the last bite

 Green onions before their buzz cut.

Tri-colored carrots (Some are disguised as beets.)

Pound cakes cooling.

Magnificently, perfectly shelled pecans, if this author does say so herself.

One of these sneaky seeds will surely end up in my teeth, but with freshly whipped organic cream ... who cares?

Cabbage patch.

****

Hello, Southern Scratch readers. I have the privilege to be your guest blogger today. My name is Sarah, and I am a dietetic intern. I had the pleasure of spending a week with Kathryn in Tignall, getting a feel for what it takes to start a small business. It was a wonderful, hands-on experience! Keep reading for a taste of what I learned....

****

There are several ways a person can take the last bite of food. There is one way in which one tries to make the cherished morsel last as long as possible, shaving away micro-bites with a spoon or fork. This manner seems a slow tortuous denial, where someone eats crumbs for so long that they are the same as someone who has actually eaten nothing. Then there is the way in which one simply enjoys the last bit of food, swallowing away the fear and uncertainty of not knowing when or if there will be another portion.

When Kathryn answers a question, she starts a story—stories that revolve around food, books, her husband, Southern Scratch (SS), or maybe a tale from her childhood.  It’s more like a parable than a direct response. It’s perfectly appropriate when she regales you with a story, because in her reply, she unfolds the current dilemma surrounding food. She talks in sorrow about how we are distanced from our food while we unwrap unsalted butter from Southern Swiss dairies in Waynesboro, Georgia, how broken our current food system is while we crack eggs laid by hens about five minutes away, and how downright delicious local, sustainable, organic food can really be while pound cake batter is evenly distributed into two country blue baking dishes.  We discuss food philosophies while sifting organic wheat flour milled down the road and brainstorm about ways to impact patients at the hospital and folks in the community to prevent them from becoming the former. The stories we tell and the conversation we have expose the complexity of the issue one layer at a time like the organic scallions I am slicing.

There’s intimacy in the close quarters of the kitchen, where we wash carrots, zest lemons, and plunge our hands into dough, all while talking, sharing, and laughing. It's an intimacy with the food we are preparing and in relating and connecting as women. The communal aspect of food is so often overlooked, but we pause in the kitchen to sit around a vase of daffodils, commune, and eat. 

As we enjoy our meal, Kathryn talks about her customers. She recalls a number of details about them, their demeanors, their routine, their food preferences, and their faces. She is intimate and personal with the food she prepares, just as she is intimate and personal with the people for whom she prepares it. As our lunch comes to a close, I watch Kathryn brandish her spoon, gathering the last of the vittles, grandly enjoying the taste and texture of spicy sausage with apples and grains. 

As we push away from the table, I think about the last bite with a simple understanding. There is no sorrow in the end of a memorable meal when-- just down the road-- hens are laying eggs, wheat is being milled, and vegetables are growing.

For Christina Groce.

Monday night we had a bad storm come through pretty much all of the southeast.  Around 2 am I woke up and asked Reid if we should head to the basement and by 3 am we had lost power and I was too tired to care too much at that point if the roof was coming off.  Plus, I had let Reid convince me that we were fine (which now being awake I have no idea why I trusted my half asleep husband on tornado safety measures except that I really preferred my bed over the creepy basement bathroom).  I will admit I did get up long enough between 2:00 and 3:00 to put enough clothes on so that if the roof did blow off the house I wouldn't be indecent when the television crew came to film what was left of our stick built vinyl siding home with our hound running around and me barefoot and pregnant describing the tornado as "a train."  (I grew up in Alabama so I know all about proper post-tornado interview etiquette). 

Tuesday morning Reid rushed to get out the door for work since we had overslept.  I immediately brushed my teeth because I had remembered a vague comment from Reid saying that if the power went out, we didn't have water either because of the well pump. 

When I got to the Tignall kitchen to see if we had power there, the little town looked pretty bad.  I went ahead and labeled the Augusta Locally Grown orders that were ready along with packaging up extra treats so that the customers who weren't getting their order would at least have a bit of a "consolation prize."  (Even though I know hamburger buns and cookies or steak fajitas and granola aren't necessarily interchangeable, I didn't want anyone to get that sinking "I have no birthday presents to unwrap" feeling when they got to the market). 

