Sarah's Musings

This Blog has Moved

2010-06-17T13:10:00.000-05:00

Hi All!

In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really updating this blog any more. At all.

I've moved blogs to heartland Renaissance!

If you haven't come to visit yet, come over! Browse! Subscribe! Say hello! All of the recipes and content you loved from Sarah's Musings is hanging out over there and new content is better than ever!

In fact, I'm doing my very first giveaway, starting today! Come visit and sign up for the contest for some gorgeous, organic, fresh skincare. I mean really, who doesn't want a little bit of that, for free?

See you there!

Best,
Sarah

PS - I will be closing this blog down for good in the next few months, make sure to update your bookmarks to the exact same recipes over at heartland Renaissance while you can! The full list of recipes is here and you can always use the search function in the upper right corner to find your favorites! See you there!

It's Official . . .

2010-04-30T14:18:00.000-05:00

We are HOMEOWNERS!!!

Documents have been signed and keys have been exchanged! So exciting!

And, to complete this excitement, I've decided to launch my new blog, a day early! I just can't wait any longer!

Please don't hesitate to go visit heartland Renaissance - my new creation! Subscribe, via a reader OR e-mail (yeah!) and join the fun on facebook or twitter! I can't wait to see you there . . .

Happy First Birthday Luke!

2010-04-27T08:05:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe it's been a year already since you were born.  Luke, you are such a joy!  Always smiling, always loving, you make my heart swell.And what a gorgeous day to celebrate your birth!  We went to the park, where you played on the swings.
And down the slides, holding Lloyd’s hand the whole way.  Your big brother wouldn’t have it any other way.
We indulged in some fresh, locally made frozen custard (Mama’s favorite.)
And later had Grandma and Poppa over for gumbo, presents and strawberry short cake (recipe coming soon!) Along with the wearing of the birthday crown, of course.
What a day!   
Happy First Birthday Luke!  
We Love you Mucho!!

A Mothers Work; is it ever done?

2010-04-27T08:02:00.000-05:00

As I write this, I am surrounded by boxes in various stages of packing, crumpled up birthday wrapping paper and the bits and pieces of the Sunday newspaper. Part of a half eaten sandwich still sits on the table, along with half of a cup of cold coffee from breakfast. Both boys are in bed napping - one boy is asleep, the other is not - and I have eight windows open to different Web sites on my computer.

Did I mention that I'm also trying to dye my hair at home while I'm at it? Because I can't seem to find the time to make or keep an appointment? The timer is set: 25 minutes of “free” time while my brown hair gets browner to catch up on Twitter, Facebook and blog posts. And maybe reheat that coffee.

From mid-March to mid-May, we celebrate four family birthdays, including both boys, my husband and my sister, not to mention a few friends (who probably will only get a note on their Facebook wall, if they're lucky).

Last week, my husband had a three-day business trip to New York City morph into four due to travel delays as I stayed home with the boys on my own, failing miserably on a self-imposed ban of TV for Turn off the TV week (we lasted a day. A girl has to shower sometimes). And I somehow allowed myself to say yes to two book editings for friends.

Oh, and this week we close on our first house. Exciting, but it throws in two or three more meetings to attend, second copies of paperwork to sign, walk-throughs to schedule and, oh yeah, don't we have to pack?

The weekend we move is Mother's Day, two days later is my husband's birthday, and then, the following weekend, we're expecting our first house guests (though, granted, it is family who are coming to help) but there are still menus to plan and sheets to wash.

Oh, and did I mention my youngest has two teeth coming in and both boys are sick? Which means as I write this I have a unique blend of snot and drool decorating both shoulders in a Jackson Pollock-esque design. Sigh.

I'm stressed. And somehow, even when unexpected things happen like illness and delays, I still try to do it all.

And miserably fail.

To read the rest of the article and comment, please visit momaha.com . . .

Content Copyright © 2010 by Sarah Warren. All rights reserved.

An Announcement . . .

2010-04-16T17:14:00.000-05:00

We're Moving!

And I don't just mean when we close on our new house at the end of this month (which, by the way, I'm still needlessly nervous we're going to lose because it still seems too good to be true so keep us in your prayers!) . . . nope, we're moving blog addresses as well.

You might have noticed I haven't been around as much lately. Fewer posts and all that. Not because I don't have things to write, on the contrary, I've got a few new recipes saved up and a list of ideas for the next few months!, but because I've been working on the back-end of things at my new place. I'm in the process of designing it, moving posts and recipes over from this one, fixing broken links and un-processed comments, organizing it so it's more user friendly, and on and on. It takes up most of my online time these days, and that time is scarcer still because we're packing to move . . . But I haven't forgotten about you, my dear readers; you're the main reason I'm doing all this work! And I hope you don't forget about me . . . and come visit and follow me again when I launch in a few weeks (which I will be doing right here, of course).

So, if I'm a little scarce over the next week or two take heart. I'm working on building a better blog for you and I can't wait to invite you to our new home in just a few weeks. Both literally and figuratively.

Until then . . .

Sarah

10 Commandments of Playground Etiquette

2010-04-13T07:52:00.000-05:00

As the days are getting warmer, I find myself wanting to get out and explore more and more. We are spending lots of time outdoors, at the park, picnicking and just enjoying ourselves.

After a visit to a local park last week, I feel the need for a gentle reminder of a few guidelines that will make everyone's experience all the better.

So, my "10 Commandments of Playground Etiquette." Because we all just want to get along.

I: Thou shalt not eat on the playground.
There seems to be two main detractors from this etiquette rule. The 10-year olds who eat their sandwiches while staking a claim on the swings or the merry-go-round or at the bottom of the slide, thus monopolizing that particular piece of playground equipment, or the 2-year-old snackers who munch on Goldfish and Ritz crackers, leaving bits and bites and crumbs in their wake.

We take picnics and snacks to the park all the time. I get it, kids need to eat. But they need to get off the playground equipment when they do so. Letting your kids eat on the equipment makes the park messy and sticky, leaves bits of food here and there to be discovered and snacked on by exploring little ones and/or makes equipment not available for other kids to play on who are not currently eating.

Urban and landscape designers were employed at high rates to design your neighborhood park. Picnic tables, benches and grassy knolls were added in for a reason. Use them.

II: Thou shalt share thy toys aplenty

If you do not want to share your child's new sandbox toys, do not bring the entire 10-piece set to the playground. When other kids see toys aplenty, they want to play. If your kid's not the sharing type, or you want to keep track of all the toys you bring, limit it to two to three per child. They can only play with that many at one time anyway.

If you bring a ton of toys, expect other kids to want to play. Make sure they're labeled or identifiable in some way and know how many you bring so you can be sure that you bring the same one's home.

That being said, a child's bucket is sacred ground. If there is only one available, we do not expect him/her to share it.

Curious about the rest of the commandments? Click here to read the rest at momaha.com . . .

Lloydisms . . .

2010-04-09T09:31:00.000-05:00

We've been teaching Lloyd to pray the sign of the cross at church and after our prayers at meals. It's really cute hearing it come out of his lips, it generally goes along the lines of:

"Fah-der, Suhn, Ho-Whee Speeerit!"

with the word "Spirit" done at an increased volume and, well, spirit. Along with a general flailing of arms in the general direction of the sign of the cross.

So anyway, Lloyd came down from his room this morning, after he woke up, and gave me a big hug. While in my arms he proceeded to tell me that this morning, he saw the "Father, Son, Sunrise."

What? He repeated it, he had seen the "Father, Son, Sunrise."

As cute as it is that he's getting his words and phrases a little mixed up, I have to wonder if the Holy Spirit was really in there as well . . . both in the sunrise and in the happy, surprising joy it brought to my ears this morning coming out of the mouths of babes.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sourdough Bread

2010-04-06T18:00:00.007-05:00

For some of my regular readers, especially my sourdough bakers, you might recognize this recipe as a version of my previous, multi-grain sourdough bread. When I developed the former recipe, I had lots of leftover oatmeal around and was searching for a way to use it up. My son was younger and didn't have quite the appetite he has now; I made this recipe almost once a week just by saving the breakfast leftovers.

Recently I realized I wasn't making this bread very often. My toddler turned three recently and he just isn't leaving me the leftovers he once did, he's a growing boy! After several weeks, I realized that I missed baking this bread and I wanted to develop basically the same recipe but starting with uncooked oatmeal (though cooked harder grains, like rice or quinoa, or spent grains if you're a home beer brewer, would also be a good substitute in this recipe - I would not recommend using uncooked varieties of those grains as they wouldn't soften enough and you'd have crunchy bites throughout - yuck!). - it softens as it soaks overnight. If you experiment with using other grain varieties, let me know how it turns out!

This bread, because of it's inclusion of milk, butter, eggs and honey, makes a lovely, soft bread perfect for sandwiches. It slices beautifully.

Keep in mind when making this recipe that I developed it to make for a big baking day - it makes four loaves. I generally stash two in the freezer and keep two out (we normally eat at least half of one in the first few hours after it's baked!). If you want to make fewer loaves, just cut the recipe in half.

Have more questions about sourdough? Check out my definitive guide to sourdough . . .

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Sourdough Bread

makes four loaves

The night before you are going to make bread, combine in a medium sized bowl:

3 cups of uncooked oatmeal (I use the old fashioned variety, though steel-cut or oat groats would also work. Do not use instant or quick-cook)
4 Cups Whole Wheat flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 Cups milk plus 2 Tablespoons Whey (if using pasteurized milk, if using raw, just use the milk) OR 4 cups of yogurt

Mix together until it looks like a thick, wet oatmeal. When you stir it you almost want it to make a smacking sound, if that makes sense. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on your counter overnight.

Also, feed your sourdough starter and leave it out overnight. If you keep a small quantity of starter around, make sure you feed it enough to have the required quantity for tomorrow (5 cups)

The next day, add to the grain/whole wheat mixture:

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
5 cups of sourdough starter*
5 Tablespoons butter, softened
5 eggs

*My sourdough starter is fed a 1:1 ratio of flour to water and is the consistency of pancake batter. If your starter is thicker, you may need to add less flour than indicated below.

Stir to combine.

Add in enough bread flour to make a soft dough. I added in about 3 cups in the bowl, stirring with a spoon, and then turned it out to a floured board where I probably added in about 1 cup more. Depending on your starter, you might be adding a little more or a little less.

Knead dough for about 5 minutes. You want it to be soft and slightly sticky. Don't add too much flour so that it is dry.

Allow to rest on your counter for ten minutes. Then, add

2 teaspoons sea salt

Knead for 2 minutes more before forming into a ball and placing in a greased bowl to rise. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Dough will double in bulk, about three to four hours.

Once doubled, turn out onto a lightly floured board, cut in half and then in half again. Form into four loaves.

What I do - Using the loaf pan as your guide, gently pat each loaf's worth of dough into a rectangle about the length of your pan, then fold it onto itself in thirds (folding the bottom third up and over the second third of the dough, sealing slightly, than folding those two layers onto the top third, sealing slightly again) after each fold, before placing in two greased loaf pans.

The dough will be quite sticky, soft and loose. If you need a small amount of flour on your board to prepare the loaves, feel free but move quickly with light fingers and with little extra kneading to form loaves. It should only take about thirty seconds to form each loaf.

Allow to rise until almost doubled in bulk, about an hour and half.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once loaves have risen, slash top vertically. If you want some extra crunch, brush the top with egg white or water and sprinkle heavily with sesame or sunflower seeds. Place loaves in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn 180 degrees in oven before baking for 20-30 minutes more.

Remove from oven, allow to cool briefly, then remove from baking pans to continue cooling. Wait at least an hour to cut.

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, Fight Back Friday, Yeastspotting and Foodie Friday.

The Importance of Mom Dates . . .

2010-04-06T07:51:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday, I had an impromptu evening out.

Was I headed on a date with my husband? Alas, no, he was staying home with the kids. Instead, I picked up a girlfriend of mine and had a mom date.

She had scored two tickets to the Omaha Fashion Week Preview and invited me along.

We had a blast.

Having what I call a “Mom date” where you meet up with one or two friends, all by yourself, is essential for mental health. Even if it’s just a coffee date at the bookstore, or browsing the latest vintage finds at an antique store, having time apart from my children and husband and adult conversation with a friend is something my brain craves.

I love dating my husband, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also essential to build relationships with other adults every once in a while.

The opportunity to talk about something other than potty training, not having to carry around diapers and sippy cups and boxes of raisins in my purse, and being able to eat a meal or sip on a drink in the peaceful knowledge that I will be able to finish the meal while still hot or the beverage while still cold is a luxury these days.

Call me selfish, but I need that once in a while.

To read more . . . click over to Momaha.com

Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Scones

2010-03-31T08:02:00.002-05:00

Lemon Poppy-Seed Sour Cream Scones.

How good does that sound?

One of my absolute favorite muffins is a lemon poppy-seed sour cream muffin. Forget those flavored with almond. I'm always disappointed.

And if you think to ask the barista or whomever it is that you're contemplating buying said muffin from whether they're flavored with almond or lemon, they look at you like, "Why are you asking this you crazy picky-muffin eater?" But seriously. Almond flavored poppy seed muffins? No thank you.

Those with lemon? Superb. Refreshing.

Made with sour cream? Even better. My favorites are from Baking from my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe alone is worth the price of the book. That and the Perfect Party Cake, which I also made again recently for Luke's baptism. . . . amazing.

But here's the thing about muffins. They make a mess in the hands of toddlers. Crumbs and crumbs and crumbs. All over the table that make their way quickly to the floors and tracked throughout the house. Hidden in collar crevices and waistbands to be deposited here and there to be found only in dustpans and dug out of baby's mouths days from now.

So our new favorite snack instead? Scones.

For some reason scones, with that slight ingredient difference from muffins, make the perfect toddler snack. They stay compact while eating, make fewer crumbs and are the perfect size for little hands. And, they're easier to make than muffins, just press into a disk, cut and bake on a cookie sheet. No muss, no fuss, no scrubbing out a dozen little concave indentures in each pan.

They're our new favorite thing around these parts. And recently, when I bought a huge bag of lemons and that extra big tub of Daisy sour cream at Costco, I felt compelled to make up a batch of lemon sour cream something . . . lemon poppy seed scones it was!

And we loved them.

Lemon Poppy-Seed Sour Cream Scones

makes six to eight large scones or a dozen small scones

1 large egg
2/3 cup cold sour cream
2 cups all-purpose flour*
1/4 cup sugar
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and cold

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a measuring cup, measure out the sour cream and add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla, stirring to combine. Set aside.

In a small bowl rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Working with your fingertips quickly (you don't want the heat from your fingers to melt the butter) rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly and sandy - the butter pieces will be various sizes and that is good. Add the lemon sugar, whisking briefly to combine.

Pour the sour cream mixture over the dry ingredients, along with the poppy seeds, and stir with a fork until the dough just comes together. It will still be wet and sticky. Knead the dough briefly in the bowl to combine.

On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough. Divide it into two and form lightly (do not press, do not use a rolling pin, just gently your hands) into a circle about 5" in diameter and a little over an inch thick.

For smaller scones (what I made for the picture above) cut each disk into 6 wedges using a pastry knife and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving a little room for baking expansion in the oven. For large scones, either make one large disk and cut into eight pieces, (will be more the shape of pie slices) or cut the two smaller disks into quarters.

Bake the scones for 20-25 minutes or until their tops are golden. Transfer to a baking rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

The scones can be frozen prior to baking for easy use. Simply freeze the prepared scone on the baking sheet individually then, once frozen, wrap airtight and store in the freezer. Don't defrost before baking, just add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.

*I'm on the search for sprouted flour in my neighborhood - I'll use it next time to make these! I haven't been pleased with how soaked quick breads have turned out so plan on using sprouted flour for them in the future!

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday and Foodie Friday!

Birthday Traditions . . .

2010-03-30T07:53:00.000-05:00

My oldest son, Lloyd, turned 3 Monday.

I can't quite believe it.

It seems like just a moment ago he was giggling as he splat his little fingers into his first birthday cake, smearing cake and frosting all over his face and chest. Last year, when he turned 2, he only had about 20 words mastered, communicating mainly through signing, as he signed for “more” cake and singing 20 times throughout the day.

In the last year, he's gone from that barely talking toddler to a little boy. He speaks in full sentences, complete with correct tense most of the time. He has opinions. He knows his letters. He shows love and compassion.

In fact, he informed me the other day that he was no longer a baby. “I'm a kid now, Mama,” he said. “A little kid,” I conceded, but no longer a baby, or even a toddler, nonetheless.

Where did the time go?

To read the rest on momaha.com, please click here . . .  

Happy Third Birthday Lloyd!

2010-03-29T20:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Third Birthday to my beautiful boy!

