Gardening=Cooking

We've learned a lot this summer out at the farm. I realized this is the perfect way to start gardening: by working in someone else's garden. They have the land, the seeds, and the majority of the responsibility. We help out when we're there one or two days a week and the owners are generous enough to send us home with half of our harvesting. So the latest farm fresh goodies have included cukes, bell and banana peppers, tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, and blackberries. The harvest schedule is very different down here. For example, I learned that because of how hot it can get down here, you can't wait to harvest potatoes when the vine dries up like in Minnesota. Grandma Wilma taught us that the potatoes will literally boil/bake in the ground with the summer temps. Although this year has been much different; we are enjoying many days with highs only in the 80's and 90's.

While the owners of the farm are gone on a mission trip to Africa for a couple of weeks, we were "ordered" to take home all of the ripe vegetables from the garden. Consequently, we ended up with a few tomatoes. I decided to give homemade spaghetti sauce a try. The recipe I found said to have 20 pounds of tomatoes.

First, we boiled the tomatoes for 45 seconds and gave them an ice bath. After peeling the tomatoes and squeezing all the juice and seeds out, we simmered them for half an hour. Then I cooled them off to put them in a blender really quick to get the consistency our kids like. Back into the pot it went with lots of seasonings, including fresh herbs also from the garden. It was a lot of work and all these tomatoes only made about 2 jars worth of sauce! But boy was it good. We put it on our homemade pizzas.

We also used some tomatoes and fresh banana and bell peppers to make some homemade salsa. Yummy!

But everyone's favorite crop this year: BLACKBERRIES! We have never got to have fresh blackberries. The kids didn't care much for the picking; it was thorny and we were out in the fields with the sheep with the guard dog keeping both eyes on us. But they sure made sure to help eat the blackberries. I couldn't believe the taste difference compared to store-bought ones. Gabie could not stop eating them. While we were out in the field picking them, he was eating them just about as fast as I was picking them!

Since we had so many of them (after I got Gabie to slow down), I also made blackberry jam. I found a really great, quick recipe that used just enough sugar to make it into preserves.

Here's peanut butter pancakes with blackberries. Definitely a family favorite!

Of course, I haven't been doing all this work myself. The kids are becoming professional culinary chefs! Vince was really itching to make homemade pasta, so he chose lasagna noodles since it requires less cutting and doesn't require a pasta machine. He did a great job; his homemade noodles were so much more delicious than store-bought! (This picture was taken of cold leftover lasagna to show the layers and Vince's homemade noodles.)

Dylan's new favorite thing to make is cornbread muffins. He does such a good job too! (Notice his apron; it's his Lowe's Build & Grow Workshop one. We do the workshops there once a month and he figured out another use for that apron. Makes sense to me!)

And of course, the grand finale, Vince's homemade ice cream sandwiches. Well, partially homemade anyway. We didn't make homemade ice cream this time; the dairy farm keeps running out of cream in the summer! (Gee, I wonder why?!) So he made homemade cookies and used the runner up, all-natural and delicious Breyers vanilla. Lip-smacking good!

Celebrating Freedom

The hot weather hasn't stopped us from having fun, so we didn't let that change for Independence Day! The morning of the fourth, some gentle thunderstorms brought some extreme humidity with them. So even though the day cleared up, the humidity took its toll on the kids. But they weren't about to miss out on our plans over that! We were invited to some friends' house for their annual Fourth of July celebration. There were lots of fun things to do and people to do them with!

The young teenagers played volleyball and badminton (which Vince was a part of, now that he's a teenager---that is just still weird!); the older teens were off in the background lighting off little explosives, and the little ones were running all over the place. Many of the families there were also homeschoolers and our kids all clicked really well with each other. Faith likes hanging out with kids her own age, but she really likes hanging out with Suzie. I can't say I blame here; Suzie is such an awesome teenager!

Aside from fun, we had some good food too. I made a patriotic fruit salad that was a nice summery treat. It was a pack of strawberries cut up, a pint of fresh blueberries, two chopped bananas, and 1 1/2 cups of vanilla yogurt. Gabie was grocery shopping with me when I bought the "blueblerries" (notice the extra "l" he puts in when he says it) and he had such a hard time waiting to eat them.

