It's been a while but I pulled out (ok, found it in my browser's favorites list) a super easy apple scone recipe. I figured after subjecting the kids to lemon ginger ones last time I would make something they actually like. Here is the link to the recipe.
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/apple-scones/Detail.aspx
I add 1/2 cup more flour to mine then they call for. I also mix the cinnamon right into the dough. I would add more then 1 apple. 1 just isn't enough. Maybe 1.5 would be good because I believe I tried 2 before and it was too much. I do not recommend using a butter spread as it mixes into a stickier dough and isn't knead-able. I haven't tried stick margarine so I don't know what results you would have with that. Real butter is so much better for a scone anyway.
Instead of making large circles I drop it by spoonfuls on a greased/sprayed pan. It makes approximately 10 3 inch scones this way.
Last but least I do not brush milk and sugar over the top.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
I am doing a Diaper Drive
I am doing a diaper drive for Amnion Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Let me start back before I became involved with Amnion. Before my hands on experience with a crisis pregnancy center, my stereotype of them was what many of you may think or have thought - their first and main goal is to keep women from aborting their babies and to help them adopt out an "unwanted" baby.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. While a large goal of theirs is to keep the numbers of babies who are being aborted from growing they go way beyond that.
When a young woman comes into their center, pregnant, they give her her legal options. Yes, this does include abortion. They do not encourage an abortion, neither do they refer for an abortion, or suggest a clinic she can go to for one. Rather they educate her on each choice she can make.
Not only do they do this but a large part of what I have seen is that they help families of young children with clothes, diapers, cribs or car seats if need be, toys, etc. They refer them to resources such as WIC, Food stamps, organizations that help with housing, and domestic violence information. They offer classes for preparing for child birth, and caring for an infant/child. They also offer counseling to women who have chosen to have an abortion and are suffering emotionally from that decision, loving them and caring for them.
While Amnion is a "Christian" organization they do not force religion on anyone. They don't make someone listen to a sermon or their beliefs in order to receive help. They don't require you go to a church and they offer help, no strings attached. I have seen this personally.
In past years Kimberly Clark has donated the diapers left in their warehouse at the end of the year. This year however, they were informed there were no diapers. This is a HUGE impact on Amnion as I have seen more diapers go out those doors then any other item.
The crisis center in my local town and personal experience with is the one I am "raising" diapers for. The majority of the people they help are immigrant families who are struggling to get on their feet.
javascript:void(0)
Would you consider either donating a pack of diapers or a few dollars to go towards a pack of diapers? If you are not local and would like to be part of this you could paypal me the money and I will get the diapers My goal is to get 50 packs of diapers, from size 1-4, with size 4 being the most needed.
Let me start back before I became involved with Amnion. Before my hands on experience with a crisis pregnancy center, my stereotype of them was what many of you may think or have thought - their first and main goal is to keep women from aborting their babies and to help them adopt out an "unwanted" baby.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. While a large goal of theirs is to keep the numbers of babies who are being aborted from growing they go way beyond that.
When a young woman comes into their center, pregnant, they give her her legal options. Yes, this does include abortion. They do not encourage an abortion, neither do they refer for an abortion, or suggest a clinic she can go to for one. Rather they educate her on each choice she can make.
Not only do they do this but a large part of what I have seen is that they help families of young children with clothes, diapers, cribs or car seats if need be, toys, etc. They refer them to resources such as WIC, Food stamps, organizations that help with housing, and domestic violence information. They offer classes for preparing for child birth, and caring for an infant/child. They also offer counseling to women who have chosen to have an abortion and are suffering emotionally from that decision, loving them and caring for them.
While Amnion is a "Christian" organization they do not force religion on anyone. They don't make someone listen to a sermon or their beliefs in order to receive help. They don't require you go to a church and they offer help, no strings attached. I have seen this personally.
In past years Kimberly Clark has donated the diapers left in their warehouse at the end of the year. This year however, they were informed there were no diapers. This is a HUGE impact on Amnion as I have seen more diapers go out those doors then any other item.
The crisis center in my local town and personal experience with is the one I am "raising" diapers for. The majority of the people they help are immigrant families who are struggling to get on their feet.
javascript:void(0)
Would you consider either donating a pack of diapers or a few dollars to go towards a pack of diapers? If you are not local and would like to be part of this you could paypal me the money and I will get the diapers My goal is to get 50 packs of diapers, from size 1-4, with size 4 being the most needed.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Making Pizza Dough with Friends
What's more fun than making pizza? Why, making pizza WITH FRIENDS of course!!!