We've spent the past several days celebrating. Sourdough pancakes for breakfast along with a family birthday party Sunday afternoon.

And homemade birthday cake . . .

His big gift? A wagon! He loves it and it will be well used out at our new home in a few short weeks!

Can you believe this post was just from one year ago?

And from his first birthday . . . with a bunch of shots from his first year of life.

And my first post about him . . .

What a treasure he is in our lives.

Happy Third Birthday Lloyd!  

I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Lloydisms . . .

2010-03-25T16:15:00.000-05:00

At this very moment Lloyd is outside in the backyard

riding his "motorcycle."

A Big Wheels.

He just came in and asked me "Where are the girls?"

Not quite three and already he thinks that boys with motorcycles get all the girls. . . What do you think?

Great Grandma Louise's Tortillas - Authentic California Tortillas

2010-03-25T08:02:00.002-05:00

Let me introduce you to someone. This is my Great-Great Grandma Laura Martinez. She was 100% Diegueno/Kumeyaay, a Native American tribe from near San Diego and Northern Mexico. She lived and gave birth to my Great-Grandma Louise in the Santa Ysabel Assistencia, a smaller mission incorporated with the San Diego mission.

So when I tell you that I have my Great Grandma's tortilla recipe, you can be sure that it is highly authentic.

I love these tortillas. They are what my Grandfather remembers eating as a little boy, they are what my father remembers eating as a little boy and I am thrilled to be able to make them for my little boys.

Same recipe, passed on, and made with love.

By the way, this is the exact recipe, verbatim from how I received it. Frankly I think it's fantastic how short and sweet it was. It assumes you know how to cook. I'll write the notes on how best to make them below.

Great Grandma Louise's Tortillas

makes about 8-10" tortillas

3 Cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons lard or bacon grease
1 Cup water/milk - about half milk and half water

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add fat and milk. Mix well to form a ball.
Let the ball stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour for elasticity. Cook on wood range.

my notes: 

If you have a wood range, I envy you.

So, here's what I do. Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut in the fat like you would a pie crust.

Add liquid and stir, kneading briefly if needed. You really shouldn't need to knead, a spoon ought to be fine. The dough will be smooth and not sticky, due to the fat content, it should not stick to your hands.

Allow to rest, refrigerated and covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes to 6 to 8 hours. You do not want the dough to get dry. Separate with a dough cutter into about 8 pieces, roughly a ball that will fit into the palm of your hand. You should not need a floured board or floured rolling pin for this - the fat should be enough non-stick as it is.

Heat an ungreased cast-iron griddle or a cast-iron frying pan to medium-high heat. Roll out the balls into roughly 10" tortillas. I normally only roll out one to two at a time, keeping the balls covered and cold while they wait. You can roll the next one as the previous one cooks. Cook on the first side for about two minutes, until brown spots begin to form, and then flip for about one more minute on the other side. You ought to be able to smell and see when they're ready to flip.

Keep warm before serving and enjoy!

These are best within an hour of cooking. They're so easy to make, don't bother cooking to freeze and store. Just make and eat them fresh. You'll thank me for it.

Enjoy!

PS - Though I love and adore this recipe, I have tinkered with it with sourdough and whole wheat flours. I'll be sharing that recipe soon . . . but I wanted to keep this post and this recipe pure.

I respect it that much.

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wendesday, Pennywise Platter and Foodie Friday.

Luke's Baptism

2010-03-22T10:51:00.000-05:00

A few fun shots from Luke's baptism this past weekend . . . 

Luke and his proud (and handsome) daddy. Wearing the family baptismal gown.

Luke and his blue, blue eyes . . .

And Lloyd hanging out with his Poppa.  

Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of shots with my camera, but I'm hoping to get copies of a few more soon from my mom and T.'s mom (hint, hint) . . . I know they had some great ones!

Daybook

2010-03-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Daybook for Today, March 21, 2010

Outside my Window... It was sunny today!!! Finally! This long dark winter thing has gotten old.

I am thinking... that I haven't blogged here in too long! Life gets in the way sometimes. I have a recipe or three ready, but need to upload pictures first, then this past week has been crazy with my mom in town for Luke's baptism last weekend, St. Patrick's Day, finishing up things for our home loan, and then we're preparing for Lloyd's birthday next weekend. Phew!!

I am wearing . . . Jeans, pink tank top and kelly green cardigan. Pearl earrings. I am trying to promote spring via wardrobe!!

From the school room...watercolors and sewing boards have been a big hit lately.

I am thankful... for grace.

From the kitchen... Stir fry tomorrow. Working on eating from and cleaning out the freezer before we move . . .

I am creating... trying to psych myself up to using the Palmer Pleitch method on my first pattern soon. I need clothes. I'm picky. And I don't fit the clothes that I can afford. And what I like, I tend to not be able to afford. So, I'm planning on doing some sewing . . .

I am reading.... the best thing I read this week was from Elizabeth, you should go read it too.

I am hearing. . . watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution tonight.

Around the house... we need to start packing, I think. Maybe after Lloyd's birthday, or Easter.

One of my favorite things... is my husband. I love him mucho.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family. Please pray for us!
Lots of time spent outside as the weather gets warmer
Lloyd's birthday is a week away . . . we just ordered his "big" present today and I'm hoping it comes in on time! I need to figure out what cake to bake - his request is a "brown and purple" cake. Thinking chocolate with . . . something purple.

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

Occupation Homemaker

2010-03-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

We were out recently at a cocktail party. A much-anticipated evening out with my husband. Little black dress, check. Cute shoes, check. Looking forward to an evening of anonymous adult conversation.

And then the subject of what we "do" came up. I'm never quite sure how to answer this question. Or what the response will be.

This time, the response was unfortunately familiar.

“I would go crazy if I stayed home with my kids all day,” the woman said. “I don’t know how you do it!"

I smiled thinly back, not wanting to have to defend our family’s decision again.

I took a stabilizing sip of wine.

"No, I mean cra-ha-hay-ha-zy," she said tipsily, emphasizing the absolute level of crazy by slowly turning her pointer finger in circles around her ear and crossing her eyes.

Yes, I am a stay-at-home mom. And I'm often misunderstood.

To read the rest, click here . . .

Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Chocolate and Almond Biscotti

2010-03-10T17:34:00.007-06:00

For Christmas, my parents sent a box of holiday treats. Home-canned Dilly beans for me, Big Jim chile's for T., dried herbs from the garden and some

homemade biscotti.

I gave one to my two year old and he fell in love. Perfect sized for toddler hands and crunchy enough that it took him a long time to finish. A perfect treat.

It's interesting how my recipes get developed these days. This one? I ran out of (white) sugar.* But I wanted to make something sweet, and slightly healthy for my little guy for a treat. Biscotti was still on my mind from Christmas.

I scoured my cupboards and found just enough brown sugar and decided to make up my own recipe. I figured that we'd at least have something edible. I was shocked to find out that we loved them and will be purposefully making them from now on, whether my pantry is stocked or not!

Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Chocolate and Almond Biscotti

makes about two to three dozen biscotti

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup whole grain pastry flour
1/3 cup ground oats (just grind them in your food processor)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

In another bowl, cream together:

6 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Add dry mixture to creamed and combine. To this, fold in:

1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Form into a log about 18" long and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit on a parchment papered lined baking sheet for 25 minutes.

Reduce heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow loaf to cool for 15 minutes or so, slice into 1/2" slices, lay sliced side down on parchment paper and bake for 30 more minutes until dry.

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday and Foodie Friday.

*Yes, I admit, I still buy regular sugar sometimes. We normally use natural sugars, honey, maple syrup, etc. and don't eat much of it, but I prefer penny-pinching on minor ingredients so I can up the budget on better-quality meat, fish and dairy! But, I digress . . .

The Walk of Shame . . .

2010-03-09T07:25:00.000-06:00

I was a member of a sorority in college and lived in the sorority house for a few years. With pretty strict rules about visitors, food and drink in the house, we often found ourselves out and about on a Friday or Saturday night.

On occasion, one or two ladies might find themselves out late without a safe ride home, so they'd stay the night where they were and come home in the morning.

That mid-morning walk through the bright light of our common room, wearing the same clothes from the night before could be highly embarrassing.

We called it, “The walk of shame.”

I'm several years outside of college now, married, two children, but I felt that familiar feeling once again last week. At my local public library.

It started out innocently enough. I'd been going to the library pretty regularly through the winter. I had several books out and with the different check-out dates and renewals had about three different due dates looming.

Then, the perfect storm of library situations occurred. The babies were sick. We had days of terrible weather, making the roads impassable, let alone the sidewalk leading up to the library from the parking lot. When the babies weren't sick, we had below zero temps so we stayed home. Then, when we finally made it out of doors, priorities like groceries superceded errands like the library. We didn't make it back in library doors for at least six weeks.

To read the rest, click here . . .  

A sneak peek . . .

2010-03-08T10:43:00.000-06:00

The contract has been signed. The inspection completed and the list of requests approved.

I can't believe that we might one day (soon!) live in this house.

Cook in this kitchen.  

See the double ovens? One will have a dedicated spot for my baking stone . . .

Bathe my babies in this bathtub.

And mama too . . . I love how deep it is!

 Dine al fresco . . . 

I'm going to need some chairs . . .

And garden to my heart's content.

Look! They even have a sandbox all ready for my boys!

I'm still holding my breath, waiting for something terrible to happen to squash our dream of owning our first home. Is that weird? Is this a normal feeling for people when they buy a house?

Until we close and get those keys in my hand, I'm still on pins and needles. But, we're on the journey to home ownership and I'm ready to start packing up some boxes. Please enjoy a sneak peek of the place (photos are from listing). . .

Toddler Rules of Engagement, a.k.a. everything is MINE!!!

2010-03-02T07:27:00.001-06:00

My (very, nearly, almost) 3-year-old has learned some new vocabulary.

A four-letter word, to be precise, that he used with shocking regularity and increasing volume at a playdate this last week, to my embarrassment and chagrin.

My child has always been a pretty good play-dater. He's polite, he shares, he gives hugs at the end. Once he really likes you, he even tries to sneak in a kiss every once in a while.

So imagine my shock when instead of playing nicely with the little girl over with her mom, my friend, for coffee, he pulled everything out of her hands and yelled that four-letter word.

MINE!!!

All of the puzzles and all of their pieces were MINE!!!

All of the farm animals, tractors and barn were MINE!!!

Every single book, on the shelf or on the floor was MINE!!!

The apples and cheese snack on her plate (even though he had a plate of his own): MINE! MINE!! MINE!!!

Arghhh!

To read the rest, and find out what those toddler rules of engagement are, please click here . . .

Daybook

2010-02-27T14:33:00.000-06:00

Daybook for Today, February 27, 2010

A Picture Thought to Share . . . One of my very favorite photos of my Grandma Ruth. Taken this past summer holding Luke. She just looks so regal. Grandma passed away on the 13th. She lived a full life full of love. She will be missed.

Outside my Window... It is sunny!!! Finally! This long dark winter thing has gotten old.

I am thinking... and excited to announce that we signed on a house!!! We found a one-of-a-kind house and property and jumped on it. I didn't think we'd be making a decision so quickly but, like I said, it is truly one-of-a-kind. I'll share details once the inspection is over (on Monday) and I can breathe easier. I feel like I still can't quite believe it's mine just yet.

I am wearing . . . Jeans, charcoal grey three quarter length sleeve sweater, red rose earrings.

From the school room... let's not talk about "the school room." It's been a bit quiet lately. We have been watching some Baby Signing Time with Luke however and he seems to really enjoy it.

I am thankful...for answered prayers!

From the kitchen... Date night tonight! Thinking we're going to go to sushi. Very excited!

I am creating... idea folders for decorating, paint colors and gardening ideas in our new house; we'll have a garden and room for lots of flowers! Gardening lists are being organized based upon vegetable garden, fruit and nut trees and grape and berry varietals, herbs and medicinal (thinking elderberry, echinacea, chamomile and mints, etc.) Trying to think about what we can do this summer and what we'll plan on in the next few years. Also researching and thinking about growing some rambling roses, peonies and hydrangeas too . . . I'm a big fan of big, showy flowers.

I am reading.... as nerdy as this sounds, I'm hoping that on our date night tonight we can schedule in a leisurely visit to the local bookstore. I need some new inspiration.

I am hearing. . . Quiet. Both boys are napping (shockingly! At the same time!!) and T. and I are taking it easy.

Around the house... My husband vacuumed today while I was away at a momaha.com team meeting! Praise the Lord! I hate vacuuming. Thank you, honey!

One of my favorite things... is scented candles. They just make the house smell like a home.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family. Please pray for us!
Home Inspection on Monday!

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

Feeding the Whole Family - a cookbook review

2010-02-23T07:33:00.002-06:00

When you're out grocery shopping and choosing the food your family eats, Cynthia Lair, author of

"Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children and their Parents"

asks you to consider the following:

Can I imagine it growing?
How many ingredients does it have?
What's been done to the food since it was harvested?
Is this product “part” of a food or the “whole” entity?
How long has this food been known to nourish human beings?

On it's third edition, Lair's cookbook for feeding the whole family is chock full of great information and inspiring recipes. Spanning the globe with influences from French, Greek, Thai and the American Northwest cuisines, Lair's recipes are varied and easy and incorporate real, whole foods.

The first 55 pages are introductory, and truly, a joy to read. I found myself underlining points throughout and even learned a few tips and tricks! She quickly and efficiently explained the importance of certain cooking techniques, including soaking grains and legumes to increase their digestibility, while on the next page discuses the importance of sitting down for family meals. Her discussion on foods to eat when pregnant and breastfeeding, and how to later incorporate baby's meals with what the family is eating was very helpful.

Most of the recipes include options for feeding babies and toddlers from the same familial pot, sometimes by removing certain ingredients mid-cooking to mash and serve separately before other spices are added, others by creating a “buffet” of sorts to make individualized plates once dinner is served with parents having the opportunity for more and spicier palates while younger children can still have a varied plate. She provides several tips for working with picky eaters (children and adults alike!) and offers great encouragement for raising healthy eaters.

To read the rest of the review, please click here . . .

Two Thai Soups

2010-02-16T20:13:00.003-06:00

Lent starts this week and we are on the lookout for great vegetarian meals to round out our Friday meals. I've been on a bit of a Thai kick lately and recently made this pumpkin and coconut soup (pictured to the left - picture is from the cookbook as it is much prettier than my picture was!) to GREAT reviews and I look forward to making the omelette soup, below, from the same cookbook in the weeks to come. Thai is such a nice, refreshing way to eat meat-less that you don't feel like you're missing out too much, plus both soups are quick and easy to make with little preparation (other than shopping for the ingredients!) Enjoy!

Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

from Thai: The Essence of Asian Cooking

serves four to six

1 lb pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

2 garlic cloves, crushed

4 shallots, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste (if you can't find this, substitute anchovy paste)

1 lemon grass stalk, chopped

2 fresh green chilies, seeded

1 Tablespoon dried shrimp, soaked for 10 minutes in warm water to cover (find these at an Asian market)

1 pint chicken or vegetable stock

1 pint (2-1/2 cups) coconut cream

2 Tablespoons Thai fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 lb cooked shelled shrimp

salt and ground black pepper

To garnish - 2 fresh red chilies, seeded and thinly sliced and 10-12 fresh basil leaves

Put the garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, lemon grass, green chilies and salt to taste in a mortar or food processor. Drain the dried shrimp, discarding the soaking liquid and add them. Use a pestle or process to grind the mixture into a paste.

Bring the stock to the boil in a large pan. Add the ground paste and stir well to dissolve. Add the pumpkin chunks and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.

Stir in the coconut cream (the thick cream on top of the can of a coconut milk. You might need two cans to make up the total amount of cream that you need. Make sure NOT to shake the can before opening it to make sure that the cream stays seperated.) then bring the soup back to simmering point. Do not let it boil. Add the fish sauce, sugar and ground black pepper to taste.

Add the prawns and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until they are heated through. Serve in warm soup bowls, garnished with chilies and basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Thai Omelette Soup

from Thai: The Essence of Asian Cooking

serves four

1 egg
1 Tbsp peanut or coconut oil
1.5 pints or 3-3/4 cups vegetable stock
2 large carrots, finely diced
4 outer leaves Savoy cabbage or bok choy, shredded
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Put the egg in a bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Heat the oil in a small frying until it is hot, but not smoking. Pour in the egg and swirl the pan so that it coats the base evenly. Cook over a medium heat until the omelette has set and the underside is golden. Slide it out of the pan and roll it up like a pancake. Slice into 1/4-inch rounds and set aside for the garnish.

