Thinking

I know, I know these posts get interesting when I start thinking...
Tonight as I was driving to Levi's baseball game I got to thinking, we have had rain all day and it actually rained up until thirty minutes before the game and it was very cool due to rain and cloud cover all day. As I type this the temperature is 57 degrees. BRRRR! Well, it is when you are sitting outside watching a baseball game. Here in Alaska, things are very rarely cancelled, I mean rarely. Things just go on rain, snow, or 40 below, I could be wrong but I think the only reason they would cancel a game would be lightning. The lady that was there in a tank top and shorts just about froze me to death, seriously, check the weather before getting dressed.
On that note, we keep jackets and blankets in the van even in summer, we just change them out from our winter gear to rain jackets and fleece jackets (preferably with hoods). 
Now you know what I am thinking.

Check out this giveaway

I Take Joy is giving away a few copies of their book, Educating the WholeHearted Child. I hope I win one!

Eighteen

Garden update

This week about all I have the mental energy for are the necessary jobs. I am enjoying the simple jobs of laundry, weeding and grass mowing. You know, the things you do not need to think about. Next week, I will focus on preparing for the upcoming school year so I am saving the thinking for next week!
The zucchini


This one will be ready to eat soon. Some people let them grow very large but I like to let them get to a good ready size and enjoy them a little smaller.

Potatoes

Levi’s corn

Lettuce

Judith’s pumpkin plant

The broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprout rows

The green beans, not the best year for these so far, time will tell.

A view of the entire garden.

The beginning of broccoli

Tomatoes, I counted 21 tomatoes on the vine the other day.

Eighteen Years

Eighteen years ago my wonderful husband and I were married. Today we will celebrate with our four Blessings after church. It has been a great 18 years and I look forward to many, many more years with this wonderful man.
He gave me eighteen roses for eighteen years and a card that made me cry a few happy tears. I knew long before we were married that he was the one I would marry but I had no idea how truly blessed I would be with him. I love my O and I am thankful for every day we have together, he is the greatest.

Found my roll recipe

My wonderful husband, to whom I will have been married to for 18 years tomorrow, loves bread with his meals. I have not always had rolls for him for certain meals that for him need the bread factor, well no more. I found the roll recipe that he will love. Since I have been on this whole wheat/whole foods journey my husband hasn't complained, he just hasn't eaten everything I have tried. BUT, he will love these rolls and they are whole wheat. I have only had one bite to make sure they are good before telling on the blog world that they are good. They are good.
So, the original recipe is here but I am posting my changes here for you, because I believe in sharing.

Duggar Homemade Rolls, my version

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

8:45 PM

1/2 cup palm shortening

1/2 cup sugar (evaporated cane crystals)

1 tsp. salt

2 pkgs. Yeast, 2 TBSP.

5 cups whole wheat flour

2 eggs

2 cups hot water

1/2 cup melted butter

Combine the shortening, sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups flour in mixer bowl and mix to combine the shortening with the flour mixture. (kind of like cutting in). Beat 2 eggs in a 2 cup measuring cup, then fill cup to the 2 cup mark with hot water; pour over dry mixture.

Add flour 1 cup at a time mixing in each cup well. Cover the bowl and let rise for 20 minutes. I leave in the Bosch work bowl and place lid on. Knead a couple more seconds in the bowl then turn out onto an oiled surface. Roll out into a large circle, like a pizza. Cut with a pizza cutter(or bench scraper) into 16 triangle shaped slices. Roll up from the wide end to the point and place on a greased cookie sheet (with sides). Let rise until double in size.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Immediately brush with butter when removed from the oven.

A Bike Trailer

For some reason this summer I have not made walking a priority...well no longer. I walked today and took a bike ride with the blessings...because, I finally have a bike trailer for Benjamin! Yahoo. I told a friend on Wednesday to keep her eye out for one and gave her my top price for a used trailer. She called the next day and had happened across one for $20 under my budgeted price! Yahoo, we have wheels and we will travel. So, if I am no longer in the kitchen, I have hit the road. Look out!

Super Summer

I think I am having one of the best summers that I have had in many years. We have been busy with many social outings and hosting others in our home. Our summer has been full of kitchen time with friends old and new and boy, I am having a great time. Yesterday, a friend came over and we made doughnuts, yes, two weeks in a row but hey, it is summer and I had to share the doughnut making that someone shared with me. And we are not keeping all the doughnuts at home for ourselves, I think I have only eaten one doughnut each time we have made them?
I have grain in the mill right now and I am making bread this morning and then another friend is coming over and we are going to make cookie dough for the freezer.
Of course recipes are here:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)

1/2 cup evaporated cane crystals(or white sugar)

1 tsp. vanilla

2 egggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 1/4 cups flour(I use whole wheat pastry flour)

12 oz. chocolate chips

Blend butter, sugar, eggs salt and baking soda and medium until fluffy. Add flour and blend well. Add chips to combine. Make golf ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees about 8-10 minutes. 

The new to me recipe I am planning on trying is this one: whole wheat chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

Stocking the freezer today! Yahoo! and shrimp for dinner to boot!

