Pine Country Feed Fall Gallery
Today we would like to highlight all the new fall goodies we have at Pine Country Feed! Here is just a taste of fall here is Pine, Colorado!
A Side of Glam
What could be better than a store where you can buy feed for not only your horse or your dog, but you can get groceries for your goat, your bird, your chickens and your llama? Nothing, unless you could also buy a pair of sterling silver earrings, and perhaps a 
designer handbag, and what about a hand tooled saddle and some killer jeans, and a rug made of hand tied leather strips. Pine Country Feed is not your ordinary feed and tack store. It is a feed and tack and dog toy and cowgirl fashion and home accessory and turquoise bracelet watch store. Stop in for pellets for your stove then take a gander upstairs and see if you don’t find the belt of your dreams and some handmade natural soap to go with it. Pine Country Feed offers you an eclectic, “I have to have that” shopping experience and it all comes together with a big “welcome you home” atmosphere where you can shop for your horse and your wife in one fell swoop. Brilliant!
By Any Other Color
An old Cream of Wheat box, circa 1919 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We spend a lot of time in the kitchen – cooking, eating, doing dishes, drinking coffee, eating again – and it needs to be a place we feel called to, a room that tells us we are home. Sometimes we get so busy thinking of the kitchen as a “utility” room that we forget to make it work aesthetically. On the flip side, a kitchen that suffers from décor overload can make us feel disorganized and stressed. The kitchen does have to support the work that goes on there, but it should also be pleasing to the eye. Martha Stewart who simply refuses to work in a kitchen that is anything less than beautiful , suggests an investment in small appliances, bake ware and utensils that are not only functional, but that are pleasing to the eye. A mixer can beat the egg whites into a meringue just as well when it is lime green as opposed to something the color of Cream of Wheat. Have some fun, add some color, or go the other way and take every drop of color out. A totally white, or a silver and black palette can be stunning. Your kitchen works hard and it is screaming for drama, something that says to the world, “the food cooked in this room may change your life”. Make your kitchen a place you want to be after dinner is done and the dishwasher is running. And while you’re there, put your feet up. You work hard too.
Pine Country Christmas Joy
It is Christmas at Pine Country Feed and that means we are wrapped in the spirit of the holiday. Our shelves are stocked with the things you won’t find elsewhere to give to that person who has stolen your heart. Being in love at Christmas just triples the joy of the season and you can make the happiness last with a cowboy hat or duster or both for your favorite buckaroo. There a belts and hats and jackets and scarves and “to die for” jewelry for your cowgirl sweetheart, and don’t leave without checking out the saddles. Stop in and browse and remember why you love this time of year at Pine Country Feed, where it’s a little more festive and a lot warmer than the mall. Pine Country Feed hopes your days leading up to Christmas are filled with delight and a reminder of how much we all have to be thankful for.
Encircle Me With Christmas
The time has come for home adornment and nothing says Christmas any clearer than the wreath. They can be hung over the fireplace, on the front door, anywhere you want to add a touch of celebration. The wreath has long been a symbol of eternity since its shape has no beginning and no end, and when it is made of the traditional pine boughs it also represents life and survival. The evergreen branch has long been used in wreaths to represent the struggle for survival. In Roman times a natural wreath was given to warriors as they returned home from war, as recognition of their victory in the battle. At Christmas the pine wreath symbolizes eternal life, and celebrates the passage of the dark days of winter, and let’s be honest, it smells great! If you’re looking for something to hang from year to year, the choices are endless. At Pine Country Feed we have an array of all natural, dried wreaths as well as some blingy beaded choices that will get things started right. Wrap your home in Christmas this season with a wreath on every door and a hug in every heart.
Get Festive
Thanksgiving is past and we are staring Christmas in the face, the lights, the trees, the packages and all the excitement. There is nothing quite a like a mountain Christmas on the ranch with horse drawn carriages and dark pine forests. Don’t let the splendor stop at the front door, bring it in and settle it on the hearth, right next to the rocking chair draped in Grandma’s quilt. Pine Country Feed is addicted to Christmas and helping you make your home the joy center it is meant to be. Simple, chic, loaded with rustic outdoor charm, you’ll find just what your house needs to say Christmas done right. There are items for the tree, the table and something perfect to take you to those holiday parties in style. Start your Christmas with a trip to the place that puts you in the holiday spirit the minute you walk through the door – Christmas at Pine Country Feed!