I had errands and a husband in Augusta so I decided to use the day to surprise Reid (after sending him to work with no breakfast.. had accidentally left his portion of granola in Tignall), return horrible curtains, run errands and get to deliver my Augusta order in person (instead of sending it through the Wilkes County Delivery Train which happens to usually be the back of a Volvo or truck). 

Tuesday ended up being a really fun and important day.  I had only delivered my orders to ALG once but had to drop them off and run.  This time I got to stick around until customers came and learn how to be a "volunteer" by filling orders, running up to the coolers to grab gallons of Southern Swiss Dairy milk and of course offer meager brownies instead of a full dinner plate.  As of this afternoon we still had no power and since I was on a "visit the market you're selling to" kick, I got to drive the Wilkes Co. Delivery Train up to Athens today along with Carissa of Tink's Grass Fed Beef.  Again, it was so great to see this amazing online Farmer's Market operation up close and personal.  (Athens even has ipads for all their volunteers to pull up/check off customer's orders eliminating paper...pretty awesome operation).

We just recently got word tonight everything was up and running in Tignall but will have to wait until the morning to see it with our own eyes.  We very temporarily moved our base of operation back here which has reminded Reid and I exactly why we can't live in the middle of a business no matter how convenient the commute is.  It also made us appreciate the stainless tables and three different specified sinks soooo much more.  (I think whenever we redo our kitchen I'll insist on 3 sinks..hand-washing/prep/dishes-it just makes so much sense).

We are looking forward to getting back in our kitchen tomorrow morning and incredibly grateful for the last few days of "inconveniences" since it has led to getting to know more of the people that we're sharing meals with.  It was all worth it today when I drove away from "Weekday Gourmet" deliveries:

 I got to see a mom, daughter and grandbaby from Thomson eating Southern Scratch meals on a bench in the town square while enjoying the view of downtown Washington.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude and pride that visitors from the town over would purposely come and share in a meal that so many from our town have had a part in preparing.  I thought of how we all meet up at someone's house on Tuesday or Thursdays and load a car full of produce, meat, plants, meals & treats and send our little Wilkes County delivery train to Athens or Augusta and how that kind of fills me with pride.  I thought of how I have the best little job ever to get to do something like provide visitors in town with a meal that is not just from my kitchen but from the hands of a whole community. 

And I thought about how I almost fell asleep writing this and that I better go put on my best post storm interview nightgown just in case another storm rolls in tonight...

It's About Time...

The past month or so we have been busy.  The good kind of busy though where by the end of the day you are so exhausted you can hardly let your head hit the pillow before you're asleep and then you're up and running again the next day with an equally packed day.  The kind of busy where when you do get in bed you know you've spent all you could that day with no regrets of what you could have accomplished if you had just been motivated enough, etc. For example, here was my schedule yesterday:

6:15 am:  Wake up in Columbia, SC on our surprise anniversary trip. (Front row tickets to Prince which made all things I had to speed through to do to get ready to go out of town on a Monday night so worth it!)
7:00 am: Breakfast in hotel (why do they always only have light yogurt made with artificial sweeteners?)
7:20am: Leave SC to drop Reid off at work in Augusta
8:30am: Leave Augusta to drive to Washington; finalize orders & details for brother's wedding this weekend
8:37 am:  Stop by grocery store in Augusta for items I forgot (wishing I had brought tennis shoes instead of the cowboy boots I was wearing with yoga pants.)
10:00 am:  Arrive at kitchen in Tignall
10-2:40:  Make blue cheese green onion & grit scones; bake off Better Than's; make 4 dozen burger buns; make carrot cupcakes; pull pork & season; make sauce; wash/shred cabbage; make coleslaw; make brown butter cream cheese icing to ice cupcakes & tartlets; make blueberry filling and fill tartlets I had made Monday; make plates to send to Augusta; package treat orders; load coolers/car up.
2:40-3:40:  Drive to deliver orders to Evans, GA for Augusta Locally Grown
3:40-4:00:  Drop off orders; see friends/growers there like Pat Curry from Buonna Cafe Artisan Roasted Coffee & Tink/Carissa from Tink's Grass Fed Beef and Kim Hines, ALG market manager
4:00-5:05:  Drive back to Tignall from Evans via almost accidently going to Washington and my lack of geographical knowledge adding about 20 minutes onto my drive; meanwhile call customers and make arrangements for home meal deliveries since I was running a little late for 5pm drop off.  (So glad Washington is such a small town!)
5:05-5:18:  Moving FAST at the Tignall kitchen, get Washington orders together; make treat tray to bring to class later.
5:18-5:45:  Deliver meals (probably the most unsocial I've ever been at meal drop off time since I just left my car running!); fill up with gas
5:45-6:05: Drive home to change clothes, grab some food, update FB status & get directions.
6:05 to 6:57:  Drive back to Evans, GA for an organic gardening class;  meanwhile able to find a wedding cake stand as well as call my expert cake decorator cousin for some last minute tips.
6:57-6:59: Breathe.  Amazed I am on time for the class; all orders/meals have been delivered and I actually have makeup and jewelry on.
7:00-9:00:  Learn about organic gardening from Relinda Walker from Walker Farms; discuss plans for LocalFest at Riverwood Plantation on April 30th.  (Reid and I are doing cooking demonstrations-so fun!).
9:00-10:00 Drive back home to Washington; call Reid and tell him how long the day was without seeing him; return a couple late phone calls for orders.
10:00  HOME!!  Laid back in a chair; told Reid how wonderful he was; discussed with him the finer points of the Prince concert
10:25  Ate the best sandwich (okay, 2 of them)...on Thomas MacFie's pita bread with his lettuce and radishes; cranberry-chipotle cheddar from Happy Cow; mayo/mustard; and roast beef that Reid had fixed
10:45 Looked up Prince videos online
By 11:05 Shower, in bed
11:06 Asleep.

