Has It Really Only Been A Month Since Christmas?

I can hardly believe only a month ago, my house was decorated for

Christmas, the guest rooms were occupied and an endless supply of 

festive foods were being turned out of the kitchen daily.  As enjoyable

as those things are,  I'm always ready for the new year to begin

and life to return to normal.   And January seems like the longest

month of the year. 

So here are a few things I've been up to this month.  I started off the

new year by spending a day at the temple.  I can't think of any place I

would rather be.   

*MYOF Goal #24 - Attend the temple once a month.

I had a lunch date with my best buddy LaWren. and her daughter

Whitney,who was home for the holidays.  A recent graduate from

BYU nursing school, her life is full of adventure as she makes plans

for a new job and more schooling.  I also got the scoop on her newest

beau.  I just love this girl and I can't believe she's so grown up.  It seems

like yesterday, she was one of my young women and we were at girls

camp together.  Now she's a beautiful woman.  Things like this make

me feel old!

*MYOF Goal #3 - Do something fun with a friend each month.

I've pulled the knitting back out and have gone to work on my scarf.

I've learned a new pattern called a diamond brocade.  I think it's really

pretty and I love the way this yarn feels when I'm working with it.

I do hope I get it finished before summer.

*MYOF Goal #21 - Knit a scarf

I'm using my scripture memorization box each morning.  You can

read about how that works back here. The pink card is the new scripture

I'm working on right now.  It's from Psalms 84.  The purple one is the "odd" 

day scripture and the white one is behind "Tuesday" tab right now. These

are scriptures I'm reviewing, so I don't forget them.

*MYOF Goal #42 - Memorize 50 scriptures.

Travis isn't living in Asheville right now, so we've been missing our

monthly lunch dates.  But last week found us together, in Asheville,

and we took advantage of that time to try out another new restaurant.

We went here and had a wonderful lunch.

I had a hummus and roasted vegetable wrap (yum) with eggplant

fries.  Have you ever had eggplant fries?  This was a first for me and

man were they delicious.

Travis had the cutest Pancetta Gorgonzola Sliders.  Doesn't that look

awesome?

All this delicious food was served up by Travis' friend, Liz.  Good

service, a pretty smile and she gave us cannolis to take home with us.

What a deal!

*MYOF Goal # 40 - Try a new restaurant in Asheville with Travis each month.

 

And since we're on the subject of food, I'm happy to report I've made

menus each week this month which have helped tremendously with

my goals to eat healthier.  After the holidays, I was ready to purge my

system of all the sweets and rich foods and eat lots of fruits and vegetables,

salads and other healthy foods, like beans, beans and more beans.  

Taking the time at the beginning of the week to decide what we will be

eating makes each day so much easier.  I never have to entertain that 

horrible, "what are we going to have for dinner?" thought.  All I have 

to do is look on the refrigerator door - and cook it.

*MYOF Goal #10 - Eat three meatless meals a week. 

And what about that exercise calendar?  I've been on the treadmill a lot

this month.  I've found that I can read on my Kindle while I walk/jog. 

More on that jogging thing later.  I could never read a book on the

treadmill before, because all the bouncing around made it hard to keep 

my place, but with a Kindle, the print is much larger and I can read it. 

Now the trick is to find a captivating book that makes you want to keep

exercising because you don't want to stop reading!  Right now I'm reading

Hunger Games and boy was I sucked into this one from page one.  It's

terribly disturbing... and I can't stop reading it, which means I'm logging in

extra treadmill time.  That's a good thing.

*MYOF Goal #16- Exercise 50 minutes a day, five days a week.

I'm excited to say that I've started working on the family cookbook.  My

sister Cindy, has agreed to help me and we've had one work day so far.

I love the look on her face in this picture as she's trying to figure out the

program we chose to use for publishing our cookbook.  She's smart though,

so I have no doubt she'll figure it out.  Getting started has been the hardest

part.  It's been overwhelming, but now I feel like we can really make it

happen.  This is something I've wanted to do for a few years and I've

been collecting recipes from family members, but haven't done anything

with them.  We still have a long way to go on this, but we've started!!!!

*MYOF Goal #2 - Make a family cookbook.

And finally, I got my necklace with my word of the year on it.  Thanks

to my sister Sherri, for helping me find it on Etsy and to my dad for the

Christmas money that I used to pay for it.  I love the pearl bead and

the little tag which is engraved with my favorite scripture - a reminder

that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Gosh, there's more, but I'm sure you've had enough for now.  I'm excited

to tell you about this couch to 5K program and the beekeeping class and the

books I've read and oh, I've got a song to play for you too.  But I'll save

these for another time.  

