The Stockpot

Sweet Baby Set

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

My mom has a dear friend who is getting ready to become a grandmother. She asked if I could knit a sweater set for her new granddaughter and I told her that I'd be happy to. I love knitting for babies and knitting for baby girls is even more fun!

( Sorry about the pictures. It was a cloudy day so the lighting is pretty bad. )

I used Berroco "Vintage" yarn in pale pink which is a blend of wool and acrylic which makes it easier to wash. I used the "5 Hour Baby Sweater" pattern and the matching booties and bonnet.

The sweater was very quick to knit up and quite easy.

I love how the booties turned out. So tiny and cute.

Instead of seaming the back of the bonnet, I picked up the stitches along the side of the back flap.

I also added a crocheted edge to the front of the bonnet.

My mom is going to add either yarn ties on each baby item (made with a single crocheted chain) or find some pretty ribbon to thread through the eyelets.

These baby things are so quick to knit and so adorable. Now to find another baby in need of something made from yarn.....

Evan's Cloudy Day Hoodie

2012-02-08T13:17:00.005-05:00

I'm so happy we have a few days of chilly weather since I just finished a hooded sweater for Evan. With as warm as our winter has been, I worried he might not get a chance to wear it for a while.

I am thrilled with how it turned out. It's warm and soft. Evan's favorite part is that his hands touch each other when he puts his hands in the pocket. He thinks that's pretty funny.

The pattern is Red Heart's "Easy Child's Hoodie" and for the most part it lived up to it's name. The most challenging thing was working with the boucle yarn. It's puffy, nubby texture loves to catch on knitting needles and makes seaming nearly impossible. Luckily I was able to use the black yarn to sew up my seams without it showing.

I'm not really sure what the yarn is. It's wool with an acrylic or nylon thread creating the texture but that's all I know about it. There was no label with the yarn when it was given to me. I was worried I would run out of yarn before I finished the sweater so I bought some Berroco "Vintage" in black to do the hood and accents. I'm so glad it worked out that way. I don't think the sweater would have been nearly as cute in all gray.

I made quite a few adjustments to the pattern. First, I had to use size 6 needles in order to get close to gauge (but I used size 8 with the black yarn since it wasn't as thick as the gray). I also picked up a lot more stitches around the neck opening to make the hood bigger. I knit the hood an inch or two longer also. Otherwise I knit the size 4 pattern (I was still a bit on the large side of gauge) and I think it fits him really well. The sleeves are a bit long (they're folded up about 2") and seeing that, I wish the bottom was long also so it would fit him that much longer. I may eventually add some black ribbing to the bottom of the sweater to get another year or so of wear out of it.

I added the pocket after finishing the sweater. Jon assured me that hoodies must have pockets on the front. After seeing how cute it is, I have to agree. I didn't follow a pattern for the pocket. I just cast on some stitches, made increases when I thought I should and then cast off. I did a single crochet around the edge before sewing it to the sweater.

He wore his hoodie to school today. I was so excited to see him wearing it. I have learned that book bag straps with unnecessary velcro on them should be banned. After seeing it snag his sweater, and my heart nearly stopping, I got my seam ripper. The straps no longer have oddly placed velcro and my his sweater is a little safer.

Little Fair Isle Hat

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

I've long admired Fair Isle knitting but put off trying it because I thought it would be too hard. When I came across the pattern for the Little Fair Isle Hat from Purl Bee, I thought it was about time for me to give it a try.

With my Aunt Linda's help, I learned to hold the contrasting yarn in my left hand instead of dropping the yarn and picking up the next one. I also got lots of practice reading a chart which turned out to be a bit easier then I thought, also.

This cute little hat (knit with a mystery fingering weight wool and angora? blend) turned out to be a very fun project. It was challenging enough to make it interesting but not so challenging that it was frustrating. I looked forward to having time to knit it each day so I could watch the pattern develop on the hat. I didn't quite follow the recommended color pattern (they're supposed to get lighter toward the top of the hat) but I had to make do with the bit of wool that I had.

Charlotte loves this sweet little hat and I'm hoping the colors will work for Evan when she outgrows it.

Tale Of Two Scarves

2012-02-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess technically one is a wrap and one is a scarf.

I finished my first lace weight project a few months ago and am just now getting around to blogging about it. I love blocking (washing and laying out flat to dry) my knitted projects. It's like a magic trick. See how scrunched up the wrap was above?

See how nice it looks after blocking?

This wrap is knit in Cascade Alpaca lace weight yarn in a pale pink and the pattern is based on the Breeze Wrap pattern. I made a few changes to the pattern to include yarn over eyelets. I can't remember what size needle I used but I do remember I used 2 skeins of yarn.

Once I got the feel for the lace weight, it really wasn't to hard to knit with. The wrap turned out light as a feather and so soft. This wrap was a gift for my Aunt Linda's friend, Debbie, who has so generously given me so much yarn over the past few years.

I had a mystery skein of deep red, silk yarn. After 2 years of taking the yarn out of it's bag and admiring it, I finally decided what it needed to be. It needed to be a scarf for my Aunt Linda.

I made a long, thin scarf with the silk and used every bit of that skein. I used the G-Scarf pattern and knit until I was about to run out of yarn.

The pictures do not do this yarn justice. The subtle color changes and the intensity of the rich red is so pretty. I really wish I knew what brand the yarn was so I could find more. I guess it will just remain a mystery for now.

Kids In The Kitchen : Charlotte's Monkey Bread

2012-02-06T06:02:00.000-05:00

We've started a new tradition in our family. Each weekend the kids will pick one meal or snack to make by themselves (nearly). They choose the recipe, add ingredients to the grocery list if needed, and then practice their cooking skills.

I've been wanting to involve them more with cooking but I always seem low on time and patience on weeknights.

This week Charlotte decided to bake Monkey Bread. Monkey Bread

Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Dough
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (we used Whole Wheat and it worked great!)

Directions
1) Make the topping: Blend the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, or shake them together in a small lidded container. Set aside.
2) Place water, vegetable oil, egg, salt, sugar, and yeast in a medium bowl and stir well.
3) Add 1 cup of the flour, stirring to blend.
4) Add the second cup of flour, stirring to make a cohesive dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes; this gives the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
5) Knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — till it's soft and smooth.
6) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or large measuring cup, cover it, and let the dough rise for 30 to 60 minutes, till it's doubled in size.
7) Gently deflate the dough, and place it on a clean, lightly greased work surface; a silicone mat works well here. Divide it into pieces about 1 1/2" in diameter; you'll make 16 to 18 pieces.
8) Lightly grease an 8" round cake pan (we used a 9" pan). Dip each piece in water(we used melted butter), then roll it in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat.
9) Place the pieces in a single layer in the prepared pan. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar over the top.
10) Cover the pan, and let the bread rise for 30 to 60 minutes, till it's visibly puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
11) Uncover the pan, and bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, till it's golden brown and feels set. 12) Remove from the oven, and immediately turn the pan over onto a cooling rack. Lift the pan off the bread, and scrape any leftover topping in the pan onto the bread.
13) Pull the bread apart to serve. Serve warm, or at room temperature.
Yield: 8" round bread, 5 to 7 servings

**In order to have the bread ready for breakfast this morning, Charlotte did steps 1-9 yesterday and then we wrapped the pan with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. I took it out of the fridge early this morning and let it rise a bit before baking it.

Here, Charlotte will show you how to coat the pieces of dough with cinnamon and sugar.

She did an excellent job baking and hardly needed any help from me at all. It's great reading and math practice for her. It also teaches her to appreciate how hard I work daily to make food for them.

This recipe is a great yeast bread recipe for kids to start with. It's a small amount of dough to work with and it's fun for them to dip the pieces in the sugar. I also doesn't hurt that it's delicious! We really enjoyed this with breakfast this morning.

Charlotte says, "I like how the Monkey Bread tastes. We made our own dough... not store bought dough. It was easy but it was hard to stir."

Kids In The Kitchen: Evan's Snack Mix

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

This week Evan decided he'd like to make snack mix. It's the perfect "recipe" for younger children to make since there's cooking involved and they can do it all themselves.

I gathered up all ingredients that I thought he might like in his snack mix. I gave him a large bowl and spoon, measuring cups and the instructions of "Add as much of each thing as you want".

He took his cooking very seriously and he carefully measured out his ingredients.

I thought he'd dump each thing in filling the bowl to the top.... Nope. Just a cup or so of each thing.

I thought the rest of the bag of mini M&M's would surely go straight into the bowl but he only put about 1/2 a cup.

I just stood back and let him have fun. This was his recipe. He stirred it carefully and then I got him a container to keep it in.

Charlotte and Evan had a great time sampling the mix at snack time!

Evan says, (my favorite part was..)"putting the peanuts in. And my favorite part was the M&M's. It tasted good."

Colcannon - Irish Peasant Food At It's Best

2012-02-02T10:18:00.002-05:00

After reading about colcannon on one of my favorite blogs, Squash Blossom Farm, I was excited to try it. Colcannon is an Irish peasant dish of manly potatoes and kale or cabbage.
I tried it recently and it's delicious! It tastes like mashed potatoes but has a bit of kale flavor that makes it more exciting. Jon was nervous to try it at first since it looks like so much kale but he loved it! Topped with a bit of butter (or cheese as Jon likes it) it's simple food at it's best! Here's how I made my version of Colcannon (which might not be exactly traditional).

-Boil a bunch of scrubbed potatoes until almost tender

-Add a huge amount of chopped kale to the cooking potatoes when the potatoes have a few minutes left to cook.

-When the potatoes are tender, drain the potatoes and kale and put them in a large bowl.

-Mash lightly with a potato masher.

-Add chicken broth (or you could use milk), salt, pepper and butter (or butter substitute) to taste and the right consistency.

-Serve hot with additional butter and cheddar cheese if you like.

The recipe for the sourdough english muffins will be coming soon.

A Walk At The Lake

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

This winter has been unusually warm, even for Central North Carolina. We've had many, many days in the mid to upper 60's.
One day, a few weekends ago, it reached 70*. We took advantage of this warm day to take a walk at Salem Lake.

They've partially drained the lake to do repairs on the damn but it was still a great place to walk.

We had to start at "end" since there were runners doing a half marathon at the other end.

We walked about 1 mile to the bridge (which was as far as Evan could handle that day).

He loved seeing the train bridge in the distance. He knew what it was the instant he saw it.

It was a great way to get out and get some exercise. I think we'll have to go again this weekend if the weather holds up.

Coconut Milk Chocolate Pudding (Dairy-Free)

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Not much can beat homemade chocolate pudding. This pudding is so delicious that you'll never miss the dairy. It sets up pretty firm so if that bothers you, use the smaller amount of cornstarch.

Coconut Chocolate Pudding
1 14-ounce can of coconut milk
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
2-4 Tbsp cornstarch (depending on how thick/firm you want the pudding)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3.5 ounces chocolate chips (Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips are non-dairy)
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Shake the can of coconut milk vigorously for a few seconds. In a heavy saucepan bring 1 1/4 cups of the coconut milk, maple syrup, and the salt (just) to a simmer over low heat.While that is heating, in a separate bowl whisk together the remaining coconut milk, cornstarch, and cocoa powder. It should look like a chocolate frosting.
When the coconut milk and sugar mixture has started simmering take about 1/4 cup of it and whisk it little by little into the cornstarch mixture, creating a slurry. Turn down the heat to the very lowest setting. Now drizzle the cornstarch slurry mixture into the simmering pan of coconut milk whisking vigorously all the while. Keep whisking until the pudding comes back up barely to a simmer and thickens up a bit, about a minute.
Remove the saucepan from heat, continue whisking while it is cooling for about a minute. Now whisk in the chocolate and vanilla. Keep stirring until the pudding is smooth. Transfer to a bowl and place in a refrigerator to chill thoroughly. To prevent a skin from forming press plastic up against the surface of the pudding.