I used to think that "getting it all done" meant having to stay up until four, five or just not sleep at all.  I've slowly been figuring out it's better to simply start each day with a good night's sleep and then hit the ground running in the morning.  Actually following this realization pretty well is probably best time management "trick" I've ever learned. 

Then a couple months ago I was listening to this sermon on the radio that had caught my attention because it was discussing time management.  The just of the sermon was that we shouldn't be so worried about "having enough time" because if we are seeking to let God be in control of lives, then we trust that God will also provide us with the time that we need to accomplish what He has set out for us to do; basically trusting that God won't give us responsibility for something that He doesn't also give us the resources (time, money, skill, etc.) for us to take care of it.

For someone like me who does not have very good built in time management skills and a brain that goes everywhere at once, that provided a lot of comfort.  I realized I have been on a long journey of coming from piling on way too much, saying yes to way too much and being a horrible procrastinator to now piling on a lot but knowing when/what to say "no" to and breaking everything down into small tasks that I just get done without agonizing over it first.  I've finally been able to admit that a good night's sleep on a consistent basis is way more effective than pulling an all-nighter and even that preparing ahead of time, little by little, makes whatever project it is actually enjoyable as opposed to the last minute rushes.  And of course, having faith that God will give me enough time to take care of what is really important even if that may seem different than what I think is important.  (Like time to spend an evening alone with my husband even though I was sure I needed Monday afternoon/evening to prepare for orders/meals). 

I have such a long way to go in all the little "management" areas of our business (which means in my life too!) like the "financial management"; "resource management"; "human resource management"; and of course still working on "time management."

 I am sure in a few months that when we have a baby added to the mix I will look back on this time now and wonder what I did with so much leisure time!  I also know that I will probably have only a vague recollection of what a good night's sleep is.  (Or maybe my definition of one will just change from 8 hrs/night to maybe 3 hour stretches at a time!).  I do know I am actually pretty calm and just excited about the whole thing because I know God will give us what we need to take care of our little one and everything else, including the time.

Well, I better get moving.  Headed to see patients at the hospital first then a full afternoon of baking so I can be home in time to have some dinner ready...

Ten Reasons Why I Love My Husband

I thought for Valentine's Day I'd dedicate a little blog post to Reid.  I would have written "top 10" but I'm not sure I have the mental clarity right now to put these in order and I know I'm going to leave a lot out.  (Please don't judge me that I've referred to our baby a couple times today as a little parasite who is draining all the energy and mental capacities right out of my body.  Love this baby, not a big fan of the side effects.) So just listing ten of the many, many reasons why I'm still thrilled that  Reid is all mine (you know, after almost 11 whole months) may be sufficient for now.

1.)  First, he will eat anything at least once.   I've never heard him say "that's gross" or "I don't like that" without first giving it a go.  I love even more that even though he knows he hates raw tomatoes, he tries them at least once every single year just in case anything changes.  I definitely could not have married a picky eater.

