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Monday, March 22, 2010

A homemaker in training experience

Yesterday I made my first cake from scratch. It tasted wonderful but it was not without it's trials...
  • I attempted to shred the carrots with a lemon zester. When that didn't work I tried the cheese grater (which worked). But then, Mom to the rescue! She introduced me to...The Food Processor...Praise the Lord!

  • I baked the cakes in an 8x1/2 inch pan instead of a 9x1/2 inch pan (yes, it matters). They nearly overflowed.

  • When it came time for frosting, I thought it was too thick, so I added some milk. But it was only after I started frosting that I realized how much easier it would have been with thick frosting...kinda soupy.

    Dad enjoyed it and that's all that matters.

Is it Spring now?

After two days of snow and wind, today might really be the first day of Spring. The temperature is around 40 degrees! Most of the snow is already gone. This poem by Robert Frost describes much of our yard...
A Patch of Old Snow
There's a patch of old snow in a corner
I should have guessed
Was a blow-away paper the rain
Had brought to rest.
It is speckled with grime as if
Small print overspread it,
The news of a day I've forgotten-
If I ever read it.
( Don't pause at the end of each line or it won't make sense. Mom and I made that mistake.)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Spring?

Yesterday ,at noon, it was 70 degrees...
Today at noon it's about 28 degrees.
Not to mention it is the first day of Spring.


Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Helen Keller did Nature Study!

"I had my first lessons in the beneficence of nature. I learned how the sun and the rain make to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, how birds build their nests and live and thrive from land to land, how the squirrel, the deer, the lion and every other creature finds food and shelter. As my knowledge of things grew I felt more the delight of the world. Long before I learned to do a sum in arithmetic or describe the shape of the earth, Miss Sullivan had taught me to find beauty in the fragrant woods, in every blade of grass, and in the curves and dimples of my baby sister's hands. She linked my earliest thought with nature and made me feel that 'birds and flowers and I were happy peers'."

The Story of my Life
Helen Keller

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Noah

Our steer, Noah, went to market this morning :( He was such a baby even at over 1000 pounds. He had a happy life. We are going to have meat for a very long time.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Granola!

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoons almond extract
6 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup slivered almonds
In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, milk powder, honey, apple juice, oil, salt, and cinnamon. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved; stir in extract. In a large bowl, combine the oats and almonds. Drizzle with sugar mixture and mix well.
Spread a thin layer in two 15x10-inch baking pans coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees. Take out of oven and stir thoroughly. Cook for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. They'll turn crunchy as they cool. Enjoy on yogurt, vanilla ice cream, or as cereal.

Variations:

Add 1-1/2 cups dried cherries or cranberries to the oats

Use walnuts instead of almonds

Use 2 teaspoons of vanilla or 1 teaspoon of maple extract instead of almond