The Best Cake I've Ever Made. Ever.

Ugh, I'm 30 as of yesterday.  And our pipes froze yesterday morning which caused some kind of electrical short which means after two days we definitely have hot water but maybe not cold water (waiting on Reid to emerge from the basement where he has been working on it) and the water to the laundry room and basement bathroom is shut off.  

But, I do think I've made the very best cake of all times for my birthday.  It has a chocolate cake layer that uses just a little cocoa in the batter but makes up for it with lots of chopped up dark chocolate stirred in.  Then the frosting almost tastes like a whipped cream with body to it (which it basically is because I used two cups of heavy cream on top of the butter) with Almond Joy inspired add ins of toasted almonds and coconut.

 I served it with coffee ice cream.  And by serving it, I mean I cut a hunk of it for my father in law starting the day before my birthday and have since mostly just passed by and eaten a chunk of it with a fork every now and then.  Honestly, I'm kind of ready to just get on with the year and get down to serious 30's business.  Or at least take a hot shower. 

Kat’s 30^th Birthday Cake

Ingredients:

3 sticks organic butter, softened

2 ¼ cup organic evaporated cane juice

2/3 cup packed lt. brown sugar

4.5 cups all purpose, unbleached flour (King Arthur))

1 cup fine almond meal (Bob’s Red Mill)

1/3-1/2 cup cocoa powder (Hershey)

2 tbsp mocha powder or 2 tsp instant coffee (Ghirardelli or Nescafe)

1 Tbsp baking soda

1 Tbsp baking powder

4 tsp sea salt, fine

4 large +1 small pastured chicken eggs (or 9 small eggs)

2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt

2 ¼ cups raw buttermilk

17+ oz. finely chopped dark chocolate (Trader Joe’s pound plus bar); chop in food processor

Directions:  Whisk dry ingredients together. Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla extract.  Alternate flour mixture, buttermilk and yogurt.  Stir in chopped chocolate.

Bake convection 310 degrees (or 350-360 conventional).  Makes 2 thick 9” layers plus 3 mini cake layers (6-7” foil pans).  Do not overbake-pull toothpick out just before clean.

Frosting:

5 sticks salted organic butter, cut into pieces

2 lbs. confectioners sugar

½ cup dark cocoa powder (Hershey’s special dark)

1 pint organic heavy whipping cream

2 cups toasted almonds chopped in food processor with several grinds of pink sea salt (1/2 tsp?)

2 small packages of sweetened coconut (4 oz packages?)

Directions:  Whip butter several minutes-start with low speed and advance to high speed until fluffy.  Add sugar and cocoa powder and start on “stir’ speed.  Gradually add heavy cream increasing speed as mixture is incorporated.  Once desired consistency is reached, stir in almonds/coconut. 

Week 3: My Spouse's Needs

Okay, now I'm in territory that I feel more comfortable in!  What does my husband need?  I could cheat and go back through the handouts we did for homework in pre-marital counseling, but the truth is that his needs have changed some the same way mine have.  I often think about how different my life is than from five years ago, but my husbands life is very different too.  We're not the same people we married.  What he wants in a home is different than what he wanted as a bachelor (well, actually if he could move us all into a tent outside with an outhouse he probably still would).  When we met, I had a full time job and he was a full time student, finishing up his last round of clinicals where he walked a couple hundred feet to the therapy gym from the intern cottage where he was staying.  Now, he has a full time job and commutes an hour each way to work.  We have children and not so much laid back time anymore.

That moment when my husband gets home has changed now too.  When we were dating, we saw each other every day for two solid months.  I would get home from work and he would walk over and we couldn't wait to kiss each other.  Now, he slowly drives up and Josephine starts shouting "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy is home! Daddy home from work!"  I hate to admit it, but passionate kisses have turned into tag-you're-it hugs.

When we were dating, it was easy to think of Reid as a guest in my home because he actually was a guest in my home.  After we got married, I was the one who moved into his house. Until we painted the nursery it still mostly felt like I was living in his house, not ours.

So the goal of this week is to think of Reid as my guest again, my most beloved guest, in light of how we have both changed in the years since we've met.  I want my husband to LOVE coming home each day.  I don't want him to feel like he is coming home to chaos or to another job or to a frazzled wife.

I posted the questions below to use as a guide in my study of my husband's needs. And as I learned from my week of trying to meet my own needs, I'm not going to assume I know or try to read his mind.  I'm going to actually ask him!

What does he/she really need?  How can I make him/her feel loved in my home?  What physical needs can I take care of in my home?  What spiritual needs does he/she have?  How can I change my view of hospitality so drastically that my focus is on them rather than the things that have to do with me?

Best of luck to everyone this week!  Can't wait to hear how everyone's days turn out!

Love,
Kathryn

Hospitality Journey Week 2 Recap

What do I really need?  How can I make myself feel loved in my own home?  What physical needs can I take care of in my home?  What spiritual needs do I have?  How can I change my view of hospitality so drastically that my focus is on the other person rather than the things that have to do with me?

On the original post outlining this journey, I wrote that these were the questions I intended to ask each week about which person or group I was focusing on those days.  At the end of Week 1, I realized that if Jesus were a guest in my home, all he would need would be me.  No elaborate meal, no new ceilings, not even coffee.  Just all of me; not the stuff surrounding me.

I need: My savior, prayer, harmony with my husband and children, coffee, ideation with my siblings, visits with old friends, fellowship with "new" friends, long walks, lifting weights, dogs, fresh air, time to create, to cook lots of vegetables, a creative space, a clean space, lots of water, hair/face/makeup/nails, etc....(and I'm adding others as I think of them to my big kraft poster in the hallway!) 

At the end of each day when I look at my list, a good many of my needs are met and a good many are not.  I think I generally have greater expectations of what I will accomplish than what I actually can.  Several years ago, yes, but now-not so much.  As I've worked through what I need and what the reality of what my days are (busy, rushed, interrupted) versus what I want them to be (redeemed, fully present lived, expectant of God's plans not my own), I've had to critically look at what I can and cannot say "yes" to if I am to have days like I want them.

Recently, I've said "no" to a few things that are really big to me but just aren't right for our vision for our home or aren't right at this point in my life.  This is my season to live simply so I can live fully for my home. Simple schedules, simple wardrobe, simple meals, and not so grand of expectations.

At the end of this week, I've realized that:
1.) I can change the way I think about what my body needs by recognizing that my body is foremost a temple for the Holy Spirit and then belonging to my husband as well.

2.) I cannot rely on having my needs met by relying on anyone to read my mind.  That is the kind of pride that divides a home, not unites it.

3.) I need to accept this time in my life as being a simple season and continue to work diligently toward pairing down the things and responsibilities that make it complicated.

And on a final note for this week, I did finally get a haircut...Saturday morning with a pair of scissors in front of my bathroom mirror.  Thank goodness for long hair because I'm not sure my "layers" match up.  And I waxed my eyebrows the same way with a home kit.  Luckily, I wasn't aiming at perfection.  And since the nail salon is closed until the end of the month (not sure why), I went on and painted them myself.  #atleastItried

Love,
Kathryn

Week 2: Days 5, 6 & 7 Recap

To be honest, this has been a trying week with the exception of Saturday which was spent nearly entirely with the kids and my good friend.  I think I was so frustrated overall because I kept trying to "get" to the task of taking care of myself but it felt nearly impossible.  (I guess I must have thought that if I just declared this was "me" week, then the universe would shift and my schedule would clear and my two year old would do all the cooking and laundry while my husband nursed our newborn?)  Every time I would try to so something I needed, there was either some crazy interruption, a crying baby, or a toddler proudly showing me how to crack eggs...on the floor.