2.)  He calls me "Sugar-britches."  For the first two months of dating it made me giggle uncontrollably (mainly because I had never heard anyone say anthing like that and with such a Southern drawl).  I would laugh so hard I was asked on one occassion if I was drunk (right before church, which I was not, thank goodness).  Now all his coworkers and most of his friends refer to me by this little pet name as well. 

3.)  For my birthday this year he spent forever finding the perfect pair of boots for me because he knew my feet get really cold.  It was the last thing I would have thought to ask for but now I wear my Mucklucks as often as I can and my toes stay so cozy, especially during the cold market days lately.

4.)  He knows how to fix plumbing in our house. 

5.)  He built a two story dog/cat house for our pets complete with wood lap siding and a tin roof.  (I told him we should get Leonard Jones to paint it.) 

6.)  He makes sure I have a glass of water before he gets in bed every night so I can have it as soon as I wake up...often a few hours after he wakes up and is already at work.

7.)  Since we found out we were expecting he has completely withheld from tickling me or trying to scare me which has previously made up a big part of his entertainment.  This is a big act of restraint for him and I appreciate it tremendously. 

8.)  He knows how to reload bullets which just sounds like it would be too hard, tedious and dangerous for me.  Even better have been the little craft projects lately that have gone with it such as ducktaping random boxes and filling them with that insulation foam stuff to make bullet cases as well as cutting out target critters (so now we have cardboard squirrels, hogs and birds). 

9.)  This past Saturday morning before the market I had some major morning sickness, had banged my leg falling up the stairs, had no makeup on and had gone all night without sleep to get everything baked for the market. I looked pretty pitiful but he looked at me and said "You're so pretty darlin."  It may have made me cry all prego-emotional style complete with sniffling but it was super sweet.

10.)  Speaking of Saturday mornings...Every Friday night/Saturday morning since last May about he has stayed up late/gotten up early with me to help bake/prep for the market, load my car, make the coffee and then spend all morning with me "working" our little tables behind the courthouse.  We joke around about our regular "Saturday morning date" but I really cannot think of anything more romantic than having a husband who supports my little dream endeavor so much that he'll give up all his Friday nights and Saturdays to help me.  (Along with countless weeknights and middle of the nights too!).

11.)  Okay I'm going for a couple more here...Every Sunday since we were dating Reid has been the one who makes sure we get to church.  I'm so grateful our little baby is going to have a father who isn't quite as flaky as I am...(I'm also grateful our church doesn't start until eleven because the good Lord knows I am not naturally an early riser).

12.)  Lastly, the thing Reid does that completely knocks me off my feet:  He folds laundry just like he learned in military school.  Am I the only one impressed at how flat/square this stack of t-shirts is? 

If you've trudged through all my newlywed sappiness, thanks!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine's Day with your friends, lovah or that box of chocolate that went on sale early...  (And that any men reading this realize that folding laundry is waaaaay sexier than flowers.)

-Kathryn

Ham & Pop-Tarts

No one in my family is what you would call a "finicky" eater.  My mom cooked dinner every weekday and you just ate what was being served.  (Except for Friday nights which was always pizza night.) Which was not a bad thing at all because my mom is a great cook.   I'm one of four so my mom would wake up around 4 or so to have time to cook dinner and have coffee/quiet time with my dad before we all woke up.  Since dinner was "ready" by 6am every day, this means no one in my family has a weak gut either.  See, as we got older we all  had different schedules with practices, etc. so we would eat dinner with whoever was home and hungry at the same time.  My mom was adamant we wouldn't find dinner if she didn't just leave it on the stove so food only got refrigerated a good 12-16 hours after it was done.  Not a practice the Health Department would smile on, but all of us turned out to be pretty healthy and also pretty "adventurous" eaters.  And like I said before, none of us have weak stomachs at all.

Which is why the way I've been eating lately is so strange to me.  I've been an intuitive eater for a long time, so I am pretty good at eating when I'm hungry, stopping when I'm full and listening to my body for cues on what to eat.  (That sounds kind of new age-y, but I promise it's not.  Just imagine life without dieting, moving your body just because it feels good, and finding a natural, healthy weight without the food police around to tell you what you should and shouldn't be eating.  If that sounds like a peaceful dream, it is.  But it is also the way we were created to eat and is even backed up by some pretty good studies).  So I'm not afraid to eat lately what really sounds good to me.  The thing that is so strange though are all the foods that don't sound good to me.  Such as...