In a large pot, heat the stock with carrots and cabbage and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the soy sauce, sugar and pepper.

Stir well, then pour into armed bowls. Lay a few omelette rounds on the surface of each portion and complete the garnish with the cilantro leaves.

This post is written in conjunction with the Carnival of Meatless meals at Mama Says, Real Food Wednesday and Foodie Friday.

10 ideas to Journey toward Easter as a Family

2010-02-16T07:44:00.000-06:00

This week begins the season of Lent in the Christian church.

I didn't grow up in a family that celebrated Lent; I've only been celebrating it for a few years, so it's still new to me. But now that my oldest is almost 3, I've been thinking of ways to more fully encompass our faith as a family during this season.

Though Orthodox Christians began Lent on Monday, many Protestant denominations and Catholics begin Lent tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday. The three pillars of Lent (I like to think of them as a three-legged stool; all three are essential to making the stool stable) are

prayer, fasting and almsgiving. 

The season of Lent is a time to focus on these spiritual practices and grow in one's faith.

Below are some ideas I've gathered -- some easy, some more difficult -- that you can use to begin your family's journey toward Easter.

1. Today, on Fat Tuesday, make pancakes for supper. Traditionally, Christians practiced extreme fasting during Lent, including abstaining from all animal products (including eggs, dairy and butter) and yeasted breads throughout the entirety of Lent. Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins, was traditionally the last day to clean out the cupboards so rich foods and items like donuts or pancakes were traditionally made to empty the cupboards before Ash Wednesday.

To see the other nine, click here for the whole article . . .

Daybook

2010-02-11T08:21:00.000-06:00

Daybook for Today, February 11, 2010

Outside my Window... It is just barely daybreak and the snow is almost glowing white.

I am thinking...and praying and hoping for a big prayer intention coming up. We are in the process of trying to get approved for a First Time Home Buyers FHA loan and are looking at houses!!! I am so excited. We've been living in such expensive places the past several years and the past year had been so difficult that it seems like a dream that we're even able to do this right now. What an answered prayer.

So. Please excuse any lapse in blogging lately and in the next several weeks! It seems like all of my online time these past few days has been taken up with real estate searches, finding a new favorite every day, than researching and thinking about how we could fix up a house and plan a garden, etc. so all of my time has been doing google searches for such random things like "black and white kitchen tile floors," or "climbing rose varieties" or "farmhouse porch design" or "refacing a brick fireplace," or "tips for buying an REO house." My mind is swimming. I know I have several comments and e-mails to get to, but you might have to wait a bit before I'm able to respond! I read them all! I really love them! And I appreciate your patience!

I am wearing . . . Jeans, black three quarter length sleeve shirt and socks. No makeup yet, no earrings. Cup of coffee in hand.

From the school room... Lloyd has been sick the past week or so. What was a long-term sniffle has turned into croup which means lots of DVR-ed "Max and Ruby" and "Little Bear" while snuggling on the couch. And lots of books and puzzles. He's also been into play dough a lot lately and always wants to help me "make dough." whenever I am making bread or muffins. Which is probably happening again today.

I am thankful...for coffee. With two sniffling little ones and staying up late talking and dreaming with T., and then my mind racing with ideas even when I lay my head on the pillow, coffee is a major part of my morning routine.

From the kitchen... I haven't been very good at meal planning the last few weeks. Either I make a huge batch of something and we eat on it for days (some of my Super Bowl chili is still in the fridge) or I've just been grabbing some frozen meat out of the freezer and throwing something together at the last minute. I haven't been sleeping well and that affects my ability to do or think about anything, I think. I do have two new recipes queued up to post in the next few days, if you follow me on Twitter you might have seen a clue or two, but I'm working on some new inspiration!

I re-read Nina Planck's Real Food for Mother and Baby this past week and was inspired anew in regards to feeding Luke. I'm also loving Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home: Cook your Way to the Good Life.

I am creating... lists and bookmarked ideas for a new house. A "Priorities" list for when we look at houses (one of these priorities is, "room for a (future) piano," another is "fireplace"), a "remember to look for" list for when we look at houses (like, say, electrical outlets in the bathroom and kitchen, coat and linen closets, garbage disposals, etc. Things we have lacked in previous homes we've lived in.) and a "Questions to ask" list depending on the property (we're looking at some rural-ish properties so this city girl needs to remember to ask about things like heating oil, wells and septic systems along with when was the furnace replaced, does it have central air and how old is the roof?) Any suggestions to add to my lists?

I am reading....A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (which I am LOVING. I feel that we had similar backgrounds growing up and I find myself laughing out loud here and there. The recipes are fantastic too. Maybe we'll be making her ginger, banana and chocolate chip bread today. We'll see.), The Backyard Homestead and the New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman. I'd like to say that I'm reading through Signs of Life by Scott Hahn, that I picked up this past weekend, but with this new "buying a home" thing, I've been inspired to re-read some favorites in the hopes of a garden this year! My goal is to read Signs of Life over Lent.

Speaking of Lent, keep your eyes peeled for a few posts about this upcoming season in the next few weeks. . . several of us Catholic Mama bloggers are working on some good ones, so I'll be linking to others for inspiration too!

I am hearing. . . Max and Ruby. Lloyd has woken up. And I am trying to appease him while frantically finishing this post.

Around the house... Luke is getting into everything lately. I think some well-placed baby gates are in order.

One of my favorite things... is spending time with my husband once the boys are asleep, talking and dreaming about our life.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family. Please pray for us!
Hopefully visiting with a new friend over coffee within the next few days!
We're going on a road trip this weekend - checking out the communities and houses that we're looking at in and around Omaha. I'm actually really excited. I love mini road-trips.

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

A Commercial Break

2010-02-09T08:06:00.000-06:00

There is too much sex and violence on television.

There, I said it. I am upset with what I see on television and what my children have the opportunity to see. Parenthood has made me a prude.

I'm tired of turning on the evening news while making dinner and instead of seeing the weather being quickly assaulted with all that is wrong with the world. Violence to women, incest, children being arrested for violence in high school. All in the first five minutes, local news, from 5 p.m. to 5:05 p.m.

And then a commercial break comes on and up pops a movie preview for an R-rated movie that scares even me (I'm talking to you, “Legion”), followed by an ad for Viagra or other male enhancement drug.

According to a 2001 study by the American Psychological Society, by the time the average American child finishes sixth grade, he will have witnessed

100,000 acts of televised violence including 8,000 depictions of murder.

Major studies have affirmed that the effects of all this violence include:

Children becoming less sensitive to the pain and suffering of those around them.
Children becoming more fearful of the world around them.
Children being more likely to behave aggressively and gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems.

Is it that I never noticed all the violence and sexuality on TV and in commercials before I had children? Or is it becoming more prevalent?

To read the rest, click here . . .

Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do)

2010-02-02T06:00:00.007-06:00

We have an antique wagon in our collection that my dad and his siblings played with when they were children. Crafted out of heavy duty steel, the wagon is unique with air-filled dualie wheels in the back and an interesting axel and hitch system.

I asked my dad about it one day and he mentioned that his younger brother had broken the axle once and had then welded a whole new bottom, drilled out and extended the axle, made it a dualie for better maneuverability and put a hitch on the back so he could not only pull another wagon behind the first, but pull both on his bike, which he had also outfitted with a hitch.

Age of completion? Eight years old.

When was the last time you let your eight year old weld? Let alone take apart and put back together a toy or object around the house? How often do we simply buy a new one of something without considering repairing it on our own?

With all of the play dates and organized sports, tutoring classes and homework, and driving back and forth from school to practice to home, most of today’s children don’t have much time to just sit and think and play. Nor are they encouraged to. Curiosity becomes dulled when the secret to a new video game is just a Google search away and who needs teamwork or the need to know your neighbors when you can communicate online in the privacy of one’s own home?

It’s a shame, really.

To read more of this book review, click here . . .  

The Well Dressed Salad

2010-02-02T05:00:00.009-06:00

It's been a long, cold winter, and I'm ready for some fresh, crisp spring vegetables. We've been enjoying several salads and slaws with winter greens and vegetables recently, but wanted to organize and share some of my favorite salad dressing recipes before spring gardens burst forth.

Though salad dressing is not the most exciting topic, good ones can be hard to find . . . and a good one really makes eating salads enjoyable! I hope this inspires you to make your own and enjoy your garden's bounty!

Pesto Ranch
seen to the left

1 part mayonnaise
2 parts sour cream or yogurt
A good sized dollop of pesto
salt and pepper to taste

This is one of my favorite, easy recipes. My son will eat veggies galore if he has the opportunity to dip it in pesto ranch. Peas, carrots, cucumbers, salads, they're all up for consumption with a dab of this dressing on it.

It's very scientific. I take a bowl, line up the ingredients and take out a large spoon. First jar of mayonnaise, scoop out a spoonful and put it in the bowl. Scoop out two spoonfuls of sour cream or yogurt. Scoop out a half spoonful of pesto. Throw in a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir. Taste and season to taste. That's it.

I developed this after making homemade ranch dressing using Pioneer Woman's recipe, below. After a while it dawned on me that, rather than chopping up garlic and herbs and more each time I wanted to make ranch, I'd already done that when I made pesto every year for storage in the freezer so thought, why not just throw a spoonful of that in? And it worked. Voila!Pesto Ranch was born.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 part balsamic vinegar
3 parts olive oil
a dollop of dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

I normally make this dressing in one of two ways. First, I make it for immediate use right in the bowl that I'll be serving salad. I put the olive oil in first, then eyeball the vinegar, whisk in the remainder of the ingredients and let it sit in the bottom. I then stack the vegetables on top, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. first to soak up the dressing, greens on top. Then toss upon serving.

The second way I make this is for storage in the fridge or to send it with my husband for his lunch. I layer the ingredients in a jelly jar, screw on the lid and shake. Since all of the ingredients are shelf stable, it will last in the fridge for weeks. Make sure you allow it to warm up a bit before use as olive oil will solidify in the fridge.

Other favorites salad dressings we keep in rotation include:

Ina Garten's Caesar dressing - her use of mayonnaise rather than raw eggs is brilliant as it allows you to keep it in your fridge for up to two weeks!

Smitten Kitchen's Buttermilk Ranch dressing - I used it recently on her broccoli slaw and found a winner! We love it. The surprising use of apple cider vinegar makes it amazing.

Pioneer Woman's Ranch Dressing - simple, easy, tasty. Tastes like ranch. Period.

Any favorites that you recommend? I frequently keep several vinegars and citrus on hand to make up unique dressings on the fly, but I'm always open to new ones!

This post is written in conjunction with Kitchen Stewardship's Salad Dressings Round Up, Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Foodie Friday.

Lacto-Fermented Mayonnaise

2010-02-01T09:00:00.010-06:00

Remember this post? When I declared that I'd no longer be buying mayonnaise? Ever again.

Well, I haven't.  

And I've been delving into all manner of mayonnaise recipes online and in books, in search of the perfect one ever since. I've resurrected curdled mayonnaise's more times than I'd like to admit (I've included my favorite remedy, below) and I've experimented with only egg yolks, egg yolks plus one egg, lemon juice vs. cider vinegar, by hand vs. blender vs. food processor vs. hand blender. I studied Child, and Ruhlman. And over the past few months I've really figured out the flavors and technique that I prefer.

And it surprised me.

And then I decided to make it lacto-fermented, so that it would last in the fridge for six to eight weeks, just like store bought mayonnaise (fresh mayonnaise that has not been lacto-fermented lasts about five days). To make this mayonnaise, you will need a little bit of fresh whey, so check out this post first to learn how to make it. And why are lacto-fermented foods beneficial? They are not only probiotic (so you won't need to buy that specialty, expensive yogurt - just make a sandwich with this mayonnaise and you'll be set to go!) but they are more mineral and nutrient rich than other modern commercial varieties and lacto-fermentation was the traditional way to preserve foods before pasteurization and the Industrial Revolution. Plus, it's easy and it will allow you to make nourishing condiments for your family, from home, that last weeks to months in the fridge, very inexpensively! Read this post for more information about the benefits of lacto-fermentation.

Please note, this mayonnaise does not taste like Best Foods/Hellmans. It tastes better. Best Foods is made with canola and soybean oils which have little flavor on their own, aren't good for us, and just make a mild flavored spread that makes bread moister.

This recipe, on the other hand, is made with spicy, rich olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice, I go back and forth) and just bursts with flavor. No longer is it just used to make a sandwich moist or to blandly bind ingredients together in a chicken salad, this mayonnaise is an ingredient on it's own, with full flavor. It adds to the finished product rather than just being a medium towards something else. Though it takes a little time to get used to and to wrap your head around the concept of a flavor-full mayonnaise, we won't be going back.

Lacto-Fermented Mayonnaise

adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

makes about 2 cups of mayonnaise 

1 egg and 2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2 cups olive oil
1 Tablespoon whey

Fill the bowl of your food processor or blender jar* in hot water until the bowl is warm. Dry thoroughly.

In the warmed jar or bowl, process the egg and yolks for 1 minute.

With the machine running, add the mustard, sea salt and vinegar or lemon juice.

With the machine still running start adding the oil in a stream of droplets, continuing until you have used half the oil and the sauce is very thick. Do not stop processing until sauce has thickened. Thin out with lemon juice or vinegar, (add a little bit at a time, up to a tablespoon or more) add the whey in at this time, then continue on with the remainder of the oil. Season carefully with more salt, pepper and lemon juice or vinegar.

Decant into your storage container (I use a wide-mouthed, pint size jar) and allow to sit on your counter for 6-8 hours to allow the whey to begin the process of lacto-fermentation. Lid, and store in refrigerator. Will last 8 weeks or more!

Remedy for Turned Mayonnaise

adapted for blender or food processor use from directions in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

You will never have trouble with freshly made mayonnaise if you have beaten the egg and yolks thoroughly in a warmed bowl before adding the oil, if the oil has been added in droplets until the sauce has commenced to thicken and if you have not exceeded the maximum proportions of 3/4 cup of oil per egg yolk [though Michael Ruhlman has some interesting things to note about mayonnaise in his book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking - he contends that it is a basis of the amount of liquid, i.e. lemon juice or vinegar, or even a bit of water, to egg yolks, not oil. Very interesting! Okay, back to Julia . . . ]. A mayonnaise has turned when it refuses to thicken or, in a finished mayonnaise, when the oil releases itself from suspension and the sauce curdles. In either case, the remedy is simple.

Decant turned mayonnaise into a glass measuring cup with a spout that will allow it to be poured gently. Rewash your blender jar or processor bowl and blades in hot water so it will be warm and clean. Dry thoroughly. Add 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard and 1 Tablespoon of sauce and process until they cream and thicken together. Add in the rest of the sauce one teaspoon at a time at first, making sure each addition has thickened the sauce before adding the next. Add one teaspoonful at a time at first, then gradually by Tablespoonful until all the sauce has been combined.

I admit, about every third batch of mayonnaise I skip a step (like warming the bowl) thinking that I know what I'm doing, and then end up with turned mayonnaise and always have to fix it using these steps. They always work.

*Note - Julia loved making her mayonnaise in the food processor and despised the blender because the blender makes it harder to decant the mayonnaise. However, I have an enormous food processor (14 cup or something ridiculous - whatever the largest one that you can buy domestically is, that's the one I have) and because of it's large size, I can't blend those three little egg yolks and one egg white because the blades don't go quite down to the bottom, so I always make it in my blender. I've tried making it with a hand blender, but it turned and I ended up having to dirty my blender anyway to fix it, so I've just made it in the blender ever since. Since I only make it every six to eight weeks, it's not a big deal to wash the blender.

This post is written in conjunction with Foodie Friday and Fight Back Friday.

Real Food Faceoff

2010-01-28T06:00:00.007-06:00

I'm excited to announce that I am participating in today's Real Food Face-Off hosted by Katie at Kitchen Stewardship!

I answered a list of various questions about my opinions and practices on real food that Katie posed and she chose several of them to compare with another real food blogger, Ann Marie of Cheeseslave.

I've actually been a reader of Cheeseslave for over a year and wish I'd had the opportunity to meet her when we lived in the same city, but I had just discovered her blog before I moved to Nebraska! I'm sure that we passed each other at the local Farmer's Markets, and I always enjoy seeing my old stomping grounds in the photos on her blog. Cheeseslave is a co-host of Real Food Wednesday, which I'm a frequent contributor. Please go visit her!

If you are visiting for the first time from the Face-Off, welcome! Have a look around! Here's my recipe index for fun browsing . . . if you're a regular reader, I encourage you to click over and read the Face-Off!

Go here to see the Real Food Face-Off and below, I've posted ALL of my answers to ALL of the questions Katie posed, so you can get a chance to get to know me better! Thank you Katie for hosting the Real Food Face-Off, I've so enjoyed being a part of it!

