We had a wonderful evening yesterday. The whole church came over and helped us work on our house and yard. The bedrooms were completely scrubbed down, the bathroom rug got pulled out and a new floor put down, and best of all, the walls surrounding the basement stairs (which are in the middle of the house between the kitchen and living room) got cut down. That was really exciting! The walls there are 42 inches high now, and at the end of the stairs we are going to put a bar. When the last of the closet at the end of the stairs came out, they found a pile, like a PILE, of dead mice. twenty or so of them in a clump. That was so gross!! We were told that there had never been a mouse in the house, ever. Well, let me tell you, if thats what you think no mice looks like, you have another think coming! In the yard, my flower beds got dug up, and all the rocks taken out. I don't like rocks. The girls worked there for most of the evening, and they were sure they had dug up at least 100 lbs of small rocks. :) The front yard got raked, and looks much better. That wasn't a small project either, 'cause there were LOTS of leaves there. Last but not least, all the windows got washed from the outside. That was nice, and made a huge difference. Now I just need to do the easy part of washing them from the inside. Thank you, everybody.
In other life, I have been dreaming,
About my garden. The neighbor man gave us fencing to put up around it so I won't get critters in there. I keep thinking of all the potatoes, corn, fresh peas, green beans, and all the other things you plant in gardens.
And about baking stuff. I have been trying to not make unhealthy food, and so baking has become a thing of the past for now. At least baking for us. I like to bake during my I'm-not-sure-what-to-do-right-now moments of my life. You know, when the dishes are done, the laundry is done except for the last load in the dryer that I can't see, the floors are tidy, and you don't feel like sewing. So I dream about delectable things coming out of my oven. Maybe I should take orders. :)
The recipe for this post is 5 Minute Healthy Peach Frozen Yogurt. Its really nice on a warm afternoon, or to finish a big meal.
5 Minute Healthy Peach Frozen Yogurt
4 cups frozen peaches
3 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Process 5 minutes, or until creamy. Serve immediately, or store in an air-tight container in the freezer up to 1 month.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Fresh Bread, Anyone?
I want my spring and summer weather back! Yesterday morning we had snow, an icy rain, and sleet. The sun sort of comes through the clouds every once in a while just enough to melt everything in time for the next blast.
We had company over the weekend. Three of my sisters came for a visit, so we took them on a tour of the countryside. We ended it at Grindstone Lake where we played in the water. It was actually comfortable where it was shallow. Laura found a live mussel or something, so we all inspected it. She poked at it, and it looked so gross. I really can't believe that people eat those things, but then I suppose shrimp with their legs on yet don't look all that attractive either. And I like shrimp.
We have a June wedding to go to in Canada. Kathryn has an all white dress to wear. Its got a kind of belt, and three off-set flowers on the waist. We want to get some colour in there by painting just the edges of the flower. Has anybody done this before and found a method that worked well? Would I use paint, or a chalk like thing so it would fade into the flower?
Lately I have been making 100% Whole Wheat Bread instead of white bread when I bake. I looked around for a little while till I found a recipe that I thought would be what I needed it to be. Its called Honey Whole Wheat Bread. Most ww bread recipes called for added gluten, or lecithin granules, but I didn't want to use that. The trick to making bread that is not crumbly, or dry is to work the dough, and work the dough, and work the dough. Then when you bake it, set your oven at a lower temperature, and don't leave it in there forever either. I often baked everything at 350*, and had dry bread, but not anymore!
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
3 1/2 cups warm water 1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey 1 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast 10 cups whole wheat flour, freshly ground
Mix water, honey, yeast, oil, and salt in KitchenAid mixer. Add flour, one cup at a time. Wait until flour is fully incorporated before adding the next cup. I often only need to use 9 cups of flour. Work dough until the sides of the bowl come clean. Don't add the last bit of flour too fast, let the dough work itself for a while to get gluten active. Mix dough for a few minutes after adding the last flour. Turn out onto a greased surface and form the dough into a nice smooth ball ( this is purely for cosmetic purposes), then place in bowl to rise. When doubled, form into 3 large, or 4 small loaves. Let rise. Bake at 325* for 25-30 min.
We had company over the weekend. Three of my sisters came for a visit, so we took them on a tour of the countryside. We ended it at Grindstone Lake where we played in the water. It was actually comfortable where it was shallow. Laura found a live mussel or something, so we all inspected it. She poked at it, and it looked so gross. I really can't believe that people eat those things, but then I suppose shrimp with their legs on yet don't look all that attractive either. And I like shrimp.