A few months ago we were having dinner with friends and the subject of homemade pizza came up. They had never made homemade pizza from the crust up so we made plans to get together sometime and we would show them how to make pizza crust. That time finally came and we went to have dinner with them.
It was kind of like a cooking show. It was quite fun. We made 2 batches of crust - 1 white flour and 1 stone ground whole wheat. It is super easy and really inexpensive.
Here we go:
1 large bowl
pizza or cookie trays, or pizza stone
6-7 cups white flour or approximately 5 cups whole wheat
2 Tablespoons yeast (2 small packets)
2 1/4 cup very warm water. I have the most success when it is just barely hot
1 tablespoon sugar - any sugar will do but I prefer brown sugar
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup oil - your preference
In a large bowl combine the yeast and water. I stir until most of it is dissolved. Next, stir in your sugar.
Mix in the oil
Add 2 cups flour and stir it in until just a little lumpy.
Throw in your salt.
Add 2 more cups flour, stirring until mostly mixed.
Add 1 more cup of flour.
Once the dough gets hard to stir, I flour my hands and start mixing it by hand. Usually at this point.
I add 1/2 cup flour at a time, mixing it well. Once it is manage-able, not so sticky that it all clings to my hands, I start kneading it.
Take the edge of your dough and fold.punch it into the middle.
DO a quarter turn and fold it in again.
You will do this for approximately 5-8 minutes, adding a little flour if it sticks to your hands.
You will be done kneading it when the dough looks springy. As you push it down it starts swelling back out versus staying punched down.
Lift your dough out of the bowl and put a splash of oil in it.
Set the dough on the splash of oil, and rub it around.
Flip the dough over so the oiled side is up,
Cover with a paper towel or kitchen towel,
And set on the back burner of the stove. MAKE SURE THE BURNER IS NOT TURNED ON.
I then set my oven to 450 or 500 degrees. The heat will help the dough rise better. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven at this time.
Let the dough rise until double in size - around 45 minutes.
Punch the dough down,
Divide in half and stretch out on an oiled cookie or pizza tray.
If you use a preheated pizza stone be careful as that pan is going to be piping hot.
Add your toppings and put the pizza in the oven until baked. Depending on your oven temperature and crust thickness this will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.
Our family loves to pull together all the odd and end fresh veggies in the house, cheeses, peperoni, ham, pineapple, whatever we have, to make "special request" pizzas.
Sunday we had 4 pizzas- white crust with half plain/half pepperoni and mushroom, a thick crust white pizza with ricotta, grape tomatoes, mozzarella/mexican cheeses, broccoli, sweet red pepper, and onion, a whole wheat pepperoni,onion, and mushroom, and a wheat "all the leftover veggies piled on" pizza.
Thanks for a great evening Nate and Jess. It will forever be remembered as we went out with a bang!
A few months ago we were having dinner with friends and the subject of homemade pizza came up. They had never made homemade pizza from the crust up so we made plans to get together sometime and we would show them how to make pizza crust. That time finally came and we went to have dinner with them.
It was kind of like a cooking show. It was quite fun. We made 2 batches of crust - 1 white flour and 1 stone ground whole wheat. It is super easy and really inexpensive.
Here we go:
1 large bowl
pizza or cookie trays, or pizza stone
6-7 cups white flour or approximately 5 cups whole wheat
2 Tablespoons yeast (2 small packets)
2 1/4 cup very warm water. I have the most success when it is just barely hot
1 tablespoon sugar - any sugar will do but I prefer brown sugar
A pinch of salt
1/4 cup oil - your preference
In a large bowl combine the yeast and water. I stir until most of it is dissolved. Next, stir in your sugar.
Mix in the oil
Add 2 cups flour and stir it in until just a little lumpy.
Throw in your salt.
Add 2 more cups flour, stirring until mostly mixed.
Add 1 more cup of flour.
Once the dough gets hard to stir, I flour my hands and start mixing it by hand. Usually at this point.
I add 1/2 cup flour at a time, mixing it well. Once it is manage-able, not so sticky that it all clings to my hands, I start kneading it.
Take the edge of your dough and fold.punch it into the middle.
DO a quarter turn and fold it in again.
You will do this for approximately 5-8 minutes, adding a little flour if it sticks to your hands.
You will be done kneading it when the dough looks springy. As you push it down it starts swelling back out versus staying punched down.
Lift your dough out of the bowl and put a splash of oil in it.
Set the dough on the splash of oil, and rub it around.
Flip the dough over so the oiled side is up,
Cover with a paper towel or kitchen towel,
And set on the back burner of the stove. MAKE SURE THE BURNER IS NOT TURNED ON.
I then set my oven to 450 or 500 degrees. The heat will help the dough rise better. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven at this time.