The Questions: 

1. How do you describe the way you eat when someone asks you to define your food?

We eat real food. Meat, eggs, fruit, veggies, cheese, yogurt, dairy. Some, but minimal grains and legumes. We eat food that could be produced before the Industrial Revolution. I always loved to cook, always loved to eat and I really began learning more about the real food lifestyle when I was in high school and deciding which college to attend and what career to pursue. I had scholarships for both International Business and Culinary Arts. I chose International Business but wanted to continue to learn about cooking so began reading Jacques Pepin's Technique book and Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I wanted to teach myself the basics from mother sauces to knife skills, on my own, at home. From there I sort of stumbled across the real and nourishing food movement and haven't looked back. It made sense to me, to eat . . . food. Pared down to the original source. Not food products. Not processed foods. Just, food.

2. What was/is your major incentive for living a real food lifestyle? (How did you come to eat the way you do?)

Now that I'm a mother, I realize that the health of my family, today and in the future, is literally in my hands. I feel it is important to know what they need to not only survive, but thrive, while having fun and enjoying food at the same time. Watching my children relish, with gusto, fresh fruits and veggies, eat all varieties of cheeses and yogurts, pick off and devour (with fat little toddler fingers) all of the crispy skin off of a roast chicken before eating the meat, and being open to new foods and new cuisines, those moments are what make the "work" (which I often think is fun) of living a real food lifestyle worth it!

3. If you only had energy for ONE make-from-scratch food, what would it be? Is your preference for taste or health?

So many of our staples, like yogurt or chicken stock, take so little time or effort it is hard to decide! I guess the one thing that I cook that takes effort that I'd continue to develop is my sourdough starter and it's myriad of uses. I adore taking the time and effort to make artisinal and sandwich breads, but I also love the convenience of the sourdough starter for a quick lunch of cheese crepes when I run out of bread or tortillas for my toddler, or a foccacia to round out dinner. Sourdough is both healthy and tasty!

4. What food was your favorite that you no longer eat (or shouldn’t eat)?

Chili Cheese Fritos. I never ate them very often, nor do I like or crave the other pseudo-flavored chips (like Doritos) but with both prengnancies I have craved them. They are deliciously terrible for you.

5. What’s your favorite real/traditional food?

This is a really hard question to answer. We eat so seasonally that what I crave in the summer is far different than what I serve in the winter. A favorite meal? Grilled grass-fed rib-eye (bone-on, medium, thank you) with green beans with balsamic tomatoes, bacon and basil, a glass of red wine, and a mix of fresh peaches and blackberries with whipped cream for dessert. That would be my ultimate meal – I'm a summer-food-lover at heart.

6. What was the hardest transition to make to real food?

I think the hardest transition is eating out and eating in other people's homes. You can get rid of so much bad stuff out of your own cupboards, but it's very difficult to make good decisions wen you're faced with a barbecue of pre-formed hamburgers or hot dogs, white-bread buns made with corn syrup and soy oil, American cheese, store-bought potato salad and barbecue potato chips topped off with brownies made from a box. What do you do? We try to make good choices with what is available, but also recognize that our hosts are offering and providing this food with the best of intentions, and so we eat with a thankful heart, and make sure to eat well the next day!

7. What’s something you remain afraid to try?

I'm still working my way to eating more offal.

8. What’s next on your list of changes to make?

This summer I am going to be growing a big garden and learning how to preserve foods via canning. Over the past few years we've lived in apartments and townhomes in big cities with little access to growing space – now that we've got a backyard, we'll be taking advantage of it! I love lacto-fermentation, I love freezing produce, but I'm looking forward to being able to preserve our bounty and store it in the pantry.

9. List your top 3 baby steps to move from a Standard American Diet to Real Food.

1 - Learn what the ingredients are in the processed foods you're buying. Pick one thing to start removing from your diet (soy, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, etc.), read labels and choose your groceries wisely.

2 – Take your favorite recipes and start augmenting them to make them healthier, whether adjusting ingredients or cooking process – you won't eat healthier if you're not comfortable with what is on the dinner plate!

3 - Fill your fridge and your meals with real food. Think about what you're putting in your mouth and make a conscious decision to choose something real.

10. What is the worst food (or “food”) a person could possibly put into their systems?

Soy – Soy Oil, Texturized Vegetable Protein, Soy Protein Isolate, Soy lecithin, Hydrolized Soy Protein, etc., etc. I do admit to using a good quality soy sauce and enjoying a bowl of miso soup from time to time, but, being a commodity, soy is hidden in so many foods these days it is hard to find a processed food without it and most of the time the soy is GMO! Even a Grade A fresh Turkey I bought around Thanksgiving had wheat, milk and soy in it (which I was not happy about!) Soy is a thryoid disruptor and mimics estrogen, something no one needs more of than what their body naturally produces, especially growing children!

Granted, I enjoy the occasional bowl of miso soup and splash of soy sauce when we eat sushi out, but I don't want it hidden in my bread, lunch meat or peanut M&Ms.

11. If you had only $20 to spend in a week on real food, what would you buy and what would you make?

(assuming I did have a few pantry staples) Eggs, cheese, butter, cream, a seasonal vegetable of some kind and organic baby spinach. I'd make poached eggs in marinara for dinner (thanks for the inspiration, Kristen!), a Florentine frittata for breakfast or dinner one night and eggs en cocotte with a fresh spinach salad. Cheese for a snack and maybe a seasonal veggie with a cheese sauce for dinner, if it's wintertime, or sliced and eaten fresh if it's summertime.

12. What does “eating healthy” mean to you?

Eating healthy means eating, and enjoying, real food. Not worrying about the calorie count of your yogurt or slice of bread, not focusing on the minute nutrient content about each bite, but eating good, solid, varied meals with a healthy attitude and a healthy appetite.

13. Name the top food scoring highest on both the nutritional and budget scale? (i.e., best health benefits for the lowest cost)

Eggs. They are inexpensive and have an amazing amount of good nutrients, minerals and fats. Not to mention they are one of the most versatile ingredients available, from scrambled to a custard to a frittata to snacked on hard boiled. They can be eaten for every meal plus dessert. We try to eat them every day.

14. Biggest drawback of real food lifestyle?

Having to cook a lot of things from scratch. I love to cook, obviously, but sometimes thinking that you and your children need to eat everything that other kids eat (including cookies and crackers not to mention normal meals) and it gets a bit overwhelming. I've learned that variety does not always mean tasty or useful and that an apple and cheese make a perfect snack, far better than Goldfish.

15. What’s the most creative thing you do to make life easier in the kitchen?

I take advantage of two favorite kitchen tools – my crockpot and my food processor. My crockpot is my best friend; I use it to make yogurt, chicken stock, condiments (like caramelized onion marmalade) and, occasionally, dinner! My food processor I use for making bread crumbs, slicing cabbage for cortido, pico de gallo or sauerkraut, making baby food, shredding cheese, making pesto and making bread and cracker doughs.

16. How important is organic food?

For me, being "organic" is less important to me than it being real and made or grown the way I think is best, specifically for meats, eggs, dairy etc. In terms of animal products, it is more important to me to choose products that are raised well and in the manner I think is healthiest, than labeled organic; I'd rather purchase raw milk from a local farmer that I know treats their cows well but isn't necessarily labeled organic, than buy UHT Pasteurized, Homogenized organic milk shipped in from several states away. I'd rather buy Daisy sour cream and cottage cheese that have no fillers and is not organic, than buy a specialty organic sour cream or cottage cheese that has guar gum, nonfat dry milk, citric acid and preservatives in the ingredients, and I'd rather buy farm-raised eggs from chickens that I know were free range, than organic eggs from caged hens fed organic "feed" at the the grocery store.

We do try to buy some organic fruits and vegetables, but when we can't, we just wash what we do buy very well and serve. We're hoping to grow a large garden this summer to compensate!

17. What do you refuse to buy at a grocery store that you do eat from its source?

Fish. Being from Alaska, I'm a fish snob, I grew up eating it freshly caught in the wild and eaten or processed within twelve hours of catching it. Now that I live in the Midwest it is difficult to find good, fresh fish. I can not buy fish from my local grocery store, they carry it but it is frequently farmed and smells horrible so I don't buy it, but I do buy it from a specialty fish shop in town, Whole Foods and occasionally from Costco (with a thorough reading of the fine print).

18. When eating out, how do make your menu decision (fave “out” food, anything you avoid)?

When we go out we normally go out for food that we can't or don't make at home. Sushi, Thai food or specialty meals like oysters on the half shell for an appetizer followed by crispy duck or osso bucco (and oh yes, I eat that marrow spread on crusty bread – YUM!).

I avoid fast food. If I am in the mood for a burger, I'll seek out a local diner or family run "fast food" restaurant that I know makes their burgers by hand over a nationwide chain.

19. Best book recommendations?

Favorite cookbook authors include Julia Child, she taught me how best to use ALL of the ingredients and leftovers I have on hand, Jamie Oliver, Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson. They eat real food and never or rarely use any processed or packaged foods in their recipes. I've been influenced by everything from Sally Fallon and Nancy Enig and also love the honesty of Nina Planck.

20. Number one tip you tell your blog readers about eating healthy foods:

Be reasonable, cook what you like to eat in a healthier manner, don't be afraid to try new things and new techniques and if you can't figure out how your ancestors made a food before the Industrial Revolution, you probably shouldn't eat it.

Katie will be hosting several more Real Food Face-Off's over the next few weeks, check back often!

Avoiding BPA

2010-01-26T07:59:00.000-06:00

In 2008, I threw all of my firstborn's baby bottles away. Well, actually I recycled them, but away they went. He was only 1 at the time, we planned to have more children (and subsequently did), but we'd have to start anew on the baby bottle front because the ones I had had Bisphenol A (BPA) in them and I didn't think they were safe for him to use.

A few people thought I was crazy at the time. After all, the FDA had just made a statement that they believed BPA, a common food additive and plasticizer, was safe, after several government reports were published questioning its safety. However, into the recycling bin they went, along with all other water bottles and food canisters that had BPA in them that were filling my cupboards. Fast forward to 2010 and earlier this month, the FDA recanted their original claim and now states that BPA is not safe for consumption. Unfortunately, 93 percent of Americans tested had BPA in their urine with formula feeding infants among the most in danger.

Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor, a synthetic estrogen, may be a cause for obesity and diabetes and affects one's thyroid detrimentally. New research has linked BPA with heart disease in adults, breast and prostate cancers and interference with brain cell connections vital to memory, learning and mood.

Not only that, but BPA in the environment interferes with soil's ability to absorb nitrogen, one of the leading elements needed to produce healthy crops and plants.

The good news? To read the rest, click here . . .

Daybook

2010-01-25T21:46:00.002-06:00

Daybook for Today, January 25, 2010

Outside my Window... Dirty snow. I'm ready for some new just so it looks pretty again.

I am thinking...that I should be a book reviewer. I'm reviewing a bit for momaha.com (two books, so far) and I just love getting packages of books in the mail. Will be linking here, of course, because I'm picking books to review that I think will be relevant for both blogs!

I am wearing . . . Jeans, black sweater and red rose earrings I got for Christmas. I love them!

Hint Hint - Valentine's Day?

From the school room... Lloyd is all about puzzles these days. He can do a 12 piece puzzle in about four minutes (without ever seeing it before - the kid is a genius) so we've gotten him a few larger ones (24 pieces) that take him a bit longer.

I am thankful...for blogging friends! I can't believe that I haven't mentioned yet meeting my dear friend, Katie from Kitchen Stewardship, when I visited Andrea in Michigan this past month! She wrote a lovely blog post about it two days later. I'm over a month late . . . sigh. I had a lovely conversation, a fantastic lunch, and look forward to more during future visits.

I'm also looking forward to participating in a Real Food Face-Off later this week hosted by her!

I'm also thankful for blogging friends and readers who noticed (tweet, tweet!) that I'm on Twitter now! It took quite some time for me to make the decision to join, I had an account for months without doing anything about it, but now that I've figured out how to update my facebook account (a personal account that I keep only for close family and friends) with my Twitter account where I can update readers and other bloggers, I decided to go ahead. And I can't believe how much I'm enjoying it! I'm able to follow and read other friends and bloggers, along with some favorite authors, both literary and food related. If you're on Twitter, either click here and follow me or click on that nifty icon over there in the right-hand column! I'm looking forward to getting to know some of my (formerly) anonymous subscribers and readers a bit more through this venue!

From the kitchen... I've been restocking our pantry and fridge of staples - chicken stock, yogurt, cookies, and, when my parents were in town this past weekend, we made Thai pot-stickers based upon the filling from my Imperial Rolls. YUM! I also made a tasty Thai pumpkin-coconut soup, but now have a cup or two of coconut milk leftover in my fridge . . . any ideas or favorite (easy) recipes?

Luke is starting to be much more interested in eating these days and I'm debating making him a paleo baby and delaying gluten and grains for him until he's over one or two, but on the other hand I wonder if I should just make him some soaked brown rice cereal and teething biscuits like I did for Lloyd. I'm torn. I'm feeding them completely differently at this stage (which I find amusing). Opinions?

I am creating... I'm almost ready to cut out a dress for Luke's baptism (mid-March). The fabric is washed, the pattern is purchased - just studying up with the books below to become a better sewist and in preparation of a few new fitting techniques . . .

I am reading...The Fixer by Bernard Malamud, Vogue Sewing, Fit for Real People, and All Souls by Christine Schutt.

I am hearing. . . The Footprints of God, and watching it, sort of, while I write this.

Around the house... the house is more organized! We organized and rearranged the office this weekend and I put my closet back in order. After my parents left, that is.

One of my favorite things... is spending time with my husband once the boys are asleep.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.
Storytime at Whole Foods
Actually going out with friends on Friday! Amazing!

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

Sourdough Crepes

2010-01-20T19:30:00.009-06:00

Reason #214 to maintain sourdough starter.

Because when you run out of bread . . . and tortillas . .. and your toddler requests peanut butter sandwiches or quesadillas for lunch (basic toddler fare), you can make sourdough crepes (crepes instead of pancakes, because we didn't want syrup for lunch), fill them with cheese or peanut butter (or any other leftovers or jam you like), and then later, when someone asked what you made for him and you mention that

you made him crepes (?)

they think you're a crazy gourmand.

They don't realize how easy these things really are.

Sourdough Crepes

makes about eight to ten crepes

1 cup sourdough starter
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup of milk
extra butter for cooking

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl. Add milk until it reaches a very smooth, thin batter consistency, I normally use about 1/3 cup of milk but depending on the consistency of your starter, you might use a bit less or a bit more.

In a not too big, but not too small frying pan (about 8" - 10" is perfect) heat the frying pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add a teaspoon or so of butter, allow it to melt quickly and then immediately pour in 1/4 cup of crepe batter, tilting the pan with a circular motion to allow the batter to coat the bottom of the pan and create a circle of crepe.

Cook the crepe for about two minutes, until the bottom has splotches of light brown. With a spatula, very carefully loosen the crepe and flip over. Cook for about 30 seconds and decant onto a plate.

Normally my first one or two crepes are dismal failures.  I don't have the pan hot enough, I don't allow it to cook sufficiently on the first side, I don't flip well and the crepe gets all scrunched up.  This is okay.  Don't worry about it.  Just do another.

Before making the next crepe (and the next, and the next), add another dab of butter to the pan before pouring the crepe batter in.

You can stack the crepes on top of each other as you cook, or serve immediately. Fill with any number of ingredients, cheese, slices of ham, jam, fruit, sweetened ricotta cheese, peanut butter crepes for your toddler. . . . I normally don't season the crepes, preferring the "filling" to make the decision between a sweet or savory crepe, but you could add a bit of honey or sugar or vanilla to the batter if you like a sweet crepe, pepper and some herbs if you prefer savory.

Serve hot and enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Pennywise Platter, Foodie Friday and Fight Back Friday.

Too Much Information

2010-01-19T07:43:00.000-06:00

There is a culture of fear in parenthood these days.

It begins when you first get that positive pregnancy test and start to wonder what is going on in that belly of yours. You find an interesting Web site, then that first site links to another article and another link and further information and soon you're being told what to eat and avoid, what actions to never do and what unseen, potential dangers are out there for you and that growing belly of yours.
There are detailed lists and forums discussing every manner of pregnancy complication out there. You question every strange twinge or symptom, fearing the worst.

You're offered the option of buying in-home fetal Doppler monitors, headphones for your growing belly to expose the baby to Mozart in utero and googling the risk and effects of at-home hair-dye on your growing baby.

You never realized that being pregnant was so dangerous. It's a wonder there are any people alive today at all!