Joyful Shopping
When you’re getting ready for the upcoming holidays don’t forget about the four-legged family members who give us so much joy throughout the year. Pine Country Feed, though known for their larger animal supplies, also cater to the house pets in your life. You’ll find favorite toys, bones for chewing, the best foods and treats, and Pine Country will help you put it all together in a snuggly bed for your furry friend. While you’re there be sure to take a trip upstairs to the cowgirl boutique where you’ll be delighted by the Christmas decorations and the myriad choices of gifts that you haven’t seen anywhere else. The great part is, you won’t have to go to the mall where you’ll look for parking and walk a good mile and a half to finally get to the store that carries your mom’s favorite hand cream. Be adventurous and skip the slippers for your sister. It’s time she had a blingy belt, or a turquoise encrusted pillow. The shopping you do at Pine Country Feed will leave you feeling refreshed instead of frazzled and the gifts you give will be one of a kind and from the heart!
A Side of Glam
What could be better than a store where you can buy feed for not only your horse or your dog, but you can get groceries for your goat, your bird, your chickens and your llama? Nothing, unless you could also buy a pair of sterling silver earrings, and perhaps a designer handbag, and what about a hand tooled saddle and some killer jeans, and a rug made of hand tied leather strips. Pine Country Feed is not your ordinary feed and tack store. It is a feed and tack and dog toy and cowgirl fashion and home accessory and turquoise bracelet watch store. Stop in for pellets for your stove then take a gander upstairs and see if you don’t find the belt of your dreams and some handmade natural soap to go with it. Pine Country Feed offers you an eclectic, “I have to have that” shopping experience and it all comes together with a big “welcome you home” atmosphere where you can shop for your horse and your wife in one fell swoop. Brilliant!
As Far as the Eye Can See
There is a place in your house where nearly every person who enters your home will at least see, and many of them will spend some time, and that is the bathroom. Don’t let your bathroom be an afterthought in relationship to the rest of the rooms by filling it with nothing but towels and toilet paper. Let the theme of your household décor carry over to this probably smallest, but most important of rooms. Tie in your rustic chic with a wiry beaded garland over the mirror with rusted iron stars intermingled amongst the twists and turns. Switch plates, soap dishes, towel racks and hooks for jackets or bath robes 
come in a variety of themed fashions that can dress your room in everything from wrought iron twigs to horseshoes. Why not stuff a basket with fluffy towels and a fringed leather pillow, and don’t forget the lighting. Shades trimmed out in leather laces, or embedded with malachite and jet will bring the flair to the room that you’re looking for. Tooled leather, pounded tin, rough hewn wood – all textures that can serve as art on the walls and Pine Country Feed has it all.
The Worthy Pumpkin
Pumpkin Puppy
With Thanksgiving in view we feel we must give another nod to pumpkin – the magical food of autumn. It is good for so many things, and comes conveniently unfettered, already pureed in cans from the grocery store, making it simple to use even on the busiest cooking day of the year. Of course pumpkin pie will be on the menu for much of America next week, as well as pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cupcakes and pumpkin bread. Some interesting dishes that we have come across are pumpkin squash lasagna, and spicy pumpkin ravioli with a touch of habanera pepper (go to Martha Stewart online). Pumpkin brings high nutritional value to your table being high in vitamins A and C, iron, calcium and dietary fiber besides being low in calories, with only 83 in an entire cup. The biggest unexpected plus about pumpkin is what it does for your dog. If your four legged family member suffers from a sensitive tummy, causing picky eating or diarrhea, a tablespoon of pumpkin with their regular food can make a huge difference, and we speak from experience. Your dog will love the somewhat sweet taste and it is good for the coat, eyes and bones, not to mention, everyone’s disposition!