Sausage, Cabbage, and Pasta Dinner

2012-01-25T06:00:00.002-05:00

This simple supper is a perfect winter meal. It's hardy, filling, and so flavorful!

Ignore the fact that I used napa cabbage above. DON'T use napa cabbage.. it cooks down too much.

Sausage, Cabbage, and Pasta Dinner

1 pound kielbasa
cabbage (about 1/4-1/2 a head of cabbage, shredded)
1-2 Tbsp.Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
cooked pasta (about 2-3 cups)

In a large skillet (with a lid), brown sliced sausage (plus a Tbsp or two of oil or lard if you need it) until the sausage is well browned and there are lots of brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. The brown bits on the bottom of the pan are important because that will make your dish very flavorful.
Once the sausage is done cooking, add the cabbage and cook with the lid on until the cabbage is just tender, stirring occasionally. When you stir, try to scrap up the brown bits from the pan and mix them into the sausage and cabbage. When the cabbage is tender, stir in the Dijon mustard and check your seasonings. The sausage may be salty enough that you don't need to add much salt, if any. Add pepper to taste.
Add cooked pasta and stir it all together. Check seasonings again. Serves 4-6 people depending on how much cabbage and pasta you use.

Baby Sam

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

We're were so happy to welcome a new addition to Jon's side of the family. Jon's brother, Ken, and his wife, Valarie, gave birth to little Samuel a little over two weeks ago. Last weekend I got to visit with him while I was visiting my Aunt Linda (who lives close to Ken and Valarie). He's so tiny and looks a lot like Ken and Jon's dad.

I held him while he slept. I love all the faces babies make while they sleep.

Tiny baby hands.

I knit up a few new hats after I realized the other hats I had knit him would be too big for a while. I used the same Knit Picks Stroll that I knit his sweater set in for both hats. The hat on the left is the Squash Baby Hat from One Skein Luxury Wonders and the hat on the right is just a basic preemie beanie and I made the rim longer to be able to be folded up.

Valarie with Sam.

Ken with Sam.

I was glad to be able to spend some time with my little nephew. The kids are excited for him to get old enough for them to play with them.

Welcome, Samuel!

Jon's Roller Coaster

2012-01-23T06:00:00.002-05:00

Jon's surprise gift from me this Christmas was a K-Nex Roller Coaster kit. Jon loves roller coasters so I thought he'd like to have one of his own. A few days after Christmas, he spent 8 hours putting it together.

The pieces are teeny, tiny. Surprisingly, the kit was rated for ages 9 and up. Not sure what 9 year old would have been able to put this one together.

Jon loved it though and he snapped these "time lapse" picture to show his progress.

Almost done!

He did it! What a cool coaster! It works perfectly and it's so fun to watch the little car zip around the track. I see on Amazon that there are a ton of these coaster kits. Maybe this could become a yearly tradition.

MLK III

2012-01-22T08:56:00.005-05:00

My sister and I went to our Aunt Linda's house last weekend for the 3rd Annual MLK (Must Love Knitting) Weekend. We couldn't wait! A whole weekend of great food, great company, lots of knitting and movie watching, and lots of catching up with each other. Linda took us to two great knitting shops nearby. Here, Linda was trying to help Katie decide what to knit with a beautiful teal Malabrigo silky blend yarn she fell in love with.

Here's the yarn I bought at The Yarn Club. I bought some Vintage in pink for a baby set I'm knitting for one of my mom's friends who is expecting her first granddaughter. I bought some black Vintage to finish a sweater I'm knitting for Evan. See that crazy yarn with all the different colors? I fell in love with that sock yarn and all it's wonderful colors. That yarn is on it's way to becoming a pair of socks... for me!

After we shopped, we went to visit our Grandma.

Katie and Grandma

Me and Grandma

Though she couldn't quite place who we were, she definitely recognized us as someone she knew and she was very happy to have us visit.

We took her for a walk through the hallways and we stopped so she could play Chopsticks on the piano.

The lobby has a wonderful aviary. I love watching the birds fly around. This little guy is so pretty.

Boy did Linda every clear out her knitting stash! She let Katie and I divide up all the yarn/books/patterns that she no longer wanted! It was like a yarn Christmas! Thanks, Aunt Linda!

There was lots of knitting done that weekend between the shopping and visiting. Katie was trying to be patient with me as I taught them how to do a toe up sock.

Aunt Linda did a great job on her practice sock and has already has a toe done on her real sock! I'm going to be working on writing up my pattern soon.

After her frustrating attempt at a sock toe, Katie worked on a beautiful hat in deep purple tones.

I started my first Fair Isle project (Little Fair Isle Hat). Linda showed me how to hold a second color of yarn with my left hand and switch back and forth using two colors in each row. It was really fun once I got the hang of it.

Katie and I had fun with the camera.

Sunday afternoon, Linda's friend Debbie came over for lunch, knitting, and movies. We had some delicious hamburger soup Debbie made and watched The Help. It was the 4th time I'd seen The Help but I still love it so much! Such an amazing movie.

Debbie also cleaned out her stash to share with Katie and I! We had such fun looking through the beautiful yarns! Thanks, Debbie!

Katie finished her beautiful hat!

I got home and laid out the yarn I brought home. I realized I would need more yarn storage. What a wonderful problem to have! I bought 2 new plastic bins yesterday and total I get to play with my yarn as I reorganize it.

I can't wait for MLK IV!! I love the time with my Aunt and my sister. Such great women to spend a weekend with!

Aunt Edie's Butterfly set

2012-01-22T07:01:00.000-05:00

We drew Aunt Edie's name for our Christmas exchange. She wanted a hat and mitten set.... music to a knitter's ears! I knit her a "Butterfly Hat" so called for the butterfly stitch used throughout the hat. The yarn is Purled Llama's 50% alpaca/50% wool. It's very soft.

I knit a basic, rolled cuff mitten and added a butterfly stitch to the back of each mitten so they'd match the hat.

I love the way the hat (and the mittens) turned out. I'm definitely going to put this pattern in the keeper pile.

Socks For My Boys

2012-01-13T10:16:00.003-05:00

Before I leave for the 3rd Annual Must-Love-Knitting Weekend with my Aunt Linda and Katie, I wanted to show you some socks I've made recently for Evan and Jon. I knit Evan these stretchy socks from a cotton yarn blended with nylon elastic (Luscious Kollage, in ice blue and pewter). Just a simple, no-frills toe-up sock.

Gotta love a boy who appreciates hand-knit socks!

Before Jon left for the Midwest Band Clinic (in Chicago) before Christmas, he asked for new socks to help keep his feet warm. Again, gotta love a man who appreciates hand-knit socks.

I had to hurry to finish these since Jon likes tall socks.

I got them in done just in time to wash them and let them dry before he left. These were also knit toe-up with Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino. I love this yarn. It is easy to knit with and has a nice, subtle texture.

They kept his feet nice and warm.

Kitchen Matters

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

A little kitchen related post about some things happening here in the world of food.

Just before Christmas I baked 10 loaves of pumpkin bread to give to neighbors, the mail man, and other people in our lives that I wanted to wish a Merry Christmas.

I wrapped each loaf in 2 layers of plastic wrap and put a bow on top. Nothing fancy but it worked.

The pumpkin bread got rave reviews so I thought I'd post the recipe.

Easy Pumpkin Bread (from King Arthur Flour)

1 cup vegetable oil
2 2/3 cups granulated sugar (I reduced the sugar to 2 cups and it was still very sweet!)
4 large eggs
2 cups (or one 15-ounce can) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups All Purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg**
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional (I left them out)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, optional (I left them out)
sugar for sprinkling on top, optional

** I used 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg instead.

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans (if you're making the plain version of the bread); two 9" x 5" loaf pans (if you're adding chocolate chips and nuts); or one of each, if you're making one plain loaf, and one loaf with chips and nuts.
2) In a large bowl, beat together the oil, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, and water.
3) Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla, stirring to combine.
4) Mix in the chips and nuts, if you're using them. To make one loaf with chips/nuts, one loaf without, divide the batter in half. Leave one half plain, and add 3/4 cup chips and 1/2 cup nuts to the other half.
5) Spoon the batter into the prepared pans. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with coarse sparkling sugar, if desired.
6) Bake the bread for 60 to 80 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean; and that same tester inserted about 1/2" into the top of the loaf doesn't encounter any totally unbaked batter.
7) Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack. When it's completely cool, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and store it overnight before serving.
Yield: 2 loaves.

My mom, with her incredibly generous heart, treated me to a shopping spree at Bed Bath and Beyond just before Christmas. Talk about an early Christmas present!!!

Ever since college, I've cooked and baked on the cheapest pans possible. I've been using a very cheap set of non-stick cookware that is several years old and wasn't great brand new... much less many years old. Even though I cook and bake everyday, I find it hard to spend the money to buy quality pots and pans. There's always a car needing repaired, a dentist visit, or clothes to be bought.

I can't thank my mom enough for this amazing gift. The 12" stainless steel saute pan is amazing! I can actually heat up the pan enough to brown meat! The food I make now tastes so much better now that I'm able to develop flavors with higher heat. It's even make cooking more fun then it already was! Thanks, Mom!!

And lastly, a friend of ours gave us 2 deers worth (75lbs) of ground venison (I paid for processing) and now I have a freezer full of wonderful, free-range meat. I used to be against hunting but have now I think it's one of the best ways to get meat for your family. By deer hunting, hunters are keeping down the deer over-population, the animals forage and are obviously free-range making for flavorful, healthy meat, and the animals live their natural life until they're killed quickly. The price is also hard to beat. At around $2/lb., it's half the price of grass-fed, local beef and it tastes just as good!

Winter Garden Chicken Soup

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

After the heavy foods of the holidays I've been craving vegetables and lots of them. Luckily with our very mild winter so far, I have plenty of vegetables still in the garden. I harvested carrots, rutabagas, and kohlrabi for this soup along with some celery and potatoes from the store. I cooked them with chicken stock and leftover chicken. I love the colors of the soup. I think the rutabags were my favorite part. They were tender without being mushy and so sweet. I'm going to plant a lot more of them next year.

Fabio Was In My Shower

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Meet Fabio. Katie brought him with her from her farm to give to Mom so her hens would have a protector. Fabio spent the night in our shower since we were going to Mom's the next day. At 4:30 am I was awoken by Fabio's crowing. Only I didn't realize right away what the noise was. My heart was pumping and I sat straight up. Once I was awake enough to remember that there was a rooster in our shower, I was able to relax. Luckily once I turned off the bathroom night light, he went back to sleep until 6:30 when he started again. Mom says he's very happy with his 5 hens and they're happy to have him looking out for them.

Oscar enjoyed having company over Christmas break too. He took turns sleeping on everyone. That's Oscar's happy face. It's also his sleepy face.

Katie brought her 2 dogs, Elmer and Buford. Buford is a playful, curious, sweet guy and Oscar decided he loved him.

As long as Oscar felt safe on someones lap, he would try to lick Buford's nose and ears. Buford wasn't thrilled about this but he was patient with the 6 pound licking machine.

"Please come closer so I can lick your ear."

Oh, Buford, you're so handsome.

Here's Elmer. What a gentle, sweet dog. He loves to snuggle.

While Katie was in town, we drove to Greensboro so she could buy 2 New Zealand doe rabbits with the eventual intent of raising future babies for meat rabbits. She couldn't find this type of rabbit near her house in Maryland.

I now had bunnies in my shower. We took the girls (sisters) out to snuggle with them one evening.

They're very sweet and not too skittish. Their fur is so soft.

It went really well for about 15 minutes and then they started using peeing and pooping all over the towel and couch. Back to the shower they went and into the washing machine went a few throw pillows.

They're so cute that I didn't even mind the extra laundry. I have to say for the record though that I really hate rabbits but these girls were very sweet.

The house seems awfully quiet with only a tiny dog and a lazy cat.

More Christmas Fun!