So last night, when I truly had accomplished nothing on my to-do list, I finally just had myself a little "come apart" and wailed about how I just couldn't have one free minute to do what I needed to do, for crying out loud!!  (I was longingly looking at a pile of clean clothes I wanted to fold when I said this.)  This was the point at which Reid helpfully pointed out that I should be able to get some housework done while the baby napped.  And then that was the point when I gently handed said baby to him, and then had the laundry folded, dishes washed and revenge plotted in about five seconds.  I can scrub some dishes when I'm angry.  I'm a not so merry maid.

A short time later, the catharsis was over and I remembered this:  I cannot rely on having my needs met by relying on others to read my mind.  (Or even reasonably expect my husband to read my blog apparently).  

At times this week I felt like I wanted to scream "People, don't rely on anyone but you to take care of you or you'll never get anything!"  But that is the prideful way out.  The reality is that we do need help from others at times,.  My husband is amazing, but he's still not psychic and I'm not even sure if he's great at Pictionary, so there is no way he is going to know how to help me if I don't tell him.  If I let pride get in the way of asking for his help, it will only breed bitterness in our home.  There isn't any value in being able to boast "I do everything for everyone in this house."  I want a loving home, not a bitter home.  So if I want to be able to meet my needs, I can't play charades.

Love,
Kathryn

Hospitality Journey: Week 2, Days 2, 3 &4 Recap

Oh sorry y'all, I haven't posted because I have been away at an incredible resort resting, going on a juice fast and smearing my entire body in Nerium.

So maybe not quite true but I have rested some (it used to be called "sleep" but is now broken up into interval "rests"), we ran out of juice so technically I've fasted from it and my friend Noelle did hint at a bottle of Nerium for my 30th birthday coming up in a few months so that I can then start lying about my age. So there's that.

But, things I really have accomplished in taking care of myself this week:

1.) I took a big piece of kraft paper and wrote "My Needs" in the middle and then wrote down things that if I get on a daily to weekly basis, then I feel physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy.  I taped it up in our hallway.  Each week I plan to put another piece of paper up with the needs of who I'm focusing on that week. (Sidenote: Our hallway has been primed and ready to pain for over two years...I can't figure out a color but it is close enough to the white in our living area, so no rush and no worries about taping stuff to the wall, including Josephine's recent sticker obsession...)

2.) From this list I've been able to look at it and mentally check off what I have and haven't taken care of; which needs are easy to meet (coffee), which needs are harder to meet (working out) and which needs aren't getting met at the moment but will eventually (sleep).  

3.) I've continued with daily quiet time which has kept my thoughts so clear and focused.

4.) After a long day in Augusta on Wednesday at the pediatrician for well visits and a trip to Target that included Josephine sprinting away from me and screaming "Don't Hit Me!" while I chased her (so incredibly embarrassing!!) I decided I deserved coffee for the ride home.  I gave in to the hype and got a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I thought I was taking a fall flavored Glucose Tolerance Test.  Ickly sweet.  But I did enjoy the large ice water I ordered with it which brings me to my real point that I've been drinking plenty of water. (on my need list, obviously).

Anyway, I knew coming into this that I could not possibly meet all my needs in one week.  But I also had never taken the time to really think about my needs before this week so I feel like even though I still haven't gotten my hair cut, I've made pretty good progress.  

Love,

Kathryn

Hospitality Journey: Day 7 Recap

What an incredible week. I really hope that if anyone else is doing this along with me that it has meant as much to them.  I don't think I've breathed this well or thought this clearly in a really long time.

So bottom line, short and sweet, I've realized this about having a time to be still each day and focus on the Lord in terms of hospitality:

If Jesus were a guest in my home, what would he need?

And the answer is this:  All he would need is me.

Love,
Kathryn

Hospitality Journey: Week 2: "Take Care of Yourself First"

This is the "Take Care of Yourself First" week.

I've been pretty excited about it-my hair, face and toenails have been excited about it too because I need a haircut, eyebrow wax, moisturizer and a pedicure.  All of these things I've put off, thinking I would have some great "spa day" after the baby was born.

Well, my sweet baby is 2 months old today.  And my hair is "religiously" long, meaning it looks like I've taken an oath to never, ever, ever cut it.  I thought I would at least get a pedicure today, but instead I opted to come home after working at the hospital and do laundry, dishes and cook dinner.  I know that getting my nails done is not one of Maslov's basic needs, and surely I can be self actualized with unpainted toenails, but I really didn't have an excuse not to go.  I even had a gift certificate that someone had secretly given to me (it showed up in an envelope in the container where I put bills but so far everyone has denied it.  So if you're out there reading this: Thank you!). I started to feel like perhaps I had a problem feeling guilty about taking care of my own needs, but bottom line is this:  Really, I think I would make a fantastic Amish woman.  No makeup, same dress style every day, no worries about haircuts?  Sign. Me. Up.

While I was home and had dishes/laundry/dinner going, I was able to have some quiet time and tried to think about what my needs were.  On Facebook today, I asked this same question and encouraged everyone to think of it like writing a "care manual" for yourself. So before today, I thought this would be the week where I focused on "getting a little pretty back" post-baby.  And then when I got to today, I really couldn't come up with what my real needs actually were!  So I started googling "taking care of yourself" and "basic needs" because, of course, the internet knows me better than I know myself.  I came across everything from the Self Love camp trying to make us all demi-gods demanding self worship to the Extreme Martyrdom camp where piousness also leads to self worship.

Why was this so hard?  Why couldn't I provide an answer for what I needed for MY body?

And then it hit me:  Because it's not my body.  

First and foremost, it's a temple where the Holy Spirit dwells.  Then it's my husband's body.  Then it's my body.  In the same way, Reid's body is first a temple for the Holy Spirit and then mine and then his.  

So as I go through the rest of this week, which was going to be all about "me," I realize I would likely take a lot better care of myself if I viewed my body as it should be-a temple for the Holy Spirit.  If I feed my children well, if I make sure Josephine goes to bed on time even when she doesn't want to, if I scrub her face and brush her hair-how much more would I take care of the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit?

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

How do I meet my needs from this perspective?  Looking forward to a lot of time in the car tomorrow to think about just this.

Love,
Kathryn

Hospitality Journey: Day 6 Recap

Well, at least they surprised us at church where we had clothes on and the children were dressed reasonably well, right?

Yep, after Sunday school yesterday morning I checked my phone and there was a text from my mom saying they had just gotten off at our exit and would see us at church. My jaw dropped and I showed Reid. Five minutes later, my parents walked into church.  Josephine clapped her hands and squealed "MeMom! Papa!" when she saw them.  Reid and I just squeezed our hands tightly together and exchanged glances in an "Oh my goodness, no they didn't!, but we'll smile and hold on tight to one another" kind of way.