We have a June wedding to go to in Canada. Kathryn has an all white dress to wear. Its got a kind of belt, and three off-set flowers on the waist. We want to get some colour in there by painting just the edges of the flower. Has anybody done this before and found a method that worked well? Would I use paint, or a chalk like thing so it would fade into the flower?
Lately I have been making 100% Whole Wheat Bread instead of white bread when I bake. I looked around for a little while till I found a recipe that I thought would be what I needed it to be. Its called Honey Whole Wheat Bread. Most ww bread recipes called for added gluten, or lecithin granules, but I didn't want to use that. The trick to making bread that is not crumbly, or dry is to work the dough, and work the dough, and work the dough. Then when you bake it, set your oven at a lower temperature, and don't leave it in there forever either. I often baked everything at 350*, and had dry bread, but not anymore!
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
3 1/2 cups warm water 1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey 1 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast 10 cups whole wheat flour, freshly ground
Mix water, honey, yeast, oil, and salt in KitchenAid mixer. Add flour, one cup at a time. Wait until flour is fully incorporated before adding the next cup. I often only need to use 9 cups of flour. Work dough until the sides of the bowl come clean. Don't add the last bit of flour too fast, let the dough work itself for a while to get gluten active. Mix dough for a few minutes after adding the last flour. Turn out onto a greased surface and form the dough into a nice smooth ball ( this is purely for cosmetic purposes), then place in bowl to rise. When doubled, form into 3 large, or 4 small loaves. Let rise. Bake at 325* for 25-30 min.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Everyday Life
My baby girl is 6 months old today. She is sitting, and babbling and doing all of her 6 month-old things that she didn't know how to do, didn't know she could do, 6 short months ago. I asked Noah last night if I could bake a half-birthday cake for her. He looked at me with his " I think you're weird, but I'll love you anyway" kind of expression, and then we brainstormed about what kind of cake I should make. He wants a Chocolate Applesauce Cake, but thats a huge, huge recipe. that makes two Bundt cakes. (And I don't really like it but we won't tell him.) I think I'll do a lemony-ish thing.
Kathryn and I went out and raked some of the yard yesterday. I inspected one of the bushes at the edge of the lawn, and sure enough, the leaf buds were opening! There are eensy weensy leaves out there, green as could be. The bleeding hearts are coming up, one seems to be needing some doctoring, but the other is almost 3 inches high, and doing just dandy. The chives are almost ready to be used too. I did start some seeds earlier, and have been trying a little harder than I did last year to get them to live. The result of that is that I gotta transplant the things, and come up with somewhere to put them other than the middle of my livingroom floor so they get sunshine. :)
Noah has been on a making iced coffee spree lately. When he got home from work yesterday, he was tired, so while Kathryn napped, we both had a quick 10 minute refresher snooze as well. Then late in the evening, he made a thing of iced coffee, and later couldn't figure out why he couldn't sleep. But his coffee stuff is super good. I think it tastes just as good as Tim Horton's, maybe even a smidge better. About that, we really need a Tim Horton's in Hayward! Anybody looking for a new business venture?
We went to our new place the other day to mark out the garden plot. That didn't happen. All those trees need to get out before I'll be able to see where the yard actually gets sunshine enough for a garden. There are 25 trees that need to go. After those trees get taken down, I'll be able to have a yard that grass can grow in, that is easy to mow, that looks pretty, and all the wonderful things that come with no trees! I'm not a very good Wisconsinite, are I?
Kathryn and I went out and raked some of the yard yesterday. I inspected one of the bushes at the edge of the lawn, and sure enough, the leaf buds were opening! There are eensy weensy leaves out there, green as could be. The bleeding hearts are coming up, one seems to be needing some doctoring, but the other is almost 3 inches high, and doing just dandy. The chives are almost ready to be used too. I did start some seeds earlier, and have been trying a little harder than I did last year to get them to live. The result of that is that I gotta transplant the things, and come up with somewhere to put them other than the middle of my livingroom floor so they get sunshine. :)
Noah has been on a making iced coffee spree lately. When he got home from work yesterday, he was tired, so while Kathryn napped, we both had a quick 10 minute refresher snooze as well. Then late in the evening, he made a thing of iced coffee, and later couldn't figure out why he couldn't sleep. But his coffee stuff is super good. I think it tastes just as good as Tim Horton's, maybe even a smidge better. About that, we really need a Tim Horton's in Hayward! Anybody looking for a new business venture?
We went to our new place the other day to mark out the garden plot. That didn't happen. All those trees need to get out before I'll be able to see where the yard actually gets sunshine enough for a garden. There are 25 trees that need to go. After those trees get taken down, I'll be able to have a yard that grass can grow in, that is easy to mow, that looks pretty, and all the wonderful things that come with no trees! I'm not a very good Wisconsinite, are I?
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