S'mores Crescent Rolls

Looking for an easy winter snack that goes great with hot cocoa?
All you need is a tube of crescent rolls, some mini marshmallows, and chocolate chips.
Place them in the crescent roll (as seen in photo below), roll it up, and bake according to the directions on the back of the tube.
Ta Da!
Now you have some easy-to-eat s'mores!

Image Courtesy of Northern Cottage

Check back this week for some more great recipes, holiday party tips, and DIY Christmas gifts.
Happy Sunday and safe travels to anyone heading back home!


~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Red Hot Apple Cider

It sure did get chilly outside this weekend!
So why not stay toasty inside with this delicious drink?

Red Hot Apple Cider is not only absolutely out-of-this-world good, but it is also ridiculously easy to make.

If you have the two ingredients and five minutes to whip up a batch, then you’ll be good to go!

Just follow the directions below to make this sweet and spicy drink that will give you that warm, fuzzy Christmas feeling with every sip.

Red Hot Apple Cider

Ingredients:

1 quart Apple Cider, homemade or store bought
1/4 cup Red Hots candies (or more depending on how spicy you want it)

Directions:

In a large sauce pan or a large tea kettle, heat cider and red hots over medium high heat, constantly stirring. Once red hots have completely dissolved, remove from heat, and serve in mugs.

If you want to make just one serving, you can put the ingredients in a mug in the microwave and heat it up until the Red Hots are melted.  Stir and enjoy!

You can even get fancy and garnish it with a cinnamon stick or place a decent amount of Red Hots in the bottom of the glass to give it the look shown above.


Do you have any winter drink recipes that you love?  Send them our way! We'd love to share them!


Have a great rest of the weekend!


~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

A Very Faulkner Thanksgiving

We here at Faulkner’s Ranch are thankful for so many things...

our family, our friends, and being blessed with a wonderful family business that makes us love going to work each day.

Since moving to our new location on Raytown Road, it has become a tradition for the entire family to get together at the ranch for a huge Thanksgiving dinner celebration.  We usually have between 30 and 40 people to celebrate with which means lots of laughter and LOTS of food!

We start the evening by getting in a big circle and each saying what we are thankful for...

Then it's time for the food and we aren't joking around when we say there is lots of food! Everyone brings their favorite dish so everything is absolutely delicious.

Once we are all stuffed we start the rather competitive game of Pirate Bingo. 

It works like a White Elephant Christmas Exchange.  When you win Bingo, you pick a gift...however that gift can be stolen up to three times by other winners.

Some people get the best seat in the house for this...

Especially since the game can get pretty intense...

and some tables don't have much luck and start to get rowdy...

But luckily our beautiful Bingo callers keep everyone in line.

In the end, everyone scored some pretty awesome gifts, like Jamie with his boa covered plunger.

Overall, it was a fantastic evening!

We hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Stay tuned this month for more delicious holiday recipes, DIY Christmas gifts, and awesome party planning tips.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

To read more about our family traditions, click here.

A Beautiful Ranch Wedding

This past weekend was a busy one for the Faulkner's.

We had 1 fundraiser, 1 quincenera, and 6 pony parties!

We also had a very special wedding for Kaity Gerling and Philip Stair at our Benjamin Ranch location.  

It is always fun to watch the barns be transformed into a dream come true for the bride and groom.  Michele Gerling (the mother of the bride) and florist, Russ Lawrence, did a spectacular job creating the most magical environment for the evening.

Here is what Michele had to say about the special day:

"I can't tell you how many phone calls I have received on how elegant the barn looked and how delicious the food was! No one believed the transformation could be made; I just told them, "I'll show you."  Of course, it made a difference having a florist that understood my vision and was willing to put up with me.  Poor guy.  Of course, the Faulkner's were very gracious.  A true dream team! The food, the DJ, the cute bartender, and of course, Bob and Marilyn were awesome.  It was an amazing experience! As my friend G said, "I give it two thumbs and a big toe up!"

We are so glad that you had such a wonderful time!

Now, without further ado, here are some of our favorite photos of this beautiful wedding.

Michele made these chandeliers out of hanging flower baskets and crystals.

The gorgeous arbor for the ceremony.

The Wedding Party

The Reception

The Bride and Groom's Table

Photos by Russ Lawrence

To learn more about having a wedding at Faulkner's Ranch or Benjamin Ranch click HERE.

Congratulations once again to the happy couple!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Helpful Hedge Apples

This time of the year it isn't uncommon to find a bunch of hedge apples on the ground.

You know the things we're talking about!

They are bumpy, green, and as it turns out - totally useful!

So before you toss them in the trash the next time you're raking, read up on some of their helpful uses.


Folklore provides numerous claims that hedge apples work great as an insect repelleant.  Placing hedge apples around the foundation of your house or inside the basement has been said to provide relief from cockroaches, spiders, boxelder bugs, crickets and other pests.

In addition to working as a natural pest control, they also can be used as colorful fall decor.  Group several in a bowl for an interesting centerpiece.

image via

Or you can do this creative idea that we found at  ProjectPossessed.com.  They used hedge apples to make a unique fall garland.

Click here for instructions.

A Few Other Facts:

Hedge apples are not poisonous.  They are safe to have in your home because they are non-toxic for pets.

A hedge apple's average lifespan can last from 2 to three months when kept inside.  Some even claim that they will last during the entire winter season.  Although some hedge apples will develop spots at an early stage, don’t worry about discarding them until most of the green has disappeared.

Do you have any other uses for hedge apples? Have you used them in our home? Send your stories our way! We would love to share them!


~ Your Friends at Faulkner's

Information from here and here. 

Ponies and Pancakes

A special thanks to everyone who came out to our Ponies and Pancakes Benefit to support Kairos Christian School in Guatemala!

It may have been chilly but it was super fun!

We enjoyed some yummy pancakes for breakfast...

Prepared by our awesome ranch chefs!

The pancakes got two thumbs up!

Of course you can't have Ponies and Pancakes without some pony rides!

We also had some fun flying through the sky on Zippity Zack's Zipline!

We even had a cow milking contest...

...and did some face paintin'!

And shhh! Don't forget about the silent auction!

 

There was lots of great stuff to bid on to help the kids in Kairos!

Overall, it was a great day to be at Faulkner's Ranch!

Did you miss the memo! Sign up for our newsletter where we will keep you up to date on upcoming events and offers!

~ Your Friends at Faulkner's