Daily Bread

Is there anything quite as good as freshly baked bread?   It elevates morning

toast and a lunch sandwich to a whole new level.  Toast becomes really

good toast and anything from peanut butter and jelly to ham and cheese

tastes amazing on home made bread.  

This week I pulled out the wheat and the grain mill and ground up some flour.

I like to use a blend of red and white wheat for a nice tender loaf. It's

still 100% whole wheat bread and much better for you than most breads

purchased in the store, because they're often made with white, bleached

flour which has been stripped of the wheat bran and germ.

No stripping here.  The wheat berries go into the mill and come out as flour.

I use my Bosch mixer to mix and knead the bread.   I've had this mixer

for almost twenty years and it still works like it's new.  It's been a great

investment.  Hot water goes in first, then I add 5 cups of freshly ground flour.

Mix and then add vital wheat gluten, dough enhancer, salt and instant yeast.

Oil goes in next, followed by honey,

which just slips right out of that measuring cup.  I was so excited when

I learned that trick.  I add about 6 more cups of flour, until the dough

starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, like this.

Then I let it knead for about six minutes, while I clean everything up

and get my pans ready.

This is a moist dough which is a little hard to handle at first.

But with a little extra flour on the roulpat, I knead a couple of times

and it forms a nice big ball of dough.

This recipe makes 5 large loaves of bread.

With instant yeast, the bread only rises once, which means I can go ahead

and shape each ball of dough into a loaf and put it right into the pan.

I've seen some pretty fancy ways to roll out bread, but honestly all I do

is pat it into a loaf shape and drop it into the pan.

I let them rise in a warm oven for about 45 minutes and then bake.

A little butter rubbed on the top makes them extra good.

Baking bread is easy.  Trying not to pig out on it is the hard part.

I always give a loaf away, leave one out to eat and put the rest in 

the freezer.  This is my standard whole wheat bread recipe.  I'm

looking forward to trying a few new ones soon - one for a 

a peasant bread (in my cool new bread bowl that I got for Christmas)

and one for pita bread.  I'll let you know how those turn out.

Whole Wheat Bread

5 - 6 cups hot tap water

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup honey

2 T. dough enhancer

2 T. instant yeast (SAF)

2 T. salt

2 T. vital wheat gluten

12-16 cups freshly milled whole wheat

Pour warm water into Bosch.  Add approximately 6 cups flour on top of

liquid. Then add dough enhancer, oil, honey, yeast and gluten.  Use the

M switch to mix well.  Add approximately 5 cups flour and salt.  Turn to 

speed 2.  Continue adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough pulls away

cleanly from the sides of the bowl.  Continue kneading on speed 2 for another

5 minutes.  Divide dough into equal portions and shape into loaves.  Put into

5 well greased pans.  Let rise until double in size.  Bake at 350 for 25- 30 

minutes.  Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

*MYOF Goal #39 - Make healthy bread.

Pinning It Down

A few months ago, my niece introduced me to Pinterest.  "Aunt Melissa,

I think you'll like this", she said.  I was skeptical.  "Another thing to take up

time on the internet...I don't think I need it."  I reluctantly told her to send

me an invitation (you have to be invited to join the site).  Once I figured 

out what the heck I was supposed to be doing, I kinda liked it.  I started

pinning all kinds of ideas to my virtual bulletin boards.  Then I started 

"following" others who had the same interests as I do and pinning their

ideas.  My boards were starting to fill up with wonderful recipes,

decorating, and craft ideas, farm and garden tips, things I love and 

places I'd like to go.  Ok, I admit, it's fun.  But what would be more fun is

if I actually did some of those things.  I thought I might be the only one 

who had pinning fever with no follow through, and then I came across

this idea on one of the blogs I like to read.  Sarah, of Amongst Lovely

Things has started devoting Tuesdays to blogging about things she's

been doing from her Pinterest boards as a way to stay motivated to do 

new projects. I liked that idea...I like any idea that get's me motivated, 

so I decided I would start posting some of my Pinterest  projects on 

Tuesdays as well.  Probably not every Tuesday, but when I have

something to share, I will. 

The first project I chose will be ongoing throughout the year, that is, if I

stick with it.  I think I can, because it seems so doable.  An organizing

calendar that gives you one small task to do each day and then over 

a year's time you've organized your home.  I'm a big fan of the "baby

steps" method of getting things done, so I was super interested in this 

project.  I downloaded the calendar here.  Then I printed off the calendar

pages and put them in my homemaking notebook, so I could refer to 

them each week.

Week 1 had me in the bathroom cleaning out cabinets and drawers.