Let the dough rise until double in size - around 45 minutes.
Punch the dough down,
Divide in half and stretch out on an oiled cookie or pizza tray.
If you use a preheated pizza stone be careful as that pan is going to be piping hot.
Add your toppings and put the pizza in the oven until baked. Depending on your oven temperature and crust thickness this will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes.
Our family loves to pull together all the odd and end fresh veggies in the house, cheeses, peperoni, ham, pineapple, whatever we have, to make "special request" pizzas.
Sunday we had 4 pizzas- white crust with half plain/half pepperoni and mushroom, a thick crust white pizza with ricotta, grape tomatoes, mozzarella/mexican cheeses, broccoli, sweet red pepper, and onion, a whole wheat pepperoni,onion, and mushroom, and a wheat "all the leftover veggies piled on" pizza.
Thanks for a great evening Nate and Jess. It will forever be remembered as we went out with a bang!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Re-arranging Furniture
I generally re-arrange the furniture on my own. No big new thing. It is just easier to do it on my own when I "have a vision" of where things can go or will fit.It is also much easier because if Dave is home he wants to try this or that, or isn't sure ho it will look my way. Well, it never fails, if I just do it then he loves it.
It started with the fact that we don't have tv service so I can actually put my tv where I want to - not dependent on where there are holes in the floors for the cables. Next was the fact that with wood floors, toys, papers, junk all accumulate under the couches. If I am going to move the furniture to clean I may as well keep moving it to its new spot.
All great and fine until I was moving the buffet, well, really an long dresser. We have 2 entertainment centers - in our basement. Neither were big enough to hold the tv we were given from my sister who had gotten it from our aunt. The dresser wasn't being used so I covered it with a cloth and had a new entertainment center.
Well, to move it I needed to lift it just slightly to get it over the edge of the carpet. OOPS!!! I lifted it just a bit too high. The 44/48 inch OLD tv slid forward, tipping the dresser. I know that it would do better justice for you to see video of what happens next but I don't have that, thank God!!!
Thankfully the couch and a small chair were in front of it. The tv slid cockeyed so it was leaning against the couch and propped above the chair. The dresser was tipped forward with a bit of the tv still on it. If I moved the tv the dresser would fall - on my feet. If I moved the dresser the tv would fall - on my feet. Neither sounded great!!!
I had Eann grab another small chair and we slid it under the tv to prop it up a little better. Then, while holding on to the tv, I flipped the dresser back up- hollered for Eann to bring a kitchen chair and held onto that tv for dear life. The little chairs weren't doing a great job. We slid the chair under the tv and pulled it up onto it but the tv was too big to set on it well enough. Eann grabbed another chair and I lifted the front of the tv so we could slide the other chair under it.
Then we inched the chairs around the room as I needed get them out of the way to re-arrange the living room. Move couch a few inches, move tv on chairs a few inches. Repeat.
Lesson learned, don't move the dresser with the tv on it.
It started with the fact that we don't have tv service so I can actually put my tv where I want to - not dependent on where there are holes in the floors for the cables. Next was the fact that with wood floors, toys, papers, junk all accumulate under the couches. If I am going to move the furniture to clean I may as well keep moving it to its new spot.
All great and fine until I was moving the buffet, well, really an long dresser. We have 2 entertainment centers - in our basement. Neither were big enough to hold the tv we were given from my sister who had gotten it from our aunt. The dresser wasn't being used so I covered it with a cloth and had a new entertainment center.
Well, to move it I needed to lift it just slightly to get it over the edge of the carpet. OOPS!!! I lifted it just a bit too high. The 44/48 inch OLD tv slid forward, tipping the dresser. I know that it would do better justice for you to see video of what happens next but I don't have that, thank God!!!
Thankfully the couch and a small chair were in front of it. The tv slid cockeyed so it was leaning against the couch and propped above the chair. The dresser was tipped forward with a bit of the tv still on it. If I moved the tv the dresser would fall - on my feet. If I moved the dresser the tv would fall - on my feet. Neither sounded great!!!
I had Eann grab another small chair and we slid it under the tv to prop it up a little better. Then, while holding on to the tv, I flipped the dresser back up- hollered for Eann to bring a kitchen chair and held onto that tv for dear life. The little chairs weren't doing a great job. We slid the chair under the tv and pulled it up onto it but the tv was too big to set on it well enough. Eann grabbed another chair and I lifted the front of the tv so we could slide the other chair under it.
Then we inched the chairs around the room as I needed get them out of the way to re-arrange the living room. Move couch a few inches, move tv on chairs a few inches. Repeat.
Lesson learned, don't move the dresser with the tv on it.
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