We had a really nice day together regardless of the surprise and Reid didn't feel bad about working past dark on the tractor since I had eager babysitters who not only drove four hours for the job to work for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake. And, it did give me the opportunity after lunch to use my very favorite response that a reader posted on Facebook when I asked the question "What would you do if unexpected company drove up to your house?"  The response was to throw open the front door and announce, "Well, the mansion's trashed but come on in!"

I will honestly admit though that if this had happened the previous Sunday I might have politely waited until after church was over and then tell my parents just what I really thought of them showing up unannounced.  I mean, I love my parents dearly, but please! Come on, Mom, Dad- at least give me a little more notice so I can shove everything in a bedroom, lock the door and save face like my house was spotless and my life was perfect.  I don't want you to know that I really do.not.care that we toss clothes on the floor and they gradually make their way to the hallway where they then gradually make their way to the laundry room.  For your visits, mother dearest, I like to put all the clothes at least in the laundry room or lock them in my bedroom so you may continue to believe I wash, dry, fold and iron religiously.

And the thing about that thought is this:  Why does it matter so, so, so, so, so, soooo much what my mother thinks of my house?  God calls us to open up our homes.  He doesn't call us to timidly open our doors in fear of what others think of how we run our households.  He calls us to boldly swing open our doors and if we have to, proclaim "The mansion's trashed but come on in!!"  He gives us validity in the very fact that he created us in His image.  We are validated by this alone; not also by our homes, and not even what our mothers think of our homes.

The other thing that came up because of this:  Rather than Reid and I stewing all the way home from church and lunch or him saying something negative about his in-law's surprise visit, he just held my hand and laughed.  Then when we got home, he sprung into action and had the house picked up, laundry going and dishes washed in twenty minutes.  My heart swelled with gratitude toward him and when he did put his overalls on to go outside, he looked better than ever to me.

It turned out to really be true when they tell you to be careful what you pray for, because we actually do want to have the kind of house that doesn't shake with unexpected guests.  We want the kind of marriage that isn't divided into my life v. his life or my time v. his time or my family v. his family or my turn v. his turn. And we clearly got our chance yesterday to put that desire to the test.

So, thank you Reid, for your attitude and graciousness yesterday.  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for loving us and our children so very much that you would drive four hours just to spend an afternoon with us, and that you didn't call because you really didn't want me to stress over cleaning. I enjoyed yesterday immensely.  (But do call next time...)

Love,
Kathryn

8 Week Hospitality Journey: Recap Day 5

To be fully present in the present moment.

"...but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no." -James 5:12

We have just started doing the Washington Farmer's Market again (it's a lot easier to stand on your feet outside for hours when you're not pregnant and when it's not June, July, August or early September in Georgia).  Reid and I love being at this market-it's where Southern Scratch started and when we are there together it just seems more like getting together with friends than anything else.

So out of this whole week, being at the market was easily where I was "fully present in the present moment" of anywhere.  The weather was perfect, the baby slept the entire time and Josephine played the entire time.  Once we got back home, both kids went to sleep for a nap around the same time and I was able to sit on the front porch with our Sunday school lesson, my bible and a fresh cup of coffee.  Reid was in the yard getting everything together to take the tractor to work on clearing some fields/pastures in the back of the property.

It was totally serene, totally unusual and totally a complete opposite of the preceding week.

This verse above was close to where we were reading for our Sunday school class in James and it is what stood out to me on Saturday.  "...but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you will not sin and be condemned."  

As I've written earlier, focusing intently on carving out quiet where there is none has revealed all the different areas where I've spread my life out.  They are not bad things necessarily, but I find myself having to say "no" or "tomorrow" or "I haven't finished it yet because..." to something I had already said "yes" to doing today.  I think I'm not the only one who is full of good intentions and wants to do things sooo much, and do them sooo big, that they can't possibly do it all. This is an area I've gotten a lot better in since even before being married-mostly in the sense that I can recognize when I'm "so super excited" about something and so then try as hard as I can to keep my mouth shut before I volunteer to run it, cater it or donate all of my time/money/expertise/emotional energy toward it.

It's still a struggle though because, thank goodness, I still get really excited about things and I really like doing. And that means that I'm alive, I'm creative, that I'm generally joyful and that is a very good thing.  But this verse reminds me that I must be in prayer because I must, must, must! pause.  I have to pause and consider my time and my commitments before my "yes" turns into a no.

I think a big part of creating the warm home I envision for our family is me being dependable in this way-my "yes" meaning yes and my "no" meaning no.  My husband and my children need to be able to count on me doing what I say I'm going to do.  My friends and family need to be able to count on me when I say I'm going to arrive at a certain time or help with a certain task.

So if I've followed myself correctly- prayer leading to pause leading to manageable days that better lend themselves to "present moment living?"

Love,
Kathryn

  

8 Week Hospitality Journey: Recap Days 3&4

This is going to be pretty short and sweet because it's past 11:00 pm I'm just now sitting down while some savory pumpkin bread dough is rising to sell at the Washington Farmer's Market in the morning.

So, yesterday I was here in Washington baking all day.  Today, I spent most of the day in Augusta making deliveries and running errands.

It was really nice starting off the day yesterday with a clean floor and a list of all the things running around my mind, but I didn't get all my baking done so I had to wait until after we had put the kids to bed to get back in the kitchen.  Another late night (like tonight).

I think the main thing I've noticed when I've tried really hard the past few days to focus on carving out some time to just "be still and know" is that I am "on" from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed.  There isn't time to just breathe and let my mind and body go for a little while built into my day-not in the beginning, not at the end-pretty much never.  Because of this, it's really hard for me to take things as they come and enjoy them for what they are.

One of the Facebook comments yesterday mentioned dishes as being a form of therapy for him.  That reminded me of a physician I knew in Columbus who didn't own a dishwasher.  He said that washing dishes with his children and now his grandchildren was a way for him to get to know them.

I liked both of these ideas a lot.  The first being totally present during even rote tasks like washing dishes or folding laundry (rather than your body going through the motions but your mind on the next ten things you have to get done).  The second the idea of doing tasks together with someone in order to nurture a particular relationship.  Clearly, this man could afford to buy a dishwasher, and he could have also done dishes alone or let his children do the dishes alone.  But by doing them together, he nurtured their relationship.  (I think the child rearing experts call this including your children in daily life).

Anyway, so here we are going in to day 5 tomorrow:
1.) A crazy busy life is no way to live.
2.) Make a straight path-keep my floors clean and my list on paper rather than my head where to-do collisions happen.
3.) Be more present at the task and at the person at hand. (Instead of body in one place and mind in another).
4.) Do tasks with my husband, children, and don't refuse help with dishes when I have company over!

Looking forward to the market in the morning!

Love,
Kathryn

8 Week Hospitality Journey: Recap Day 2

Quiet time began around noon yesterday.  Josephine was at Ms. Ginger's house and I had just gotten baby Roch down for a nap.  I switched over laundry and started a new load before sitting down with a cup of coffee and my bible.  (I feel like I've always got several things going on at once when I'm home...which is probably why "forgetting" about a load in the wash and having to rewash it once, or twice, over happens more than it should...).

Anyway-I was successful in my attempt that I had planned for Tuesday, to think of Jesus as if I had never met him before.  And let me tell you, that is one interesting man.