We found a good fishing hole right in town at the local lake and the kids have enjoyed giving fish a reason to do their own freedom celebration. (We just catch and release fish.) Faith's learning to put a worm on the hook and Vince has got his fishing thing down. Here's his biggest catch so far:

It seems Faith's and Gabie's bodies still haven't fully acclimated to the summer temps, as you can tell from this picture:

Faith can be out for 10 minutes and her whole face will turn bright pink. Gabie's does too and his hair gets all sweaty. Gabie also tends to get a little bored during fishing outings, so sometimes Mommy and Gabie stay home while the other kids go fishing with Daddy. Besides, Mommy likes her Gabie time with a quiet house once in a while!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Freedom Celebration. The morning after the fourth, we sang "I Am Free" at church. Some of you may know it. ("I am free to dance, I am free to live for you.") While we were singing it though, I found myself needing more. I asked the Lord what I'm free from, specifically. I'm sure not free from sin; I do so many things that I don't want to do and know I shouldn't do. Financially, the only way we could be more enslaved was if we had a mortgage; so financial freedom isn't there either. During my time in the Word that evening, I happen to read this: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life HAS SET YOU FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH." (Romans 8:1-2) When we have given our hearts to the Lord and accepted that he took our punishment for us, we are no longer set to receive the punishment required by God's law of death. So even though we may die temporarily on earth, we never really die because we will live forever with God. Basic ABC Christianity, but it was a good refresher for me on this Independence Day weekend.

John 8:36: So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Bread Recipes

Since I have been getting requests for my bread recipe, I thought I'd post a couple of my favorites. The bread featured in the previous post (and in the picture above) is the following recipe that I've tweaked a little after getting it from my friend Melissa R. I like it because it is a lot quicker than most bread recipes since it only takes one rise.

Melissa R.'s One-Rise Bread

Makes 2 loaves

2 scant (not full) Tbsp instant active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
3 cups whole wheat flour
3-4 cups unbleached bread flour


Put warm water into a mixing bowl; sprinkle with yeast and 1/4 cup sugar and let set until foamy (about 5-10 minutes). Coat 2 5"x9" loaf pans with oil/cooking spray.


Add whole wheat flour to the yeast mixture and stir. Add eggs, butter, salt, vital wheat gluten, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Use either kneading attachment on an electric mixer or a wooden spoon if doing it by hand. Add bread flour until the dough is stiff enough to form a sticky ball. If doing it by hand, dump onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, adding by hand.


Separate into two equal pieces. Take each piece and form into a tight ball with your hands to squeeze out air pockets. Shape into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Cover with dish towel and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour. (I put them on top of my stove with the oven at 250 degrees.) Once doubled, place in oven and turn temp up to 350. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan to cool and brush with melted butter. Let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Here's my other favorite bread recipe. It's from a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook Vince got from my stepmom for his birthday. I like it because it's more of a grainy bread, but our natural foods store stopped selling cracked wheat so I haven't made it in a while. But it is delicious. It uses cracked wheat, cornmeal, oats, and whole wheat flour.

Mixed Grain Bread
Makes 2 loaves


3 1/2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour
2 pkgs (or 4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup warm water (110-115)
Honey
1/2 cup cracked wheat
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
Water
Rolled Oats


In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and a drizzle of honey. Set aside to proof. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, cracked wheat, cornmeal, brown sugar, oil, and salt. Heat and stir over medium-low heat just until warm. Add milk mixture to yeast mixture and add 2 cups of the all-purpose flour. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in whole wheat flour, oats, and as much of the remaining all-purpose flour as you can.


Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead in remaining dough until it forms a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover; let rise in warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).


Punch down dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, grease two loaf pans. Shape each half into a loaf and place in prepared pans. Cover; let rise in warm place until nearly double in size (about 30 minutes-1 hour). Preheat oven to 375. Brush loaf tops with additional water; sprinkle with additional rolled oats. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. (If necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning.) Immediately remove bread from pans and cool on wire racks. Serve within 2 days or freeze for longer storage.

There you have it. Down here, summertime has unfortunately proved to not be the best time to have the oven on all day for bread-making. Our a/c is constantly running on these 100-degree days without our oven being on! But for our friends in Minnesota, I hope you enjoy trying these out soon! If you do, please let me know how it went. Thanks!