Adventures in an alternative Sour Dough

A friend of mine gave me a sourdough start in April.  Actually, she gave me five.  I put them in the fridge to keep for a few days till I could get to them but since then, we've been cooking!
I know that Amish Friendship Bread comes with a little handout and  recipe with specific instructions on it's feeding schedule, how and when to split the mixture and yet more details on how to spread it around to the whole world, 5 friends at a time.  Grand Ambitions... and on their preferred schedule, I believe it could be achieved.  However, I also think that majority of people are really missing what a gem this ziplock bag of goo on the counter really is.  Sure.  The cinnamon laden Amish friendship cake is amazing.  But, it has so much more potential!
I love their slightly sourdough pancakes and waffles.  Both are delicious!  I would not give up my traditional waffle recipe, but I would love to keep this as an alternative.  My favorite resource for recipes, most of them being reviewed, can be found here.

The morning is going to be crazy at the least, as I finished bedtime with all the children at 10:45.  That is up to 3 hours late for some of them!    Knowing this, I'm hedging my bet tonight by preparing breakfast for the morn.
I found a Apple Cranberry Nut Bread recipe that is made with the starter.

I had to make some subs from lack of ingredients, and others I choose to add out of preference.
I wanted to make them with all wheat flour to give them a bit more staying power and help propel every one through their meetings in the morning.  I added the coconut at the end on a whim.  I wouldn't change that, as it added a delicious added note!

Apple Cranberry Nut Amish Friendship Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 vegetable oil
• 6 beaten eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 cups wheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup craisins
• 1 cup shredded apple
• 1 shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup smashed pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Beat eggs, then combine all ingredients in Bosch.
3. Bake in large muffin tins for approximately 25 min*.

These are a delicious muffin.  Not too sweet, but still yummy enough to devour.  A great Breakfast!

*My oven is a bit wonky, please don't go off of this time measurement by faith alone!

On a side note, while you're waiting for those muffins to bake,  macerate some strawberries with fresh mint leaves.

Thinking these are destined to be served over some ice cream tomorrow topped with some whipped cream!  Yum!

How I really work

In the past, I have read blog posts that expose a person in their true form.  They always awe me as I'm the person who tries to do a quick tidy behind the child before I shoot the picture.  Of course, half the time I miss the shot.  Then there is another good percentage of the time that I would not even think about taking a picture no matter how cute my kid is being because there is just no way I could make the background look presentable in any amount of short time!  

On Wednesday morning, I walked around my house, and took note that nearly every single room was destroyed.  Many spaces just had their typical stuff scattered around.  I only make the kids tidy their rooms for vacuuming once a week on Friday's.  So, it's safe to say, their rooms are messy.   Naturally, my canning from Monday is all sitting on the counter still in all its red bejeweled glory. The hallway looked as if a book tornado make a few passes. (the little kids like to read books by pulling off the entire shelf, sitting in the pile, and then reading.) It also was the home of the spilt box of costumes. The front room had the remnants of a pillow fort and the toys that they were playing with inside of said fort. The dining room had the leftovers of a get well soon card that the family made together for my sis who just had surgery, and the toys that were brought in to keep Zander happy on the floor and not crawling over the masterpiece in the making.   The kids bathroom was host to a family reunion for the toothbrushes thanks to Abigail.  She set out beds for each one, and made sure they had snacks.  Toothpaste, of course.  Darling in its own disastrous way.   Am I painting a picture yet?

My problem is I don't know where to start.  I wanted to put away my jams and syrups so I could prepare the kitchen for Strawberry 2.0, but this is what I ran into when I went up the stairs to get to the food storage closet.  

 These are some of our costumes.  Let me explain.  I love all things pretend.  I love to sew and buy costumes.  In our last home, Khali had a gigantic closet and we hung up all of our costumes in there.  When we moved, there was no extra closet space to put them.  Since I didn't have a solution for this, I left the costumes packed in a box, stored in the back of food storage closet knowing that without a good place for them, they'd constantly be a mess.  However, I now have a 6 year old who is extremely curious and can ready very well.  So, of course when I asked her to retrieve some salsa one night, she stepped on top of this box to get it and read 'Costumes' written in fat sharpie.  My salsa never was brought to the kitchen, and when I went upstairs to see where my child had gotten lost, the costumes were being strewn about as Bell looked, excitedly, for a princess gown.  I had successfully avoided the problem of costume storage for 8 months.  That was 4 months ago.  Since then, whenever the kids wanted to play dress up, they dug through the box casting off the rejections in all directions.  Then someone (generally me) would go toss them all back into the box for the process to repeat another day.

