Garden Update

Good news! I planted seeds and against all odds they grew! Nothing ate the seeds, a huge rain didn't come and wash it all away, and not a single deer has touched the plants. My husband built two raised beds and I think next year we may add another. I had to plant some stuff in our flower bed because we had so much.



No, we're not eating solely off our garden or anything, but we have enjoyed lots of lettuce and some peppers, and the squash and tomatoes will soon be ready. The herbs have done really well too.



This has been fun. Granted, if given the choice between gardening or sewing, I'll pick sewing every time. Also, I would rather be baking in an air-conditioned kitchen than swatting at bees in the garden. That said, I'm definitely going to give this a try again next year. I feel like I've really learned a lot.



Oh, those are our chickens. We're hoping to see some eggs soon. That has also been fun. I think my husband has almost succeeded in making me an outdoor girl. Almost. Now he wants to get bees; if that doesn't do it, I don't know what will!

The Family Biscuit Recipe

Here's an easy recipe that my mom and her mom made. When I got married, I copied it into the back of a cookbook I got as a shower gift. These biscuits are great with gravy and a good vehicle for jam. You can also use this as a basic recipe for cheese biscuits or cinnamon-raisin. I'm sure there are lots of great recipes out there for biscuits. However, these are different because, they have three ingredients people. You can't get any easier than that.
Biscuits require a light touch. Too much mixing or kneading and they will be dreadful.
It took me a few tries with these when I was new to cooking to get them right.
Here goes...



2 cups self-rising flour (If you've never used this, it's great for pancakes too.)
1-1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or milk, but buttermilk makes them richer, I think)
1/4 cup vegetable oil



Just mix with a fork until it holds together. Don't overmix. If it looks dry, add a little more buttermilk. If it's too wet, you can knead a little flour into the dough on your counter.
Roll out on floured surface, careful not to roll them too thin. I use a glass to cut them out. Place on nicely oiled pan. I always use a little of the buttermilk left in the measuring cup to rub on the tops.
Bake at 450 degrees in the center of your oven until golden brown. Times will vary based on how thick you cut them.



Notice the little tiny biscuit. My mom always baked the bit of dough that was left after rolling out the biscuits. When I was little we called that the "baby biscuit". I always got it because I was the youngest. Funny how you carry on silly traditions like that.
This recipe can easily be doubled, or tripled. Enjoy!

My So-Called Food Snobbery Explained

I've mentioned before that my husband thinks I'm a food snob. There's been a running joke here lately about his comment to me that it's okay if I make "regular food". So am I a food snob? Here's the deal. My mother was and is an excellent cook. If she didn't get my lunch packed before school, she would bring me something homemade at lunchtime. I was the envy of all my friends. When I got home from school, many times there were pepperoni rolls or cookies waiting. She made most everything from scratch and that made a huge impact on me. When I got married I was disturbed to find out that my husband would really secretly rather have the brightly colored macaroni and cheese from a box than mine. The nerve. We dated four years before we got married and I never knew this.



He has since come around to my way of thinking. Although last year I made a pizza with goat cheese on it and he said it tasted like armpit. Honestly though, I wasn't crazy about the goat cheese either. Mozzarella is just fine, but (here's where the snobbery comes in) fresh mozzarella is just much better. I asked him the other day if he wanted anything at the store and he asked for graham crackers and the "crappy" peanut butter, he so affectionately calls it. "Crappy" means the unnatural kind. Hey, I wouldn't change him a bit. Being different is what keeps things interesting.

So, yeah, I have some smug tendencies toward food. It can get you into trouble. A while back at our Bible study, I nearly caused my friend JenaRae's throat to close up when I brought tea that appeared to be simply tea but it was tea with chai. "Shoot, I forgot you were allergic to cinnamon!" Sorry Jena!



Lest you never want to have me over for dinner, let me just say the following: I do enjoy the perks of a cake mix. Velveeta (if you want to make queso late at night after the kids are in bed) is valuable. I make beans and cornbread; sometimes we have pancakes for dinner. Sometimes it's more important who you're cooking for than what is actually on the table. Okay, it's always more important who you're cooking for. I genuinely appreciate any and every effort in the kitchen, especially when done out of love for your family. So keep it up ladies (or gents), whatever your style of cooking may be! You will not be judged.