Rope a Winner
So it’s your turn to host the clan for the Thanksgiving extravaganza and you’re trying to decide if there is a way to get the house in presentable “haven’t seen these people in a year” shape without tearing the whole place down and starting over. The key to your success is in the details. When you clean your house remove all of the current accent pieces, the ones you have had out since you moved into the house, and start fresh. Clear the pillows from the petrified sofa and the colorless vase from the mantle and begin your adventure into tasteful, always inviting, cowgirl chic. A pillow with leather fringe and a pounded metal, bling ridden receptacle for your mums will bring new life to the old walls, without the hours of work that you should spend making your pies. Dress your house for the holiday in a way that will have them stopping and smiling and thinking how truly clever you are. Pine Country Feed will set you up in a quick morning’s stop, and send you on your way with a treasure trove of wow!
Cowboy Stampede
Out on the range, when there’s nothing to answer but the call of the wild, and the only clock you have is shining overhead, things seem to make sense. The little things start to matter more and all the other stuff kind of gets lost in the dust.
Coffee People Unite!
At Pine Country Feed we are lovers of anything that adds richness to our lives – great friends, mountain air, jeans that fit, and of course a great cup of coffee. This week we are having a coffee tasting party to choose the signature roasts that will bear the name of Pine Country Feed and we can’t wait to introduce them to you. We will be deciding the names of our roasts, and we would love your help. If you have a great idea for a coffee name, and keep in mind we are going with a cowboy/cowgirl- Wild West theme, put it on our wall. If we choose yours, you’ll receive a free pound of coffee and all of our deepest admiration. So raise your cup and put on your thinking cap. Salut!
Big Deal
Halloween is the day to make contact with you inner ghoul – the side of you that would prefer to be mysterious, and hide behind a mask of intrigue. We have to take our hats off to Martha Stewart who has perfected the art of ghostly retreat, greeting the holiday in the most elaborate way possible. Martha’s life isn’t a possibility in the real world, where you have to function within a budget, and your staff consists of your husband and your cat, but Martha forces us to look at life differently. She insists that we celebrate the everyday, that we go the extra trouble, that we make life a celebration, and she is never more Martha than on Halloween. Martha Stewart understands that there are times when the most important thing you can do is enjoy the art of living and she shows us just how to do it with style. We can take a lesson from Martha, who has become wealthy teaching people how to properly fold a bed sheet. Sometimes, despite the mayhem around us, life is very simply and exquisitely about the fun.
Cowboy Forever
If you’re beside yourself trying to decide what to be for Halloween, worry no more. Be a cowboy, in a long duster and hat with boots and spurs, and it might be helpful if you could pack a six shooter. It is said that houses that have been converted from barns to houses are often haunted by cowboys of the early west. They are never mean or scary; they just kind of reside in the barn/house harmlessly watching over the place. People who lived in one such house said that they often heard spurs jangling on the hardwood floor, and there was a distinct smell of horses and hay and well worn tack in the kitchen. One woman, awake in the early hours of the morning, saw one of the duster clad apparitions walking down the hallway between her living room and dining room and as he passed he looked her way and tipped his hat then vanished through the back door. It’s good to know that true to form, the cowboy, even a ghost of a cowboy, is friendly and polite even when he is haunting a house. Have a great Halloween weekend!
A Word From Manna Pro
Last spring about zillion of you bought our baby chicks and ducks which we are assuming means you have eggs by the dozen. You can only eat so many omelets so we thought we would suggest a visit to the Manna Pro site where they are offering a free download of egg recipes from their web followers – www.mannapro.com- click on the download for the Egg Cook Booklet. While you’re there be sure to enter The Happy Homesteader promotion for a chance to win a free $5,000 Backyard Homesteader Makeover. The Manna Pro site also offers some great tips for cleaning and storing your fresh eggs, nutritional information for raising goats and pigs, and a word about raising rabbits. We thought while we were at it we would re-publish our recipe for Cast Iron Eggs just to give you one more choice.