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

The week after Christmas, my brother, Chris and his girlfriend, Nikki came to visit. The kids always have fun with them.

Chris teaches Charlotte how to play fun games on the computer and on his phone. Since I don't have a cell phone, much less one that plays games, she was amazed and instantly a pro.

Nikki got started on her second knitting project (a cowl) in her favorite color (purple). She's gotten so fast as knitting since she learned in September!

Katie, David, and their two dogs came to visit mid week and we all gathered at Mom and Mark's house for Christmas: Part Deux (in this case, the sequel is just as good as the original!).

Mom and Mark's tree. I might have to try to convince Jon that we should go back to having real trees again in a few years after smelling a real one again.

I finally won over Mom's sweet bird, Finny. He sang the Andy Griffith theme song in my ear and gave me kisses.

Present time!!

Mark got Chris these awesome shirts that play music when you touch the pad on the shirt! One has a guitar on the front and one has a drum set. They are so cool!

This poor little guy ran into the sunroom window. Luckily he was able to fly off later.

While Jon, Chris, and Nikki took naps, Katie and I helped the kids make a gingerbread house.

I'm sorry, Katie, for putting up this picture but I think it's the funniest picture ever! Jon told Katie that not ever picture should look so posed so she decided to look as unposed as possible! It still makes me laugh.

After trying to make one big house with a pitched roof.... and it caving in over and over, we decided a flat roof is good too. A flat roof is also easier to decorate.

Quite a masterpiece, isn't it?

Katie braided Chris's hair. It's fun having a brother with such long hair.

Chris and Nikki had to head home since their band had a New Year's Eve gig. Katie, David, and my crew went to get BBQ in Lexington. We didn't go to our regular favorite, Cooks. We liked this new place okay but it's not nearly as good as Cooks and it was more expensive.

It's hard to capture David with a smile since he instantly scowls when the camera is pointed at him so I have to try to catch semi-happy faces when he's not paying attention to me.

David taught Evan how to thumb wrestle.

We all went to Mom and Mark's for New Year's Eve (though none of us actually stayed up until midnight).

Look at this amazing spread of appetizers that Mom and Mark made! It was delicious!! The prosciutto wrapped asparagus was out of this world!!

I took a picture of Katie taking a picture of the food.

Charlotte climbed up onto the couch with Katie and David to watch TV.

As soon as it got dark, we all headed outside to watch Jon and Mark set off fireworks. We bought fireworks this summer but never ended up using them on the 4th of July. We figured New Year's Eve was a good way to use them.

It was a fun way to end the evening.

It was a wonderful Christmas from start to finish. It's a shame we have to wait another year to do it all again.

Scenes Of Christmas - The Feasts

2011-12-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

A Waffle bar with all the fixin's for brunch along with a sausage, egg, and cheese casserole, and cranberry walnut bread. Waffle toppings included homemade chocolate, blueberry, or strawberry syrup along with maple syrup, sausage gravy, whipped cream, and ice cream (Jon insisted).

After a tummy full of ice cream topped waffles, the kids danced on bubble wrap.

Grandpa got in touch with his inner child and played Cinderella with Charlotte.

Nana played dolls and gave the dolls funny names in true Nana style. Now I remember where I got that trait from. Playing dolls is much more interesting if you act goofy.

Charlotte kept Grammy from levitating.

I had done most of the dinner prep the days before Christmas so at the last minute Mom helped me pull it all together.

Grandpa waited patiently for dinner.

At last! Dinner is ready! Sweet potatoes with gingersnap topping, glazed garden carrots, green beans with ham, dairy and non-dairy gravy......

Cornbread stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, and sourdough rolls (already on the table).

I was very excited to cook a big meal and couldn't have pulled it off without my mom bringing a few dishes and helping me get it all ready.

My plate. I'm suddenly hungry.

Scenes Of Christmas- Packages, Boxes, and Bags

2011-12-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

Santa has a sense of humor

A Hershey Kiss the size of his hand!

Present induced hysteria

Husband with cold remains brave.

Gift from son cheers said husband with cold.

We are all too cool for school.

Charlotte levitates.

Mother - Son bonding.

"First Sewing Machine" shock registers on Charlotte's face. Nana did a great job with this gift. Grandpa later set it up for her and helped her practice. Really wish I had gotten a picture of that.

Evan can hardly contain his excitement over his gifts from Nana and Grandpa. "I wanted you to get that for me!" he exclaimed!

A 40 year old, handmade cradle from Nana and Grandpa rounds out the gifts of the day. Her new dolls from Santa have a cozy place to sleep now.

Scenes Of Christmas- Preparations

2011-12-27T06:51:00.004-05:00

Chocolate Bon Bon Cookies

Kissie Cookies

A quadruple batch of gingerbread cookies makes A LOT of cookies...

Jon's delicious centerpiece

Ready for Santa

Gingerbread/Citrus Trifle (recipe in a few days).

A Better Chicken Pot Pie

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

I have always loved a good chicken pot pie. I've been watching America's Test Kitchen lately on PBS and they had a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie that caught my attention. Instead of struggling to get a non-soggy crust, they put the crust crumbles on top. I had to try it. Well, those guys in the test kitchen are onto something. It was delicious! The pot pie filling was flavorful and the crumbles on top were perfect.... crunchy and had that great pie crust flavor!

This recipe is easy to make ahead by making the filling and crumbles, storing them separately and then putting it all together and baking it right before you want to eat.

Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping (adapted from America's Test Kitchen recipe) (Dairy-free adaptations in blue)

Ingredients
Filling
2 cups of cooked, cubed or shredded chicken

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (homemade is best)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
3 medium carrots , peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 1 cup)
2 small celery ribs , chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon tomato paste

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter (I use Earth Balance)
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups frozen mixed veggies (let sit at room temp. while you prepare everything else)

Crumble Topping
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled (I used Earth Balance and lard)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream (see note) (I used coconut milk)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

FOR THE TOPPING: Combine flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper in large bowl. Sprinkle butter pieces over top of flour. Using fingers, rub butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal (or pulse in a food processor). Add cream and stir until just combined. Crumble mixture into irregularly shaped pieces ranging from 1/2 to ¾ inch each onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until fragrant and starting to brown, 10 to 13 minutes. Set aside.

FOR THE FILLING: Heat oil in Dutch oven or other medium pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, celery, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer cooked vegetables to bowl and mix with chicken; set aside.

Heat butter in empty Dutch oven/pot over medium heat. When foaming subsides, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in reserved chicken broth. Bring to simmer, scraping pan bottom with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, then continue to simmer until sauce fully thickens, about 1 minute. Stir in soy sauce and tomato paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Stir chicken-vegetable mixture and veggies into sauce. Pour mixture into 13 by 9-inch baking dish or casserole dish of similar size. Scatter crumble topping evenly over filling. Bake on rimmed baking sheet until filling is bubbling and topping is well browned, 12 to 15 minutes.

A Paper Winter Wonderland

2011-12-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

We can't count on a white Christmas in North Carolina so I had to employ other non-frozen methods to create our own winter wonderland. I cut lots and lots of paper snowflakes....

and strung them up around the playroom.

I don't think I'm going to be ready to take them down after Christmas.

If you want to cut your own snowflakes (I found it very relaxing) here is the youtube video that taught me how to fold the paper (the key to a great snowflake).

Cranberry Jam

2011-12-17T16:06:00.004-05:00

I love cranberries. This time of year I tend to buy a bag or two every time I'm at the grocery store so I can stock my freezer. I recently made a batch of cranberry jam and between Jon, Evan and I, we went through 3 cups of cranberry jam in a week and a half! It's good... really, really good. It has the classic tart cranberry flavor but the apples and sugar help to take away the intense bite. It's quick to make and a perfect compliment to toast, biscuits, turkey sandwiches, etc. The recipe says it will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks... if you don't eat it all by then!

Cranberry Jam (slightly adapted from this Whole Foods recipe)
Makes 3 cups

Ingredients
1 (16-ounce) bag fresh cranberries (Most bags now only contain 12 oz so get 2 bags and use a third of the second bag)
2 apples (Fuji, Gala and/or Golden Delicious), peeled, cored and grated
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
pinch of salt

Method
Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring frequently, until cranberries have softened and mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Take off heat and use an immersion blender to make the jam a bit more smooth if you like your jam more smooth. Let cool completely. Transfer to clean jar(s).Store in refrigerator

This Year's Christmas Card Picture

2011-12-12T09:30:00.002-05:00

Every year since Evan was born I've taken a picture of the kids in front of the Christmas tree for Christmas cards. Here is this year's picture. I can't believe how grown up Charlotte looks.
Here is last year's picture and all the other previous pictures. I love seeing how they have grown from year to year.

My Sister's Soap Giveaway!

2011-12-08T14:24:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share a giveaway hosted by my sister, Katie. Her wonderful etsy shop, Purl And June, now has handmade goat milk soap in addition to many wonderful felted items like purses, coffee cup cozies, and ornaments! Check out her great shop and head to her blog, Katiegirl, to enter to win a bar of soap!

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix and Mug Sets

2011-12-07T06:57:00.001-05:00

Over the years, I've made many, many, many, many homemade gifts to give teachers, mail men, bus drivers, and other special people that help make our lives better.

This year the kids joined in the fun of making hot cocoa mix to give as stocking stuffers for our extended family and as teachers gifts. We first went to the dollar store and bought 17 mugs (though I also noticed nice holiday mugs at Walmart this weekend for a dollar each also). Then we bought all of the ingredients to make:

Monster Hot Chocolate Mix

2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup milk chocolate
1 cup Double Dutch Dark cocoa
pinch of salt , optional

Directions
1) In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sugar and vanilla and pulse for 5 to 6 seconds until well combined.
2) Coarsely chop the semi-sweet and milk chocolates and add them to the bowl. Pulse in 10 second intervals until until finely ground and combined with the vanilla sugar.
3) Add the dry cocoa and salt, pulsing again until everything is well mixed. The mix will be slightly coarse, like brown sugar. Pour into a large glass or plastic jar for storing.
4) For each cup of hot chocolate, combine 1/4 cup of mix with 8 ounces of hot milk. Stir until all of the chocolate is melted. Top with whipped cream, marshmallows or your favorite topping. Makes 24 8-ounce servings. Store airtight for 6 to 9 months.

I used my canning funnel to put 1 cup of cocoa mix into a cellophane bag. Filling it while the bag was in the mug was helpful. I think we made 4 batches of mix since we only got about 5 cups of mix from each batch. The leftovers went into mason jars in our pantry.

I printed up little tags with directions and ingredients and tied them on with yarn. I'm estimating that each mug filled with mix cost about $2 to make.

I hope each person will enjoy their gift as much as we enjoyed making it for them.

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday.

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

2011-12-06T11:43:00.005-05:00

This past weekend Jon set up the tree and the kids helped me decorate it.

They get to hang up the non-breakable ornaments on the bottom half of the tree. I'm in charge of the top.

On Saturday, my mom went with us to the Greensboro Christmas parade. We're only 30 minutes from Greensboro but this was our first time at this parade. I was so excited that Jon could go with us. We've never seen a parade with Jon since he's usually in the parade with his marching band.

The buildings in Greensboro are beautiful. We sat across the street from this one. It was a great back drop for the parade.

We didn't have a front row seat because we got there just a few minutes before it started but at least we didn't have to wait around for a long time for it to start.

This amazing stage coach was beautiful pulled by the 4 gorgeous horses.

The Greensboro parade has big balloons just like Macy's!!!! (Just ignore the fact that they're much smaller then the Macy's balloons. These have to fit under the stop lights)

Here comes Raggedy Ann!

They had to lay her down to get her under the stop light.

The Hungry Caterpillar balloon was cute and then the handlers ran fast in a circle to make the caterpillar spin.

Evan loved these guys in the little cars!

These dancers from A & T were beautiful!