I just read the first few chapters in Matthew.  It starts off with describing this very impressive genealogy.  It reminded me of us talking here in the South about who all is related to who.  So his mother, Mary, comes from this long line of really important people when all of a sudden she's pregnant but not quite married.  It's not an original thought by far to imagine the "scandal" this caused, but when I put it into context of the type of family that Mary came from, it put a different spin on the picture. Here is a really good girl, from a good family, in a pretty socially unacceptable situation. She was about to be divorced from her soon to be husband but an angel intervened to stop this from happening.

The next part is the best.  He was born in a barn.  Literally.  So his poor mother has gone from pearls and heels to laboring beside a sheep.  This, I imagine, is even more crunchy than home birth.

Then he gets visited by wise men and shepherds before his family escapes in the middle of the night to Egypt.  When they finally do return to Israel, they have to live on the outskirts.  And I thought our first couple weeks were busy with the new baby...

Meanwhile, he has this crazy relative (don't we all?) living in the desert eating bugs.  (At least he was dipping them in honey?)  And to bring the story full circle, the crazy relative starts yelling at the "respectable people" in town (the Pharisees and Sadducees) that they can't be saved just because ole' Abraham was their ancestor.  So since Abraham was Jesus's ancestor too, this makes all of these people distant relatives and thus is a clear example of what can happen at family reunions if you're not careful.

So I was super caught up in this story when I read this part:

"A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him." (Matthew 3:3)

 My honest to goodness first thought was "Oh, I really need to get that cart off my front porch that is starting to pile up with stuff from my car that needs to be put away.  That would make for a much straighter path inside."

This is what my mind really stopped and focused on for the rest of the day yesterday.  I want there to be a straight path to my home.  Although it's not necessarily a prerequisite for having company over or having quiet time, it's certainly easier for me to focus when I don't have physical items and a laundry list of mental tasks to "walk over" first.

So here is my "action plan" for the next few days so that I can "Prepare the way for the Lord" by making a straight path both physically and mentally.

1.) Keep a "path" cleared inside the main areas of our home.  This is mainly just a matter of picking up the floor before going to bed-toys that Josephine has spread out and towels, shoes, etc. that we've thrown down. I'm not even going to shoot for the moon here and say that I'll also have everything vacuumed and scrubbed.  Nope, just picked up and I'm not even going to worry right now about Josephine's room because I can shut that door!

2.)  Write my to-do/want-to-do/really-need-to-do-but-don't-really-want-to-do/list down on paper the night before.  Get it out of my mind and neatly put in a box on paper.

I'm hoping these two items will do way more good in being able to "have the Lord over more" than simply setting my alarm hours earlier than I would usually wake up and hoping for the best.

Here goes!

Love,
Kathryn

8 Week Hospitality Journey: Recap Day 1

Throughout the weekend and Monday I had high hopes of waking up at 5:30 am Tuesday morning, discovering I truly loved waking up early, have coffee made and would have had amazing insight into my life all before anyone woke up at 6:30.  (And perhaps even have breakfast made for Reid since it was his birthday Monday and I didn't manage to wake up early enough to surprise him with a hot breakfast then.) 

I thought it would be so cool to think of Jesus as my first guest in this whole hospitality project.  I was going to pretend we were having coffee together and try to get to know him like he was someone I had just met.  (But don't worry-I wasn't going to actually go and fix him a real cup or anything and ask aloud in my kitchen in the dark "Cream or sugar, Lord? Okay, let me see-oh, we are out of goats milk but I do have some raw cow's milk. Will that work?" Come on, I'm not that brand of crazy just yet.) 

So here is how Tuesday morning played out:

I do vaguely remember the alarm going off at 5:30 only to have this very foggy yet insightful thought enter my mind:  "Early is not going to work."

Apparently, if this was truly an 8 week boot camp, I'd be in charge of the dunce squad.  

Instead I woke up closer to 8:30 and then struggled mightily to get everyone clean, dressed, fed, diaper bag packed and car loaded before 9:20.  I had to be at an appointment in Augusta by 10:40 sans babies so I dropped both of the kids off before dashing out of town.  

What ensued was an hour long drive followed by a nearly 3 hour appointment, most of which was sitting in a waiting room.  (Side note:  I was there for my postnatal appointment and I will say I did not envy any of the pregnant women there.  Big cheers for being on the other side!)  Aside from a massage appointment which made my back feel tons better, the entire day was like this-either speeding to the next errand or just waiting, waiting, waiting.  

The first time I even felt pretty calm the whole day was driving home and listened to a Focus on the Family show on the radio about the first few years of marriage.  Even though it certainly was not the dedicated, quiet focused time I had envisioned, it was definitely good for me to focus on just one thing rather than the 50,000 errands and giant to-do list spinning in my head.  

I was super grateful to my in-laws for picking up the babies because neither Reid nor I got home until after 8:00 pm.  Even then my mother-in-law stayed and bathed Josephine and got her pajamas on for me.

After we got Josephine to sleep and Roch bathed, I laid down with him to snuggle and nurse.  And that was pretty much the first time all day that I finally felt my body just relax and my mind turn "off."  

I missed them both so much yesterday.  I don't want to be just getting through all of our days like this-exhausted at the end of every day but not feeling like we had really "redeemed" our time.  I just don't think that we were created to be stressed from sun up till sun down with our bodies literally clenched and our brains on high alert.  

So even though I never had the quiet time I had so beautifully envisioned for yesterday, I did learn this:  

This ain't no way to live, y'all.

Love,

Kathryn

A Warm Home.

Hey Y'all! Thanks so much to everyone who has liked our new Facebook page: Southern Scratch: Hospitality!  Below are the thoughts behind creating this page and a kind of 8 week "Hospitality Bootcamp" (or project or challenge or whatever you want to call it!) I'm "hosting" prior to the holidays.  Also included is my vision for what this group could become-how could we all get together and help each other learn how to really help each other? How do we create homes that foster love, joy and healing?

Lately, I can't help but think that with Pinterest inspired parties we are really great at throwing a beautiful party and probably pretty bad about just having a good time.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why we bring over a ton of gifts for a new baby but don't just show up simply to wash the dishes and leave a gallon of milk in the fridge.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why we bring tons of food to a new widow but forget about them three months down the road when they are deeply grieving and we have moved on.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why we don't bring anything to our friend who is going through a divorce when she is going through everything that the widow is going through in addition to trying to be strong for her children whose entire world is being rocked.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why we only begrudgingly invite unexpected company inside but don't stop to think about what is really going on in their lives that they would show up without calling.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why I care more about what a stranger thinks of my house than what my husband thinks about it.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why it is easier sometimes to try to squeeze in some cleaning while my daughter eats rather than sit down and share a meal with her.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why I have so many friends that are hurting right now but I'm too tired and too busy myself to be able to help with what they really need.

Lately, I can't help but wonder why I so badly want a home that is warm, inspiring, and full of love-but I don't take time each day to have quiet time, give thanks and connect with my Creator.

All of these things have been on my heart lately and the issue of hospitality is something I've thought about for a really long time.  I used to think I had to have a perfect house in order to have a real home.  I'm way over that now, but we currently have a toddler, a newborn, a business run mostly from our house, jobs, a farm, our marriage and well, things are a new kind of crazy.  And here is the thing:  I do not like crazy.  I do not like being so busy I'm bleary eyed and breathless.  And I do not like that pretty much since the day we got married, our life together has been so, so, so busy.