Happy Cooking!

Cooking Party for Jack

I can't believe that my oldest son is 5 years old now. He is such a delight, joyful and sweet. He has always loved to help me in the kitchen and while it may not be so convenient, I usually find him a little job to do while I'm cooking. It was for that reason we had a cooking party for him. We kept the guest list small and had the party at my mom's restaurant. Each child got to make their own pizza! I laid out a few yummy ingredients for topping the pizzas and my mom made delicious dough. We rolled out a small round of dough and placed each one on parchment paper where we wrote each child's name. After the kids were done decorating their pizzas the whole thing, parchment paper and all, went into the big commercial ovens to bake. Having the party at a restaurant made the whole thing very easy!



We had lots of mommies to oversee the fun. My friends are great to fill in the gaps of what I may have forgotten; one friend brought out some bottles of hand sanitizer during the pizza making.



While the pizzas were baking, the kids made their own fruit kabobs. Be warned that you're dealing with sharp sticks here. Little brothers and sisters did not join in on this and we had lots of moms to help out!



After everyone finished, the kids decorated cupcakes. For favors, I made some really easy aprons which were worn during the festivities. I just bought a big bag of white hand towels from Sam's, folded over the corners on the top and seamed down to make a slot for a ribbon. The ribbon goes around the child's neck then ties behind their back. Super easy and cheap! A week before the party I asked the moms of the party guests for favorite recipes of their kids. My husband printed up little cookbooks for all the kids to take home. This was a big hit! I found lots of ideas here and here.
It was a good time! My big 5 year old enjoyed it and so did I!

The Birthday Gift and My Last Chance

Just wanted to share what my husband made me for my birthday. It's called a cold frame. You start your seeds in small containers and keep them in here while it's still cold outside.



It did it's job well. All the little plants look great and were planted in their permanent spot in the garden this weekend. Gardening has never been my domestic strong point, but I'm giving it another shot! I was a little surprised that he made this for me, knowing I have a reputation for stinking at gardening. He told me this weekend that if the garden didn't do well, that was it-this was our last chance. Shoot. The pressure's on. I'm not prepared for this to work this time. I haven't done enough research. I don't know which plants need full sun. But, if I see any critters out there eating the plants, I'm going to sit in a tree with a BB gun.

Super Easy Craft for Your Little Reader

I came across this awhile back in an issue of Highlights. I thought it was a great way to show Isabelle's progress in reading. She has a big stack of second grade chapter books to go through and this lets her see how far she's come.



It's a bookworm! I wrote the titles of her finished books on the circles before gluing. She helped cut out the circles and added the legs and smiley. Isn't he cute? We left lots of space for more circles to add as she finishes more books.
Now if we can just find a project to help encourage her progress in math...

Last Day of Winter

Birthdays

This is birthday month in our house. I turned the big 3-0 on Friday and my husband and son also have birthdays this weekend. Once that's over, my little girl will be next in April. Which means lots and lots of cake. I was just beginning to make some progress getting back into shape after baby then the holidays. I cannot resist the cake, especially when it is my mom's. My husband surprised me Friday with a little party. It was a special evening that took place here.



This dear friend gave me all I needed to sew a bag from a great book, Handmade Home. I tried everything possible to link to the book, but had no success. Normally I would blame that on my computer, but it's probably my fault. Just google it, it's great. I had been wanting to make it but had been putting it off. Gina cut everything for me so all I had to do was sew. She's a gem, I tell 'ya. Here's the finished product. Looks great, I think.



Hubby's making me a special gift that is nearly complete. It's pretty impressive. Hopefully some pics will come soon. It's a good opportunity to brag on him a bit.
More birthday fun coming!

Fabric Hearts Garland

I love Valentines Day. The colors, flowers, romance and just the plain fun of it! It is when I make up for all the baking I didn't get done at Christmas. Nothing tastes better than a heart shaped cookie with sprinkles.
We've been doing lots of crafting around here and this is a project I've been thinking about for awhile. We've seen this kind of thing for birthdays and Christmas, this one is just for Valentine's Day. I'll probably hang it in my girls' room after the day has passed.
This is very simple, just sewing wrong sides together and then doing a top-stitch.

