{Everything Muffins}

I had a little bit of time to play in the kitchen this weekend and I came up with these muffins. They're so delicious I wanted to share the recipe.

Everything Muffins

Preheat oven to 350*F

1-1/2 cups flour {I use my gf flour mix, but you can substitute regular wheat flour too.}

1/2 cup milk {almond milk or water is fine too}

1/4 cup applesauce/coconut oil/vegetable oil

3/4 cup shredded coconut

2/3 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chocolate chips

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon 

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

Mix everything together and spoon into a well greased muffin tin. The batter is really more like a cookie dough, but it's fine! Bake for 14-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Crispy Bliss

{Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, rainier cherries, and some black apricots}

{3 cups oats, 1.5 cups sugar, 3/4cup flour, 1/4 cup cold butter} 

{Two sweet helper boys}

 {pre-made crusts...shhhh}

 {so, so pretty, and it smelled like summer in a bowl}

{That much topping made enough for two apple + the berry ...it's really the ratios that matter}

So much to do lately, we just needed to stop and do something just for fun this afternoon. The pump in our well seems to have died/been hit by lightening (!!) so our landlord spent the afternoon diagnosing the problem and seeing what would need to be done to fix it. He got a crisp. :) Did I mention the 100* temps he was working in?? I know it's his job and all, but I still think he earned a crisp! We needed to use some of the fruit up before it spoiled (it's so hard to keep produce for more than a few days, even in the fridge...this heat is just dreadful). 

Tomorrow is grocery/errand day, and then a quiet weekend ahead with my birthday on Sunday! I anticipate a lovely day at home, with knitting and baby hugs, and there are rumors of cake and surprises. *wink* I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the well pump will be all taken care of tomorrow so that we can get caught up on laundry and cleaning...I'm going a bit crazy and now that the water has been shut off over night, I'm feeling smothered by the urge to WASH THINGS. That's just the way it goes though, isn't it? Instead I'm forcing myself to focus on menu planning and grocery list making and the always exciting job of organizing school supplies...oh yeah, and there's that unpacking thing too...nearly finished with all of the boxes....really just those odd storage/out of season things and my crafting supplies are left! Both need to get weeded out again, even though we cut way back when we were moving. Less (stuff) is more (space for sanity) in the lovely farm house of ours...every box unpacked and every shelf tidied is another space that feels more like home than anywhere else we have ever lived...it's a good, happy feeling. And now it smells like apple crisp and new crayons so really, I think this day has been an overwhelming success, don't you think?

Homemade Bread

Lately I've been trying to establish a weekly rhythm to help us get everything done. One thing I noticed was that I would plan to bake a few things (including bread) as part of our weekly menus, for sandwiches and the like, but then when it wouldn't happen I would have to scramble for an alternate lunch plan. Well...no more! I think Monday is the perfect day for baking around here. I'm always in the kitchen anyway, since there are usually some dishes to catch up on after the weekend, and since I'm still feeling a wee bit lethargic after two days of quietER to do lists, baking seems to be just the thing. This week I tested a new bread recipe that I really love! I have one other I would like to test, but I'm about 95% sold on this one...I just want to check the other out because well...you never know! ;) So...found on all recipes, here is my current favorite...

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup bread flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (I used turbinado)
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 10 cups bread flour

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, stir together 1/2 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 cup bread flour, and yeast. Let grow for about 5 minutes. It will bubble almost immediately.

Measure oats, 4 1/2 cups warm water, whole wheat flour, salt, 2/3 cup sugar, and 2/3 cup oil into the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with a dough hook for 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed slightly, and begin adding bread flour 1/2 to 1 cup at a time until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Humidity determines how much flour you need before the bread pulls away from the edge of the bowl. It is normal for the dough to be sticky.

Place dough in an greased bowl (*note* I had to use my two largest mixing bowls, and it really really filled them once it had risen! One bowl is certainly not large enough unless you have a Really Really mammoth fit-a-two-year-old-in-it bowl), and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Divide dough into 6 pieces. Shape loaves, and place in greased 8 x 4 inch pans. Let rise until dough is 1 inch above rim of pans, usually 1 hour. (*note* clearly, I did this a bit differently, since I only have 2 loaf pans...I would really love to get some of these to expand my collection, but that's just currently not an option...so we have a variety to chose from!)