To read the rest, click here . . .

Three Cheese Fondue with Caramelized Onions

2010-01-14T18:28:00.005-06:00

Imagine that there is this amazing picture over there to the left. Creamy, smoky cheese fondue. A perfect meal for a wintry night, lightly melty over a forkful of sourdough french bread. Got that image? Good, because we ate it too fast to take one!

This is not your typical, "traditional" fondue. First, I add the smokiness of my caramelized onion marmalade which I make in a big batch in advance in the crockpot and store in the fridge. Second, it includes cream cheese, which isn't in a standard traditional fondue, but is a fixture in my fridge, plus I often use cheddar if I don't have gruyere. And you know what? This cheese fondue is amazing. Creamy, smoky, delicious. I'm thinking I'm going to start using it in place of my standard roux-based cheese sauce for cauliflower gratin and scalloped potatoes. I love that it is gluten-free, yet creamy and thick without the seperating quality I sometimes got the next day with a roux-based cheese sauce.

I normally serve this with smoked sausage of one variety or another and then whatever I have on hand or need to clean out of my fridge. Potatoes, sourdough french bread, fresh green beans, asparagus . . . yum.

This is what I do. . . . About forty minutes before you're going to eat, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Take a nice size roasting pan and dump your one pound package of sausage in it. Recently I bought, basically, a good quality brand of Little Smokie's (made locally, gluten and MSG free) for $2.50/pound. My two year old loved them. I'd also make this with smoked kielbasa or another larger smoked sausage. If it is larger sausages, I'd cut them on the diagonal into 1/2-inch rounds. Scoot the sausages over to one side.

Then, next to it, add two or three potatoes. Peel, slice into lengths like oven fries and toss lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper. Scoot the potatoes over a bit. Then, if you have more room, add in another section of something that is best roasted - maybe brussel sprouts or cauliflower florets? Roast until everything is tender, about half an hour.

If it is summertime and you can get fresh green beans or asparagus, blanch them briefly so you have a nice crisp bite that doesn't bend when you dip it in the fondue. Though I LOVE roasted asparagus, for the fondue, I think blanched works best.

Enjoy!

Three Cheese Fondue with Caramelized Onions

serves four 

2/3 cup of caramelized onion marmalade
1 8-oz. brick of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh grated Gruyere or cheddar cheese
1 cup heavy cream
a couple dashes of Worcesterschire sauce
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
a splash of vermouth or white wine, optional

In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat (I use a Le Crueset enamelized cast-iron pot so that it keeps the heat while you're dining, if you have a fondue pot, use that instead!) place the caramelized onions and cook until they're warmed and begin to lightly sizzle. Once it slightly sizzles, add a splash of vermouth or white wine and stir until it cooks off, then add the remainder of the ingredients, stirring to melt. Add the Worcesterschire and taste for seasoning.

That's it. How easy was that? Serve with your smoked sausage, roasted potatoes, chunks of sourdough french bread, lightly blanched green beans or asparagus . . .

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Pennywise Platter, Foodie Friday and Fight Back Friday.

You know what they say about the best laid plans . . .

2010-01-12T08:14:00.002-06:00

We had reservations.

We had babysitters.

Date night. Anniversary dinner.

Instead? We went to the ER. For the first time for Luke, our baby.

We've been there once every year so far for Lloyd, our firstborn. I was hoping to postpone the introduction of the beauty, joy and sheer glory of the Emergency Room for Luke just yet. However, competition runs high between brothers, they say. He beat my older son's record of first ER visit at 10 months, and made it in at eight.

Whoopee.

We're still not sure what was wrong with him (I think he had an allergic reaction to something I ate). He just ended up being sick enough on a Saturday for the nurse on-call at my pediatrician's office to recommend being seen before Monday. So, instead of dinner out, we enjoyed a very late supper of take-and-bake pizza picked up at the store when my husband went to stock up on Pedialyte. Any and all plans on Sunday were canceled and superceded by scheduled bottles of Pedialyte, which my baby thoroughly rejected, rash observation, notation and discussion and the joy of collecting stool samples out of diapers with a spoon.

No matter what you've heard from Hollywood, parenting is not always a glamorous job. . . .

To read the rest, click here.

For my sweetheart . . . a Love Note

2010-01-07T07:41:00.000-06:00

Happy 4th Anniversary my Love!

photo courtesy of Tina Raibley of Simply Portraits

Peace and Prayer

2010-01-06T09:27:00.008-06:00

It's been kind of dark days around here lately.

Snowed in. Below Zero Temperatures. Baby Teething. Not sleeping Well. Husband Very sick for a week or two (he's better now, thank you for your prayers!) Frustration and Temptation with self-imposed diets. Loneliness.

It's been a little dark.

I feel like I've lost direction in my homemaking, in my parenting, in my role as a wife. We've spent far too many days watching too many DVR-ed "Little Bear"s and not having the energy to plan activities for my toddler, or even barely go downstairs to run a load of laundry. I overreact with discipline because I under-react during other parts of the day when I ignore small transgressions and just want a moment of peace.

And I keep ignoring parts of my homemaking because that moment of peace keeps getting interrupted and I keep having to start over. Rescuing choking babies from eating the piece of paper their brother let fall to the floor, yelling at said older brother that he can't keep taking toys away from the baby, trying to pick up the 54 game pieces that just got dumped on the floor before Baby swallows one while toddler runs off to make more mischief and more mess.

Trying to remember to cuddle and read a book to said toddler who obviously is craving ridiculous quantities of attention, good or bad, and trying to focus on that task knowing that my floors still need to be swept and there's two loads of laundry in the basket waiting to be folded.

Oh, and this house. THIS HOUSE. Since we've moved in we've had three major water leaks, from the washing machine, the front porch (I have a nice two inch layer of ice outside of my front door as we speak. Awesome.) and now, my closet. And we're not going to fix it until next week at the earliest because we want to make sure that it doesn't leak again after this second storm that we're experiencing, ummm, today. Which means that all of my clothes and shoes and everything out of my closet is strewn throughout my Master Bedroom and office. It's a cluttered mess and it's driving me nuts. I have no place of refuge in my home.

And then, I feel like, with this newest round of bills from T.'s appendectomy, that I've lost control of our finances. I think it was more expensive than me giving birth earlier this year. And of course they want to be paid, you know, yesterday. With everything that's happened in the last year, bills have just kept increasing with no relief in sight and it's such a weight on my shoulders. We're stretched thin and I feel it with every move I make. My husband has a good job, but it's a lot to catch up on and it's hard to focus on the progress we've made because there is more to go and more added to it every day with every bill from the hospital we get. It's discouraging.

So yeah. I'm having some dark days. I haven't had the energy to try any new recipes or take pictures of crafts or do anything specifically related to the "fun" parts of this blog because I've just been holding on, trying to have a nice Christmas and nurse my husband back to health and spend time with my children.

I don't know what the solution is. I don't know if turning off the cable TV will help. I don't know if waking up earlier to have time with God will help (especially since the teething baby is waking me up twice a night). I don't know if limiting my screen and blogging time will help. I don't know what the magic book is that I need to read and then be refocused and have renewed purpose.

I've been thinking about New Years' resolutions and looking back over the ones I've written over the years. They don't seem to change much. So instead, I started thinking about choosing a word for the year. A theme. A word to focus on as my goal for the year rather than any other specific goals.

The one that came immediately to me?

peace.

I need to pray for peace. I need to ask for peace. I need to seek peace. I need to consciously create peace. In my home, in my words, in my relationships, in my soul.

And then I need to accept it and let God be in control. I know this. But it is very difficult to do.

Please pray for me.

The Definitive Guide to Sourdough . . . according to me.

2010-01-05T10:00:00.002-06:00

I've been working on this post for a while. Months really. Started and stopped. Thought about it. Documented. Researched. Went back over notes from my baking escapades using sourdough over the past few years.

And wanted to share.

The Definitive Guide to Sourdough . . . according to me.  

Sourdough Do's and Don'ts.  

Tips and Tricks.  

And that, "According to me" part? That's my disclaimer. Who am I? A home baker. A mama - of two boys and a jar (okay, two) of sourdough starter. A sourdough mama who likes to read professional cookbooks and better baker blogs than me, and then tries to relate them to real life and real kitchens who use cups and Tablespoons and not grams and ounces (though I did just get a nice kitchen scale for Christmas . . . ). I don't grind my own grain, but I am particular about my flour. I don't have Diastatic Malt in my cupboards, nor Excel spreadsheets for hydration on my computer, but do have honey and eggs and leftover oatmeal. I'm a home baker who happens to have good luck with sourdough. I'm not a professional baker. I don't use it everyday. But I do use it. I love it. I learn from it. And I want to share some of my successes, tips, tricks and favorite sourdough bloggers for inspiration.

If you're a new reader of this blog please note: I'm a pretty relaxed Mama. Both in terms of my boys, and my sourdough. You will not find "rules" here. I hope this encourages you that you too can use sourdough. Good luck!

First, don't forget to feed your starter. How do you make a sourdough starter? Better blog posts have focused on this. This is the method I used, (and here's a link back to some of my journey) , here's another tutorial, and Heavenly Homemakers recently did a a pictorial of how she did hers, but you can just as easily set out a bowl of equal parts flour and water, feeding it little bits of equal parts flour and water for a few days until you start to see some bubbles. Once you have a good one you're happy with, you hopefully won't have to make another one.
How often do you feed your sourdough starter? It depends on how often you bake. If you bake once a week, I'd probably feed it twice a week, including a hearty feeding the day before you plan to use your starter. If you bake/use your starter (for pancakes, crackers, etc.) a few times a week I'd probably just keep it on the counter and feed it daily. For me? I'm not baking once a week any more and I have been known to keep my starter inert for weeks (weeks!) in the fridge with no food. Poor sourdough baby. But when I know I'm going to bake again, I take it out and feed it and coddle it for a few days to nurse it back to hearty health.
I feed mine a 1:1 ratio of flour to water, by volume, not weight. Which means, in layman terms, I take whatever measuring cup I'm using (a dry measuring cup - even worse to those weight-mongers!) and fill it with flour, add it to my starter, then fill it with water, add it to my starter, and stir until well combined. That's my strategy and it works.
Always make sure that you try to find the recipe you're going to use a day or two before you're going to bake. Why? Because many all-sourdough recipes (i.e. ones that do not use any commercial yeast to help in the baking) call for a large quantity of starter. I've had much better luck with the recipes that call for more starter than less. If you need 2-3 cups of starter just to begin baking, you're going to need to know this a day or two in advance to make sure you feed it enough to ensure that you have enough starter to both make the bread and leave some for later to feed and keep. Plus, many recipes call for making a sponge the night before, which, in effect, creates the quantity of starter you'll need for your recipe, but sometimes you can find a recipe that you can make in a few hours without a sponge and it'll be important to have enough starter from the get-go. (Phew! That was a long explanation, wasn't it?!)
Don't worry about stirring your sourdough starter with metal. I know some of the original sourdough purists say to not use a metal spoon or knife to stir your starter, but I believe that was originally from a time when many metallic kitchen instruments were made out of tin, or copper. Sourdough is acidic. It can dissolve some metals. I wouldn't use a tin spoon to stir it, or store it in metal (I prefer glass or ceramic as it is inert) but don't worry yourself about stirring it with a stainless steel spoon or allowing your dough to rise in a stainless steel bowl for a few hours.
Don't buy special water to feed your starter. I just use the kind out of my tap and it has always worked fine. If your water smells highly chlorinated, I probably wouldn't use it, or would pour it through a water filter pitcher first, but otherwise, don't worry about it. If you don't feed your children or your dog special water, don't feed your starter special water.
Do toss the greyish liquid that puddles on top after sitting for a few days. I know, I know, some (a lot) of people say to stir it back in. But here's my thought process. Sourdough is a living organism. I fed it flour and water. Living organisms eat, and then expel what they've digested. I figure that, it will take in what it wants to take in. And, if after several days and this stuff is still on top? The sourdough doesn't want it. Get rid of it, move on and add more food and water.

Plus I've found that the sourdough gets a bit too sour when you stir that liquid back in. I like the natural sour flavor that develops over a few days after actual dough preparation (such as using a sponge, starting it the night before, keeping the dough in the fridge for two or three days before baking, etc.) but I don't really like the flavor of the bread when using a too sour sourdough starter. I hope that makes sense in terms of the differentiation . . .

If it's been a while since you've used your starter, get it healthy again by nursing it back to health with regular small "meals" several times a day for a few days. Two Tablespoons of flour with equal amounts of water, three times a day for a few days and you ought to be back to strong starter. (This is great technique I credit to Nancy Silverton.)

Don't expect sourdough bread to take the same amount of time to rise as commercial yeast bread. It will take a LOT longer, normally 4 to 6 hours for the first rise, longer if your starter isn't too strong, or if the room is cool, or if the starter to flour ratio is small, or if you didn't use a sponge . . . sourdough is ALIVE. it can be tempermental. A little bit of patience when making bread is in order and even after you've been making it successfully for a while, a rare batch of dough will sink you every once in a while. (those are best for croutons or bread crumbs!)
Don't feel guilty about using a white, unbleached All-Purpose flour fed starter. I've made and kept both a whole wheat starter and a white-fed starter for the past few years. The Whole Wheat starter (or, say, a rye-based starter) is DIFFICULT to deal with. It takes a lot longer to get bubbly and happy after feeding (hours/days longer.) It takes a lot longer to rise a batch of bread (hours/days longer.) It doesn't rise as much nor produce as tender of crumb as a "white flour" fed starter. You can use a white flour fed starter in an otherwise whole grain bread (with whole wheat flour, etc.) and still get an almost completely whole grain bread. And that whole wheat/grain starter dies faster. In the fridge. Because you get tired of using this finicky starter and just want to make tasty bread so use the white starter to make whole wheat bread. Like I said, don't feel guilty about it. It works. It's well-soaked. You'll be fine.
Don't be afraid to try different flours! I prefer organic and stone ground, but use what I can find, what's on sale and works with my grocery budget that week. I've used King Arthur, Bob's Red Mill, Hodgson's Mill as well as grocery-store Gold. I just discovered bread flour this year. (I know, I know, it was kind of a "duh!" moment) I've been baking bread for a while, but using either whole wheat or unbleached All Purpose. When I finally picked up and tried a bag of bread flour for baking bread, WOW! I haven't looked back. If I count, I think I have seven varieties of flour in my home (Unbleached All Purpose, Bread Flour, White Whole Wheat, Stoneground Whole Wheat, Pastry, Buckwheat and Cornmeal). Shhhh . . . don't tell my husband! I still have room for rye, sprouted wheats, spelt and semolina . . . if I can only find the time!
Oh, and one more thing about flour - don't add too much when you're kneading! I've found that a wetter dough is better, it creates a softer bread and a better rise. This has been a difficult habit to break for me, so I'm passing on my hard-won knowledge to you!
The fridge can be your friend. Not only will it keep your sourdough inert for weeks (weeks!) at a time, but a properly made sourdough bread can become BETTER by a day or two or three in the fridge. I had my first successful sourdough boule with gorgeous holey crumb from stashing it in the fridge for a day or two before immediately tossing it into a hot, hot oven and getting amazing oven rise. The fridge will also make for a longer "soaking" period which will not only make the bread more healthy to eat, but will make it more tender.
Moving from the fridge to the oven - ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS preheat the oven. For a good long while. And if you're using a baking stone (highly recommended, by the way), for a bit longer. Throw in a few potatoes for dinner while it's preheating. Make up a batch of muffins first, if you don't want to waste the energy, but always make sure that you use a hot, hot oven to bake.
Note that sourdough won't always react like a commercial yeast bread. In other words, it will rarely double in size when rising, specifically when making a whole grain bread. Look for a 1.5x rise to be successful. Nor will it rise in a prescribed amount of time. Depending on the strength of your starter, the density of your recipe (all whole grain? No "softening" agents like egg or honey? Might take longer) and the temperature of your kitchen, it might take hours longer to rise. Just be patient. If you have to go to bed, just put a cover on your bowl, put it in your fridge and restart it again in the morning. It'll be fine.
And speaking of commercial yeast, you don't ALWAYS have to be a sourdough purist. I admit, I have a certain amount of pride that occurs when I successfully make an amazing batch of bread only using my sourdough starter as the rising agent. But I have made amazing bread with using a little bit of commercial yeast mixed in. Peter Reinhart does this a lot (and I HAVE been known to add more starter to NOT use commercial yeast when using some of his recipes. Just to be a purist, aka obnoxious/making it harder on myself for no apparent reason) Most of the recipes on my blog are starter only. But my newest favorite bread recipe? A mix of both. And I love it like any of my other successful recipes.
Don't throw away your starter. I know some people take some of their starter out and toss it when they feed it. I don't. I feel it's wasteful and kind of sad, frankly, since I've been nurturing it along all this time. Instead, I either keep it inert in the fridge and feed it up to the quantity that I need for a big bread recipe, or I use it in smaller quantities for little, easy recipes, like pancakes or waffles, crackers or biscuits. I've even heard it can be used for a snail deterrant if it's summertime and you're a gardener. Just don't toss it. It's sad.
Finally, don't give up. Sourdough starter takes a while to mature into a strong starter that will rise bread efficiently and effectively. Most of us aren't that experienced with it nor grew up in a household where it was used regularly. Don't be too hard on yourself and don't expect your first loaf to be perfect. And if it is, lucky you, watch out for your second or third. If you have a dud, just chalk it up to experience and make croutons or bread crumbs.