A few tips:
I drew a heart on paper and traced it onto the wrong side of fabric. It's very simple to sew if you stitch right on the line. Don't forget to leave a little space to turn it right side out.

When you reach the points in the heart, stop with your needle down and then pivot. It makes for a nice heart shape.

Trim around the heart, leaving about 1/4 inch. Go back and trim a little more in the top inner corner and make a little notch right in the top point and then make little notches around the curves. This keeps the fabric from pulling after you turn it right side out.

Iron it smooth, pressing down your opening. Then do a little top-stitch.


I used one package of extra wide double fold bias tape binding to join all the hearts. I was thinking it might be nice to put a felt layer in between, but I didn't want to do an extra step.

This was pretty quick and easy and just looks adorable across the kitchen window.

Peppermint Marshmallows

A few of you have asked about this recipe, sorry I'm just now getting around to posting this. I had hoped to get it posted around Christmas, but I guess there's plenty of hot cocoa drinking weather left.
Okay, I know someone is out there rolling their eyes at the thought of homemade marshmallows, but these are easy and so much better than store bought. Even my husband, who thinks I am a bit of a food snob, loves these. This recipe is from Betty Crocker. Some people cut these out into shapes with a cookie cutter. I tried that the first time I made these, and it was difficult. Since then I've just cut them into squares. Also I'm sure you could leave out the peppermint if you want. I've never done that, but I think they would be just as good.

You'll need:
powdered sugar
2 1/2 TBS unflavored gelatin I used the box that has packets, I poured about 3-4 into a bowl and then measured it.
1/2 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1 tsp peppermint extract

Generously dust a 11x7 baking dish ( I use glass ) with the powdered sugar. Sprinkle gelatin on the 1/2 cup cold water in large mixing bowl and set aside.
Heat sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup water in 2-quart saucepan over med-low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Heat to boiling and cook without stirring to 250 degrees on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable (firm ball stage). Remove from heat. I don't have a candy thermometer, so I just start testing it after about 5 minutes of boiling. I use a clear glass measuring cup of cold water and take small amounts out and drop into the water. It will separate, but when you can scoop them up and form them into a firm ball that can be squished you're ready to take it off the heat. It usually takes between 10-15 minutes. It sounds complicated, but it's really very simple.
Now, that's the hardest part. Next, slowly pour syrup into your softened gelatin while beating with electric mixer on high speed. Beat until mixture is white and has almost tripled in volume. Now add your peppermint and beat on high 1 minute. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with lots of powdered sugar and pat with hands. Let stand uncovered 8 hours. Last time my husband and I couldn't wait 8 hours and I cut them after 6 and it was fine.
Turn pan upside down onto wax paper and more powdered sugar. Cut into shapes or use a knife dipped in water to cut into squares.
The original recipe says to store in airtight container up to 3 weeks, but they keep much longer than that. And it makes a lot. They're fun to give as gifts in little cellophane bags. I dust more sugar around the cut marshmallows to keep them from sticking. Plus it looks pretty!

Simplicity

These days the simple things mean so much to me. So thankful that God has been working in my heart to bring contentment.
Enjoy your week.

Jonah

Meet Jonah Timothy Paice, born September 15, 2009.
God is great. I'm so thankful that me and this little gift were safe after the delivery. I approached Jonah's arrival with a lot of fear. Fear for myself and the baby during the delivery, and lots of concern about how I was going to manage another little one in the home. Having been unplanned, the thought of another baby so soon took all of the nine months to get used to. While I was excited to have another baby, I still felt unprepared for this unexpected gift. I say all that to say that God's grace is so amazing. I'm so glad that God is in control and gave me this blessing in my life even though I don't deserve it. I didn't plan for this, but God did, and if He didn't, I wouldn't have Jonah.

Fried Pickles

When you find you have an enormous amount of pickles in your fridge, do what I did and slice 'em up and fry them. I recently bought a huge jar of pickles simply because I wanted the huge jar for something else (I love jars). I emptied the pickles into a very large bowl and now we are eating lots of pickles and the fridge is really smelly.
So, I found this recipe and they made a really delicious afternoon snack for the kids and me. I realize that this has zero nutritional value, don't worry, we ate plenty of fruit and good stuff that day too. Also, they had me reaching for the Tums later.