Recently, my dear sister-in-law asked me what I actually really wanted my life to look like.  The question caught me off guard because I was in the middle of listing off 50,000 different ideas I had on my mind with my family/career/Southern Scratch/the farm/the house, etc, etc.  When she asked me that, I got quiet immediately and said "Oh. I don't know.  That's a really good question.  I've never thought to think about that before."  Suzette is pretty amazing at how she can get to the heart of a matter.  She brings me (and my brother!) so much calm and I love and respect her deeply.

So I really meditated on her question and thought long and hard about what type of life I most wanted.  Reid and I curled up with coffee and wine a few nights to discuss his answer as well as what our answer would be together.  My mind is still racing somewhat  with a lot of ideas and decisions I'm facing, but I'm able to answer her question.

I want my life to look like this:  A warm home.

I want myself, Reid, our children, our loved ones and the unloved to be able to find warmth and peace in our home.  Most of all, I want them to feel that they are unequivocally and deeply loved by Jesus Christ. 

Out of everything we have going on and all the different directions our family, our jobs, our business, our farm, etc. can take, this is where I want us to be day in and day out.  I want a warm home.  But since our lives have been the aforementioned crazy pretty much since we said "I do," I realize it's going to take a good amount of time and thought toward making the type of decisions that support our vision for our life.

So I decided I wanted to dedicate the next eight weeks to a kind of "hospitality project."  I was going to wait until things were a little less busy but then I realized the whole point of this was to umm, make things less busy!  And I also thought I probably need a month on each "topic" but then I realized that my attention span might not last a whole month.  Also, the holidays are coming up-Thanksgiving is less than nine weeks away and fall is definitely here. I thought there really wouldn't be a better time than now to start since right at the end of the project, the holidays would start and we'd all be practicing some form of hospitality anyway.

Real hospitality is about meeting real needs of people with real love.  So rather than focus on a room in my house each week to "get clean for company," (not that it doesn't need it!), I'm focusing on a person or group each week and asking myself: What do they really need?  How can I make them feel loved in my home?  What physical needs can I take care of in my home?  What spiritual needs do they have?  How can I change my view of hospitality so drastically that my focus is on the other person rather than the things that have to do with me?  (Like how amazing my house looks, the gourmet meal I prepared and my own comfort zone?)

My ultimate vision for the Facebook page is that it will become a community of people sharing stories, encouragement and ideas for how they are showing real hospitality or were shown hospitality.  I'm hoping that starting after the holidays, we'll be able to focus on really specific needs for a few days or a week at a time.  For example, how can you help your friend who is going through cancer treatment?  Or what does a new mother really need?

But on with the project!  Below I've listed who I plan to focus on each week.  On the Facebook page, I'll ask questions related to that topic so we can get each other's feedback and experience. (Like especially how in the world do you make time for "quiet time" when babies are so unpredictable!?)  If the responses are anything like the ones so far it will get very entertaining!

Week 1: Tuesday, October 1st-Monday, October 7th:  Quiet time/Prayer
Week 2: Tuesday, October 8th-Monday, October 14th:  Myself
Week 3: Tuesday, October 15th-Monday, October 21st: My spouse
Week 4: Tuesday, October 22nd-Monday, October 28th: My children
Week 5: Tuesday, October 29th-Monday, November 4th: My parents, siblings, extended family
Week 6: Tuesday, November 5th-Monday, November 11th: My friends
Week 7: Tuesday, November 12th-Monday, November 18th: My coworkers, community
Week 8: Tuesday, November 19th-Monday, November 25th: "New" people, strangers
Thursday, November 27th: Thanksgiving and the holidays begin!!

I really hope y'all will join in with me, even if I'm the only one who needs an eight week "examine your life' project (especially so if your life is not crazy, you do a great job of loving on other people and your house is clean too because I would really like to learn from you!)

Tomorrow is Reid's birthday and Tuesday it all begins!

Love,
Kathryn

Blueberry Banana Baby Biscotti

Josephine Fite Filipiak is teething.  It's just the worst.  It started two weeks ago yesterday.  I left for work during her morning nap around 9am.  She woke up to the babysitter (technically her 5th cousin) and proceeded to bawl all morning long.  (Poor Whitney-Josephine usually loves playing with her).  I was convinced that she was starting to go through some separation anxiety and immediately read everything I could.

The next morning I waited to leave until after she had woken up from her nap, played with her a little while Whitney was here and made sure she had a "distraction" as soon as I left.  She did much better but the real culprit presented itself that night when I felt her gums.  All four of her upper front teeth were in that kind of swollen/about to poke through stage.

I immediately felt better about her being not the happy baby she usually is...and was sure that within a week or so those teeth would be through (like the first two bottom ones) and we'd be back to normal.

Well that was two weeks ago.  So far only one has completely come through.  Another you can barely see the white and the two middle front ones are still just below the surface.

And my happy baby is still a little bit more clingy, irritable and refusing to take the 1 1/2-2 hour nap I had come to love (and desperately need to get anything done).  She takes a long time to get settled to sleep and then a hard time staying asleep.  Her 5:30 am wake up time has changed to random 1am, 3 am or 4 am.  And not just a little fussy...full on awake where she throws her pacifier out of her crib and does what we call her "prison riot" by standing up and shaking the sides.

I'm tired.  She's tired.  And Thursday we leave for the gulf which means seven hours in the car.

But yesterday while we were walking around the garden she self-medicated.  She loves to grab at the herbs growing and eat them.  (Thai basil is her favorite by far).  But instead she grabbed a handful of lavender that had bloomed.  It didn't worry me and it made her pretty happy to munch away on her steal. 

About twenty minutes later she started rubbing her eyes and made all signs that she was ready to sleep.  Now.  She had only been awake for less than an hour but I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.  So I made sure she was all clean and swaddled her up.  Sure enough she was out within a few minutes.  Then it hit me:  "Oh yeah, you can use lavender for soothing/pre-bedtime purposes."

After she woke up from her nap I made her lunch and made sure to give her a tough piece of the end of the bread so she could bite/gum down on it.  I thought to myself "I really need to make her some biscotti to teeth on-she loved it last time."  

Last time her two bottom teeth were coming in I gave her some I had in the freezer as kind of a last ditch attempt to help her feel better.  It was actually some frozen homemade snickerdoodle biscotti and not necessarily the healthiest thing I could have given my baby.  But on the other hand, it was a lot better than the teething biscuit options at the store that were full of preservatives and a bunch of other stuff I can't pronounce.  (Actually I can because my dietetics major included a minor in distributive sciences which involves several chemistry courses, including nutritional biochemistry, but you get the point.)

So this is what I've come up with as a decent teething biscuit alternative.  I wanted to avoid adding a ton of sugar, butter, or extracts (just because they are alcohol based not because there is anything wrong with them).  It's something she can hold on to while cruising around and hopefully alleviate some pain-not necessarily dessert.  Plus, if it tastes just as good to her without it, then why add it?  Also, I'm not as worried about the look of these.  Sugar plays an important role in shape and texture of baked goods so if I was making these for an order I'd definitely add it.  Also, the only main potential "allergen" are the eggs and we've cleared that one. (We're fine on wheat and dairy too but for any babies that aren't these could work).