Some basic baking tips (that relate to both sourdough and commercial-yeast based bread recipes)

The more ingredients with fat or sugar, the softer the bread will be. If your bread recipe calls for egg, honey, butter, oil, milk . . . these will be a softer bread than ones that only have starter, flour, salt and water.
It is best to add salt in after the first knead and a little bit of a rest (about twenty to thirty minutes.) In bread making speak this is called the "autolyse." Salt kills yeast so if you give your yeast or starter a little bit of a chance to start eating and growing from the sugars naturally present in the dough, it will have a much better chance of growing and rising better than if you added the salt in at the beginning.
The wetter/slacker the dough, the bigger the holes will be in the baked bread. You don't always want big holes in bread (like if you're going to use it to make a sandwich. Holes don't hold in sandwich fillings) but if you're looking for a great, holey sourdough boule, make sure that you use a wet counter and wet hands to knead it rather than flour-covered counter and flour-covered hands. Some of my holiest bread you almost have to pour into pans, it's so wet. Just a touch more than a thick batter.
An egg-white wash makes the shiniest crust I've made. Beats out a whole egg, milk-based or ice water wash any day of the week.

Some of my favorite Sourdough cookbooks include:

Nancy Silverton's Breads from the LaBrea Bakery
Alaska Sourdough by Ruth Allman

(good for things like pancakes and rolls, not recommended for Artisanal, Rustic breads, but I learned a lot about the chemistry of sourdough from this book)
 
Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads

I also love the forums on

The Fresh Loaf
and Sourdough Companion 

and find great inspiration from these bloggers:

Discovering Sourdough
Ten Tips on How to make Better Artisan Bread at Home by Farmgirl Fare (along with her Whole Wheat Tomato Basil Sourdough Bread - amazing!
Beginning with Bread
 Wild Yeast

A Final Note
The thing about sourdough baking is, like any other endeavor, to get good at it, you have to practice.  There have been many, many loaves and recipes that didn't get photographed or shared on this blog.  I've learned only by challenging myself, by reading cookbooks, blogs and forums who write in baking-speak that I had a hard time understanding at first, but am slowly starting to decipher.  By trying out recipes.  My journey started when I wanted to find a good recipe for a soft, whole grain sandwich loaf to replace the loaves I was buying at the store every week.  Then later, I wanted to make a sourdough boule.  And in between, I tried to figure out ways to use the discarded starter and went into cracker and pancake and muffin and biscuit forays. I also am on the quest for bread recipes that take only one day to begin and bake (like my focaccia, sourdough pizza crust and french bread) to round out dinner.  I normally looked at several recipes before choosing one or merging a few together.  I frequently find a commercial yeast based recipe that looks yummy, look over my notes and cookbooks for sourdough, and then try to adapt it.  Some are great, others are a learning experience.  

I've linked to a few of my sourdough recipes here and there throughout this post, but for all of them, click here or check out my full recipe index.   

On my list of future sourdough adventures?  English muffins, a dark black or rye bread, challah, pretzels (for Lent) and croissants.  

Happy Baking!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday,  Foodie Friday and Fight Back Friday.

Baby Names . . .

2010-01-05T07:35:00.000-06:00

My first daughter's name was going to be Tiffany.

At least, that's what I had decided at the ripe old age of 6. Tiffany was the most beautiful name I could think of. And, if I had twins, the second one would be Brittany. Sigh.

Boy names? Oh, I wouldn't be having boys; boys are yucky. But if I had to, they'd probably be named Jason. Just like Jason C., Jason R. and Jason W. in my first grade class.

I, by the way, was Sarah R. Because there was always at least one other Sarah, two or more Jennifers and a Jessica, Erin and Christy or two in each class.

Fast forward to today and though I haven't had the opportunity yet to name a little girl (having two little boys first!), Tiffany is no longer on the short list.

Ask any parent and you'll quickly learn, the choosing of their baby's name is an important, difficult decision.

It's their baby's future identity.

To read more, click to Momaha.com here . . .

Lloydisms . . .

2010-01-04T17:02:00.000-06:00

Lloyd's really working on building up the vocabulary.

He walked into the kitchen yesterday while I was flipping foods in the oven with some tongs. He watched with great interest (at a safe distance) and kept going,

"INNN-teresting!"

Said in a Mad Scientist/Little Bear tone. Maybe I have a scientist on my hands!

2009. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

2009-12-31T22:37:00.003-06:00

2009.

I'm not sorry to see you go.

When you arrived I had high hopes. Amazing, well-thought out resolutions. I was a little over half way through my second pregnancy. We had an amazing January weekend at the beach, taking advantage of the Farmer's Market, finally really enjoying where we lived. Where we talked about the upcoming bonus that my husband was to be getting within a week, how we were going to get back in control of our finances, the hopes of being able to buy a house in a year or so with all of these grand plans.

And then the unthinkable happened. T. lost his job. Two days before his bonus (which didn't happen.) We tried to find a job for him everywhere. Anywhere. He sent out hundreds of resumes. We had to move, by ourselves. We didn't know where we'd be unpacking. We had to decide on a place where to birth this baby, if we didn't have a job by then that made the decision for us.

We didn't. T. got a job offer the day Luke was born.

The most beautiful part of the year. Luke. Was. Born. He is an utter joy in our lives. He has the most remarkably beautiful disposition of any baby I've ever met. I can not resist giving him kisses. All the time.

Just like his brother.

And we had a great job offer, surprisingly, in a place we never thought we'd live. Omaha. Where T. grew up. A GREAT job offer, one that he would have never known about nor would have been considered for had we not been here, living in his parent's basement, unemployed, awaiting the birth of our son. Happy to have a roof over our heads and family upstairs.

God works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?

And during this time of upheaval, even without a kitchen to my name, I relied on my blog more and more. It was one of the few things I could control, and it was one of the few ways I could both be "creative" as well as communicate with my "friends." All those bloggy friends and readers who were following our journey and praying for us, who I could relate to simply through a new recipe,

who I could feel normal with.

For that, I thank you loyal readers! Writing, for me, has always been just purely natural. I can't even say it's cathartic, it's just what I do. Always. And I realized how important it was for me in so many ways.

And God works in even more mysterious ways. When we lived in San Francisco, and in Santa Monica, I had some specific prayer intentions. I prayed for God to bring me friends who I could rely on. Who had similar morals and values. And I also prayed that I could, if it was his will, have the opportunity to write. For a living, if possible. And if not paid, at least meaningful. And grow from and with my writing.

Only when we went through this upheaval. Only when we moved to Nebraska. Only this year, 2009. Only Then did I realize, out of the blue one day, that God had answered my prayers. Not only did I meet several amazing women through blogging that bring me grace, daily, whom I call dear friends (some/most whom I've never met!) but I also met two amazing women in Omaha that are the exact friends I'd been praying for. Strong Christians. Strong mothers. And fantastic personalities and interests! I just now pray that I get the opportunity to get to know them even better in the New Year and the New Decade.

Oh, and that opportunity to write? Not only has my readership on my blog increased, and I've learned more about blogging and feel like my blog focus has become more clear, but I've had the opportunity to become a Momaha.com writer. And I've been meeting even more amazing women through that endeavor.

Like I said, God works in mysterious ways.

So yes, for much of 2009 we struggled. Health problems. Employment, financial. But beautiful things came out of it too. Luke. Friendships. Family. And focus.

I can't wait to see what the next year, and next decade brings.

Happy New Year and Blessings to you in the New Year

Lloydisms . . .

2009-12-31T06:00:00.001-06:00

Lloyd has a new favorite word.

A very positive word.

He loves answering in the affirmative,

"Absolutely!"

I love it. Especially since his two and a half year old version sounds more like

"Ab-so-woot-wy"

Emphasis on the "woot."

Me: Lloyd, would you like some oatmeal for breakfast?

Him: Absolutely!

Don't you just love new words in little mouths?

Daybook

2009-12-29T20:33:00.001-06:00

Daybook for Today, December 29, 2009

Outside my Window... SNOW. Ice. Believe me, I know, I shoveled half of it off of our front stairs this morning. Note to self: When purchasing a house in the future, do not buy a house with two levels of steps up to the front door.

I am thinking... and worrying about my husband. He's been sick the last several days, since Saturday. At first we thought he might have the flu, as he had a sore throat, chills, a fever, but he never really got congested nor cough nor stomach flu symptoms. However, he's had some other, strange symptoms, not standard flu symptoms, and can't seem to get rid of his fever. It's a moderate fever, never going above 102 Fahrenheit, but it's not going away with rest or time. Went to the doctor today and he tested negative for the flu, though the doctor said that since we're four days in, it might have not picked it up, but I think that if he still has symptoms (fever, chills), wouldn't he test positive if that is what he has?

I keep putting his symptoms in to online medical websites and keep coming up with strange, and scary answers. I'm just hoping it goes away in a day or two so I don't have to go in to the doctor's with him and tell him what tests I want them to do.

Thankfully, none of the rest of us have had any symptoms of the flu, yet.

Anyway, please keep him in your prayers!

I am wearing . . . Jeans, Black cardigan, pearl earrings, new socks. I got six or seven pairs of socks for Christmas. My toesies are happy.

From the school room... the school room is closed for the Christmas holiday. We're not focusing on anything specific this week. Or probably next. Just enjoying each other and watching movies with under-the-weather-daddy and playing with trains. And reading lots of books, as usual.

I am thankful... for a beautiful Christmas. I received several of my most-wanted for books (including this one, this one, and this one) and finally, after two years worth of hints, got a digital kitchen scale. Perfect for some of those more obscure baking recipes that I love . . .along with all of the European ones.

Yes, I admit it, I'm a kitchen nerd.

From the kitchen... One of the strange symptoms that T. is having is really irritated, swollen gums and mouth. Strange, I know. And it all kind of came upon him suddenly (and I don't think it's gingivitis or gum disease - the first thing that comes up on google searches when you put in "swollen, irritated gums" - the guy brushes and flosses more often than I do.) So he's been having a very difficult time eating anything as it hurts him. Even a green smoothie I made for him yesterday, he said that the seeds from the berries bothered his mouth. The ones that had been blended for, you know, forever. A banana hurt his mouth. So today I've been busy soothing him with chicken stock and . . . nothing (he said the noodles hurt. Plain egg noodles.), a new batch of homemade yogurt and have been making him soft scrambled eggs cooked in butter, an egg custard and Breyers ice cream from the store.

This is the guy who went back to work two days after surgery for an appendectomy. He's normally not a complainer nor stays home sick very often. So I know something is up when he complains about an egg noodle. Poor guy.

I am creating... new homemaking schedules and ideas for sewing for next year.

I am reading...The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. And the January issue of Better Homes & Gardens. I had received it a few days before Christmas, but wasn't ready to be reading about post-Christmas/New Year organizing yet so I hid it away. I'm ready now.

I am hearing. . . Luke cooing in the living room at his toys. A bowl game on. And Lloyd stomping around upstairs playing with his trains. I am in the kitchen, making dinner.

Around the house... the house is in a semi-wrecked state. We had cleaned up from Christmas, but with T. being sick these past few days, a level of mess has descended anew. The office is the worst, it's become our dumping ground. Luckily, it has a door I can close.

One of my favorite things... is Christmas. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.
Work on cleaning up the office!
Re-organizing my kitchen cupboards

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

Content Copyright © 2009 by Sarah Warren. All rights reserved.

The Stay At Home Office Pool

2009-12-29T09:21:00.000-06:00

We call it the stay-at-home office pool.

But it's really my husband's attempt to use reverse psychology on me to allow him to watch every single bowl game, every single day for the next three weeks.

He does this every year. Twice a year. Once for the football bowl games and once for the NCAA basketball championships.

He comes home from work with a special piece of paper hidden away in his work bag for me. It's an empty score sheet for his office pool.

He tells me, “Make your picks! It'll be fun!” while he slyly starts planning our lives around the game schedule. He thinks that if I have a vested interest in the game, if I've chosen a team to root for, that I will be more inclined to allow our television to be all football all the time for each and every bowl game.

All 34 of them.

To read the rest, click here . . .

Content Copyright © 2009 by Sarah Warren. All rights reserved.

Daybook - Christmas Eve Edition

2009-12-24T08:45:00.000-06:00

Daybook for Today, December 24, 2009

A Picture Thought to share - The Mystical Nativity by Sandro Botticelli

Outside my Window... SNOW. Ice. And somewhere, the tinkling of jingle bells.

I am thinking... and reminding myself to breathe deeply and enjoy these days. And not worry about what items are still on and don't get checked off my list. It is Christmas.

REJOICE!

I am wearing . . . Jeans, Black shirt, Apron. Getting ready to make the dough for our Christmas morning Cinnamon Rolls! Basing them off of this recipe, but just spending my morning converting grams to metric measurements since I don't have a scale!

From the school room... the school room is closed for the Christmas holiday. We're not focusing on anything specific this week. Or probably next. Just enjoying each other and making cookies and practicing cutting with a knife/spreader and playing with trains. And reading lots of books, as usual.

I am thankful... that we have the opportunity this year to be home for Christmas and start making our own family traditions and memories!

From the kitchen... Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls for tomorrow, a batch or two of fudge to take with us for Christmas dinner at my in-laws tomorrow, and also making the smoked salmon spread for Christmas afternoon snacking. I think that's all I have time for today!

I am creating... plans. In my head. And going to finally finish sewing on those ears for the elephant I made for Luke for Christmas tonight. Just in time.

I am reading...The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

I am hearing. . . Luke playing. Lloyd is sleeping in this morning and Luke is taking advantage of it by getting into all of his big brother's toys!

Around the house... Christmas gifts are wrapped and under the tree, stockings are hung by the chimney with care, mass schedules have been scrutinized and cross-checked with closure notices (due to bad weather around here a lot of churches aren't having services tonight) and we are awaiting the blessing of Christmas. . . .

One of my favorite things... is Christmas. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.
Praying for you and yours to have a Blessed Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

Content Copyright © 2009 by Sarah Warren. All rights reserved.

Stalking Santa

2009-12-22T08:04:00.001-06:00

I stalked Santa this weekend.

I admit it, I did. After last week's post, it quickly became apparent that this Santa Claus character wasn't going away. And Lloyd, my 2-year old, wanted to meet him.

We went shopping to finish up our Christmas list Saturday and saw him at the mall, but he was surrounded by lines of tired, crying children and their tired, grouchy parents. He was blocked in by strollers heavy with shopping bags and winter coats and guarded by elves handing out candy canes, taking pictures of screaming children and minding the queue.

This sort of scene generally has us

running for the hills.

Having tired, hungry little ones myself, we didn't want to add to the madness and quickly exited. We spent the rest of the day planning our attack.

We knew we wanted Lloyd to see Santa. My husband and I both wanted to be in on the experience, and we wanted it to be as

painless as possible.

Being the last weekend before Christmas, we realized that this might be a tall order, but we were determined to pull it off.

To read the rest, click here . . .

Content Copyright © 2009 by Sarah Warren. All rights reserved.

Merry Christmas, from our home to yours

2009-12-16T20:24:00.001-06:00

So I'm two days late for The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes, but I had a very good reason . . . I was meeting (and doting and loving on) this

little Christmas angel, my niece, Elsie Jayne!

Isn't she darling?

But back to the house . . .

Welcome to our Home!

Merry Christmas!

The first thing to welcome you when you enter our porch is a Christmas wreath. I made it a few years ago with about $2.00 worth of holiday "spikes" from Michael's and one of their wreaths. It works for us and helps make the front porch festive!

I've also put a few "extra" stockings out on some formerly empty hooks

Along with my Christmas tin collection. We have a very small kitchen so didn't have room to display these if they weren't functional. Now they're holding some pinecones we collected on an evening walk a few weeks before it snowed!

Once you enter the home you hear the tinkling of bells. My mom always had a jingle-bell door hanging and now, so do I! I love that it always reminds me of the season, every time I open the door!