Bake at 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C) for 30-35 minutes, or until tops are browned. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Cinnamon Rolls

A few weeks ago I had decided that my personal mission for the summer was to find a go-to, simply amazing, cinnamon roll recipe. Two recipes in and I've already got it! :) My friend Sarah Jane over at Romantic History shared this recipe here, and they are every bit as good as she makes them sound! I made them whole wheat, and they did beautifully. My only advice is to not skimp on the 10 minutes of kneading (although my arms sure wished I would!!), the dough becomes magically soft and elastic when you're approaching the ten minute point, it completely effects the whole process. :) Since my Grammy asked, I'm re-posting my own cook book's version here...

Sarah Jane's Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 c. milk

2/3 c. maple syrup

2/3 c. soft butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. salt

6 c. flour (I used white whole wheat)

2 pkg. yeast

Filling:

1 c. packed brown sugar

4 TB flour

3 TB cinnamon

1 stick cold butter

In a saucepan, warm milk, syrup and butter til butter is melted - do NOT boil. Cool to a warm temperature beneficent to yeast. When nicely warm to the touch, put in yeast. Stir in eggs and salt. Mix in 3 cups of flour. Add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto board or floured counter and knead for 10 minutes. Pat dough into ball, place in greased bowl and cover with a towel.

Let rise for 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide into two. Roll each ball into a rectangle, appx. 12" x 18". Combine filling ingredients in bowl, cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture. Spread filling evenly over rectangles of dough. Roll up each rectangle into a fat log. Cut each log in half, then cut each half into 5 rolls. Place 15 rolls on a baking sheet. The remaining 5 rolls put into a separate baking sheet. Cover and let rise for forty minutes.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake rolls for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and top with a clean towel. (if you don't do this the rolls will get hard on top). Let rolls cool beneath towel while you make the icing.

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 TB butter, melted

3 TB maple syrup

1 to 2 TB milk

Combine the powdered sugar, melted butter and syrup in a bowl. Add in enough milk for desired consistency. Spread over warm rolls and let rolls cool, uncovered, completely. When cool put into an air tight container.

These have been a HUGE hit over here, so I think they will become our Saturday breakfast. I can make them up on Friday afternoon, so there's not any coin flipping for who has to make breakfast (vs. sleeping until b'fast is done), which I'm sure Joseph will like, since *somehow* he always draws the short straw on that one... ;-)

A little bit at a time

That's my motto right now. I've been struggling the past few months with our family having seemingly endless rotations through flus, colds, viruses, and all things stuffy, which has led to A-LOT of backed up housework, and a complete stand still with anything even remotely under the umbrella of "creativity". Giving up buying yarn for Lent didn't help with that much, although I did take advantage of the break in incoming yarn to organize what I already had. However over the last few weeks I have been making progress, most of the rooms in my house are allot better than they were a few weeks before that, and I'm continuing to make forward progress there. Dishes are getting done more regularly (although it's only about once a day, it's still an improvement!), what toys we've kept are getting picked up at least twice a day, and bags of donations are still being filled and dropped off.

^ Right Now v

Establishing simplicity and order in our home is my first goal, it's not really very fun, but it is rewarding to see more and more clear, clean surfaces, and my kids (and husband!) are really happy about this new arrangement. Next I will be focusing on our daily and weekly rhythms, which I expect to be much more fun. I want to start documenting my goals and progress here, partly for a bit of accountability, maybe to inspire someone else, and certainly to look back on later and enjoy. So here are my goals for April...

April

Paint hallway & foyer

Finish painting in Jenny's room

Re-paint markered wall in Anthony's room (nothing else worked so that's just going to have to happen lol)

Finish decorating Jenny's room

Plan our garden

Sew a selection of place mats and napkins

Set up back porch for Spring and Summer (involves mending the screen in several places as it is a screened in porch)

There are about a million other things that I want to work on too, but these are the Big Things, I have to do about two things a week to get it done, but that will be a good rate I think. I have next weekend cleared for painting, so that will cover three of the things right there. And some of the things (making place mats & napkins) will be so much fun they wont feel like chores at all. I leave you with a yummy picture, recipe will be coming tomorrow!