Anyway, here we go:

BANANA BLUEBERRY BABY BISCOTTI

Step 1: Combine the following dry ingredients in a food processor until oats are well milled then dump into a separate bowl:
2 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt (I used Celtic grey)
1/4 cup flax seed
2 Tbsp evaporated cane juice
2 tsp Lavendar- fresh or dried flowers and/or "leaves"
2 Schezuan buttons* (Optional-see note below)
1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon

So it looks like this...

Step 2:  Combine the following "wet" ingredients into food processor and run for 5 minutes until bananas/berries are pureed completely and whipped with the eggs.
2 large pastured chicken eggs
2 very ripe organic bananas
Handful of blueberries (I just added about ten or so that I had left in a bag)

(I thought the berries might give the batter a soft purple hue but they didn't...maybe if they were frozen first-those tend to be more effective in the dye department...)

Step 3:  Now add that bowl of dry ingredients into the food processor and combine until a sticky dough forms.

Step 4:   Let dough sit about five minutes before transferring it to the pan.  This helps the oats soak up a little more of the liquid so you have more of really thick batter and less of a pancake batter. 


Step 5:  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray.

Step 6:  Now you can pour out the batter/dough into a shape that looks roughly like this:  Note that the width is going to be how "long" your biscotti are once you cut them.  

Step 7:  Bake in 325 oven x 22 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Step 8:  Let cool.  This is a good time to hold your teething baby who has been screaming because you put her down for five minutes to make these.

Step 9:  Use a serrated knife and cut into biscotti-looking pieces.  You can cut them on a diagonal and make long beautiful pieces.  Or you can cut straight across.  Either way they will get the job done.  

Step 10:  Now it's time to give these the final toast in the oven so your baby will get that good hard texture to gum down on and ease her pain and angst away.   So lay the cookies on their side and toast in 300 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Then take the pan out and turn them over and repeat for another 20 minutes.

Step 11:  Now turn your oven off.  DO NOT REMOVE BISCOTTI FROM OVEN at this point.  Usually you wouldn't need to do this extra drying time but because this recipe turned out really moist and we didn't use much sugar, it's necessary.  So just let those cookies stay in and kind of hot air dry out.  (Much like meringue cookies).  If you make these at night then it's easy just to turn off the oven and go to bed.  (**Really you kind of have to just see as you go for this step.  I made them last night when it was really humid so that definitely affects how crispy they were going to get.  Then today when I tried to maybe bake 'em just a tad more...I set the oven to 375 instead of 275 and nearly made charcoal teething biscuits.)


Step 12:  Remove from the oven-they should be pretty cool.  Then you can go ahead and give one to your sweet baby while you put the rest of them in a ziploc bag and freeze them.  (Actually baby will probably like the frozen ones better and chances are you are making this while she/he is in bed hopefully sleeping for a stretch anyway).

My now happy baby

*Schezuan button is also known as "toothache plant."  We grew some of these this year.  They are antimicrobial and help to ease mouth pain as well as increase taste depth by kind of "buzzing" the mouth clean so I thought I'd throw them in without being sure if they would have any of the same effect after being baked.  In a couple weeks when we're back at the market we may have some of these available-or if you have a teething baby and want us to save you some, let us know! 

In conclusion, baby girl loved them.  And the second tooth finally come on through last night with one of the middle ones close behind.  I also ended up really liking the taste of these...a little too much lavender for me but they definitely seemed to do the trick in helping her get to her morning nap without much of a fuss (and sleeping for nearly 2 hours).   Also there isn't a really strong banana flavor.

 I think if you were making these for "grown-ups" you could use no (or less) lavendar, no Schezuan buttons (I don't think they did anything anyway) and add chocolate chips, vanilla and maybe even some toasted nuts.  You could also use certified GF oats and have a gluten free/dairy free/low added sugar biscotti. 

Hope you other mama's find this helpful!  Let me know if you make them and any other teething tricks that have worked for you! 

State of the House-June 2012

Last time I posted about our house, not much had changed since our nursery project.  Since then we've completed all of the baking orders (that we already had on our calendars before we decided to stick to selling only at the Washington Farmer's Market) and finally have been able to dedicate more time to la estancia.  Finally.

Back in January, Reid and I decided this would be the year we completely "de-cluttered."  So my ongoing project has been attacking the clutter like crazy.  It has felt amazing to haul off boxes to God's Marketplace or give away clothes that I knew I would never wear again post-baby girl and see the empty space. (Not necessarily because of "Oh I'll never fit in this again" but more because of "Okay, I am not in college anymore and no one with a degree and/or a child would look appropriate in this.")  I've also been repeating the mantra I came up with of "Less Stuff=More People" to remind myself over and over that I'd rather have more dinner guests than another dinner serving piece.  (And you know how much I love fine china...)

My second (still maybe a little ongoing) project was getting part of the basement a little better organized.  The basement is currently home to Reid's weight lifting area, everything from the Tignall kitchen, a ton of stuff from my house in Warm Springs and pretty much everything else that we're not using upstairs but won't go in the barn. It's nothing to brag about but I just started from a corner cleaning and making space to put boxes from the stuff I packed up from upstairs.  Basically, the basement is just a cleaner and a little better organized staging area for now.

The next few "real" projects we have going on involve finally painting this wood paneling in the main room:

After the first coat of Kilz

Painting the front door...

(I'm not sure why I started with the front door when the whole room has to be painted...maybe because it helped the front porch look more finish....)

And lastly, worked on some "landscaping" projects so that we'll have the outside of the house looking pretty good when Labor Day weekend rolls around. This is the side garden and the flat concrete area leads into the basement entrance.  I'm hoping in the next couple weeks I'll get the opposite side planted with some flower cover.  Then use matching pots to go under the basement windows along with some other items to create somewhat of a "cottage garden" type feel.  (It will be amazing if this comes to fruition giving Reid's lack of enthusiasm for flowers and my lack of experience gardening...)

So that's all I can report for now.  We've got a couple trips coming up and then we'll be hitting harvest time in the big garden...which means a crash course in putting up fruits and vegetables for me and less time to work inside.  Which means...

 Who wants to come help paint? 

My Food Photo Booth

I have not been silent about all of my photography challenges.  For starters I just do not have much technical know-how.  But there are a lot of things I don't know how to do.  Or I didn't know how to do but because of an interest I learned.  Clearly, I'm interested in learning how to better photograph food (and of course now babies doing cute things that as a parent I'm convinced every one of my friends and Southern Scratch fans on Facebook are just dying to see).  But despite both my interest and real necessity to become a more skilled amateur photog, I still haven't learned all that much. So what is holding me back?

For starters, I'd say the incredibly slooooow internet service we have out here.  The speed at which it loads pages is decent and I can read and respond to email just fine.  But anything with a ton of graphics takes forever. And that is just to download.  Uploading them (like to this blog) is a nightmare. I literally start uploading a few pictures and then go and do laundry, unload the dishwasher and maybe run to the store so that I don't waste an hour sitting there while they upload.  I am not exaggerating.  Loading six pictures the other night took nearly two hours. (And of course these pictures are not all that much to look at to begin with so it truly is not worth the wait).