So, with an entire house to put back in order, I went to the garage. I had seen a costume wardrobe on Ana White's website.  I figured if I fixed my costume problem, then I would be able to traverse the path from my kitchen to the storage area, and then, and only then, could I clean up the rest of my house.  This logic works for you,  doesn't it?  If it does, please come help me explain to my dearest.  He doesn't get it at all.

I didn't have any nice wood to work with, and my dearest darling has banned me from spending any more at Lowes or Home Depot this month, so I went with plywood leftover from my Chicken Coop project.  While not being ideal wood, this helps me solve the problem of what to do to with these piles that are taking over my garage.  (The wood on the left is slated for Potato Boxes. My next project!)

 The next problem comes from not having a table saw to rip down the boards, or a chop saw to make quick cuts.   I did have my trusty old Jig Saw.  Thanks Daddy for giving me your cast off tools!  I obviously was slightly determined or the lack of the ideal wood and tools would have sent me to choose a different starting point in cleaning the house. Maybe the costumes?  Nah.

I had the base built in about 2 hours in the afternoon, and even had enough time to make a proper dinner!  Because this was turning into a use-it-up project, I went to the paint closet and made my selection from there.  I went with 'Twig Basket', since I wanted a neutral color to work for all my littles.   I managed to paint it while the older kids cleaned up the dinner dishes.  After bedtime, I pulled out my Silhouette and cut out the freezer paper stencil I used on the base to jazz it up a little.

I didn't wait quite long enough to stencil,  I got a bit of paint (a whole lot of paint) on the sole of my iron.  But this isn't the first time a craft project has made a mess of my iron. A little salt will clean it up!  

I ran to the store this morning to buy castors to put on the bottom so that we could move it easily.  This addition puts the project at a grand total of $7.00 out of pocket.   I had it upstairs with a few costumes already hung up when the little girls woke up to surprise them.  

Ideally I'd finish up the project with 

• Baskets on the top shelf  to hold wings, crowns, hats and armor.
• Full body mirror on one side
• Hooks for bags on the other side
• Sword Storage
• Organize Shoes that are now tossed into the bottom.

Not too shabby for a day project eh?  

Strawberry Preserves

I have recently been participating in a coop called Bountiful Baskets.  They are a grassroots volunteer ran organization that works together to get fruit and vegetables at rock bottom prices. I've been very happy with their produce in volume and quality.  They have a standard share that fills much of a laundry basket for $15 dollars and also great value's available to add-on, such as sour dough bread, granola, and extra portions of fruits and veggies.
This past weekend, I ordered 40 lbs of Strawberries for 60 dollars.  I wanted to prepare them over the weekend, but sick babies negated that plan.  So today, armed with the help of the children, I set to work.
We washed, hulled, and mashed 36 lbs of Strawberries in a few short hours.  It's amazing what team work can do!

With all the preparation done we made;

• 4 quarts, 4 pints and 4 half-pints of Strawberry Syrup
• 9 pints of Strawberry Jam

Since I ran out of lids, we stopped there and cleaned up the kitchen for the day leaving 1.5 gallons of Strawberry puree in the fridge awaiting to be used in other recipes.  I'm looking at; 

•  Strawberry Lemon-aid concentrate.
• Minty Strawberry Mango Jam
• Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

I would use my mothers recipe for the Rhubarb Strawberry Jam, but the other two recipes are ones that I've never tried, but am interested in.  I'm excited to add these jars to my food storage shelves.  I find extreme joy in the work involved in canning, but I am almost giddy when I go to the closet to get out some type of food I put away months before!

Switching Fires

A slight change of plans today.