The first thing you see when you enter our home is our Advent wreath.

It's on top of a dresser/storage/buffet piece that is right across from our front door. We've dressed up the top of this dresser with a holiday tablecloth, and my favorite family photos! (Please excuse the random bit of something poking out of a drawer. Clean up can sometimes be hasty around these parts!)

I also used an ornament we received last year to dress up our lamp. REJOICE!

To the right of the door is a small coffee table with our children's Nativity set on it. My son LOVES playing with it and they constantly take little journeys through our living room.

We also have this nativity set on top of our television cabinet. It's one of the few horizontal surfaces that is out of reach of little hands so we do what we can!

And here is our tree!

My favorite ornament is this one, of the Holy Family.

We're looking forward to getting another set of these for Baby Luke this year. We'll be hanging them on the tree Christmas morning.

Lloyd's favorite ornament this year

Our original Christmas star when we had our little tree (a four and a half footer) when we were first married. The one we currently have was too heavy for our little tree!

And a pickle. Because what Christmas tree can't use a pickle?

I love our star. I bought it several years ago at Pottery Barn before I even had a tree. Or a husband. I love it. It was always too big for our little tree so we'd place it on a mantle or table, but this year it tops our new tree with pride.

And I love our wall of crosses behind it. Kind of makes you remember the other most important Christian feast day . . . Easter.

No gifts under our tree yet, too many little curious ones and newly-crawling babies around here to set them out too early, but we do have a big basket of our favorite Christmas books. The tree skirt is another Christmas tablecloth (seeing a pattern here?) that I just drape around the base of the tree. It works.

Most of our ornaments are breakable, so we made some gingerbread cookies this year to decorate the branches that are in reach of the little ones.

But we had a cookie thief

And now just empty ribbons . . . I think we're going to be making a second batch this weekend.

On the other side of our living room are our stockings! I bought these gorgeous stocking holders last year at Target. Unfortunately, we have a family of four and the stocking holders are a set of three. Hoping to buy a fourth holder (maybe a star?) to round out the group but for now we're missing one stocking.

I'm excited because this is the first year that we'll be having Christmas in our home since we've been married, so I bought matching stockings to commemorate the occasion! In the past we've always just kind of used whatever we could scrounge up from storage, but Christmas stockings are one of my favorite traditions and I wanted to get "family" stockings this year. I'm hoping to embroider our names on them . . . we'll see if that happens for this year, or next . . .

For "keeping it real" full-disclosure, here's what it normally looks like!

Finally, my kitchen is very (very) small and we are renting so please excuse the horrendous striped wallpaper. Since I have little counter space I couldn't "decorate" the space too much but I did make a Nester-ized Christmas "Mistreatment" to hang over my sink. A bit of garland, some pushpins and some careful folding of completely un-ironed, un-hemmed fabric and we're all set! This is where I stand every morning drinking coffee out of my Christmas mugs. Frequently with some whipped cream on top!

Thank you for joining me today in my home and a big Thank you to the Nester for hosting this Parade of Homes!

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!

That Whole Santa Claus Thing . . .

2009-12-16T07:59:00.000-06:00

I'm in a conundrum.

I knew that, as a parent, I'd have to make some pretty major decisions in terms of raising my children.

Breastfeeding or formula? Circumcision or uncut? Spanking or time-outs? TV?

Never did I realize that I'd have to make that ultimate decision.

The Santa Claus decision.

The Cookie Thief

2009-12-09T17:59:00.002-06:00

Welcome Momaha.com Readers!

2009-12-08T05:00:00.017-06:00

Welcome New Momaha.com Readers!

If you just clicked over from the momaha.com website, Welcome! I look forward to getting to know you and invite you to look around!

I've been blogging for a little over three years now and, I love it! Over that time I've lived in three different cities, two states, birthed two children and completely revised and updated our eating habits! I've written a little bit about everything, from faith to crafts to green living. Over the past few years I've completely revised and updated our eating habits, we've always eaten healthfully but I've been specifically influenced by Nourishing Traditions, Georgeanne Brennan, Ina Garten, the lovely Nigella Lawson and, of course, Saint Julia Child (well, she's a saint around my house. She's directly interceded in both mayonaisse and chocolate ganache catastrophies! I'm vying for her sainthood!) You're going to find mostly from-scratch recipes here, made from real, whole foods, frequently grown naturally and in season. The kind of food your great grandmother would make, but modernized for today's palate and needs (and time restraints!)

Looking for all my recipes? Here's my (recently updated, ahem yesterday) Recipe Index.

Thanks for looking around and I look forward to getting to know you via momaha.com and here!

Best,
Sarah

PS - I love comments to an embarassing degree so go ahead and comment on any post, past or present (I see them all!) If you have a question about a post, feel free to post it as a comment and I'll try to answer it within a few days!

And, if you find you like reading what you see here, please feel free to subscribe and/or follow me! Buttons for those actions are right over there in the right hand column. Thanks!

PPS - For all my regular readers, thanks for continuing to read and supporting me on this new endeavor! Go check out momaha.com and my first post! And please enjoy that recently updated recipe index yourself!

Content Copyright © 2009 by Sarah Warren. All rights reserved.

Daybook

2009-12-07T08:09:00.000-06:00

Daybook for Today, December 7, 2009

A Picture Thought to share -

Welcome 

Elsie Jayne!

Thank you for making me an Auntie!

Outside my Window... SNOW!!!

I am thinking... about everything I need to get done in the next two or three days to prepare to go to Michigan to visit and meet this little bundle of joy! Finishing up Christmas gifts to bring, cooking something for the new parents' freezer, stopping at a store or two to buy a few items and, of course, laundry!

I am wearing . . . a cozy pink robe. It's early.

From the school room... right now we're just focusing on reading, reading, reading.

Lloyd can not get enough of books,

he's just absorbing like a little sponge. Current favorites include the Country Angel Christmas by Tomie de Paola, and all of the rest of our Christmas books (because they're "new" again) especially The Polar Express. We also picked up a few new ones at the library last week that I'm excited to get into the rotation.

I am thankful... that Andrea had a healthy and safe delivery! I am so proud of her! She gave birth to Elsie all naturally and medication-free and, though it was very, very difficult, she was so happy about it after the birth as she and Elsie had the opportunity to bond immediately and all of those endorphins and hormones kicked in! She is an amazing, strong woman!

From the kitchen... We did end up making a small batch of gingerbread cookies this weekend! Lloyd had such a great time rolling and cutting out cookies with me and yesterday, we frosted them! I think more cookies were eaten by Lloyd than frosted, but that's okay. It's a special treat!

T. was the major cook in the kitchen this weekend, grinding up a pork shoulder on Saturday and making homemade breakfast sausage and on Sunday he smoked both a rack of ribs as well as another pork shoulder for shredding. I'm a lucky girl.

Finally, I'm planning to make a special treat to give away as gifts to a few people (who read this blog!) I'll be visiting later this week so mum's the word . . . but I hope to share the recipe in a week or two! What are you making as homemade gifts? From the kitchen or otherwise?

I am (still) creating...homemade Christmas gifts. Lloyd's quilt is not yet basted but I bought the special curved needles for it this weekend! In the meantime, I'm hoping to sew a few things for my sister's today to bring with me and give as gifts. Coasters and coffee mug cozies.

I am reading... The Blessing of Christmas, back issues of Poets and Writers from the library and getting excited about reading the new momaha.com website which launches tomorrow!

And I'm praying Advent again.

I am hearing. . . Lloyd and Luke playing.

Around the house... Christmas gifts are hiding . . .

One of my favorite things... is a nice, relaxing weekend at home.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.
Please pray for my safety as I drive to Michigan at the end of the week! I'll be taking Luke, but not Lloyd (my first time away from him! His Grandma will be watching him for me, thank you MJ!) and it's a long, ten-hour drive through areas destined for snow. Luckily, I'll be driving a big 4WD truck, and it's interstate all the way, so I'm feeling safer about that!
Story time at the library.

Coconut Macaroons

2009-12-03T05:00:00.007-06:00

I developed this recipe as a way to use up egg whites left over from making mayonnaise a few weeks ago. This recipe can be made up in just a few minutes, is relatively low in sugar, gluten free and is just a great special treat for my little (and big) guy!

I found that if I used all sweetened coconut, it made the macaroons a bit too sweet for my taste, so I use both sweetened and unsweetened. The unsweetened variety that I use is about the shape and size of rice, while the sweetened variety is longer flakes. The combination of the two textures really helps provide a good solid base for the cookie, while the flakes brown so nicely to make that classic macaroon look.

Next time I'm planning on adding a bit of grated orange zest and orange juice for Creamsicle macaroons . . . YUM!

Coconut Macaroons

makes about 30 cookies

3 egg whites
2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut
2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon cornstarch (I prefer organic because it is not made from GMO corn)
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk in cornstarch. Add coconut and stir to combine.

Allow to set for a few minutes and to allow the coconut to begin to soak up the wet mixture. After a few minutes stir and, if a lot of liquid remains on the bottom, add a bit more coconut, either variety is fine.

Spoon rounded teaspoons of the cookie mixture on to a parchment lined baking pan. You may have to use your fingers to make sure that the spoonful stay tall on the pan. If they are too loose or too wet, they will not make pretty, rounded macaroons, they'll flatten out. If they are too wet making the mixture spread, they will be stickier and harder to remove from the parchment once baked (add more coconut!) . Just a bit of advice!

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Enjoy plain or dipped in a bit of melted dark chocolate.

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, the Ultimate Recipe Swap and Foodie Friday.

Daybook

2009-12-01T19:39:00.000-06:00

Daybook for Today, December 1, 2009

Outside my Window... It is dark. I'm writing this after the babies are in bed and I'm enjoying a glass of wine. Today, though, was beautiful and we spent as much time as we could in the backyard because I know a storm is preparing to blow in and our normal winter weather is going to be fast upon us.

I am thinking... about the upcoming momaha.com website! I just submitted my first post today, an introductory post, and am so excited for the website to open next week! I've seen the beta and it's fantastic! I'll be meeting the mom team for the first time later this week and I'm really looking forward to it.

I am wearing . . . a chocolate brown t-shirt, jeans and bare feet.

From the school room... right now we're just focusing on reading, reading, reading.

Lloyd can not get enough of books,

he's just absorbing like a little sponge. Current favorites include the Country Angel Christmas by Tomie de Paola, and all of the rest of our Christmas books (because they're "new" again) especially The Polar Express. I did not get anywhere near finishing our Jesse Tree ornaments, (frankly, I just painted the fronts and had hoped to get the stickers off the backs before I painted them, but alas, half are still stickered and none are done. Maybe next year.) but I do hope to print off a few Jesse Tree/Advent related coloring pages for Lloyd and we'll do a few Jesse Tree/Advent related lessons here and there in the next few weeks.

I am thankful... for having a wonderful conversation with my sister, Andrea, this morning! I don't think I'd announced it yet (oops) but she is expecting! And her due date is a week from today (see? big oops!)! She is more than thrilled and I look forward to visiting with them shortly after the baby is born. Just waiting for a call!

Please keep her in your prayers for a healthy and safe delivery!

From the kitchen... Gluten and grain free work for us in terms of losing weight, which T. and I are both working on. So, more of that. We had a cheat day/weekend last weekend and are now buckling down until Christmas. Not sure if I'll make any Christmas candy or cookies this year (since I may be out of town for several days visiting with my sister) but we'll see . . . I do have a rather large Christmas cookie cutter collection that might have to be dusted off to make my gingerbread. Maybe I'll bring them to Michigan . . .

I am (still) creating...homemade Christmas gifts. I'm hoping to baste the quilt by this weekend and I still have all the crafts I'd been planning for on the back burner.

I am reading... The Blessing of Christmas.

And I'm praying Advent again.

I am hearing. . . quiet. It's a nice change from the remainder of the day.

Around the house... The Advent and Christmas season is upon us! I know that there are some Christian and Catholic families who don't put up their Christmas tree until right before Christmas, and I certainly don't argue with their tactic and argument behind this, but I confess, I am not one of them.

Mine is up the weekend after Thanksgiving.

For me, it's tradition and it is what gets me in the mood and mindset for Christmas. Our Advent wreath is front and center (literally, it is one of the very first things you see when you walk in our front door and has a major focus of our living room) but I can't wait that long for my tree.

In other news, Lloyd is, once again in love and totally enamored with his children's nativity scene and it gives us ample time to discuss Mary, Joseph and Jesus. He is beginning to understand that Christmas is about Jesus' birthday, and he is looking forward to it!

Maybe he'll make up some

birthday soup . . .

One of my favorite things... is my home, decked out for Christmas.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.
Still. Crafts, sewing and more crafts. Pray for me, my sanity, and my paint-stained and needle-poked fingers.
Story time at the library if everyone is feeling better. We've had two sick kiddos here the past few days. If not, we're heading to the library anyway by the end of the week - they have some more Christmas books on hold for me. . . .

A Picture Thought to share -
Advent, the season of waiting. Preparing. Prayer. I'm feeling it big time this year as we wait for my sister's baby, to welcome her into the family.

Isn't she gorgeous?

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here!

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie

2009-11-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Yum, right?

I am excited to announce that I'm a guest blogger over at Centsational Girl's blog today! I'm sharing one of our family's favorite recipes,

Sweet Potato Pecan Pie,

which I make every year! This pie is a great combination of classic sweet potato pie with a spicy, creamy base and pecan pie, with a gorgeous crunchy top. Not to mention the flaky, buttery crust. I love it. For the recipe, please visit Centsational Girl, and check out a few of the other great posts she's shared recently, while you're at it!

My favorites?

How to make homemade Christmas Crackers
(I am so saving my toilet paper and paper towel rolls from now until Christmas!), and

A gorgeous poinsettia pillow made out of felt.
I don't have time to make it this year, but it is going into my inspiration file for next!

I am busy baking my pies today for Thanksgiving (including my sweet potato pecan!) and prepping for tomorrow. What are you doing?

Momaha.com

2009-11-24T20:22:00.000-06:00

I am thrilled to announce that I am going to be a contributor to the momaha.com team! Affiliated with the Omaha World Herald, Momaha.com is a new blog/website that will be catering to families in the Omaha area. Recipes, tips, recommendations and upcoming events, we'll have everything family friendly and "everything Mom" for Omaha.

Check me out at Momaha.com on Tuesdays starting mid-December!

PS - I'm still blogging here. Same as usual. Don't worry! Thanks for reading!

Lloydisms . . .

2009-11-24T11:10:00.001-06:00

Some favorites, from the mouth of my darling two and a half year old.

He is currently infatuated with anything and everything "Little Bear." This morning, he asked me if it was time to

"tidy up."

I was floored. Why yes, Lloyd, I'd love it if you'd like to tidy up today, thank you for asking! So cute.

He also is loving to make

"Birthday Soup"

at any and all times. In his little play kitchen, in our kitchen, outside with leaves. What is he constantly making? Birthday Soup.

And if it's not Birthday Soup, it's cupcakes (or anything in cupcake form including carrot muffins and meatloaf), which he exclaims are:

"Deeee-licious."

No sweetheart, you are delicious. I could just eat you up.

I love you my little Lloyd!

Daybook

2009-11-22T21:30:00.000-06:00

Daybook for Today, November 23, 2009

Outside my Window... It is dark. And I was excited to see my first Christmas lights up on some neighborhood homes tonight! I know, a bit early, but I love them nonetheless. Mine are going up next weekend.

I am thinking... and preparing for Thanksgiving this week.

I am wearing . . . a deep purple, three-quarter length sweater with a shawl collar, big pearl studs, jeans, bare feet.

From the school room... we are in the process of trying to decide what the schoolroom needs on the Christmas list this year. As always, more books. Right now Lloyd is loving any and all Dr. Seuss. He is a big fan of Green Eggs and Ham (which he calls, "Sam I am" and is very excited to exclaim, "Try it!" whenever he gets the chance) and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and we picked up four more at the library this week (including one of my old favorites, The 500 Hats of Batholomew Cubbins.)

I am thankful... for living near family, finally.

From the kitchen... I am busy going through my physical and online recipe boxes in anticipation of Thanksgiving. Trying to remember which apple pie I made last year that was so good (I think it was this one for the filling - and this is my favorite crust) and trying to decide what to make for a second pie. The last few year's I've made a dark chocolate pecan pie for my husband, whose favorite growing up was Chocolate Silk pie, but I just (finally. After countless conversations with obscure questioning)

 found out what my mother-in-law's favorite pie is

so might surprise her. We'll see. And, of course, sweet potato pecan. Menu plan for this week includes:

Sunday - Hamburgers at Grandma and Grandpa's. And they were very, very yummy.
Monday - Pan seared Chicken Breasts with Green Beans and Green Salad
Tuesday - Chicken Caesar Salads
Wednesday - Leftovers. Because today I'll be Thanksgiving prepping green bean casserole and sweet potato pecan casserole with coconut, along with baking pies and prepping the rolls for baking in the morning (while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a Thanksgiving tradition.)