And video?  It is hard enough to try to load a short video to watch (we end up letting it load, go do something else and then coming back and watching it-hoping that the service hasn't briefly cut off and stopped the download in the meantime) so I can only imagine how long it would take to try to actually upload one on a blog or on our Facebook page.  Haven't even tried it. 


The second challenge is pausing long enough while I'm cooking to get a step-by-step sequence of how to prepare an item.  When I get in the kitchen I move pretty quickly and have a lot going on at once.  Stopping to get dough off my hands to photograph a step before I go right back to working with the dough and shaping it seems like the ultimate non-efficiency in the kitchen.  But this is probably the least of my food photography challenges.  After all, I really like cooking and probably remembering to take a picture is harder than actually doing it.


The next big challenge is the lighting and reflection in our house.  In my kitchen I do most of my prep on a stainless steel table.  The light reflection never works.  So I'll try to attempt to dodge it by laying down a cloth or some other means of "staging" but that doesn't help all that much because we have crazy drop panel fluorescent lights in most of the main room (our main level is one huge room and then a hallways with  bedrooms/1bath and then one big open space with a bathroom in the basement).  But while there are huge fluorescent light panels gracing each of the room "sections" there isn't one in the kitchen.  All I have is an oven light and then one over my sink and they are at different heights.


The last challenge is the whole house itself.  Right now for instance we have about a third of the wall space taped off at the bottom to paint.  Another third is mainly the kitchen/dining area which usually has the Bumbo waiting to be wiped down, some dishes in the sink, etc.  The last third is currently where all the furniture from the walls being painted has ended up.  It also has our two desks and a Pack n' Play where we've been corralling baby girl some from trying to rip up and eat the newspaper from the painting project.  (Thankfully Kip told me the News-Reporter uses soy based ink!).


So even taking pictures of baby girl I wince because although I think she looks adorable wearing her supper, the background is screaming "Disaster! Disaster!"  You can only imagine now trying to take food shots with this background.  Strawberry pie or some decadent chocolate cake just do not have the same "wow" factor when you see linoleum that desperately needs to be replaced in the background.


SO ENOUGH WHINING about how life isn't always perfect, huh?


It was time to do something about all of this.  So the past few dietetic interns I have had spend time with me have all in some way or another contributed to helping me improve the blog. (Thanks Brooke, Julie & Allie!) These girls are all in their dietetic internship with the Augusta Area Dietetic Internship based out of University Hospital.  And they were all just fabulous.  When the last girl was here she mentioned that another intern, Allie, was really interested in photography.  So I did what every preceptor would do and told Allie that if she would spend time with me I had a great project for her and that I also needed her to give me a crash course with my camera. 


Luckily, she agreed.  Even though she already had a rotation this week and even though it involved her driving all the way to Washington for a day. (I'm pretty sure the program is supposed to work the other way around where I teach her something but every teacher would admit you learn from your students too, right?  And I did teach her how to quiet a fussy baby in a restaurant today by providing plenty of cereal and letting them chew on your car keys.)



So here is the little project we worked on today...

Get it?  It's a light tent.  For food!  Yeah!!


Allie found a ton of blogs for where to find instructions and we ended up mainly following this one here. 
She emailed me a list of supplies to pick up and then we put it together pretty quickly this morning. (I was a little daunted by the task to find all the PVC pieces but it was actually really easy-and luckily I vaguely remembered tagging along on a trip with Reid there one time when the water pipe busted so I knew where they kept the stuff).

 So here are a couple of pictures of her (with our primed paneling in the background-finally!) marking the PVC pipe...vital Registered Dietitian skills to have.

Notice the primed wood paneling in the background! Yeah!

My text to Reid this morning: "Honey where are the PVC cutters?"

And here are a couple of practice pictures of various veggies from our garden (garlic from Lazy Willow).  The tent is designed so that it can fold up flat and you can switch the backdrops just by clipping on whatever fabric/background you want.  (I wonder if there is a faux paneling one in case for old times sake?)  Then the light is filtered (?) by covering the PVC frame with a white sheet (in this case a bed sheet that had a hole in it..we cut it in half and then I hemmed the edge to give it a slightly more professional look.  Then you just clip on lights with "daylight" bulbs screwed in.  And voila-you have this mini perfect natural daylight adjustable food photo booth thing.  I thought Allie was a genius.

Lazy Willow Farm garlic, Tonda Nizza and Benning's Green Tint Scallop squash.

After we finished building the tent we went outside and Allie gave me some more hands on camera lessons.  I learned that my camera actually has a thing called "White Balance" and you can change it to fit whatever lighting you're shooting in (it even has a "fluorescent" setting!!  Score for our house!)  You can also change the thing called "ISO sensitivity" to control how much light is allowed in the photo.  I think I've figured out somewhat what the "Continuous" shooting options are on the menu and the "Color" options are pretty fun to play with (to take a picture in Black and White or Sepia, etc...I always thought you did that with the photo editing tool after you took the picture.) 


So while everything I learned today is probably the most basic you can get, I still feel 100% more confident in my ability to take semi-decent pictures of whatever I'm whipping up in the kitchen.  I also feel like I've whetted my appetite for really learning more about my camera, lighting, food staging, etc.   And since you eat with your eyes first, great pictures of vegetables may even be more important than knowing how many calories are in them.  (Since the point is for all of us to eat more of them, right?)



And the really, really great news?  Last week a woman stopped by our house to scout out where the fiber optic line is going to go! I'm not completely sure what that means but I'm pretty certain it = faster internet speed.  Thank goodness!  (Although I might get less laundry done...)

Blueberry Muffin Scones

This is not my normal scone recipe but I was short half a container of sour cream last night when baking for the market.  (I also ran out of enough flour, which has never happened before, to make cinnamon rolls which is why we ended up with muffins...after 10pm here I'm out of luck for running to the store to get ingredients so I had to make do).  Luckily I had about half a container of Greek yogurt though.  And since we use those pretty interchangeably in our own food I figured it wouldn't hurt.

The only absolutely set in stone scone recipe I use is for our Blue Cheese Green Onion & Grit Scones and I'm not sure I'll ever, ever give that one away....unless I write a cookbook.  (I usually refer to these as "Deep South Scones" but it's not nearly as descriptive as the name I just listed so I don't think the name has stuck yet.  But if I write that cookbook...)  All others depend on whatever dried fruit, fresh fruit, nuts, spices, etc. sound good to me when I'm making them up either Friday evening or early Saturday morning.

The only bad thing about this method is that I hardly ever write down what I add in the scones.  Or I forget I even made a particular flavor.  And then someone asks me months later about it because it was their favorite and I have no idea how to re-create it.  And it is such a compliment they asked for them and I end up feeling horrible I can't remember. So I am going to try to start writing these down a little better. I'm much better at just cooking on the fly rather than documenting and writing technical recipes as I go. (Which is why at the market it's always a good idea to go ahead and try something because it may be the only opportunity you get!)

Anyway, I did write it down last night.  And I'm so glad I did because I ended up loving these scones.  I was going to call them "Blueberry Citrus Zest Almond" Scones but they ended up tasting just like a blueberry muffin but with the crunchy crust of a scone.  Heaven.

For this recipe, you can use your food processor.  Or if you don't have one, just mix it up by hand-it's good for your arms.