I am told, perhaps only by friends to help me feel better, that even professional builders have that one measurement that in the end just isn't right.  Here is mine.  Last week, I measured out my coop and build the base in position.  Then, my darling husband helped me dig through the rocks mixed with dirt and debris we lovingly refer to as the ground around here to not only even the ground out for the legs, but also to be able to bury and flay out hardware cloth.  The coop is very near being finished and we asked a few friends to help us move from the backyard where I've been building it on top of a little tykes toy, to the side yard where the chickens will be kept.  This move was a bit complicated as there was a tree in the way that required lifting the coop over the fence and into the neighbors yard to bypass.  With three grunting men, and two buff women helping, we got the coop to the base!  Score!
Oh Wait.
There is an overhang on the roof.  Of course there is an overhang on the roof.  They are supposed to be built that way to ensure that the rain will run off the edge of the roof and not straight down the outer wall of your building.  
However, I didn't take that into consideration when burying the base and it's accompanying wire. So, the coop won't sit on it's base.  We're off by a measly inch.  AN INCH I SAY!
So, command decisions needed to be made while we had the man power to help us.  We took off a lower roof and switched the direction the coop is oriented on the base.  This messes will all sorts of little details.  Like, the egg boxes not being located at the end of the coop adjacent to the side door for easy collecting, the feeding tubes not being in the same local, the muck doors being only feet away from the compost bin, and the trap door built into the bottom of the coop so the chickens can go into Fort Knox (their small but very secure) run when we are going to be gone all day no longer lines up with the supports underneath.

I feel the need to scream.  Just a little bit.

Tonight I had the idea in my head I was going to relax with a friend a little bit and do some crafting.  My friend came over, we played a game with our husbands before they headed off together, and we got out supplies.  Only, I never got around to any of it.

I did reclaim my kitchen.  Kinda embarrassed that I loaded a full dishwasher, and then hand washed 6 baking dishes, 3 pots, and 4 large bowls.   It's been a long weekend of doing many other things....
I also mopped the floor after Abigail tried to clean it for me with baby oil.  I must admit, it was very shiny!
I also scrubbed the backdoor and adjacent molding after Abigail drew on them with pen, right in front of me!

So, after taking my friend home, I realized there is a potluck tomorrow after church that I needed to make salads for.  Lucky thing I just cleaned my kitchen eh?
So, I made my families Blueberry Salad, that I actually have changed into a Fresh Blackberry Salad since I live in Washington and have access to them.  Then I wanted to make the Pink Jello Salad, but tried to take it up a notch by cooking my jello with pineapple juice and a cup of marshmallows until it thickens, then once it cooled whipped it to a bright fluffy mess and then mixed it in with the other ingredients.  From tasting the spoon once I got it into its bowl, I am willing to say I'm positive it was worth the extra effort.
Since I'd started with a clean kitchen I was inspired to clean along the way.  I was also inspired to make muffins for the morning since I had blackberries from the freezer out on the counter.  It felt great to be in the kitchen for the night.  It felt productive.  I don't even mind that its after midnight and I'm not done yet, because everything is working out.

I had a tendency to burn out on projects when things get rough.  I can't tell you how many unfinished projecst I have.  The chicken coop has definitely started to get much harder recently!  Two days ago, I had to change the position of the roosting poles three times, which means there are 6 un-used holes to putty. Just last night I got stuck trying to figure out the angles and lengths to cut to make the foux chimney.  I asked Kolton to figure out the Geometry of it all for me and the geek came through and got me all my measurements and angles.
Tonight, I made a list of everything that needed to be done to finish the coop.  I came up with 10 things.  I am praying I have everything on the list.  I am getting tired of this project.  The chickens are getting tired of living in their box in the garage.  I will finish this.  I will push through.  I have not worked so hard for so many hours to quit now!  But for tonight,  I am going to go to bed.  Maybe I will be able to find a few positives in all the changes that had to be made in the morning light.

