Winter Morning Breakfast

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Scones

We have been putting a new roof on our house the last few days. There are multiple reasons we needed to do it before winter; including the fact that moisture was getting in through some areas and that we are building an addition on the back of the house and wanted to tie the roof into that. So it has been a little bit of a rush against time to get it all done before the weather turns nasty. This morning I was up early helping Andrew blow insulation into the attic space so he could get the blower back to Spokane in time to not have to pay another day of rental fees. It was very cold and crisp out this morning. There was a thin covering of snow on the ground and thick crystals of frost on everything.
I decided that fresh baked scones and a steaming cup of coffee would be the perfect breakfast treat after working outside on a cold winter morning. Scones are so quick and easy to whip up and I love making them in different flavors to suit my mood. This time I made peppermint chocolate chip scones. It seemed very wintery and festive. They turned out delicious and were just the thing along with a cup of coffee to warm us up.

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Scones

Makes 8 scones

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon. salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 1/2 tablespoons cold butter
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 -1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add chopped cold butter and cut in with pastry cutter or hands until mixture resembles course crumbs. Add egg, milk, and peppermint extract. Mix until just combined. Add chocolate chips. Knead until dough forms into a ball. Flatten dough into a circle on a floured cutting board. Cut into eight triangles and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12- 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve warm with a cup of tea or coffee.

Grateful Everyday

Thanksgiving... a day to gather with loved ones, a day to eat mountains of delicious food, a day to be thankful for our many blessings. Sometimes it is easier to set aside one day to be thankful on, almost as if we fulfilled a duty and now we can go along our way. But what is one day of thanksgiving worth if we don't fulfill the harder task of being grateful everyday? Everyday when the hours are long and weary, everyday when the children are whining and the dinner is burned, everyday when all the mundane tasks overwhelm us. Sometimes it is hard, so hard to remember to stop and count our blessings in the midst of the mess that is so often everyday life. But they are there; a kiss from little lips, a fleeting ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, a crackling fire in the woodstove. And not just to notice all the good things that are so easily overlooked, but to actually give thanks for the hard things, the painful things, the challenging things. This Thanksgiving may we not only give thanks, but stop to remember why we can give thanks in all things... because we serve a great God who gives us grace for everyday, who gives us growth in the hard things. For this may we be truly grateful everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Potato Party

Well this post is a little late, but I figured better late than never. Back in September we were blessed to have the help of friends, family and neighbors to get our potato crop out of the ground. We made it into quite a party. In the evening we all had a harvest dinner of potato soup and Asian cabbage salad. We also celebrated David's 4th birthday with a some cupcakes, balloons, and gifts.

The Potato Harvest Crew

Matthew Helping Sort Potatoes

Picking up Potatoes

Potatoes

Happy Birthday

David Turns Four

Feeding the Poultry

Both boys absolutely love feeding the chickens and the ducks. It is so much fun for them to throw the grain. Matthew almost always cries when it is time to put the can away and go back inside.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

This summer I had an abundant crop of colorful and delicious cherry tomatoes. I picked a whole bucketful the other day to save the last of them from freezing. I wasn't really sure what to do with them all. So after looking for some ideas online I decided to try roasting them. It was quite simple. I cut them in half then tossed them with olive oil, some fresh chopped basil and oregano, and a handful of whole peeled garlic cloves. I spread it all on cookie sheets and roasted them at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes. After they came out of the oven and cooled a bit I put them in jars and covered them with more olive oil. I kept on jar in the fridge and the rest I put in the freezer for future use. They would make a great pasta or pizza topping or for just snacking on.

Autumn Pear Tart

I love Autumn, the smells, the flavors, the colors. This delicious pear tart has become a tradition for me to bake each fall.

Marcus CiderFest

We had a fun day at the CiderFest this year. We had a booth to sell our pumpkins, potatoes and other vegetables along with my body care products. The weather was perfect. A little bit cool and cloudy in the morning with beautiful sunshine in the afternnon. David enjoyed the parade but his favorite part was watching the ciderpress, he would have watched it all day if he could have. Matthew was pretty fascinated by it as well.

Squash Harvest

Last week we finished harvesting the squash and pumpkins. I love all the shapes and colors, they are one of my favorite parts of fall.

Fun at the Corn Maze

Last weekend we took the the boys and their cousin Justus to the corn maze. It was a gorgeous fall day, sunny and warm. David and Justus were so excited to run through finding the numbers and deciding which path to take. Matthew was so cute laughing and toddling behind trying to keep up with the bigger boys, when he got tired he rode on Andrews shoulders. It was a perfect way to spend an autumn afternoon.

Exploring the maze

Which way should we go?

Keeping up with Daddy

Running along

Matthew

Taking a rest

Kombucha

Well I did a post about water kefir or tibicos, now I am going to share with you about kombucha. Kombucha is another fermented drink that is full of probiotics. Kombucha is a little stronger flavored than water kefir and some people don’t care for it. I tend to like water kefir a little better but I also really like kombucha. If you enjoyed the water kefir and are feeling adventurous you might like making kombucha, too. I got my kombucha scoby and my water kefir grains at the same time. While the grains look like pretty little transparent crystals the scoby looks kind of like a slimy brown mushroom, which is why it is sometimes called one even though it is not. A SCOBY is a Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast that is used to ferment sweetened tea and turn it into kombucha. It is very easy to make, although it might take some experimenting to get it just the way you like it. I usually make a half gallon at a time but you an easily double the recipe for a larger batch. Ingredients for one half gallon of kombucha: 1 kombucha scoby ½ cup of kombucha tea 4 plain black tea bags ¾ cups organic cane sugar Helpful equipment for making kombucha: 1 gallon glass jar Cheesecloth Rubberband Airtight jars or bottles Strainer Here is the method I use: Place tea bags and sugar in a 4 cup measuring cup, add boiling water. Stir to dissolve sugar and allow to cool completely. Add to gallon jar along with scoby, four more cups of cool water and ½ cup of kombucha from a previous batch. Cover with cheesecloth and secure with a rubberband. Allow to sit at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 5 – 10 days. I prefer mine to sit for about seven days. I like the flavor the best after that length of time and it also makes it easy to remember which day I need to do something with it and start my next batch. Next I strain it into an airtight bottle. I have been using an old plastic juice bottle, but would prefer to get a couple more glass flip top bottles to use. Let it sit on the counter overnight then refrigerate to chill. You can experiment with different types of tea such as chai, or other flavors or green tea. My brother in law even tried a batch using coffee once, I’m not too sure about that though. You can also add fruit juice when you bottle it for a tasty flavored version. See it is easy to make, tasty, and healthy, too! If you need a scoby keep your ears open for friends or aquintances that are making it, most people are happy to share extra ones, or you can buy them online. Kombucha is easy to make, tasty, and good for you!

The lovely scoby

Steeping the tea

Bottled to give it a nice fizz

Finished and delightful