The A & T marching band was great! Such a big sound!

This doggie was part of the local minor league team crew.

If you look closely you'll see a little dog riding just in front of this lady. What do you think, Mark? Would Mia like to learn to ride?

The Grinch was so tall but he seemed to be losing some air. He was a bit more wrinkly then usual.

We saw lots of great high school marching bands but this group is a middle school marching band. They were great!

The kids loved the Santa balloon! The real Santa rode on a float at the very end but he went by too quickly for me to get a picture.

It was a great day for a parade. We'll definitely go back again next year!

A Thanksmas In PA

2011-12-05T06:54:00.012-05:00

Whoops. Things have been so busy around here that I haven't blogged about our Thanksgiving yet.
We left the day before Thanksgiving to go to Jon's parents house in Western Pennsylvania. I, of course, took many knitting projects along to keep me busy during the 8-9 hour drive. I realized that I hadn't wound one the skeins of yarn into a ball yet. So, I improvised using my feet as a swift.

Jon kept himself entertained during his time off in the passengers seat by taking pictures of us. I love his self portrait.

I actually look like I'm having fun driving on the interstate, don't I?

Charlotte and Evan love their portable DVD player and I have to say that I'm quite a fan too. They color while they watch movies and the whole trip is made much more enjoyable for all.

We watched the Macy's parade and the kids were SO excited to see Santa at the end.

I baked rolls for the dinner (along with sausage/cornbread stuffing).

Charlotte helped set the table.

Suzanne and Millie carved the turkey.

Jon took the kids outside to play. Evan made the chimes sing.

What's wrong with the wise men? I didn't know there was a 4th one with a pink coat.

Jon taught Evan how to tackle.

...and how to pass.

I love the dishes that Millie uses for special occasions. They were her mothers (Jon's grandmother).

A blurry picture of me helping.

Millie and Aunt Betty wait for the last of the food to be ready. Look at all of those serving bowls ready to be filled!

Lots of family ready to eat.

Jon asked Charlotte how she felt about pumpkin pie. Self explanatory, I think.

Evan dropped most of his first piece on the floor.... but with eyes like that, how can you be mad?

After dinner, Grandpa turned on the Christmas lights.

So pretty!

Eric (Jon's second cousin) played guitar for us while we sat around talking. Jon's cousin and his family live in Vermont so we really enjoyed the chance to visit with them.

Aunt Betty snuggles with Missy Gray.

Extreme Evan closeup.

The next morning it was time for Christmas! Well, early Christmas at least.

Evan was very excited about the big pile of gifts behind him.

The kids played Santa and passed out one gift at a time.

We bought Grammy an oil lamp while we were in Pigeon Forge this summer and kept it a secret all this time.

The next night we went out to dinner before heading to see the Christmas lights and village an hour away. The sunset was so beautiful. Jon made his dad stand there with him so I could get a picture.

The sky was so beautiful.

After about 2 hours of inching our way through the long line of cars waiting to see the lights, we finally got to the lights. Jon and I had a great time entertaining Suzanne (we're quite the comedy team.. hehe) while Grammy and Grandpa rode in the van with the kids.

The village was cute but the kids were ready to fall asleep so we didn't stay long.

Evan LOVED the train room!

It was a great visit and a great Thanksgiving/Christmas = Thanksmas!

My Fruit Fly Trap That Works!

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

From time to time we get invaded by fruit flies. I could never find a homemade solution online that actually worked. Here's what I found does work to trap those pesky buggers.

Take a quart or gallon sized zipper bag and put fruit peels, cores, scraps, etc in the bag. Keep the top of the bag open only about an inch or so. Let it sit overnight. In the morning, before turning on many lights and making a lot of noise, very quickly close the bag and trap the flies before they have a chance to escape. Toss the bag in the trash.

You can see from the picture above that this trap was very successful. I caught almost all of our fruit flies in one night!

Lace Baby Cap

2011-11-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I started caring for a 7 week old little girl during the day. It's been 2 years since I had a daycare baby so I was nervous the night before. Luckily I quickly got back into the swing of baby care while tending to a toddler and preschoolers. I also have the added bonus of having another baby to knit for. I love knitting for babies. I really wish I had been an avid knitter when Charlotte and Evan were tiny babies.

For this sweet girl, I knitted a Scalloped Lace Baby Cap. I was worried that the lace pattern would be hard to remember but it was surprisingly easy. The yarn is Deerfield Valley Yarns 80% Baby Alpaca 20%Silk. The color is Ballet Slipper.

Ballet Slipper is a great name for this delicate pink color. It's a super soft yarn perfect for a baby's head.

3 Hats for 3 Girls

2011-11-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We're in Pennsylvania this year with Jon's family for the holiday. I'll blog about our Turkey Day once we're home. Until then, here are some knits I'd like to show you.

I had 2 lovely skeins of Lorna's Lace worsted weight yarn in a color called Child's Play. Perfect name isn't it? It's a super soft washable wool and the colors are so lively. I made 3 little hats to give to the 3 little girls I care for during the day. I'm sorry I don't have patterns to go with each hat. I've started doing to knitting patterns what I do with recipes... taking a little of this and a little of that and mashing it all together to get what I want. Makes for fun knitting but it's hard to replicate if it turns out great. I really need to start writing stuff down, don't I?

The hat above is an simple little ski cap perfect for the funny, feisty 2 year old.

I made a cute little beanie with ear flaps for the 1 year old that I care for part time.

And finally I made a sweet little beret with a touch of attitude for the 4 year old with a similar personality.

Wordless Wednesday - Tea Party Time

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

Nana and Charlotte

2011-11-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Apparently blond hair and blue eyes skips a generation.

Last Sunday, Nana took Charlotte to a local theatre to see Annie. Charlotte was so excited. She had such a great time and she's still singing "Tomorrow". She felt so grown up getting dressed up and going to the theatre. Nana even treated her to dinner and dessert out on the town. What a special night for my girl. Thanks Nana!

Thanksgiving Muffins

2011-11-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

These muffins take all the wonderful spice and sweetness of Thanksgiving and put it all in one muffin. Pumpkin, cinnamon, cranberries, walnuts.... I'm sold! They were wonderful and moist. They stayed moist for several days at room temperature and they freeze very well too.

Thanksgiving Muffins (inspired by King Arthur.com)

1 cup pumpkin purée
2 large eggs
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, light or dark
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 cup milk (I used coconut milk)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 400*. Line your muffin pan with liners or spray with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl stir together the dry ingredients. In a small bowl stir together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir JUST until the batter comes together.

Evenly distribute the batter between the 12 muffin cups. Bake 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

Blue Ladder Lace Socks

2011-11-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

When we went to Pigeon Forge this summer, my sister and I went to a yarn shop. I saw this brilliant blue sock yarn in a basket and knew it had to be mine. Blue is my favorite color and this was about as saturated as blue can get. The yarn is by Punta Yarns. It's their Merisock Handpainted Color HP62.

I didn't want to do a plain sock with such beautiful yarn. I decided on a simple rib lace pattern. I started a plain toe up sock and then when I got about 1 1/2" past the heel, I started the rib pattern and then finished with a bit of 2x2 ribbing.

Stockinette Ladder Lace pattern:
Row 1 *ssk, yo, yo, k2tog*

Row 2 *k, p, k, k*

I love this yarn and these socks!

Adventures In Sourdough

2011-11-20T06:00:00.003-05:00

When I ordered my donut pans from King Arthur for my birthday, I also ordered some fresh sourdough starter. I've been wanting to try sourdough baking for a while and I was finally ready to get started. I read the instructions carefully and started the process of waking up my shipped starter.

I found this great, non-air tight glass jar at Walmart for only $4.95. It makes a great starter container. Look how nice and bubbly my starter was when it was fed and ready to use.

The first thing I baked was a Whole Wheat Sandwich bread that I adapted from a King Arthur recipe. It's flexible since you can use fed or unfed starter. It has a very mild sourness from the sourdough and it made great toast.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread (adapted from this recipe)

2/3 cup sourdough starter, fed or unfed (see tip at right)
2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup instant potato flakes
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast

1) Combine all of the ingredients — in a bowl, the bowl of an electric mixer, or the pan of your bread machine — and mix and knead to form a smooth dough. The dough may start out shaggy, then become stickier as you knead; if you use a stand mixer, by the end of a 7-minute knead it'll be sticking heavily to the sides of the bowl. That's OK; if you can scrape it off the sides of the bowl and it feels firm enough to hold its shape, and doesn't stick to your floured or oiled hands, it's fine.

2) Cover the dough, and allow it to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours; it'll become puffy, though it may not double in bulk.

3) Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" bread pan. Gently deflate the risen dough, and shape it into a log. Place it in the pan, cover it lightly, and allow it to rise until it crests at least 1" over the rim of the pan, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The bread doesn't have much oven-spring (i.e., it won't rise much once it's in the oven), so be sure to let it rise fully before baking. A loaf risen 1" over the rim of the pan will be denser and more close-grained; letting it rise higher will give you a "spongier," lighter bread. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

4) Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 minutes if it's as brown as you like it. When it's done, the bread will be golden brown, and will register 190°F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center.

5) Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack, to cool completely.
Yield: 1 loaf, 16 slices.

Fall Sunset From Our Back Window

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Banana Pudding

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

The kids and I have recently discovered America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country. They're great cooking shows on PBS. They work hard in their test kitchens perfecting recipes and teach you how to make the best version of a dish. The kids and I watch together at night before they go to bed.

The other night we watched the banana pudding episode of Cook's Country. I was interested in the recipe because they added roasted, pureed bananas to the custard to give it a more intense banana flavor. They also solved the problem of slimy, brown bananas in the pudding by tossing slightly under ripe bananas with lemon juice before layering them. We all decided we needed to make it the next day. Charlotte helped me make the custard. They all thought it was cool how the banana skins turned black while they roasted. Then both kids helped me layer in the pudding with the vanilla wafers and bananas.

The hard part was waiting overnight while the pudding set and the cookies got soft. The kids were thrilled when I decided we should all have banana pudding for breakfast the next morning. I figured it would be torture to wait all day to try it.

The verdict? Delicious. Of course my dairy-free modifications may have changed it a bit, I loved the banana flavor in the custard. The lemon juice did keep the bananas from browning and gave a light lemon flavor that I liked. I should have use regular vanilla wafers instead of the organic ones I picked up at Whole Foods while I was there. The organic ones broke down and got kinda grainy instead of cakey. Otherwise, this pudding was delicious!

Cook's Country Banana Pudding (Dairy-free modifications in blue)

Pudding

7 large bananas, slightly underripe
1 1/2 cups sugar
8 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons cornstarch
6 cups half-and-half (I used canned coconut milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (I skipped this)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (12-ounce) box vanilla wafers

WHIPPED TOPPING (I used redi whip for the kids and Jon, I just did without the topping)
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. ROAST BANANAS Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Place 3 unpeeled bananas on baking sheet and bake until skins are completely black, about 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.
2. MAKE PUDDING Meanwhile, whisk 1⁄2 cup sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch in medium bowl until smooth. Bring half-and-half, remaining sugar, and salt to simmer over medium heat in large saucepan. Whisk 1⁄2 cup simmering half- and-half mixture into egg yolk mixture. Slowly whisk tempered yolk mixture into saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and large bubbles appear at surface, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
3. PROCESS PUDDING Transfer pudding to food processor. Add warm peeled roasted bananas and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and process until smooth. Scrape into large bowl and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding. Refrigerate until slightly cool, about 45 minutes.
4. ASSEMBLE AND CHILL Cut remaining bananas into 1⁄4-inch slices and toss in bowl with remaining lemon juice. Spoon one-quarter of pudding into 3-quart trifle dish and top with layer of cookies, layer of sliced bananas, and another layer of cookies. Repeat twice, ending with pudding. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until wafers have softened, at least 8 hours or up to 2 days.
5. TOP AND SERVE With electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. (Whipped cream can be refrigerated for 4 hours.) Top banana pudding with whipped cream. Serve.