Day 4 on Kaua'i

Instead of waking up at 5 am to the roosters crowing outside, I woke up to the sound of heavy rain and wind.  I actually love to listen to the rain when I sleep, so while I was able to go back to sleep, I was saddened by its presence on my vacation.  We had wanted to wake up, give another go at boogie boarding, get in one more trip snorkeling before cleaning up and heading to our helicopter tour for the afternoon.  Unfortunately, we knew very early on in the morning that the chance of the tour being canceled was extremely high, and snorkeling and boogie boarding were out.  We decided to get out of the bungalow for a little while this morning instead of waiting around for the cancellation phone call.  We drove toward the south shore to Kalalea and ate breakfast at a small diner.  I ordered a sweet Hawaiian french toast with macadamia nuts and pineapple topping.   I remember this exactly because it was DELICIOUS!  I'm beginning to think that pineapple can be put on anything.  Of course while we were eating we did receive the fated phone call canceling our trip up in the helicopter.  We decided to head back to the bungalow and figure out how to  reschedule the rest of our time here in Kaua'i and try to fit everything in.
We were able to reschedule the helicopter trip for another day, and we relaxed in our bungalow for a little while.
After a yummy lunch with fresh cut pineapple, we decided to head back to the sunnier side of the island to find a beach to boogie board.  I tried to bail out, thankfully Kolton is persistent.  We dressed down to our swimsuits and went out into the water with our boards strapped to our wrists.  I proudly caught the first wave I could and rode it successfully up to shore.  After having an early success I was eager to get back out.   Kolton caught a wave pretty early on as well.  We were on a roll!  After three successful rides, I missed the front of the next wave and ended up getting taken under by the crest of the wave.  It's amazing how quickly things can go ary in the ocean!  The wave managed to face plant me in the shore and then roll me over and scoot me up the beach on my toosh before it washed back out to the ocean.  Kolton was on shore and was able to watch this event unfold.  Apparently it was amusing to watch my face change from excitement, to terrified so quickly.  I took my board, walked a few steps away from the ocean and sat on my rump to catch my breath for a few minutes.  Kolton caught quite a few waves and was able to ride them in rather successfully. We learned a few tricks through our adventure.  It's tricky to catch the front of the wave to avoid being smashed.  We both tried to jump over the smaller waves in order to be in position when the larger waves came but do not jump over the wave with the board in front of you.  Kolton took a nice whack to the nose doing that one.  Waiting for the 'good' waves we learned another lesson.  Just because the wave is bigger doesn't mean it will make for a better ride.  If the wave has a large break on top,  it's very possible to make for a great ride, but it is also going to have a wonderful smash for you at the end.  After I got flipped over and drug through the sand a few more waves, I resigned and sat on shore to wait for Kolton to either be the conqueror, or to join me in defeat.  Overall he did so much better than I did, but we both decided it was time to head home for the afternoon and try another day with slightly calmer waves.
After cleaning up we got ready to go out to a nice dinner for our anniversary.  After looking at many different restaurant choices we headed out to make a final decision.  Asian infused Tapas!  Unfortunately the place  had a two hour wait!   Since I was hungry, we decided to get dinner at  'Da Crack', a true hole in the wall Mexican joint complete with a picture of a Mexican dude's crack above the ordering window.  We ordered the 5 dollar burrito and a plate of nacho's to take back to our room.  It was amazing.  I have missed good Mexican food, and this was beyond good.  It was great!  We made reservations for a Tapas dinner for tomorrow night.  See how fast we learn?
While today was not ideal weather wise for our vacation, we did what we could and I still enjoyed our day together.  It was probably a good thing for my skin to get a reprieve from the sun for the day.  I've been able to keep slathered in sunscreen, but being somewhere tropical pretty much guarantee's that I'm going to get a sunburn at some point.
I feel very blessed to be vacationing with my husband in this beautiful land.  I love being married to my dalring, and cannot wait to see what the next 11 years of marriage will bring.

(Sorry there are no pictures today!)

Day Three on Kaua'i

We woke up this morning to Kolton's phone ringing on vibrate. It was probably a good thing since it was a little after 9. Kolton and I both got to talk to our parents for a few minutes, then it was time to get down to business! We chomped down breakfast with some juice and milk and immediately got dressed to go down to the beach. I can't tell you how much I love walking down to the beach whenever you want. 

Our walk down to the beach

 I really LOVE it. We set up our beach chairs, put on our snorkling gear, and jumped into the surf. Today I seemed to take to the water even faster than yesterday. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to take swimming lessons over the past 8 weeks. I never thought I would be so comfortable in the water. We were out for quite awhile and tried to swim around the end of a reef to head into a neighboring bay, but Kolton's mask was not cooperating and the poor guy was taking on water right and left. We finally got it adjusted well enough but had already been out for about 45 minutes so we continued to head to shore.