Melt two tablespoons butter in a cast iron skillet on your stove top, add one cup of sliced mushrooms and cook until tender and dark brown. Crack eight to ten eggs on top of the melted butter and mushrooms. They will be crowded and the uncooked whites will overlap as though they are running together. Sprinkle with garlic salt and course ground pepper and allow the eggs to cook undisturbed for about four minutes. Cut two ripe tomatoes into thin slices and lay overlapping on top of the eggs. Allow the eggs to cook for three more minutes on the stove top. Finally, sprinkle with one cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Place the skillet into a 350 degree oven and let bake for six minutes. Serve by scooping out onto plates with a large spoon – no slicing.
Not So Wild West
Academy award winning actor, Henry Fonda, awarded the sixth “Greatest Male Film Star of All Time” by the American Film Institute, played a variety of roles, in films that are considered classics, worth seeing again, like Jezebel, Twelve Angry Men, Grapes of Wrath and Mr. Roberts. He was a classic actor, always underplaying his role, but owning the screen nonetheless. So when the American Western became the film genre that everyone wanted, Henry Fonda found a way to make it work. In some ways he wasn’t believable as a cowboy. His features were a bit too refined and his voice had a compelling gentle timbre that didn’t ring true in the old west. Still, he pulled off some of his greatest roles in the saddle in The Tin Star, How the West Was Won, Fort Apache and Warlock, carving out for himself a place as the rational cowboy, the one who thought before he pulled his gun, and perhaps that is what movie goers came to love best about him. He brought civility to the dusty streets of Hollywood’s Wild West, and a bit of un-fussy refinement, and that was refreshing. He wasn’t one of those actors who seemed to be born with a Stetson on their head, but when he decided to wear one, it fit.
Butternut Squash, Apple and Sage Soup
Nothing says fall like a pot of soup on the stove, and soup made with the best of autumn’s ingredients says it even louder. This recipe puts it all together with ease and a dash of pizzazz.
Place 2 butternut squash (about 4 pounds), halved and seeded, in a 425˚ oven. Sprinkle with 8-10 chopped sage leaves and salt and pepper, dot with 2 tablespoons butter and roast for 1 hour. After cooling the squash scrape out the flesh and set aside.
In a large sauce pot heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté one small chopped onion until tender. Add squash, 4 cups chicken stock, 1 cup apple cider, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce, pinch nutmeg and ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 30 minutes.
Puree cooked mixture in the pot with an immersion blender, or if you don’t have one, use a regular blender then return to the pot. Reheat the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste, then just before serving stir in ½ cup heavy cream. Top individual servings with peeled, diced apple, or a dollop of sour cream.
This recipe serves 8 as a side dish with grilled German sausage over sautéed green cabbage and sliced red peppers. Delicious comfort!
Pumpkin Up
The cool mornings and frosty nights are calling to your inner pumpkin. It is time to bake, so do it proudly and use the very healthy, rich and creamy pumpkin whenever you can.
Pumpkin Cupcakes
Mix together 4 slightly beaten eggs, ¾ cup vegetable oil, 2 cups sugar and 1-15oz can pumpkin. Combine with a mixture of 1 ¾ cup flour, ¼ cup corn starch, 4 teaspoons pumpkin spice, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ¾ teaspoon salt. Beat just until well blended, fill lined muffin cups two thirds full and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. The center of the cakes should bounce back to the touch when they are done.
Allow the cupcakes to cool for 30 minutes at least then frost with a combination of 8oz softened cream cheese, 3 tablespoons softened butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 4 cups powdered sugar. After frosting refrigerate lightly covered cupcakes until you are ready to serve.
A hot cup of coffee and a pumpkin cupcake and you’ll be fortified for days. If you feel weak after 24 hours, eat another cupcake!
By Any Other Color
We spend a lot of time in the kitchen – cooking, eating, doing dishes, drinking coffee, eating again – and it needs to be a place we feel called to, a room that tells us we are home. Sometimes we get so busy thinking of the kitchen as a “utility” room that we forget to make it work aesthetically. On the flip side, a kitchen that suffers from décor overload can make us feel disorganized and stressed. The kitchen does have to support the work that goes on there, but it should also be pleasing to the eye. Martha Stewart who simply refuses to work in a kitchen that is anything less than beautiful , suggests an investment in small appliances, bake ware and utensils that are not only functional, but that are pleasing to the eye. A mixer can beat the egg whites into a meringue just as well when it is lime green as opposed to something the color of Cream of Wheat. Have some fun, add some color, or go the other way and take every drop of color out. A totally white, or a silver and black palette can be stunning. Your kitchen works hard and it is screaming for drama, something that says to the world, “the food cooked in this room may change your life”. Make your kitchen a place you want to be after dinner is done and the dishwasher is running. And while you’re there, put your feet up. You work hard too.