Blueberry Muffin Scones:

Step #1:  Add following ingredients together in bowl/food processor and pulse until almonds are chopped well.
4 Cups of flour (whole wheat, all purpose or a mix)
2 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sea salt
3 Tbsp milled flax seed
1/4 cup whole almonds

Step #2:  Add these ingredients to dry mixture and pulse very briefly-just to distribute everything
8 oz. Greek yogurt
8 oz. sour cream
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Sprinkle of nutmeg
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (or sugar or raw sugar)

Step #3:  Add melted butter to mixture and pulse until a dough forms.
1 cup melted butter

Step #4:  Dump out dough into a large bowl.  Sprinkle a little flour on top and add 1 1/2 cups blueberries on top of flour-give them a quick mix to coat the berries.  Then really get those berries mixed in...you kind of knead them in with the dough.

Step #5:  Divide dough in half.  Place each half on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Shape each half into a disk about 1/2-1" thick.  Cut across circle 4 times to make 8 triangle/scones.  Repeat with other half of dough.

Step #6:  Arrange individual scones on the tray and sprinkle with raw sugar.  (*In this picture they are just on the pan with spray...only because I had run out of parchment paper (and flour).) 

Step #7:  Bake 15-18 minutes* in preheated 425 oven.  (I usually rotate them about the  8 minute mark so that they bake evenly by turning the pan and changing position on rack.).

Step #8:  Eat warm with really, really good butter and really, really good coffee.

Do Ahead Notes:  Scones are the perfect food to freeze then throw in the oven to toast for breakfast.  You can also make up the dough and cut the scones ahead of time.  Freeze them on the pan (once frozen you can put them in a bag) and then just let semi-thaw and bake when you need them. 

So if you missed these at the market this morning (we sold out by 10:30!) you can make yourself a batch of them in the meantime!  Thanks so much to everyone who came out to see us this morning!

What is your favorite scones we've made so far?  (I just might try to recreate the recipe...)

Salmon Burgers/Patties/Croquettes

Living in the middle of Georgia means there isn't a lot of fresh seafood around.  (Except for the shrimp guy who sets his truck up near F&M Bank one Friday a month (I think)...the guy I always forget about and wish I had shrimp later).  Reid goes fishing on his lunch breaks at the Augusta canal but obviously we don't eat those.   (I guess he should be fishing more at the river here...he will love this post).  There is an amazing source for Wild Alaskan Salmon on Augusta Locally Grown (Doug's).  I've ordered it before and the filets are amazing, amazing, amazing.  However, the $26 or so price/lb-1.5 lbs is a little on the pricier side for an everyday meal.  Food is something I don't mind paying the price for quality on but we will probably stick to something a little more on the budget friendly side for an everyday meal.

So for a weeknight meal (that you can prep in advance) and a way to incorporate more fish/Omega 3's in our diet, I'm a big fan of canned salmon.  

If you haven't used it, then here is what you want to look for:  Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon, MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified, and with only two ingredients:  Salmon, Salt.  While a filet may run $26/lb, a can of this costs less than $4.00.  There are 7 servings in each can with 15 grams of protein and 782mg Omega 3 fatty acids/serving.  Also 18% DV of calcium.  (The brand I buy here in Washington at Ingles is Double "Q" Pink Salmon-it has a red label.)  

The other thing to know about canned salmon is that it looks a little gross.  It's not just the nice meaty portion of the fish.  It has the skin and bones.  So when you cook with it, I recommend having everything else ready then opening up the can of salmon last so you can dump it in, stir and not have to look too closely at it. Yes, you eat the entire can and you don't want to drain it and lose any of those good Omega 3's.  (And I really only had to do this a couple times...it's not all that horrible but you don't want it sitting on your counter while you boil sweet potatoes.)

So here is the recipe...you will probably want to play around with the amount of seasonings and add/substitute based on flavors your family likes.  (Another good reason to make your non-fishy and non-egg mixture first...you can taste knowing that you'll be adding a little salt with the fish and that's it.  Once you add the eggs, you won't want to taste test it.  You can only justify that with cookie dough.) My "whole foods" cooking philosophy means using a whole onion, or a whole sweet potato, or a whole can of beans.  So if you have a large onion and not a small one, go ahead and use the whole thing. In cooking, the less picky you are with measurements the easier life is. (Because seriously who is going to have a way to "use up" a third a can of beans?  This philosophy is also why I make about 20 cups of hummus at a time because I'm not about to try to mix and measure tahini.  That goes for peanut butter cookies as well...I always adjust to be able to just dump the whole jar in.)

Step 1: Mash all your ingredients up together in a bowl.

Step 2:  Use an ice cream scoop and a parchment lined baking sheet to make beautiful patties burgers.  Bake them first, then "fry" them in a little oil right before serving.  The method makes sure they don't fall to pieces on you and have crazy shapes (like mine used to do every time).

Step 3:  Give them a little shallow oil run in the skillet for the crunchy effect.  Better than fish sticks any day...

Sweet Potato Salmon Patties

Half bunch of parsley

1 small red onion, chopped

1 medium sweet potato, peeled, cubed & boiled until soft

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp Dijon horseradish mustard

2 chopped green onions (optional)

1 tsp Sea salt

1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1-2 cloves garlic (optional)
Fresh herbs-dill, thyme and parsley are all wonderful
1 Can of black beans

1 Can Double “Q” Wild Alaskan Caught Salmon

2 pastured chicken eggs (small-medium sized)

½ cup MASA cornmeal flour or whole wheat panko breadcrumbs (Ian's is a good brand sold here)..or whatever dry grain flour you have on hand (a sleeve of saltine crackers also work pretty well...just use up what you've got to hold it all together).

Directions:

1.)    Prepare sweet potato as directed.

2.)    Add sweet potatoes, onions, parsley, lemon juice, mustard, sea salt and black pepper in bowl and mash well together. 

3.)    Open can of salmon and add directly into sweet potato mixture and mash to combine.

4.)    Add eggs.

5.)    Add cornmeal or bread crumbs starting with ¼ cup.  Combine and add more as needed until desired consistency to form patties is reached.

6.)    Use ice cream scoop to make about 12 portions onto parchment lined baking sheet.  Slightly flatten out so you've got a tray of salmon patty disks.

7.)    Bake in preheated 350 oven for 15-20 minutes until fully cooked.  (If you want, at this point you can chill or freeze the patties until you're ready to eat them.  Reid insists chilling them first before the last step is the secret.  If you freeze them, thaw out in the fridge first).

8.)    Immediately before serving, add 2 tbsp oil in large skillet on medium heat.  Cook 3 minutes/side.

Makes 12 patties; Per each, approximately 470 mg Omega 3’s; 8.75 gm protein

Add a few sides and you've got all the taste benefit of using fresh ingredients and a little slight fry there at the end; the health benefits of a variety of fruits/veggies/beans/grains/herbs and a happy husband.  Or a happy 8 month old.

Lemon broccoli, salmon patties, fruit salad and homemade pumpernickel bread.

Dinner aftermath...

Hope you enjoy this recipe!  Feel free to mix up the herbs, seasonings, binder, etc...you can make cilantro lime patties, spicy salmon patties, even Greek salmon patties (which is great if you repeat these at least 1x every 1-2 weeks like I do...)