Michaelmas

Tuesday we celebrated Michaelmas. It was our first year to do so, so I'm sure our traditions will vary a bit as they get established, but we had so much fun, I'm already looking forward to future years. :) We combined some Catholic, and Waldorf traditions, as well as a few we found in blogland. I'm still finding my footing for this holiday, but here is what we did...

Lots of capes were worn, because all of the art of St. Michael shows him wearing a cape, the kids loved running around in the wind in capes!

Little boys capes are very hard to photograph...

Jenny and I made the dragon bread. Although is is the feast of the Archangels, there seems to be allot of St. George and the dragon thrown into everyone's traditions. Hence the dragon bread. When we ate it we dipped it in marinara sauce for "blood"...the girls didn't really get it, and the boys loved it!

This really is 98% Jenny's creation. That's the head over there on the left (with both eyes and nostrils, lest you be confused, lol), legs, tail, spikes etc. We just used our regular pizza dough recipe and it worked great! We joined my family for dinner of harvesty minestrone soup and dragon food, followed with blackberries and angel food cake trifle, and devils food chocolate cake. :) You see, it is the traditional day that St. Michael threw the devil out of Heaven, and tradition has it that he landed in a blackberry bush. So Michaelmas is the last day of the year to eat fresh blackberries. We had so much fun! We will definitely celebrate it again next year. I'm really looking forward to Martinmas on November 11th now! It's a bit of a bigger celebration (well, in the areas that celebrate these days!), and we will do more for it, but that's probably better to save for a post closer to the day.

Oh...AND....

When I turned the camera on to show Joseph the pictures from the day (he had to work late), I found that Jenny and Anthony had gotten a hold of the camera (!!!) and done a little photo shoot. There was a hysterical series, but most of them were really out of focus. Jenny clearly had Anthony sit on the sofa and then took many, many pictures of him. Then (I guess she's been watching me to closely!) she had walked around the room taking pictures of "interesting" things. ;) This was the very first one...taken right next to where the camera was. I love the "accomplice" grin on his face!

So yeah, it's a good thing I discovered this after they were in bed already or else there would have been really bad positive re-enforcement! Joe and I laughed until we were crying. Oh those Doodles...

Chocolate!!

This is another wonderful cookie recipe originally found at Jenny's blog, Blessed Femina. They are a simple cookie, but oh-so-good. And they look so cute on the cookie sheet before they bake. :) And of course, being cute is a big part of being a good cookie. :)
Grammy's Chocolate Cookies
taken from~ Martha Stewart Living

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups (2 sticks plus 4 tablespoons)
  
• unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar, plus more for dipping
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, 2 cups sugar, and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients, and combine with mixer on low speed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and chill until dough is firm, about 1 hour. (Longer is fine.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dip top of each ball into sugar. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

A few weeks ago, I was over at one of my favorite blogs (Blessed Femina), and saw this recipe for one of my favorite cookies. Yesterday I finally got to try it, and it is SO good! Let me know what you think! (sorry for the lack of picture...I'll try to add one later if I get a minute!)

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

~taken from~
The Village Baker's Wife
by Gayle & Jim Ortiz with Louisa Beers

These cookies are similar to blondies, and the addition of macadamia nuts makes them even more rich.

1 1/2 cups butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
12 oz. white chocolate cut into 1/2 inch chunks,
or 1-1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups unsalted macadamia nuts

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a tabletop mixer fitted with the flat beater, cream
the butter and both sugars until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time,
waiting before the first is incorporated before adding the second.
Mix in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the
flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture
and mix just until incorporated.
Transfer the batter to a large bowl and, with a
rubber spatula, fold in the white chocolate
and macadamia nuts by hand.

Scoop out 2 T. size balls of dough and drop them at least 2 inches apart
on a baking sheet. Bake on the center wrack in
the oven for 12-13 minutes,
or just until the cookies are slightly golden.
Don't over bake these cookies they should be soft and chewy!
Enjoy!!