Misfit Marilyn
Marilyn Monroe has been hailed as an American Icon and all time greatest sex symbol, and did over the course of her career play many roles suited to a beautifully, confused blonde in search of a man. She spent much of her time in movies frustrated by her “type-cast” opportunities, always looking for the role that would make her a “serious actor”. Hollywood loved to dress her in high heels, chiffon and red lipstick, which is why it is 
interesting that when she finally appeared in a movie that asked more of her than the presentation of a pretty face, she performed almost entirely in a pair of jeans. In 1960 Monroe starred in The Misfits, a screen adaptation of her then husband Arthur Miller’s play. The movie didn’t do well at the box office, since American movie goers are very often poor at accepting our stars in a role that isn’t what we’ve come to expect. It was the last movie Monroe ever made, her health waning, and her broken heart somehow irreparable, she gave herself to this final effort in a way she had never dared before. Later, by several years, critics took a new look at The Misfits and declared it possibly Monroe’s best work, certainly her most honest. No chiffon or red lipstick, just jeans and boots – unpretentious, real-life clothing for a “serious actor”.
Behold the Horse
Hollywood loves horses, in every form. They love the horse that can win a race, or the horse that stands by his man until the last shot is fired. They have given us talking horses, horses that fly, singing and dancing horses, carousel horses and horses that have broken our hearts. They are the favorite means of transportation in an entire genre of movies, and most of the favorite film stars of the forties, fifties and sixties ended up on a horse at one time or another. Horses are back in style on the silver screen with westerns making a come-back over the last fifteen years. Today’s westerns are more violent and the main characters never bathe, but one thing is consistent with the early western. The best friend of the cowboy, rancher, farmer, or settler is still the horse. The west simply wouldn’t have been settled without them. The four legged beasts are beautiful, noble, intelligent, usually gentle pictures of the soul of an era that was misbehaved, poorly planned and truly brutal. When everyone else was spitting, drinking too much, gun fighting in the streets, the horse brought a grace and sureness to America’s wild picture of the west that makes us love them. They are the spirit of what we wish we could be; strong, sleek, peaceful. And they do talk by the way – you just have to listen really carefully.
Fashionably Forward
It ‘s that great time of year when the nights turn cold and the mornings cool, and the day in between is that perfect combination of fading summer and the anticipation of crisp, bright pre-winter fresh. Time to get your fall duds in order and there is no point in even attending October without the proper jeans, boots, jackets, belts, skirts, blouses and bling. So pull your cowgirl out of the closet, the one that has disguised itself all summer in cargo shorts and hikers, and get over to Pine Country Feed for that piece of the ranch that you can take anywhere. Your cowgirl style is just waiting to make its statement, and Pine Country has everything you’ll need, plus that little extra you just want with all your heart.
Get Your Lid
Seriously, a wardrobe without a cowboy hat is lacking on so many levels. The versatility of a proper western head covering is limitless, and it is practical as well. Cowboys design their hats with a deep front brim to keep the sun off the face, but they are smart enough not to neglect the back your neck, thus the deep back brim. Cowboy hats, especially when they are worn by cowgirls, can be blinged in as many ways as there are stars in the western sky. Feathers, leather, silver, turquoise, onyx, beads, the list is endless, can all grace your headwear, making it appropriate for any occasion and a must for the times you really want to make an impression. Everyone from brides to Bronco fans can be seen donning their favorite cowboy hat and looking like the fashion divas they are. You’ve always wondered why cowgirls never have a bad hair day – it’s the hat, it can cover a multitude of sins, and make you look like you’ve got your act together at the same time. We are proud of our hats at Pine Country Feed. They are authentic and fashionable and all the rage.