Our Little Helper

Benjamin enjoys taking care of packages while we are processing meat or fish. This weekend it was salmon.


See those lips, he was saying fish!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Here is the whole garden, we expanded a bit this year.



The green beans, bush beans

The pictures are labeled for your garden viewing experience.

Some day we would like to have a real greenhouse, but for now this gives us a few tomatoes for summer enjoyment. Right now there are 14 tomatoes on the vine.

Just a close up for a zucchini for my own records.

King Salmon

Daddy brought a whole king salmon home for the kids to see.

The Doughnut Recipe

While my friend and I were making bread yesterday the doughnuts popped into my mind and I threw out the option of making doughnuts and thankfully my friend was game, so we made doughnuts!

Overnight Doughnuts

1 quart  milk

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup honey

Scald milk, add butter and honey and stir until melted. Cool to 115-130 degrees. 

In a mixer bowl mix:

1 TBSP instant yeast

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg or cardamon, I use nutmeg

9 cups spelt or whole wheat flour

and then add the milk mixture and mix until "wet batter" like. At this point cover and place in the fridge overnight or knead a few more minutes for immediate use. Roll out 1/2 to 3/4 think, cut and allow to rise until doubled. Fry in oil 350-375 degrees about 3-4 minutes, turning once. Roll in sugar and enjoy.

Your toppings are up to you. Powdered sugar is easy and one of our favorites. We sometimes do cinnamon sugar and once I got really out there and made a chocolate dipping glaze, I think it was someone's birthday or something like that. This recipe is from a class I took that was called, "I Can't Believe it's not White Flour!!" A very well named class.

Hey Angela, good think I didn't read the rising part of this recipe yesterday, those doughnuts would have been huge!

A Good Mail Day

I had three goodies in the mail today. Free replacement parts for Judith’s guitar, my Mother Culture cd from Karen Andreola, and a dvd.

Doughnuts!!

A friend of mine got a Bosch Mixer, so she brought her new toy over and we had two mixers going today! We made 7 loaves of whole wheat bread, two braided pizza things and whole wheat doughnuts and of course, doughnut holes. Yummy!

Various Pictures from a Rainy Day Piano Lesson

Judith reading a book. She thinks the library should have a winter reading program and not a summer reading program. This picture is proof that the summer reading program keeps them reading.

A rare moment of Benjamin being still and playing with his trucks.

Elisabeth holding a sleepy baby, our piano teacher’s little sweetie. He makes piano even more enjoyable!

Geese Crossing the Highway

Yesterday, when we were coming home from piano and grocery gathering, there were a few cars stopped in the north bound lane. Then I noticed why they were stopped, a gaggle of geese were crossing the highway. Just when I needed reminding that life needs to slow down for what is important. Excuse me, while I take care of my little goslings.

Piano

Today we are off to our first summer piano lesson. We cut back our lessons to two a month in the summer. Just enough to keep the kids from losing any ground they have gained. Only challenge, getting everyone up and out the door. Gotta go find a couple of the Blessings and get them to eat.

We have a number

Levi was glad to have his name and number on his baseball shirt!

Benjamin’s House

Levi made Benjamin a house under the kitchen table. He and Is are reading books in his house.  And Judith was laying on the top bunk. He played in here all morning and was disappointed when the house was gone by the time he woke up from his nap.

Random Facts From the Week

1. Benjamin has discovered the port  a potties at the ball field, joy of all joys. This reminds me that I need to find parts to reassemble the van port a potty. So, last night during the game Benjamin needed to go “pa e mo” (ah as in father a, long e)  (potty mo, we do not know where the mo came from but it is here). He proceeded to announce his need to go potty mo. I got out of there quick with him.
2. He is not potty trained, well, not completely. He has taken care of his serious business on the potty since he was a wee little baby.
3. I got sunburned yesterday, well possibly over Monday and Tuesday. Monday I sat outside with the kids quite a bit during the day. Tuesday I took the kids to the playground and received a red face, arms and neck.
4. Today is cloudy so my skin can have a break.
5. I made bread today, well, I am making bread today. Pizza is for dinner!
6. My internet connection has been coming and going this week, mainly going, ugh!
7. My husband has been approved for a job change which we are very much looking forward to!
8. I bought Lye yesterday, I am one step closer to making soap! Yes, I am using a lot of exclamation points (or upside down i ‘s) today.
9. Buying lye is like a treasure hunt, you have to look fairly hard for it, well, just ask at the counter of the hardware store because it is behind the counter.
10. I love hardware stores. I said random in the title.

Eagles

Not far from our house is a Golden Eagle’s nest. They aren’t the majestic bald eagles but they are still something wonderful to observe.
They nest on top of this tall power pole.

Levi drove us over on his four wheeler. It is his and it was given to him.

We had friends over and they were running out their energy!

It took a bit but I did get a picture of the eagle and the nest. We could hear the babies in the nest but we are not able to see them yet.

Some of the kiddos in the trailer.

Summer Reading

I found Judith reading under the kitchen table on Sunday afternoon.