Chore Charts = Easier Mornings and Evenings

2011-11-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

The kids have a few things they're responsible for doing each morning and each evening. Evan's are all still things he does to get himself ready in the morning and ready for bed at night. Charlotte's list includes those things plus animal care.
Our mornings used to be much more stressful for me because I had to constantly remind them of what they should be doing and checking to be sure they had done what I had just asked them to do. My mornings are already busy enough getting Charlotte's lunch packed and making breakfast for up to 5 kids (daycare included).
I made quick chore charts using my birthday card program and covered them in clear contact paper. I taped the to the fridge with a washable marker. Now the kids can check off the box after they've done their chore. I wish I had thought of this long before now. They think it's fun to check of their list and I don't have to nag them to get everything done. Win - Win

A Happy Breakfast

2011-11-15T06:00:00.003-05:00

Homemade Whole Wheat Baked Donuts

2011-11-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

For my birthday, my mom helped buy a set of donut pans from King Arthur flour that I've been wanting for a long time. Want to hear something sad? I haven't eaten a donut in over 2 years. Store bought donuts have lots of dairy ingredients and since I'm allergic, I have to stay away. Well, now I can have my cake donut and eat it too!!!

Sure, these aren't fried so technically they're not real donuts but I don't want the mess and hassle of frying. These tender cake donuts tasted just like real cake donuts and they were very fast to make. The donut pans worked like a charm. I used white whole wheat flour with these donuts and you couldn't even tell that they were whole wheat. They were tender and delicate and whole grain too!

The kids helped me top the mini and regular sized donuts with different toppings so we could decide which ones we liked best. I think we all decided that we liked them all! Below I have the recipe and then the toppings that we used.

Whole Wheat Baked Cake Donuts

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cups unrefined sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 large egg

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup oil (I used light olive oil)

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly grease donut pans with cooking spray.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix only until combined. Don't over mix or it will make the donuts tough.

Fill donut pans halfway with batter. Bake for 6-10 minutes depending on size of donut. Bake only until they're set and a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer onto a cooling rack. Makes about 2 dozen mini donuts or 1 dozen regular donuts.

Toppings:

Cinnamon sugar - Brush the donuts with melted butter substitute and roll in cinnamon sugar.

Powdered sugar - Brush the donuts with melted butter substitute and roll in powdered sugar.

Icing and sprinkles - Mix together a quick frosting of powdered sugar, pinch of salt, a bit of vanilla, and just enough coconut milk to make a thick frosting. Spread it on cooled donuts and top with sprinkles.

Fall Harvest

2011-11-13T14:26:00.004-05:00

I've been harvesting lettuce, carrots, and a few snow peas the past few weeks. I harvested the last of the lettuce this weekend since it was going to get down to 32* at night and I didn't want to lose any of it. I still have lots and lots of carrots to harvest but I think I'll pull them up a bit at a time since we still have time before our ground freezes... if it does at all.

I also harvested the first rutabagas. I've never eaten them before but I've been excited to try them.

I peeled them, chopped them up, tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them at 400* for about 30 minutes. They were great! They were sweet at first with a cabbage-like finish. Jon loved them too. The kids... not so much.

This post is linked up with Simple Lives Thursday.

A Great Way To Spend A Birthday

2011-11-03T17:05:00.000-04:00

Saturday was my 33rd birthday. I love my birthday. I love the time of year, the football games, the crisp air, presents, and CAKE!!

As a teenager my birthday usually fell on a band practice or competition date. My mom started a tradition of surprising me with cupcakes... for me and the other 60 some band kids! I remember asking her who the cupcakes were for one year and she said they were for my brother's fall festival at school. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

This picture was taken as I was being surprised with cupcakes for my 17th birthday (I'm in the white shirt). Mom's on the far right and all my band friends were singing to me. Did I mention that I love my birthday?

So, this year I looked at the calendar and noticed that Jon had not one but two band competitions on my birthday. I called my mom and asked her if she and Grandpa were up to keeping the kids for me that day so I could go with Jon and the band. I knew it would be too long of a day for the kids. She not only kept them on Saturday but offered to keep them all weekend! The kids were thrilled and so was I. A whole weekend to spend with Jon and the band.

Guess what I decided to bake....

Cupcakes for the band!!!

I baked 4 batches of cupcakes. King Arthur's Tender White Cake is great, by the way. Using cake flour is important.

Friday night I went with Jon and the few band members who showed up to the optional football game. Well, optional for the band members. The temperatures hovered in the low 40's and there was a cold wind and mist most of the evening. Let me tell you, I picked the wrong football game to go to.

After going to bed in a flannel night gown, 3 pairs of socks, and clutching a hot water bottle, the next morning I was ready to go with Jon to the competitions.

The kids loved the cupcakes! I think I made quite a few friends with that move, right there.

Jon found this "Assistant Director" coat in the uniform room. He said it's mine now. It's huge but it was so warm. The sun was out but the wind was constant and cold.

I love that man. I loved spending the day with him.

We had a lot of down time at the first competition so while we waited in the stands for the competition to start, some of the band and dance kids started a dance line. Is that what it's called? I'm so uncool and definitely not a dancer so I don't know these things. Those girls were so cute and such good dancers. Some of the boys jumped in there for a while. Jon's got the best band kids. They're sweet, funny, and respectful. Teenagers are nothing to be afraid of. This gives me hope for parenting our two in about 6 years.

Time to go warm up.

This is how the drum line gets ready for the competition. I think there was some prayer, some grunting, and some dancing involved.

Can you see the band in the tuba? Well, not in the tuba.

Jon pumping them up before they take the field. Before every performance, Jon goes to each band member, shakes their hand and thanks them for working hard and wishes them luck. He said he learned that from former Steelers coach, Bill Cowher.

Move out of the way, judge! I'm trying to take a picture of the band. See the dancer being lifted up in the back? Lots of talented kids.

Such a great performance! And guess what. They won first place! They also won best music and general effect. That is a huge deal since Jon wrote the music and the drill for the show.

The second competition was at Wake Forest at the new BB&T Field. It was beautiful and a lot bigger stadium then the kids were used to. They were a bit nervous but luckily they got to warm up for a while on the field.

How exciting to see your school and name on the big screen (even if Jon's name was misspelled).

Hopefully you'll be able to click on the picture to enlarge it. They face the back of the field in their opening set.

This young man had just finished his solo written specifically for him by Jon. He's a very talented young man who did a fantastic job with the solo.

It was such an exciting performance. You could feel the energy from the kids in their performance. They did a great job and earned a very respectable 80 points!

It was a great day!

Sausage Broccoli Pasta- 3 Ingredient Dinner!

2011-11-02T06:00:00.003-04:00

Last week I threw together a quick dinner and it turned out so delicious that I thought I'd share it. I had dinner on the table in about 20 minutes.

Ready for the long, complicated ingredient list and difficult instructions?

- 1 lb. breakfast sausage (local, pastured pork preferred since you're using the pork fat with this meal... the fat from animals raised on pasture and without antibiotics is much healthier for you)

- broccoli, trimmed into bite size pieces

- a box of pasta

That's it. I sauteed the crumbled breakfast sausage until it was cooked through. While that was cooking, I got a big pot of water boiling. I first cooked the broccoli for about 4 minutes, scooped them out into a bowl, and then cooked the pasta until tender. Once the pasta is done, drain it well and put it back into the big pot. Add the broccoli and the sausage (including the drippings) to the big pot and give it a good stir. Taste for seasonings. I find that our sausage is salty enough that I don't have to add extra salt. If your sausage is very lean, you can always add a bit of olive oil to coat the pasta.

The kids are huge fans of this meal. We've had it twice in the past 2 weeks and I never have the dreaded "how many bites do I have to take" when I serve this meal. I tell ya, that makes a meal so much more enjoyable.

This recipe has been linked up with Simple Lives Thursday and Fresh Bites Friday.

Happy Halloween (A Day Late)

2011-11-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

~~Charlotte~~ Kitty Cat and ~~Evan~~ Clifford had a great time Trick or Treating last night with our friends.

Evan held onto his friend's hand because she was afraid of the spooky music coming from this house. Those two are so cute together.

It's so nice that they're old enough that I can stand at the curb and watch them have fun going up to the door. It won't be too many more years that they'll need/want me to go with them anymore.

Hope you all had a fun, candy-filled night!

Overnight Oven Fruit Leather

2011-10-26T06:00:00.005-04:00

Have you ever read the ingredients in Fruit Roll-Ups? The original ones contain over 15 ingredients including hydrogenated oils and corn syrup. Their newest "Simply Fruit" at least has mostly fruit but they also have 14 ingredients including preservatives and other additives. Guess how many ingredients are in homemade fruit leather? One. Yep, just fruit. Now that's REALLY simply fruit.

Making fruit leather couldn't be easier. All you need is fruit puree and a way to dry it. I don't have a dehydrator so I use my oven. The types of fruit leather you can make are limitless. I like using applesauce as a base and adding other fruit to it. I added pureed strawberries to this batch of applesauce. Peach and apple is another favorite around here. I use some of the fruit that I froze this summer to make our leather.

After my pureed fruit is ready, I line my rimmed sheet pans with non-stick foil. Then I pour in the fruit puree until it's about 1/2" deep. The deeper the layer of fruit, the thicker the leather will be but the longer it will take to dry.

Set your oven on it's lowest setting (170* for me) and put the pan in the oven overnight with a wooden spoon in the door of the oven to keep it open about 1/2-1". You'll know the leather is done when the top of the leather is shiny and your finger doesn't leave a dent when you touch it.
I usually do two pans at a time.

After the leather is cool, I cut it using kitchen sheers while it's still on the foil since it's not as sticky that way.

Then I peel the foil off each piece and put the leather in a baggie.

I think put each snack bag in a large bag marked with the flavor. It's a lot of packaging but it makes it simple to pack lunches that way.

This is one of my favorite ways to preserve fruit since it's delicious and it only takes a few minutes if you don't count waiting overnight.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday and Sunday School.

Band And Birthday Cake

2011-10-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago, Jon's parents and sister came down to help celebrate Charlotte's birthday and to spend time with the kids while I helped Jon host his first band competition at the high school. Much coloring was done that weekend.

Now that Jon's high school (well, the high school where he is the band director) is finished with renovations, he was finally able to host a marching band competition. He spent countless hours planning and organizing. Many parents stepped up and did a great job helping it to run smoothly.

I was in charge of hospitality. The band directors and staff as well as the judges are treated dinner and goodies instead of hot dogs from the concession stand.

I had a great time planning and calling local businesses for donations. We got the local Mexican restaurant to cater which saved me a lot of work.

It was quite a spread and everyone seemed to have a good time. I'm already starting to think of ideas for next year.

The Bobcats performed but weren't judged since they were the host band. Jon wrote the music and the drill this year. I'm so proud of him. I've got one talented husband.

This is his serious "I'm watching my band compete" face.

The next morning we got ready to celebrate Charlotte's 7th birthday. I handed Jon crepe paper and balloons and told him to decorate.

I think I should have been a bit more specific.

My mom did an amazing job making and decorating Charlotte's birthday cake!!!

Charlotte's new favorite books are the Junie B. Jones series so Mom made a Junie B. Jones cake. She is one talented woman!

I gave Charlotte a new hat that I knit her from thick/thin yarn.

We also gave her a new reading lamp. She loves reading. Well, love is putting it lightly. She's obsessed with reading! (which we're thrilled about!) Though her bedtime is pretty early, she gets to stay up later reading in bed until the timer turns off her lamp almost an hour later. My mom did that with us as children and we all grew up loving to read. I still read each night before going to sleep.

She had such a good day.

It was a busy, exhausting, and wonderful weekend.