One shelf or drawer a day only added ten or fifteen minutes to the time

I've allotted for my everyday cleaning.  The main reason I don't dig into

organizing projects more often,  is because I never feel like I have the

time.  Cleaning out closets and cabinets, organizing the basement or

garage...these things can take up a chunk of time.  So, I keep waiting 

for the time, and well, you know, the time is never there.  But...ten or

fifteen minutes a day...I can do that!  So in the past week and a half,

here's what I've accomplished.

In the bathroom: clean out hair doo dads,

toss expired skin care products, get rid of expired medications, clean 

out one drawer or shelf (three days of that).

Before

After

I threw all these expired things away.

And check out this nice clean shelf and

these nicely organized drawers...

Ten minutes a day, folks.

I can so do this!

 This week, I'm in the basement cleaning off

one storage shelf a day.  I'm attacking this section.

Today I took all the cookie baking things upstairs, 

cleaned out the boxes and repacked them.

Why do I have so many boxes of decorating bags, 

you might ask? Because everything was such a mess, I

 didn't know what I had and kept buying more.  I think 

I have about a five year supply of decorating bags!

I have oodles of cookie cutters and I only use the metal

ones. Why do I keep all those plastic cutters? I have 

to dig through them, to find the ones I want and 

they take up valuable space.  Get rid of them!

 I packed them up and plan to take them to the church

 nursery for the kids to use with the playdough. 

Now when I bake cookies, I can easily find the 

cutters I really want to use. These were my 

grandmothers and they're the best.

Cutters, decorating tips and bags are now

separated and in clean ziplock bags,

ready to be stored on the basement shelf until I need them.

I'm loving this pinterest project.  I might actually get my house organized

with the help of this calendar.  So it appears I'm off and running with

Pinterest now.

Thanks Jessica, for introducing me and for the invitation. You were right.

I do like it!  

*MYOF Goal #36   - Organize every room in my house.

Examining Priorities

Sunday musings from this weeks scripture study.

"And behold one came and said unto him, Good Master, 

what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

And he said unto him,...if thou wilt enter into life,

 keep the commandments.

He saith unto him, Which?  Jesus said,

thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not

steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

Honour thy father and thy mother: and,

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

The young man saith unto him,

All these things have I kept from my youth up:

what lack I yet?

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, 

go and sell that thou hast, and give to the

poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:

and come and follow me.

But when the young man heard that saying,

he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."

Matthew 19:16-22

Whenever I've read this passage in the past, I've always thought it was about

the dangers of wealth.  And it could be, if accumulating material possessions

is the thing that consumes your thoughts and time.  For this wealthy, young

ruler this seemed to be the case.   It appears that he knew the law as it had 

been taught to him in his youth and had been faithful in keeping the

commandments.  He had the external religious behavior down pat.  Yet, he

sensed there was more that he needed to do.  Thus the question, "what lack

I yet?"

Then Jesus answered that he should sell what he owned,  give it to the poor 

and come follow him.  When he heard this response, he turned away from 

Jesus and was sad, because he loved the things his wealth had given him and

he didn't want to give them up.  This thing that Jesus asked him to do was too

hard.

So what's the principle here?  It's not that money is bad and that if we have it,

we should give it all to the poor.  It might not be about money at all. I think it's

about putting God first in our lives.  He doesn't want to be second or third. 

He wants to be first and as disciples of Christ, we have to be constantly

examining our priorities to see if that's where He is.  Putting God first means

sacrificing other things.  And those other things will be different for each

of us.  

What consumes our thoughts and our free time?  

What do we turn to in times of stress? 

Where do we turn for comfort?  

Where do we seek peace?

We could answer these questions with things like:  food, work, shopping,

hobbies such as sports or gardening, watching tv, reading or blogging.  

The answers might come in the form of people, such as our spouse, friends 

or family.  It could even be service work in the community or in our church.

These can all be wonderful things in our lives, blessings from God.  The key

is keeping them where they need to be in our priority line up.  When we ask

ourselves those questions again might we see how the answer to each one of 

them should be...God.   He wants us to be consumed with Him.  He wants

us to turn to him in times of need.  He is our only real comfort and our only

source of peace.  The other things are counterfeit.  They seem to make us

happy at the time, but it's not lasting joy and happiness. That can only be

found in our relationship with our Savior.

I believe this is what Jesus was trying to teach the rich, young ruler.  If you

want to have eternal life, you need to give up the thing that consumes you

and put me first in your life.  For him it was wealth, for you and me it might

be something totally different.  But I believe we each struggle with something

that keeps us from being as close to the Lord as we wish to be and he knows

exactly what that thing is.  If we ask him, "what lack I yet?", he will tell us.

Will we listen and courageously make changes, or will we walk away sadly?

I'm asking the question and I'm praying for courage to make changes when

He answers.

*MYOF Goal #14  - Begin each day with scripture and prayer.

                         #22 -   Study the New Testament.

My Orange Cranberry Muffins - They're Special!

