as my base for my "going to town" apron.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2017 : 3:19:55 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level UFOs Merit Badge!
“Since moving into our new home, I have had the opportunity to look at some projects and organize those I have not finished. These projects are now separated in bags and craft boxes, with the supplies needed to finish each of them. The first project I tackled was one I had began two years ago for my now five year old - a set of peg people families of different colors. Since my five year old is too advanced for the concept of identifying the colors and putting the people in their correct "home," I decided to finish making them and give them to my now three year old daughter for Christmas.
I was quite happy with how the peg people turned out. The best part though, is my three year old loves them. Makes it worth the time!”
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MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2017 : 3:39:09 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Food Allergy Awareness Merit Badge!
“Food allergies are believed to be on the rise. It is estimated that over 15 MILLION Americans suffer from food allergies. There are eight foods that cause approximately 90% of the allergies, which includes milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish. Most of my children are allergic to gluten, the protein found in wheat, as well as other grains including rye and barley. My youngest and I are allergic to cow's milk. Oddly enough, I am also allergic to legumes and winter squashes. Three commonly eaten foods we avoid due to gluten are pastas, oatmeal, and most canned soups, unless they specifically say gluten free.
I did not realize so many Americans suffer from food allergies everyday. Thankfully we have dealt with the gluten issue for long enough (about 8 years), that it has become second nature. Dealing with the milk allergy, however, is more difficult!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2017 : 3:48:58 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Intermediate Level Food Allergy Awareness Merit Badge!
“The three favorite family recipes we have altered, removing gluten and dairy, are our breakfast casserole, lasagna, and pumpkin pie.
For the breakfast casserole, we normally used hashed browns, diced ham, eggs, milk, vegetables, and cheese, I now use goat or coconut milk in place of the cows milk and sometimes we make it without cheese and other times we use a little bit of chevre.
For lasagna, we have had to do quite a bit of alterations. Normally I make my own spaghetti sauce, so that is not an issue as there is not any gluten or dairy in it. The noodles, however, we use either gluten free lasagna noodles, or I grill eggplant to use as the noodles. For the cheese portion, I usually mix cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and cheddar cheese along with eggs and seasonings. I now use chevre, sheep parmesan cheese, goat mozarella, and sometimes a little bit of goat cheddar in place of the cow cheeses.
For the pumpkin pie, we usually made it with sweetened condensed milk. We have altered a recipe for the crust to a gluten free crust made with coconut oil instead of butter, or no crust at all. In place of the milk, I found some sweetened condensed coconut milk.
The breakfast casserole tastes pretty much the same as its counterpart, with a slightly different taste due to the cheese.
The lasagna is delicious! We were really concerned about switching all the cheeses for goat cheese, but it works wonderfully! I do have to be careful with how much goat cheddar I put in it, as the goat cheddar tends to be a stronger "goat-y" flavor. Most of us thoroughly en joy the grilled eggplant, but a couple of the children prefer the gluten free noodles instead.
The pumpkin pie is still a work in progress. Depending on the temperature of the coconut milk, it hardens and separates, making it very difficult to mix in. As far as using coconut oil in place of butter in that crust, that works fabulously!”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2017 : 3:50:42 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Expert Level Food Allergy Awareness Merit Badge!
“Our family already all eat gluten free and cow dairy free for the most part (some of us are off all, and some can occasionally have gluten or cow dairy foods). In order to fulfill this requirement for this badge, we decided to go soy free as well. This equivocated to having to look at all labels, as soy is in many sauces, dressings, and broths.
Due to already being gluten and dairy free, I make a large portion of our foods from scratch, and therefore do not eat much soy. The hardest thing to go without was actually our gluten free soy sauce. I make an Italian salad dressing using olive oil, so that was not an issue. I think the children, on the other hand, missed their peanut butter the most (it has soybean oil in it).”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2017 : 3:37:46 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning a Beginner Level Breadmaking Merit Badge!
“Both baking soda and baking powder are used to produce carbon dioxide, which causes the baked goods to rise. Baking soda is the same thing as sodium bicarbonate. In order to activate it, an acid is added, such as yogurt, buttermilk, honey, etc. As soon as this acid is added, the reaction begins, so at this point the batter needs to be mixed and baked, before the whole thing deflates.
Baking powder, on the other hand, is baking soda and cream of tartar mixed together, as well as often times a starch, as a drying agent. Because the baking powder has an acid already added, an additional acid is not needed. If the baking powder is a single acting powder, the baked good needs to be baked quickly after being mixed, as it only gets activated that single time. If it is double acting baking powder, you have more time, as the baking powder gets activated twice - first upon mixing and again with the heat of the oven.
The first type of bread we made was gluten free biscuits. Due to calling for baking powder, the wet ingredient is just milk. The next was Coconut Flour Honey Biscuits. This recipe calls for baking powder, but has honey in it. I actually made it twice - once with baking powder and once with baking soda and we much preferred the texture of the baking powder. I'm wondering if the coconut flour changed the pH enough to where the extra acid was needed. The third bread we tried was Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits. Oddly enough, it calls for baking powder, though it has buttermilk (because some of us cannot have cow milk, I made "buttermilk" with milk and vinegar). We again tried it twice - once with baking soda and once with baking powder - and again I preferred the baking powder. Once I thought about it, it made sense, in that these biscuits get rolled and the baking soda ones had deflated by the time the biscuits were rolled, cut, and put in the oven.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2017 : 3:39:39 PM
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Shannon Hudson (hudsonsinaf, #5349) has received a certificate of achievement in Farm Kitchen for earning an Intermediate Level Breadmaking Merit Badge!
“There are three different types of bread yeasts. The first is active dry yeast. This yeast is dehydrated fresh yeast that you proof by mixing it in warm water to bloom, along with some sugar or honey to "feed" it, before mixing it in your batter. Rapid rise or instant yeast does not need the proofing time. It can get mixed right into your batter, without the proofing/blooming. The third type is fresh yeast. This yeast is not dehydrated, and can be crumbled right into the batter or warm water.
I made some einkorn yeast rolls for dinner one night, and then again later that week. The first time I used active dry yeast, which is what the recipe called for, and they were scrumptious! The second time I used instant yeast. They were not nearly as fluffy and yummy! I also made No Rise Gluten Free Yeast Rolls, which call for instant yeast. These turned out pretty yummy, but I'd like to try it again with active dry yeast.”
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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Merit Badge Awardees - Woo-hoo Sisters!: Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees |
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Farmgirl Sisterhood Merit Badge Awardees
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