Picture Catch Up

2011-10-22T16:25:00.005-04:00

Play dough creations

Fall color

Crepe Myrtle seed pods

Graham crackers

Cute, old Chihuahua

First fall garden harvest

Chicken Pot Pie

Cold Chihuahua

Just before dark.....

I Have The Best Siblings!

2011-10-21T06:40:00.003-04:00

My sister and brother went to great lengths this week to get a book signed for me for my upcoming birthday. You can read about it, here, on my sister's blog.
I'm a huge Yarn Harlot/Stephanie Pearl-McPhee fan and her new book was just released. Katie is also a big fan so when she heard that Stephanie was going to be visiting Baltimore on her book tour, Katie said she'd go for the two of us. She even printed out a picture of me to take along with her so it would almost be like I was there. Halfway through Katie's almost 2 hour ride to Baltimore, her car started to overheat and she had to turn back. She was so disappointed. Chris, my brother, saved the day by clearing his schedule and going to the book signing for us!! He even got featured on the Yarn Harlot's blog post about the Baltimore signing! Chris, you're awesome!!!
I guarantee that book will be treasured!

Wordless Wednesday - Knitting Buddies Edition

2011-10-19T11:47:00.002-04:00

How I Learned To Let Go Of Fear

2011-10-15T16:57:00.010-04:00

When my children were babies and toddlers, being a mom consumed all that I was. I wasn't Becky... I was Mom. Only Mom. My hobbies included eating, making baby food, eating, washing diapers, eating, and bouncing babies on my hip. It wasn't until I saw a counselor for my emotional eating that she asked what my hobbies were and when the last time I had time without the children. I had no answer for her. I had lost part of myself. Now that my children weren't infants anymore, I needed to get out of the Helicopter Parent mindset (hovering over the children constantly, over-parenting) and start letting my children and me gain a bit of independence. And so began my journey of letting go of my fear and letting our children enjoy the same freedoms Jon and I enjoyed as kids.

It isn't easy to let go sometimes. I had the same fears a lot of parents have. What if someone takes them? What if they fall and hurt themselves? I even had fears about my own safety. Should I really walk around our neighborhood alone? I started researching a lot of what the media was leading us all to believe.

The first myth I researched was the myth that "the times we live in now are more dangerous". Actually, no, it's not more dangerous now. Crime rates are at their lowest since 1970's BUT perception of crime is at it's highest rate ever. 70% of people say that they think there's more crime now then there was a year ago. Did you know you're actually more likely to die from suicide than homicide. Suicide is ranked 11th as the leading cause of death in the United States while homicide is tied with Parkinson's disease is tied for 14th. So I suppose we should be more worried about being alone then with a stranger.

The more serious the crime, the less frequently it happens BUT the more likely it is to be reported by the media. Here is a great article about the perception of crime versus reality. Turning the news off was a very important step in letting go of fear. When we stopped watching the nightly news, we stopped surrounding ourselves with stories of tragedy and terror. We still learn about the important world events but we're not subjecting ourselves to nightly horror stories (well, except for the scary movies Jon likes to watch... crazy guy!).

The next myth I researched was the myth that "our children are in so much more danger from strangers then ever before". I learned that it's another myth with no basis. A child has a 1 in more then a million chance of being abducted by a stranger. A child has more chance of drowning then he does of being murdered. Our children are as safe or safer now then in "the good old days".

Then why are we acting as if there's a Boogie Man lurking behind every corner? Why are children kept indoors and under close supervision at all times? Again, the media reports on every child related tragedy. The old adage of "if it bleeds, it leads" is definitely true with the news and other media. Parenting magazines are full of ridiculous articles that go to great length to make sure you, as a parent, are as paranoid and crippled with fear as possible. I've seen 3 page articles about all the gear you need to buy to keep your child safe from the sun, ads for helmets and knee pads to keep your baby safe as they learn to crawl and walk, and even ads for helping to ease eye strain from looking at notebook paper while they're in school.

In one generation, the space given to children to play and roam has become 1/9th it's previous size. Jon and I were both given so much space to roam and play as children.

I remember my mom letting my sister and I walk the mile down the street to the 7-11 to buy candy when I was a kid. We were probably 8 and 10 and we loved the adventure of getting to walk by ourselves and then make the difficult decision of what to buy with our dollar. Though our mom always taught us what to do if a stranger tried to bother us, we didn't live in fear. I walked to school with a friend or two, we walked to the pool down the street, and we rode our bikes all over the neighborhood without a parent there to watch our every move. We trick or treated by ourselves with our friends and even went door to door with school fund raisers. We were only driven to school when we missed the bus or after a dentist appointment. Jon rode his bike to his aunts house a few miles away and was given the freedom to explore the woods behind his house.

We don't want our children to miss out on those wonderful experiences. We want them to have wonderful memories of their childhood adventures. Those adventures taught us a lot about how to take care of ourselves.

A little more then a year ago, I started reading the Free-Range Kids blog written by Lenore Skenazy. She encourages parents to let their children have the same freedoms and learning experiences that we all enjoyed as children. I agree with her that bike helmets and car seats are a must and should be used but that doesn't mean that we have to wrap our kids in bubble wrap and put them on a shelf. We're in danger of raising a generation of children afraid of the world around them and ill equipped to be a part of it.

Now that our children are reaching an age where they can understand rules and boundaries, Jon and I are happy to give them freedom to use their imaginations and learn to be more independent. I make my children spend as many hours outside a day as possible. They may not always be excited about going out at first but within minutes they're running around an inventing games. Most of the time they run outside without any argument at all. If it's wet outside, they put on their rain boots and splash in the sink hole. They'll be sad when we get that filled this winter. Yesterday they pushed the lawn chairs together to make beds so they could play "house". Later they lined up all the toys and made an obstacle course. All of this without any direction from me or Jon. I might peek out the window from time to time to snap a picture but otherwise they're on their own. The learn to look out for one another and to work together. They've become very close as siblings.

Letting go a bit has also has great rewards for us as parents. While the kids are outside, Jon and I get to have time to talk to each other without interruption, time to cook dinner without anyone underfoot, time to write a blog post, or even just time to enjoy the peace and quiet. And as we've (okay, mostly me) let go, the kids have blossomed.

I look for chances to help them get more independent each day. I send Charlotte to the neighbors with a message, I let Charlotte take Evan to the bathroom in Walmart while I'm in the checkout line nearby, and I send Evan out to get the mail (still watching him from the door since he's still learning to watch for cars). Do I sometimes worry about what might happen? Sure, that's only natural. I don't let my worst-first thinking keep my children from doing things that I know they're old enough to handle. I get so proud of them as I watch them do something new and you can see on their faces how proud they are of themselves.

This journey doesn't just end now. I'm sure, like parenting, fears and worries change as children get older. I just hope I'm well practiced in not worrying before the kids start driving!

"Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out."-Karl Augustus Menninger

This post has been linked to Simple Lives Thursday and Sunday School.

Fall/Winter Garden Update

2011-10-12T11:44:00.005-04:00

I haven't done a garden update in a while because it's looked like so much of a jungle. Jon did an amazing job ripping out the spent zinnias and tomato plants from the main garden this past weekend. I can actually see what is growing now. I need to remember to plant the zinnias further away from anything I need to access next year. They grow SO tall!!

I planted all of the seeds for my fall/winter crops 8 weeks ago.
I haven't weeded yet but if I wait until the garden looks pretty to post about it, I'll never post about it.
Above is a few snow pea plants tangled in with some lettuce. I only had about 10 pea seeds leftover from the spring so I just threw them in to see what they'd do. Note to self: always give snow peas something to climb.

Here's the rutabaga row. I really should have started them sooner then 8 weeks ago but I put in the seeds in hopes that they'd grow fast before it got too cold. Want to know how weird I am? I've never eaten a rutabaga but I'm growing them. I don't even know if I like them but I planted a whole row.

Here are my pathetic purple cauliflower and broccoli plants. They're not growing very fast. I think it's due to lack of rain. Luckily we got a ton of rain in the past 24 hours and I swear they're already twice the size they were in this picture. Not sure if I'll have any cauliflower or broccoli to harvest but I figured I'd try again. I seem to have the worst luck with them the past 2 years.

Carrots! We love carrots and they seem to do pretty well in my garden.

More carrots...

... and more carrots. Unfortunately I didn't thin this bed of carrots before the grass grew up around the plants. By the time I thought about it, I couldn't thin them without pulling too many out. I'm not sure what I'll end up with this bed when it comes time to harvest them.

Here's my peanut plant that my mom bought me. It's almost time for harvest since the leaves are starting to yellow. I'm not sure what I'll end up with at harvest time but I'm excited to find out. If they did well, I might plant more peanut next year since this was the lowest maintenance plant out of the whole garden!

This post has been added to Simple Lives Thursday.

A Laundry Basket, A Blanket, And A Lantern

2011-10-10T06:44:00.003-04:00

That's all Evan needs to play happily for an hour or so.

I love that my children have wonderful imaginations.

Spring Skies Socks

2011-10-07T08:14:00.001-04:00

I recently finished these socks. They remind me of spring time so that's what I'll call them. I suppose I should check my sock yarn stash for some autumny feeling yarn for my next socks.

I have to admit that I didn't like this yarn much. I didn't have a label for it but I think it's cotton or a cotton blend. It didn't have much give to it which made for more difficult knitting. It's a very light sock weight yarn so I used size 1 needles. Difficult yarn + tiny needles = 2 months it took to force myself to finish this pair.

They're knit toe up with 72 stitches around on size 1 needles.

I'm glad I finally finished this pair though since they are pretty comfy to wear. They make a bright addition to my growing handknit sock collection.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

2011-10-06T08:40:00.003-04:00

I have always used those little packets of seasoning mix that are sold near the taco shells but recently wondered if I could make my own that would taste just as good... minus the crazy amount of salt, msg, and hydrogenated oils. Turns out that this recipe for homemade seasoning tastes even better then the packet and it's MUCH healthier!!
This recipe is mild-medium but you could easily make it hotter by adding more chili powder or by adding crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper.

Taco Seasoning (replaces the same amount as in a packet)

1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup of water

Brown your meat of choice (ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey, diced chicken, etc). Drain off excess fat. Stir in seasonings. Add cornstarch and water mixture and cook until juices are thickened.

This recipe is linked up with Simple Lives Thursday.

Happy 7th Birthday, Charlotte!

2011-10-05T06:00:00.002-04:00

Seven years ago I looked like this. Shocking really. I didn't know my belly could stretch that far. Then at 4:36pm on October 5th, all 9 1/2 pounds of Charlotte was born.

I'm so glad I took this picture of Charlotte's fingers when she was one month old. Such tiny fingers. I can't believe it's been 7 years since her fingers were this small.

"The days are long, ...

... but the years are short."

-Gretchen Rubin

Happy Birthday to our precocious, smart, funny, intense, amazing girl. We're the luckiest parents in the world to have such a wonderful daughter.

Lemon Chess Pie

2011-10-03T09:31:00.000-04:00

I made this pie for Jon's birthday back in August and it was delicious! It was tart without being too sour and it had a great texture that held it shape pretty well but was still soft. We'll be enjoying this pie again without a doubt!

Lemon Chess Pie (original recipe from King Arthur)

Crust (I used my favorite pie crust, in a greased pie plate and then kept the crust in the fridge until I had the filling ready)

Filling

6 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornmeal
1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
5 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375*. Mix all filling ingredients together in a medium bowl until well combined. Pour into prepared but but unbaked pie crust. Bake on the bottom rack of oven for 45-50 minutes or until the center is set. Allow to cool before cutting.

Chris and Nikki's Visit

2011-09-29T06:00:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, my brother, Chris, and his lovely girlfriend, Nikki came for a visit. I love when he comes for a visit. They were such fun to spend time with and are the most easy-going people out there. On a chilly, damp Saturday, we decided to all head up to Mount Airy for the morning. Nikki is always ready with a funny face for the camera. I tell ya, she fits right in around here.