Kolton wanted to sit in the sun on the shore for a little while,  so I did the red-head thing.  I curled up in the shade of his chair, covered myself with a sarong and took a little nap. Eventually Kolton had enough sun and we headed back into the water for a second round of snorkeling.  

This is great water for snorkeling.  We did not appreciate the smooth water till later in our vacation.

  Before we even had all of our gear on, Kolton over heard another snorkler mention he'd seen a sea turtle.  Kolton and I immediately headed over to that area.  Well, I immediately headed over.  I actually left Kolton behind since he was still fiddling with his gear.  I found the sea turtle hiding under the edge of the reef.  After a few moments, Kolton got over to me and we both got to watch.  The turtle seemed happy to just nap under the rocks, but then began to swim around and surface a few different times.  Kolton and I followed the turtle around for a few minutes.  He was so big!  I would say his body was slightly larger than Kolton's chest.  We tried not to chase him for too long and soon after followed a few schools of fish.  Once again,  I swam with little regard for anyone or anything other than following the little fishies.  Thankfully Kolton loves me dearly and was willing to follow me around.  We saw so many different types of fish.  Large, small, colorful, opaque, the Parrot Fish that has a beak style mouth and even a fish with a horn on it's nose!  I called it the unicorn fish.  I have no idea what it's real name was.  

After a bit of my independent adventure, Kolton and I were swimming together holding hands so that I would stay with him.  Boy am I glad that we were because the next thing we saw was a big ole eel.  Then we saw another just as big.  Scared the crap out of me.  Then of  course, in my efforts to swim away from them, I swam directly into a whole school of smaller eels.  I swear they were chasing me!  I could not get away from them!  My heart was racing, my lungs were burning, and the ocean was getting choppy.  And the Eels were chasing me!  All I could think of were the shreiking eels from Princess Bride.  I think that movie has ruined eels for me for life.  After that I couldn't ever get my snorkeling tube clear or my mask either.  Once again,  Kolton loves me dearly and suggested we headed for shore even though he was still having fun.  Unfortuantly, when you let me lead the way on a snorkeling adventure, I pay no attention to anything other than the pretty fishy i'm following and we were a few hundred yards out.  He had to stop and redirect me several times toward the shore.  It was definitely the best snorkeling trip of the four we've done so far.

We headed back to our bungalow at this point to clean up and get some lunch.  We munched on some yummy pizza and a delicious spinach salad while we took a little break.  It was at this point in the day we decided we really did need to schedule a Scuba diving trip while we were in Hawaii and went and talked to our concierge Lisa.  We took the opportunity while booking the trip to walk around the plantation and take a few pictures of the landscape and flora.  We then hopped back into our rental car and headed to Waimae Canyon to take in some new sceenery.   Waimea is on the west side of the island that takes in the most sunshine and the least rainfall.  We drove by the local farmers market by chance but stopped and bought some local tropical fruit for a few dollars. 

We bought Rambutan (image from Rambutan.com)

It's a very interesting fruit that is red spiny on the outside, and clear egg shaped gelatinous fruit on the inside. Kinda strange, but we enjoyed it.

 We then drove another half an hour up a very windy but beautiful canyon to get to the viewing point.  The wind was roaring, but the sun was shining and it was still very nice out.  We were fortunate enough to be at the top with another gentleman who was kind enough to take a few pictures of Kolton and I together in front of the gorgeous backdrop. 

Did I mention it was windy up there?

 There were a few other scenic pull out spots on the way down the canyon that we stopped at for a few more pictures.  

The landscape was incredible.

We stopped for dinner at a small local shrimp shack.  I have never had such great coconut shrimp!  They had an awesome creamy mango dipping sauce that was to die for.  Of course, the french fries they served it with just topped the meal off for me!  Love me some salt!

We decided to drive back to the plantation bungalows to watch the sunset.  This was not a bad call by any means.  I was amazed how quickly the sun sets over the ocean!