Anyway, these were really tasty. I didn't use nearly the amount of red pepper the recipe calls for, and I was low on paprika. So use caution with all that spice. I was thinking they needed a dipping sauce, but I didn't come up with anything; I'll leave that to your creative devices.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Pie and Perfect Pie Crust

I made this pie for a dear friend after she had a baby and just in case I would have time to blog about it, I took some pictures. Recently she asked for the recipe, so here it is.
I'll start with my pie crust recipe. I realize that you can buy pie crust already made, but I genuinely enjoy making my own. I'm not sure where this recipe originated, but it's been in my family for a long time. I've been making it for probably ten or so years, and it always turns out great. This recipe will yield two or more pies, depending on whether they are double-crust and the size of your pie plate.
Here we go...

Perfect Pie Crust

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 TBS sugar
Mix these together, then cut in:
1 3/4 cup crisco (I usually do a bit less)
Just cut in until it looks crumbly, I use a pastry blender at first then usually finish with my hands.
Next mix in the wet ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup water
2 TBS vinegar (apple cider or white)
Just mix with a fork until blended. I always roll mine out into a circle and fit into my pan, but you can also press it in. Finish your edges however you like it and that's it. Use this with any pie recipe; I make a bunch for Thanksgiving for pumpkin and chocolate pecan. Also, don't try to use butter in place of the crisco. It spreads too much.
If you are making this for a pie that you will not bake, such as the strawberry pie, you will need to pre-bake the crust. Just line it with foil and bake at 450 for 8 minutes, remove foil and bake for about 4 minutes more.

Now onto the strawberry pie...Again, don't know where this originated.
Use the above pie crust or a graham cracker one is good too.
Place in a saucepan:
1 1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 TBS cornstarch
Mix and stir these over medium heat. You want to cook this just until it starts to thicken up. The original recipe said "cook and stir 2 minutes", but it takes longer than that. I just let it cook until it starts to look cloudy and feels thicker with my whisk. You may even turn up the heat a bit.
Remove from heat and stir in:
1 pkg of strawberry jello (4 serving size) I use sugar-free
Stir 2 minutes
Now place about 2 cups sliced strawberries in your crust and pour the mixture over the berries. Chill two hours and of course, serve with whipped cream.

Grace and Expectations

Hello again. I've been wanting to post something for so long, but not having the time or let's face it, energy, it has taken a back seat. I am in my 19th week of pregnancy and feeling so much better. There are days when I wonder how in the world I will be able to manage things in the next few months, yet there are also days when my children are delightful, the cleaning gets done and dinner is on the table. There are going to be good days and bad days.
Lately I have been thinking so much about how much God has blessed me. I commented to my husband the other day when he was talking about God's blessing of our children that I feel so undeserving of what He's given me. Then again, when are we ever deserving of His grace? So many things to be thankful for.
Spring is here and with that comes a long list of projects. This is a list that is composed of projects that will get done and some that I will later decide are too lofty. Every year I want a big garden. However, the seeds that survive and don't get gobbled up by birds and actually grow into plants meet their fate of being gobbled up by deer. One year, I carefully planted an herb garden right outside the front door thinking the plants would be safe from the deer. I never considered something would come from under the ground and eat the seeds, but that is what I found- lots of little tunnels in the dirt, but no seeds. It pains me to not be able to accomplish this domestic goal. Especially since my parents and grandparents were always so successful at gardening.
I guess it's a good reminder that I can't do it all. I seem to constantly need this reminder. Sometimes it's in the form of a failed garden, sometimes a failed recipe, and sometimes a soggy load of laundry that didn't make it into the dryer. Over the past few years, I've been able to do less and less. Amazingly, I'm becoming more and more used to that idea, and letting go of my high expectations has freed me up to enjoy other things. Things like watching my oldest ride her bike without training wheels, my son and his amazing zest for life which he gets honestly from his father, and my baby who over the past couple of days has become quite the talker.
This post has been all over the map, but that is life around here lately. Lots of learning and lots of letting go.
By the way, sorry about the candy corn border. I will deal with that later; I'm letting that go.