Christmas came and went and I didn't make my orange cranberry muffins.
I love to make these during the holidays because of the combination of
winter fruits and the way they make my house smell when I am baking
them.  Sweet orange and tangy cranberry belong together. This is the 
season to eat fresh citrus fruits and even though the holidays are over and
the cranberries might be harder to come by, if you had the forethought to
buy a few extra bags and put them in the freezer when they were on sale,
then you can recreate this holiday treat any time this winter.

These are  special muffins.  Not the, "dump the dry ingredients, mix the wet
ingredients and combine" muffin.  The list of ingredients is kind of long,
includes fresh foods and comes together more like a cake than a muffin.
They are tender, oh, so tender.  They should be assembled on a morning
when you have a little extra time and want to turn out an above average
breakfast treat.  That's why I like to make them at Christmas.  But since I
didn't have the time then, a Saturday morning is about the next best thing.
Saturdays are the day for pancakes, waffles, french toast or muffins around
here.  The pace is slower and since Mark doesn't usually work on Saturdays,
and kids are sometimes coming in and out,  I have someone around who can
enjoy these baked goods with me.

So here's how they come together.  Begin by chopping the fresh
cranberries in the food processor.

Gather the dry ingredients and spices.  This recipe calls for unbleached

plain flour and a little cake flour.

Blend in a bowl and sift with a whisk to remove any lumps.

Zest an orange.  I love my microplane zester.  It is one of the most used

tools in my kitchen. Be careful though.  They are sharp and if you aren't 

careful, you will zest your finger which isn't on the ingredient list and doesn't

feel very good.  Zesting with the back side facing up makes it easier to see

where you need to move it around on the orange so you don't get the white

pith in there with your zest.  That's bitter and you don't want it!

Then you can just turn it over and dump the zest on your cutting board

to be measured for the recipe.  Quick and easy.

After zesting, juice the orange.  I guess you could use dried zest and 

orange juice from a carton, but they won't be as good.  Fresh ingredients

are what makes this recipe special.  I promise you'll be happier with the

results if use them.

Beat the softened butter and sugar.  If you forget to take the butter out of

the refrigerator ahead of time, along with the buttermilk and eggs, which 

are also supposed to be at room temperature, you can carefully warm 

things up in the microwave.  Well, not the eggs...

Just be careful.  One second can make the difference between softened

butter and melted butter.

And you can warm up the eggs in a bowl of hot water.

I didn't plan ahead to make this, so none of my ingredients were at room

temperature.  I helped them along using the methods I've mentioned.

This is where the instructions begin to sound more like a cake than a 

muffin.  The flour mixture had to be added in thirds, alternately with 

the eggs and the buttermilk, taking the time to scrape the bowl throughout

the process.  A little bit of extra work , but we're not going for normal,

everyday muffins here.  Remember?  They're special.

After the batter comes together, gently fold in the chopped cranberries.

I love the bright red berries, so pretty.

Scoop the batter into muffin tins.  I like to use cupcake liners, sprayed

with cooking spray.   But today I was out of them, so I put them 

directly into the pans.  Before putting them in the oven, sprinkle sugar

on top.  I especially love the turbinado sugar, like Sugar in the Raw.

It's big and crunchy and looks pretty on the tops of the muffins.

I'm also thinking that a confectioners sugar glaze made nice and thick with 

a little more of that fresh orange juice, drizzled over the tops, just might make

these even more delicious.  Hey, if you're eating something that tastes like

cake for breakfast, might as well go for a little frosting too!  I think I'll

try that next time.

Either way, I think you'll agree they're really yummy and very special.

 Orange Cranberry Muffins

1 1/2 cup fresh cranberries, picked through and rinsed

2 cups unbleached plain flour

1/2 cup cake flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

10 T. unsalted butter, at room temp.

3/4 cup plus 2 T. sugar

2 large eggs, at room temp.

1 1/2 finely grated orange zest

1 t. vanilla

1 cup buttermilk, at room temp.

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 T. sugar in the raw

Position rack near the center of the oven and heat

to 425 degrees.  Use cupcake liners and spray

with cooking spray.  Coarsely chop cranberries in 

food processor.  In medium bowl, mix cake flour,

plain flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy,

about 2 minutes.  Scrape bowl.  Beat in eggs,

one at a time, scraping after each egg.  Beat in

zest and vanilla.  On low speed, add 1/3 flour

mixture, then 1/2 c. of buttermilk.  Next add

1/3 cup of flour mixture, then rest of buttermilk and 

orange juice.  Mix in rest of flour.  Fold in cranberries.

Sprinkle tops of muffins with sugar.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes.

*2012 Goal of Eating the Mediterranean way - using fresh and seasonal ingredients.