On our way to Mount Airy, we stopped by Pilot Mountain and drove up to the look out point.

We took a VERY quick look at the view from the mountain because it was freezing up there! The wind was blowing a very cold drizzle in our faces. We all rushed back to the warm cars.

Luckily by the time we got to Mount Airy, the rain had pretty much stopped and it was much warmer now that we were off the mountain.

We had a great time walking along the main street of this charming little town. This is the town that The Andy Griffith Show is loosely based on since it was Andy Griffith's hometown.

We found a few books for the kids in the antique store (funny, they weren't antique books!), we browsed through music stores, we all picked out some candy in the candy shop, and there was even a quilting shop for Mom and a knitting shop for me!! What a great street of shops!

After we had thoroughly window shopped and even found a few treasures, we headed for lunch at Goober's 52 restaurant. It's a very laid back, fun place to have lunch. We sat in their enclosed "picnic" area that I'm sure has seen plenty of late-night partying.

The digs might not have been fancy but that was a good thing because that really let all of us relax and have a great time. Charlotte gets in some silly face poses.

Mark and Jon's turn for a silly picture. Poor Jon. He had a cold that day and he was operating on very little sleep since the marching band played at the football game the night before. He was very brave though despite his "man crippling cold".

She can't help herself, can she? It's great to see my little brother so happy.

I had a delicious burger! I think it was a classic burger but I can't remember. It had great grilled flavor and just the right ratio of bun to burger.

What's wrong with this picture? No funny faces? Just smiles? Crazy!

That's better!

After we left Mount Airy, Mom and Mark took the kids back to their house and the rest of us went in search of apples. We got lost on our way to the orchard but as luck would have it, we found an apple farmer on our way home that had bushels of apples for $12 a bushel!! Great deal and we didn't have to pick a single one! I came home with 5 bushels for me and 2 to send back home with Chris for my sister. I'm working my way through the bushels making applesauce, apple butter, and fruit leather. I'm about halfway done. Whew....

The next morning I made cinnamon pancakes with sauteed apples on top. Man, were they good!

Charlotte beat Chris at Memory. That child is crazy good at that game!

And while Chris and Charlotte played, I taught Nikki how to knit. She caught on so fast! Another knitter was born that day. *sniff, sniff* I was glad to be there to witness it. Slowly but surely I'm trying to teach everyone around me to knit. So far the dog and cat don't seem the least bit interested but they'll come around.

Since Nikki's favorite color is purple, I found some pretty black yarn with purple metallic flecks in it in my stash to send her home with. I know black isn't the easiest to knit with since it's hard to see the stitches but she didn't seem to have trouble. The yarn was given to me by my Aunt or her friend, Debbie (my memory is failing me on this one) to help me, as a beginning knitter, and I was happy to be able to share some of what they've given me with Nikki.

By the way, isn't her hair gorgeous?

It was a great visit and they're so much fun to spend time with. I really wish they lived closer!

Wordless Wednesday - What Happens When You Make Chicken Broth With Purple Carrots

2011-09-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

Making Spreadable Butter

2011-09-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

We used to leave our butter out on the counter top in a butter dish so it was soft and ready to spread. When I switched to locally made, Homeland Creamery butter, I noticed it got a funky odor to it when I left it out. I needed to come up with a way to make spreadable butter straight from the fridge. I've seen commercials for spreadable butter that blends butter with oil so I thought I'd try that. I use extra light or regular olive oil for this. You could use extra virgin olive oil if you want your butter to taste like olive oil. I wanted ours to have a butter flavor so I went with the lighter oil.

Let your butter come to room temperature. For every pound of butter, I add 1 cup of oil. Using a mixer, blend the softened butter and oil until it becomes smooth. The butter blend above hadn't gotten smooth yet because my butter was still on the cool side. I let it sit for a few minutes and then tried again.

Once the butter and oil blend is smooth, put it into resealable containers and store in the fridge. It will firm up but it won't be rock hard like pure butter.

Finally, no more ripped bread and crumbled muffins!

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

Stormy Skies

2011-09-26T06:00:00.002-04:00

A storm front moved through a few weeks ago and boy did it put on a show. Believe it or not, we didn't get any rain from these clouds. We had a thunderstorm later that night but these cloudy just rolled right through, twisting and rolling as they went past. They looked so different one moment to the next.

All of our neighbors came out with their cameras to take pictures also and to just look up and watch the show.

And just as fast as they rolled in, they left.... leaving behind white puffy clouds and a blue sky.

Mark's Birthday Cheesecake

2011-09-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, Mark's birthday was over a month ago. I may not be able to blog promptly but at least this cheesecake was enjoyed on his birthday. Mark (aka: Grandpa) LOVES cheesecake. When my mom called to ask me if I'd bake him a cheesecake for his birthday, I was more then happy to say yes.
Though I couldn't try a piece since I can't eat dairy... and the fact that it's rude to send a birthday cheesecake with a piece missing... I was told this was a fantastic cheesecake recipe. Don't tell anyone but I was told that Mark had the equivalent of 3 pieces the night of his birthday! I'd definitely say this recipe is a winner. Vanilla Cheesecake With Chocolate Glaze (adapted from this recipe slightly)

Crust
5 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups chocolate graham crackers (about 11 crackers)
1/4 cups sugar

Filling
1 cup sugar
2 pounds of cream cheese at room temperature (that's 4 bricks of cream cheese)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. salt

Glaze
2 Tbsp. butter
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
4 Tbsp. heavy cream

1. Heat oven to 350*. In a medium bowl, melt 5 Tbsp. butter in the microwave. Add chocolate graham crackers and sugar and stir until well combined. Press mixture into a 9 inch springform pan; press firmly, forming a 1 inch crust up the sides of the pan. Bake until set, 12-15 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool a bit while you make the filling.

2. Reduce oven temp. to 275*. In the bowl of a mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the sugar. Add the vanilla and the eggs slowly. Beat in sour cream and salt. Pour batter into crust.

3. Bake cheesecake until sides have set but center appears soft, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool. Run a paring knife around the outside of the crust, loosening it from pan. When cool, cover tightly with plastic; let set for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge.

5. To serve, place chocolate chips, butter, and cream in a small microwave bowl and heat in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until chocolate is almost all melted. Keep stirring until chocolate is fully melted and the glaze is smooth. Pour chocolate glaze over the cheesecake leaving 1/2 inch border. Chill until glaze has set, about 10 minutes.

Playing In The Rain

2011-09-24T16:36:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago (again, prompt blogging) we had a rain storm without any thunder or lightening so I told the kids to go out and play... and they did.

A Weekend To Celebrate A New Baby And A Wonderful Lady

2011-09-23T06:50:00.007-04:00

Over Labor Day weekend, we went up to Western Pennsylvania to be there for a baby shower and an 80th birthday party. Jon's brother and his wife are expecting their first baby just after Christmas. I knit this set for my little nephew before I knew he was a he. I added the brown buttons and ribbon after we found out he was a boy. Had I read the pattern more carefully, I would have had buttons going all the way up but I missed the part that assumed I'd remember to make button holes while knitting the body. I had to be creative to close this little cardigan.
I used this no-seam pattern that was easy to follow (if you pay attention to the directions). The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Sport in "Peapod" which is a soft blend of 75% superwash Merino and 25% Nylon. I wanted this set to be washable since I know how messy baby clothes can get. I wanted the set to be practical as well as cute.
The hat is a simple beanie with a few purl rows in there for interest. I used this pattern.
I knit the socks using the toe-up technique and added a few rows of purl and garter stitch to help them match the cardigan and hat.

And since Ken's as big of a Steelers fan as Jon is, I knit little Samuel a Steelers hat... a very, very small Steelers hat.

We're pros at long car trips since we make the 8 hour (or 9-10 hours when you get stuck in traffic) drive to PA about twice a year. During a bathroom break, Jon took the kids for a jog up and down this hill. He tried to get them to roll down the hill but they said no way!

We left for PA after work on Friday so once it got dark, the kids started to fall asleep. We got to Jon's parents house around 1am, I think.

The next day I helped Millie and Suzanne prep the veggies and fruit for the two parties.

Ken spent some quality time with Koko.

The kids had a great time playing with all the old cars that Grammy and Grandpa saved from when Jon and Ken were little boys.

Then Jon kept them busy by taking them to a baseball field and letting them run out a lot of energy. They were Daddy's buddies all weekend while I helped with the parties anyway I could.

We headed to the church hall to start prepping for the baby shower. I had made and froze 4 large pans of lasagna at home that I brought along for the party. I nervously watched them bake hoping they would be done in time for the shower. They were... just barely.

The night before, Suzanne and Millie had gotten the hall all decorated for the shower. I can't imagine how many hours of planning and work went into this party. They thought of everything.

I love those guys.

Jon's been teaching the kids the fine art of the silly face.

How's he doing with his lessons?

It was a coed shower and Ken got some pretty funny gag gifts. This is Ken in full gear to change a diaper on a poor baby doll. With goggles, a mask, and chemical proof gloves, diapering this baby doll was a hilarious and impossible feat! I've never seen Valarie laugh so hard.

With a quick presto-chango (aka, everyone pitching in) the baby shower was magically changed into an 80th birthday party for Jon's wonderful Aunt Betty. She's such a sweet lady.

She gives great hugs and I love when she asks me, "How's Becky?".

A big family picture to end a great party and a great weekend!

Baked Oatmeal. Comfort In A Bowl.

2011-09-22T06:00:00.001-04:00

Has it really been 2 weeks since I posted? Yikes. Life has been busy.... great but busy.

We're knee deep in marching band season which means Jon is working 70+ hours a week which leaves me a single parent most of the work week. Marching band is great fun but it's very demanding. Jon's looking forward to hosting his first marching band competition at his high school. I'm in charge of the hospitality tent for the directors and judges. I've been spending hours on the phone calling local businesses asking for donations and coordinating catering. I get so excited whenever a business donates something, even if it's just pens for the gift bags! As fun as it's been for Jon and I to plan this competition, and as fun as that day will be, we'll both be a lot less tired after Oct. 1st.

It's been hard for me to find the time and energy to blog lately but I'm going to try to do better. I'm still baking, cooking, and knitting like crazy and I have so much to post about but I tend to want to watch a good movie and lay on the couch the moment the house is quiet instead of get on the computer. I'm going to take the next few weeks to do a lot of catch up posts. Hopefully that will get me back into the blogging saddle.

So, with such a hectic schedule and so many things to accomplish in a day, how do I help myself stay sane? Well, every morning I wake up at 5:15 to exercise. Yes, it's early. Yes, I'm a morning person. I walk 2-2.5 miles around my neighborhood or I do a Pilates tape. Then I get ready for the day. I have to fit in my exercise before the rest of my house wakes up. I have to make it the first thing I do every day or otherwise it won't get done. The exercise helps wake me up and gives me energy for the morning.

I also find that eating a healthy breakfast helps keep me going through the morning. My current favorite breakfast is a bowl of baked oatmeal. It's very filling and the warm oatmeal is very comforting. I altered a simple baked oatmeal recipe until the resulting oatmeal is something I love and look forward to each morning. I've been having this for breakfast every day for the past month and I haven't gotten tired of it.

This baked oatmeal isn't very sweet which is why I usually cut up half a banana to go with it. If you like your oatmeal sweeter, you can increase the amount of sweetener or top it with maple syrup. The oatmeal is dairy free since I'm allergic but feel free to add milk instead of water.

Simple, Dairy-free Baked Oatmeal

1/4 cup Earth Balance (dairy-free margarine)

1/4 cup coconut oil

3 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)

1/3 c. maple syrup

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. water

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

-Preheat oven to 350*. Put the Earth Balance and coconut oil in a 9x9" baking dish and place in the oven to let the oils melt while you get the oatmeal batter ready.

- In a large bowl, mix together all remaining ingredients until well combined.