Thanksgiving Thursday - All the fixings. We'll munch on deviled eggs and a veggie tray with ranch dressing while waiting for the main meal. Turkey. Mashed potatoes (which I think we're going to make in the morning and keep hot in the crockpot.) Green bean casserole. Sweet potato pecan casserole. Gravy. Stuffing. Sourdough rolls. Followed an hour or two later with pie and coffee.

Friday - We will be watching the Nebraska vs. Colorado game at our in-laws. Planning for Sloppy Joe's, some fresh fruit, a jalapeno-artichoke dip and, of course, leftover pie.
Saturday - Will we be hungry today? Who knows. Leftovers.
Sunday - Green Chile Turkey Tortilla Soup. Yum.

We made the crockpot cassoulet last week and, I have to admit, I can't share the recipe. It was perfectly tasty and edible, but I really prefer it made in the dutch oven in the oven. Made in the crockpot, it was a bit too soupy and the beans were almost too mushy.

I am (still) creating...homemade Christmas gifts. Working on Lloyd's quilt -

I finished the top!

And just trying to finish up the back before I baste them together, right now I'm researching hand and machine quilting ideas, and an elephant for Luke (it's all done except for hand sewing on the ears and eyes.) Also thinking about some blocks for Luke and a "stocking stuffer" or two for my sister's.

I am reading... The Tightwad's Gazette, which I borrowed from the library this week!

Getting some interesting ideas.

Many of them I've come across before, but I'm looking at them in a new light. I'm seriously considering making a price book for grocery shopping. Has anyone done this? Granted, our grocery budget isn't something I'm planning on greatly reducing as I feel that nutrition is a very, very high priority, but it would be good to have an outline of what I normally pay for basic items on a per unit base so that I have a better idea of where it is best to purchase them or when to stock up when I find a good sale.

This year has been wonderful,

with lots of blessings, but pretty terrible fiscally (lost job. Moved ourselves half way across the country. Had a baby. Had to buy a second car. Just had an appendectomy. Phew.) And we still hope to buy a house some time soon so we are busy revamping and reworking (and seriously tightening) our budget for the next year to get back on track and get back in the black. Looking into the "envelope budgeting" system. Has anyone done this? Any advice?

I am hearing. . . quiet. But tomorrow morning, with my coffee? Christmas music. I just love it.

Around the house... I am very excited to have borrowed a table from my in-laws to set up my sewing machine on in our office! I've had my sewing area set up on our dining/kitchen table but am having to pick up and move everything at least once a day for dinner. I think I might actually finish things a bit quicker if I don't have to pick up and put away all my supplies every day. Very excited. I think it will also make us all a bit saner because we'll literally be able to close the door on the mess.

One of my favorite things... is my chunkalicious baby Luke!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and ease of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.
Still. Crafts, sewing and more crafts. Working on making ornaments for a Jesse Tree for Advent this year. Along with all of those other things I noted above. Pray for me, my sanity, and my paint-stained and needle-poked fingers.
THANKSGIVING!!!

A Picture Thought to share (above) -

My beautiful dreamer . . .

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here!

Rock Star Hair

2009-11-19T09:31:00.000-06:00

Some people spend a lot of time and money trying to make their hair look perfectly disheveled.

My son?

He just wakes up from a nap.

I just love him so much!

Sourdough French Bread

2009-11-16T02:00:00.000-06:00

Remember that Boeuf Bourguignon? This is the bread I made to go with it. It is amazing. It is the bread recipe I've been looking to make forever. It easily replaces (and is so much better) than the sourdough boules you'll find at your local grocery store bakery. Soft and slightly tangy sourdough flavor,

with a firm crust that crackles when you squeeze it

and a soft interior that squishes down pleasantly to the tooth. This would be excellent formed into boules and filled with your favorite holiday dip (crab? Spinach? Hot artichoke?), sliced and eaten as a sandwich and is amazing served simply with butter next to a bowl of hot soup (or, ahem, Boeuf Bourguignon).

I like this recipe because it's kind of a "cheater" sourdough recipe. It allows you to make bread in one day, without having to make a sponge or (gasp!) plan for it a day in advance, because you cheat a little and use a little bit of commercial yeast, yet still tastes like amazing sourdough bread.

Plus, the egg wash makes the outside shiny like you bought it at a fancy bakery.

Sourdough French Bread
lightly adapted from the King Arthur Flour company

2 cups bread flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup recently fed sourdough starter
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt

In a large bowl combine all ingredients except for the salt. Stir to combine and turn out onto a lightly floured board. Knead until a dough forms, then, wet hands with water and knead for five to seven minutes. If hands get sticky, re-wet them.

Your dough will be well-formed, but sticky and a teensy bit slack. It is important not to add very much more flour to the dough. You will be surpried how much better your bread will be when you knead with wet rather than floured hands.

Allow dough to rest for twenty to thirty minutes on your board.

Upon returning, add salt to the dough and knead (with wet hands) for five minutes more, making sure that the salt gets well incorporated throughout the dough.

Form into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size, about ninety minutes.

Once dough has risen, either cut into two pieces (to form two smaller loaves, each suitable for dinner for four, or so) or one large loaf.

In my most recent batch (the one photographed above) I split the dough into two and formed one into an oval loaf and the other I braided using Leila's technique.

Form dough and allow to rise, covered, on a prepared pizza peel covered in cornmeal, or on a rimless cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Let rise for about one hour.

30 minutes into the second rising, begin heating oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with a baking stone on the bottom rack.

Once loaves are risen, slash loaves, if appropriate, and brush with an egg wash. Immediately place in hot oven on baking stone and quickly close the door (if using the parchment paper technique, just scoot it off the cookie sheet with a few quick movements with your arm. Note that you'll be scooting the bread on the parchment paper onto the baking stone, leaving the cookie sheet empty.)

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Allow to cool at least an hour or two before eating.

Enjoy!

This post is also written as a contribution to Yeastspotting and Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum.

Daybook

2009-11-15T20:28:00.000-06:00

Daybook for Today, November 16, 2009

Outside my Window... It is a grey day. The trees are now bare. I'm ready for snow now.

I am thinking... about my mother-in-law, Mary Jo, and wishing her a very

Happy Birthday!

I am also thinking . . . that

I really enjoyed my carnival last week 

and loved sharing and reading all the recipes shared, but I'm happy to be back to normal this week!

I am wearing . . . a deep purple, three-quarter length sweater with a shawl collar, big pearl studs, camel slacks and camel suede penny loafers. We went to the mall today to buy me a new winter coat and I wanted to look nice!

From the school room... We've been moving toys, books, puzzles, etc. around on various bookshelves upstairs and down. Too many toys in the living room was driving Mama crazy. Moving a few games and puzzles we had received last Christmas and for his birthday that he wasn't quite ready for then down to accessible reach for Lloyd and he is loving the "new" games. We are sewing and matching patterns all day long and loving some new library books, including one on Johnny Appleseed (really cute how he asks for it, asking for "Seed Apple" for days until he just now got the term, "Appleseed.") and Harry the Dirty Dog. And we just got a box delivered from my mom with something new to try, so I'll let you know how that goes.

I am thankful... for our warm home and popcorn for dinner on a relaxing Sunday night.

From the kitchen... Menu plan for this week includes:

Sunday - Leftovers and popcorn
Monday - Vegetable Beef Stew
Tuesday - Trying my hand at crockpot cassoulet again. Still developing the recipe. Great ideas for cooking dry beans in the crockpot from this book from the library.
Wednesday - Frittata with green salad
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Spicy spaghetti squash puttanesca
Saturday - T. may or may not be smoking a turkey today. While they're on sale I've bought a few to make "lunch meat." I know we're a week early, but why not? Something easy and tasty and good for leftovers for Monday lunch.
Sunday - Dinner at Grandma and Poppa's

We are going gluten/grain and sugar-free (I know, as I just shared that amazing sourdough recipe) again here at home for the most part (minus those beans in the cassoulet). We're just not making progress losing the baby weight without it. We will be enjoying a few holiday treats here and there (and will be sharing recipes) but those days between now and said holiday's? On a diet.

A few weeks before everyone else.

I am (still) creating...homemade Christmas gifts. Working on Lloyd's quilt, and an elephant for Luke. Also thinking about some blocks for Luke and a "stocking stuffer" or two for my sister's.

I am reading... cookbooks. Big surprise, right?

I am hearing. . . quiet. But I think this week we may be starting up the Christmas music. I just love it, I can't wait anymore.

Around the house... potty chairs. We are successfully potty training! FINALLY! After a few weeks of trying and getting nowhere I decided to take some time off so Lloyd didn't develop negative feelings toward pottying. Then, on Friday he woke up with a dry diaper, and was quite proud of it. I asked him if he'd like to go try to go pee-pee on the potty and he confirmed. And then HE WENT!

And he's been going every since.

I am so proud. He even went (on the potty chair in the truck) in the mall parking lot today.

We are all big-boy underwear all the time these days.

Now, I just have to figure out how to make him confident about pooping in the potty chair. Any suggestions?

One of my favorite things... is a full freezer. No, unfortunately T. did not get an elk while we were in Colorado, but we did come home with an ice-chest full of meat from my parents (elk, venison, and grass-fed beef. YUM!) so we are doing well. Now I just have to decide how to cook it!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ...

Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and ease of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.
Crafts, sewing and more crafts. Working on making ornaments for a Jesse Tree for Advent this year. Along with all of those other things I noted above. Pray for me, my sanity, and my paint-stained and needle-poked fingers.
Maybe story time at the library?

A Picture Thought to share (above) -

And in other news . . . someone has learned to sit up!

Have a great day!

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here!

Spiced Apple Cider - For the Love of the Slow Cooker

2009-11-13T02:00:00.000-06:00

This recipe is a family favorite.

It would not be the holidays without spiced apple cider, ladled from a waiting, simmering slow cooker into

mugs lovingly cupped in cold fingers.

We serve this at Christmas parties and to carollers, sip it while making pfefferniuss and while watching our favorite Christmas movies.

I can't eat Thanksgiving pie without a cup of spiced apple cider nearby. Nor open Christmas presents.

A waft of this and I am home.

Spiced Apple Cider
adjust to fill your particular Slow Cooker

Enough apple juice to fill your slow cooker. Growing up, we always used the frozen concentrated variety and I'm not above using that now!

For every "can" of prepared frozen juice (or approximately 32 ounces of juice if you are using fresh or bottled juice) add:

2 cinnamon sticks
5 or so whole cloves
A whole anise star, if you can find them, optional
1/2 of an orange, sliced in rings with rind on (make sure to wash it thoroughly first!)

Add all ingredients to your slow cooker and heat! If you have two to three hours before serving, just put it on low. If you hope to serve within an hour or so, turn to high until it is hot, then turn to low to maintain heat. If you don't drink it all in a day, remove and discard oranges and cloves, turn off and leave on your counter. Just reheat the next day either in your slow cooker or individually in mugs or on the stovetop.

A Tip: DO NOT use ground spices in place of whole spices. It will make your cider grainy and gross. Only use whole spices as you can work around them when serving.

Enjoy!

This post is written in conjunction with Frugal Friday at Life as Mom, the Nourishing Crockpot Carnival hosted by Passionate Homemaking, and Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum. And, of course, as an entry to my own carnival this week, For the Love of the Slow Cooker!

*Image courtesy of Google Images. I found it on six or seven blogs and websites without a reference. That IS what mine looks like though! :)

For the Love of the Slow Cooker Recipe Carnival!

2009-11-12T22:00:00.000-06:00

I had such a great week sharing with you my new favorite slow cooker recipes!

My goal was to both share a few recipes I've never shared before, as well as open up the spectrum of the slow cooker a bit by offering a recipe for a different type of food each day, breakfast, a condiment, dinner, dessert and even a beverage! I'm hoping you start thinking of your slow cooker in a different light!

Granted, I also frequently make chicken stock in my slow cooker (same recipe, different means of cooking) as well as all of my chili and soup recipes, and even my green chile roasted, shredded pork roast in my slow cooker,

not to mention keeping that baked spinach and artichoke dip warm come SuperBowl Sunday,

but it wouldn't have been very fun for me just to repost the same recipes with a different cooking method, now would it?!?

So, now it's your turn! Please share your favorite slow cooker recipes below! Please make sure to link back up to this post and leave a comment if you'd like. I'm looking forward to reading through them all!

Thank you for participating!

The carnival will be open all weekend for submissions . . .

Double Chocolate Cake with Hot Fudge Sauce - For the Love of the Slow Cooker

2009-11-12T02:00:00.000-06:00

Wait, let me repeat myself.

Double Chocolate Cake with Hot Fudge Sauce

And did I mention it is entirely whole wheat? Yes, yes it is. Oh, and cooked in your slow cooker? Yes, yes it is.

You know you've seen recipes like this before. I had. And I thought, "Baking? In a crock pot?" At first I only found recipes in old, original crock pot recipe books that had you baking inside of a metal coffee can inserted in your slow cooker. Quaint, I thought, but I have an oven.

But then I saw a recipe I couldn't ignore. I tried it. It was good. I fiddled around with it and it became better, and better for you. And I'm here to share it with you today. Because

Yes, you can bake in your slow cooker.

And it tastes amazing.

Double Chocolate Cake with Hot Fudge Sauce
made for a 2.5 or 3-quart slow cooker
serves six

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons coconut oil, in liquid form
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cupped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
dash of cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1-1/2 cups hot water (or hot coffee - I'm making it with coffee next time!)

Grease the inside of your slow cooker with a little coconut oil on a paper towel, or with cooking spray.

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, 2 Tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt and dash of cinnamon.

In a glass measuring cup, measure milk and add oil and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Add liquid mixture to dry mixture, stirring to combine, to create a batter. Then, fold in nuts and chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly in slow cooker.

In a bowl, mix together brown sugar and 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. Add hot water (or coffee) and stir to melt sugar and create a slurry. Pour evenly on top of cake batter in the slow cooker.

Cover slow cooker and turn on high, baking for about an hour and a half. Cake will be baked when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Leave uncovered and allow to cool for about 30 minutes before serving*. If any more than 30-45 minutes before serving, re-heat for a few minutes as the sauce will thicken.

Spoon cake into bowls. Hot fudge sauce will be under the cake on the bottom of the crock. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

*Please excuse the quality of the picture. I had, in fact, allowed my cake to cool a bit longer than I should have before taking pictures and the sauce looks a little strange. It tasted amazing though!

This post is written in conjunction with Frugal Friday at Life as Mom, the Nourishing Crockpot Carnival hosted by Passionate Homemaking, and Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum. And, of course, as an entry to my own carnival this week, For the Love of the Slow Cooker!

What I'm Reading Now

2009-11-11T12:03:00.000-06:00

Our latest library haul . . . .

for me. . .

More cookbooks - you can see I'm getting into the "comfort food" realm of the year! After cooking and sharing my favorite slow cooker recipes this week, I'm itching for more!

Gardening Books - I LOVE The Backyard Homestead and am enjoying learning from Eliot Coleman

A Fun Sewing Book from Japan - Zakka Sewing. I love their use of linen and fabrics and love the viewpoint of bringing beauty and creativity into the everyday. If nothing else, it's giving me some beautiful ideas for dishcloths, for me, and some sewn baskets for the boys! I'm looking forward to browsing it further, and

Several books on faith. From some of my favorite Bible scholars, Scott Hahn and the Pope. I'm really looking forward to reading

The Blessing of Christmas: Meditations for the Season.

And for the boys. . .

We're starting to collect some Christmas stories a bit early (before everyone else thinks to check them out! :) I am LOVING the Tomie De Paola's Hark! A Christmas Sampler, and have been wanting to read The Real Santa Claus for a year or two, but it is out of print and kind of expensive to buy used. I was so excited to see it on the shelf as I've been wanting to check it out before I decided to shell out the money to purchase it! Finally, the beauty of Little One, We Knew You'd Come is just breathtaking. Though a childrens book, reading it last night after the boys were in bed, as a mother, brought me closer to Mary. And reminds me how much God gave us when he gave us his son as an example, a teacher, and ultimately, the ultimate sacrifice for us. You read this book and remember and think of the beauty of an innocent babe in a mother's arms, and can't imagine anything cruel happening to him. A perfect book for Advent, for both children and parents, as it truly, deeply shows the anticipation of a new baby, the joy and love He brings to the world and is just deeply moving. A beautiful book.

What are you reading?