Taken at 6:27

Taken at 6:32

Taken at 6:37

To end our perfect day, we decided to go to a local desert shop and buy some Gelato.  We ordered a combo pint of White Chocolate Pistacio Gelato, and  Salted Caramel with Roasted Banana.  Sounds pretty awesome, right?  We've been hearing ads about this shop for a few nights on the TV now, and I think we had our expectations set a little too high.  While it is delicious, it's just ice cream/gelato.  There is only so much you can do with it, ya know?  It was definitely better than anything I've bought recently at the grocery store!  

I'm pretty sure today was the best day ever.  I love being in Hawaii with my husband!

Day two on Kaua'i

Kolton really knows how to vacation. He woke up this morning and immediately dressed for the beach. I was all ready to lounge around the bungalo, but decided I better follow suit before I got left behind.  The Plantation does an introduction to the Island with a continental breakfast the first morning you're staying with them.  The fresh pineapple and 2 styles of banana bread were very yummy, so we scarfed them down, chased them with some juice and practically ran down to the beach.  We grabbed chairs, towels and snorkleing gear from the beach hut.  After claiming a spot on the beach for ourselves, we immediately got into the water to try our hand at snorkeling.  I put my equipment on before getting into the water and honestly started to have a bit of panic building in my chest.  I mean honestly, 8 weeks ago I was terrified of the pool, water on my face, and drowning in the kiddie end.  The ocean is slightly bigger, with a few more scary prospects!  However, I put on my big girl panties and waded right in. Thankfully my snorkeling equipment was a good fit and didn't give me many problems.  I did learn rather quickly that laughing while you're snorkeling is not highly advised.   Too bad for me, I giggle when I'm nervous!  We stayed out for about an hour.  It was amazing how much aquatic life is a short 20-30 feet out from shore!  We saw so many fish, small and large, sea urchins and coral.  It was awesome, and we can't wait to go back.
We headed back to our bungalow to eat some lunch before heading to our Zip Line adventure.  We checked in a few minutes early and met our guides along with our other members of our group of about 10.

Kolton sported a Dora bandage for the day, until we got to the store to buy something nondescript.  The Badge of a Father.  Even on vacation!

 There was a couple from Chicago, a mother and aunt visiting a daughter in Hawaii, and another couple that was from Seattle as well!  We rode in an old austrian swiss army vehicle up to the middle of the island.  I felt like we were being illegally transported across enemy borders.  If only they'd put down the vinyl on the sides and back, my feelings could have been legit!

This was the view at the top.  You can see two of the lines from here. 

The course is set up to seperate the adventurous, from the cowards right up front.  The first zip you go a short 100 ft, acrosss ground that is barely lower than you, with a very small decrease in altitude.  If you can't do the first zip, or hate it at the end, you can hop back in the illegal transport vehicle and they'll take you down the mountain.  Running off the podium takes some nerve I tell you!

Kolton snapped a pic of me being secured to the line.  I look a little nervous don't I?

  Luckily for me, I found a little thrill in the ride, and wanted to continue.   

A few zips later, Kolton went cannonball style.  

Then he really decided to show off and Tarzan off a corner of the platform.

When we finished our awesome adventure, we were able to have lunch in the valley we just worked so hard to get to.  Some times of the year, you can go swimming in the lake that collect there, but it's not suggested after all the rain storms we've had.   It wasn't really too disappointing though.  It was windy, sometimes rainy, and swimming in a lake/pond doesn't really hold up to zip-lining anyway.

We loaded the illegal transport vehicles once we'd had our fill of sandwiches and cookies and began the bumpy trek back to town.  All was going well (bumpy, but well) when the truck suddenly stopped, the driver jumped out and ran away.  I had no clue what to think, but shortly afterwards our Hawaiian Native returned holding something in his hands.  

This was the only feral pig we saw the entire time we were on the island.  Apparently you can take this home with you, domesticate it, and it will be a better pet than a dog.  Hm.. No Thanks! 

Overall, Ziplining was an awesome way to spend an afternoon.  I probably would return to do this course again, but if we went somewhere else that did zips, I'd go again.  It's a lot of fun!

When we were headed back to our bungalow, we diverted to see one of the waterfalls accessible to the public, Walua Falls.  This waterfall is named for it's double waterfall and traditionally looks like this.

(Stolen from kauai-josiecondo.com)

For us, it was not even close to a double waterfall.  This one of the perks of going in the rainier season.