- Carefully take the baking dish out of the oven once the oils have melted and pour the oatmeal mixture into the pan. Stir only slightly to incorporate some of the oils into the batter, leaving some unmixed at the edges.

- Bake until edges are golden, about 30 minutes.

Cut into 6 servings. Serve hot or let cool and keep in the fridge. When you're ready to serve, crumble slightly into a bowl, top with almond milk, heat in the microwave until warm and top with bananas.

This recipe is linked up to Simple Lives Thursday.

Pigeon Forge

2011-09-07T10:15:00.000-04:00

**For some reason, my pictures did not upload in order so please excuse me as I hop randomly from one picture**

Can everyone please pretend it's July? Thanks. This post was supposed to be written at the end of July but then life happens and it's just getting posted now.

In July we went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with my sister and her family and my mom and Mark. We rented a big cabin together and had such fun! My camera also broke halfway through our trip but luckily my sister takes as many pictures as I do. Half of the pictures are from her camera and half are from my old camera.

The guys bonded over a campfire.

Mark and David ~~knocked over~~ found a dead tree to use for firewood. Devin's helping his dad cut it into usable pieces.

Jon and me around the campfire (I was only there for a little while since the idea of inhaling smoke in 85* heat isn't my idea of fun).

Katie got into the tree chopping work by trying to use a wire "saw".

Jon trying to roast a marshmallow while holding it in his mouth.

Delicious cupcakes from Cake by Bakin' Bishop. I couldn't resist their little shop on the way to our cabin. They top the cupcakes with whatever frosting you like. I got a mix of mini cupcakes. I forgot to take a picture before half of them were eaten.

(I couldn't eat these cupcakes since they weren't dairy-free but from what everyone else said, they were delicious!)

Katie and I tried to work together to make the wire saw work but it only provided a good arm workout... not firewood.

Katie, David, and their kids went with us to Cades Cove one morning for a scenic drive and a hike to Abrams Falls. We didn't believe the signs that said it was a 3-4 hour hike. We went with only a light snack and a little water and 4 kids. Sounds like quite a plan, doesn't it? Surely it won't take that long to hike 5 miles up and down hills and across rocky terrain.

Ummm.... just a hint. Believe signs you see at the entrance to hiking trails.

Oops. I definitely have the wrong footwear for this hike. I've since learned to listen to signs about required footwear and had large blisters to prove it.

Evan rode across the first log bridge on my back. I felt like a pack mule.... in flip flops.

Evan having a little snack.

Yay! We made it to Abrams Falls. We all took off our shoes and cooled off in the icy cold water. It felt so good on my blisters. (Again, don't hike in flip flops)

It was so beautiful and the adventure of getting there was worth the blisters. The big kids were amazing hikers! They marched forth with such determination. Evan had had enough about 1/3 of the way into the hike but Jon was able to keep him moving. Jon and I took turns carrying him on the way back.

*More from the hike in a moment after the random pictures.

Kylee and Charlotte being bears at a store in Pigeon Forge.

Grandpa helped the girls fly their gliders off the deck.

How neat does this tunnel look when you take a picture while driving?!

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-01T13:05:00.003-04:00

Look at this boy. Seriously, could this kid get any cuter? Evan had his first morning of preschool in the 4 year old classroom.

Armed with flowers for his teacher, he marched up the steps to his room without much hesitation.

He had a great morning and the best part of the morning was swinging on the swing. He also let me know that his teachers don't push kids on the swing (neither does Momma). I think he was disappointed by that one. I think he was hoping he could stop all that pumping of his legs when he got to preschool.

He can't wait to go back tomorrow.

Homemade Zesty Italian Dreassing

2011-08-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

This dressing has a great, intense flavor. The lemon and the mustard give it a great zesty flavor that I like instead of the strong vinegar flavor of some Italian dressings. I used this dressing recently for a cold pasta salad and it was a hit!

1 garlic clove made into a paste with 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/4-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Put all ingredients in a container with a tight lid. Shake container really well until all ingredients are well mixed and the oil is no longer separate from the other ingredients. Shake again right before serving since the Italian seasoning floats to the top. Refrigerate extra. The olive oil will solidify after refrigerating so let it come to room temperature before using and shake well before serving.

First Day Of 1st Grade

2011-08-25T13:09:00.003-04:00

Today is Charlotte's first day of 1st grade. Though she wasn't ready for summer to end, she was excited to go to school this morning after she heard that her teacher reads stories in funny voices.
Oops, didn't get that other sock folded down before the picture this morning.

Jon walked her to her classroom this morning. She brought her teachers flowers from our garden as per family tradition. I can't wait to go pick her up from the bus stop and hear all about her first day.

I've missed her like crazy today. She's been such a helper this past week as I've started back with daycare (I do daycare only during the school year).

I'm excited to see what this year holds for her.

Why I Love Freecycle

2011-08-17T06:42:00.003-04:00

I joined Freecycle about 6 months ago and since then I have given away countless number of things that we no longer needed. It makes me feel good to know that something we can't use anymore isn't going to sit in a closet forever but instead will go to someone who will put it to good use. Every once in a while I find something being offered on Freecycle that I could use. We now have a wooden rocking chair in our living room because someone didn't want it anymore.

A few weeks ago I saw that some shelving units were listed. I've really needed more shelving for our playroom but sturdy shelves are expensive. I picked up the free shelves in hopes of making them work.
There were 3 vertical shelves (I have them on their sides) and one vertical cabinet. I needed to repair the backs of a few of them but otherwise they were in good shape.

I took out the shelf pegs and stacked them horizontally. I used construction adhesive to glue them together.

Now the free shelves are being put to good use in the playroom. I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out. I haven't figured out where to use the cabinet yet but I'm thinking it'll be used for yarn storage.

Yesterday I gave away 2 big bags of Jon's clothes that he cleaned out of the closet this weekend. The woman who picked them up for her husband was so grateful for them. It feels really good to know that you've given something to someone who needs it.

"Hon, The Water Won't Turn Off!"

2011-08-15T12:13:00.003-04:00

This is what Jon said to me last week. He got a some water from the kitchen faucet and when he went to lower the handle to turn it off, it wouldn't turn off. Of course this is at 8:00 at night and we were both tired from a long day. Time for problem solving mode....

First I turned off the water shut-offs under the kitchen sink... one of which started leaking.
Great.
Thank goodness Lowes stays open until 9:00. I dash off to Lowes to get a new faucet confident that Jon and I can figure this out.

After I get home with the new faucet, Jon and I watch a youtube video on how to replace a faucet. Okay, we can do this.

I look under the sink and realize that our connections don't look like the ones in the video. Great. I try to figure out how the faucet is connected to the sink. I send a picture to Mark and Mom hoping they are familiar with this strange connection.

Mark must have heard the frustration and desperation in my voice because he put on his super hero cape and drove the 30 minutes to come help us out... at 9pm. Did you know superheroes travel with their Super Tool Bucket? It's true. Mark was able to figure out how to get the old faucet off after some work.

Old faucet off. Oh no. The new faucet I bought is the wrong kind. Walmart is the only store open so I drive to Walmart really quick and pick out a functioning but not pretty faucet. Rush home. Mark tries to install it but because it was a different style, the water hoses wouldn't reach. Great.

I assure Mark that I can handle putting in the new faucet the next morning when I can go to Lowes and get the right faucet. I send the super hero home.

The next morning, the kids and I return two faucets and buy the right faucet that is a big improvement over the cheapo Walmart one I had picked out the night before. We picked out the correct water hoses and came home to tackle the job. Great! (no sarcasm this time)

Charlotte was my assistant and held the faucet and sprayer still while I tightened them from below.

I feel really sorry for plumbers. It's really uncomfortable working under a sink.

For all the trouble it was getting to that point, installing the new faucet was really simple and only took about 20 minutes.

Nothing fancy but it works beautifully and only cost us $58 including the new water hoses!

Thanks Mark for the help!

So, now I know how to repair a toilet and replace a faucet. I think I might be on my way to earning a tool belt... or at least a scout badge of some sort. Do they give badges to 32 year old women? They should.

Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread

2011-08-10T06:00:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I bought a 50 pound bag of rolled oats. Yes, that's right, 50 pounds .... of oats. Since then, I've been making an effort to use those oats. Oatmeal cookies, hot oatmeal for breakfast, granola... This bread is one of my favorite new uses for some of those oats. The bread is very slightly sweet and makes perfect cinnamon scented toast.

The loaves should be a bit higher but I let it rise too long and they deflated a bit in the oven

Cinnamon Oatmeal Bread (adapted from King Arthur's Vermont Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread)(Makes 2 loaves but I often double it to make 4 loaves. The bread freezes well.)

2 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar (I used coarse evaporated cane juice)
1 Tbsp. honey
1/4 cup butter (I use Earth Balance)
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. yeast
5 1/2 cups flour* (I use a combo of white whole wheat and whole wheat but use whatever flour you like)
*2Tbsp. vital wheat gluten if using whole wheat flour (aids in rising)

In a large mixing bowl, combine water, oats, sugar, honey, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool until lukewarm.

Add the yeast and flour (and wheat gluten if using), stirring to form a rough dough. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with a damp towel or greased plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise for 60-90 minutes.

Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in two greased standard loaf pans. Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap or a damp towel and let the loaves rise until they've crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.

Bake the loaves in a preheated 360* oven for 33 minutes (or at 350* for 35-40 minutes). Remove them from the oven when they're golden brown and the interior registers 190* on an instant read thermometer.

Food Inc. On PBS Tomorrow, Aug. 9th!!!

2011-08-08T05:00:00.002-04:00

Food Inc. changed the way I think about food. It's an amazing documentary on the food system in the United States. I've changed a lot about how my family eats because of it. I think it's important for everyone to watch it. The more people who watch this film and become aware of the current food system, the more power we have to change it. If we continue to keep our heads in the sand, nothing will change. We deserve healthy foods, foods that are treated with care, and food policy that looks out for more then big business.

I encourage everyone to check their local PBS listing to see what time Food Inc. will be shown August 9th and watch. I'd love to hear your thoughts after you watch it.

**Edited to add... Looks like some local PBS stations are showing Food Inc. on other dates. If you watch PBS on UNC-TV (my local station), Food Inc. will be shown August 12th at 2:00am. I hope you have TIVO if you're not a night owl. ***

Adele

2011-08-05T17:50:00.004-04:00

Such a voice. Such an amazing, rich voice that I can't seem to hear enough of. I have very varied musical taste but one thing that they usually have in common is a very strong voice (Pink and Wynonna are two of my other favorites). In my next life, I'd love to come back with a smoky, powerful voice. Until then, I'll just crank up the car stereo and sing along with Adele and pretend I can belt them out like she does.

What A Difference A New Camera Makes!

2011-08-04T08:22:00.004-04:00

This picture was taken with my old camera. A fine camera that I thought took great pictures until I got my new camera.

Since my old camera died while hiking in the Smoky Mountains. I finally decided on the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC WX9. I got it on Amazon.com for $189. It got great reviews and had features that I wanted like a setting just for food pictures!

Here are some pictures I took with my new camera this morning. I can't believe the difference in picture quality. Of course, I had better lighting in this mornings pictures but it's the other details that I noticed too. The close up focusing is amazing with this new camera.

King Arthur's "Our Favorite Blueberry Muffins"

I love that it focuses well in the foreground and lets the background get blurry. That's a trick I've always loved on food blogs and thought I'd have to wait to get a serious camera to be able to do it. Apparently not. I love the way this camera captures the light without making things look washed out.

The camera even has a neat setting that automatically takes a picture when it detects a smile! How cool is that? It also takes great low light pictures without being blurry. I tested the action setting to see if I could finally take a lower light picture of Evan without being blurry because homeboy doesn't ever stand still. It worked! Not a bit blurry even though he was dancing!

I'm having the best time with my new toy! Let's see... what else can I take a picture of? Where's the cat? Hey! Kids! Come back here so Momma can take another picture of you!