1.)  Coffee- I think an astute observer could have seen that my morning Southern Scratch Facebook posts went from mentioning sipping on coffee nearly every other day (even though I had plenty every morning) to absolute zero mentions of the stuff in January.  For about 3 days after we found out, I was crushed at the thought of having to limit coffee to a cup or two a day.    I didn't care at all that I couldn't have a glass of wine with supper.  But coffee, how would I go on? Then all of a sudden two days after Christmas it just had no appeal to me.   Now, I can't imagine how I ever drank it since the smell of it grosses me out. 

2.)  Most Vegetables-  Raw carrots, steamed brocolli and a tiny bit of lettuce/tomato snuck on a sandwich are about all the veggies that sound good to me.  Potato salad, french fries and onion rings with lots of ketchup are pretty amazing too but let's not count those as a "vegetables."  I'm hoping I get over this aversion really quickly. 
For example, a week or so after we first found out (right before Christmas) I picked up 3 pounds of raw spinach from Lazy Willow Farm.  I knew how important folic acid was and I was psyched to be getting so much of it in this locally grown, pesticide/GMO free form which had been freshly cut and washed that morning.  So picture me arriving home with the equivalent of about 9-10 of the washed "baby spinach" size bags in the grocery store.  I had been so excited to sautee up some every day and had told Reid our "baby" was going to eat so healthy.  Then I got it all inside the kitchen.  I took one look at all that spinach and quickly realized baby was going to have to get it's folic acid somewhere else.  Luckily, I'm eating fruit like crazy.

3.)  Chocolate-  This is more of a semi-aversion since I still like the stuff in icecream or chocolate chip cookies.  I've mentioned before our stash of weird dark chocolate flavors which normally I love.  Reid still thinks it's funny for him to be eating some and I'd prefer saltines.  Chocolate cake also seems equally as awful.  So instead of eating any myself on my birthday, I just brought chocolate cake to the market for everyone to eat for me. 

4.)  Anything I cook- Luckily this one is starting to get a lot better but for nearly a month I could hardly bring myself to coo,k much less eat, anything I made.  I am so thankful the worst of the nausea/funky food aversions happened during the slow time for the market, orders, etc. and the very worst week there also happened to be an ice/snow storm.  The rest of the time I would go by TPS on the way to Tignall and buy a Mexican coke (made with sugar and not high fructose corn syrup) in a glass bottle.  Alternating between water and sips of coke I could get through the cooking.

5.)  Reid's Sunday breakfast- This one is the worst for me!  One of my favorite times to spend with Reid is on Sunday.  Before, I would sip on coffee and watch him cook grits, eggs, bacon, etc. thinking how lucky I was.  Now that any of that food makes me feel a little sick, we're stuck with trying to have a relaxing morning over...granola bars?

6.)  Food I really liked the week before-  Another weird thing is that for a week or for a few meals, I'll really be craving something in particular and loving it.  Then all of a sudden it seems like the worst food in the world.  This has included pizza, orange juice, apple juice, Nekot peanut butter crackers and Talk of the Town's Hello Dollie turkey panini.  It happened briefly with this organic instant oatmeal (which I started eating due to the whole not liking anything I cooked thing), but now it's good again.

Foods that I haven't gotten tired of and cannot get enough of include fruit, ice cream, milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on twelve grain bagels and extra pickles on any sandwich I'm eating.  (But not on the PB&J or with the icecream).

BUT, I think the oddest part about the whole food aversion/craving thing though has got to be my very, very recent Pop-Tart habit.  It started the day I went to pick up antibiotics the ice/snow week.  I felt more miserable than I had ever felt and pretty much all food except for oranges and saltines seemed like a full on assault to my senses and my stomach.  Hot soup or any other good sick food seemed equally as horrible.  Until I went to CVS and passed a package of brown sugar and cinnamon Pop-Tarts.  All of a sudden I thought, "that actually does not sound I entirely horrible.  I went on to run another errand but the little toaster pastries still sounded good, which was a good thing because I hadn't really eaten but I needed to.  When I did get a box of them I definitely thought "What is wrong with me??" that I want processed breakfast pastries but good oatmeal makes me sick?

So for the next three weeks I ate nothing but Pop-Tarts for breakfast every single morning along with not a lot else during the day except for fruit, saltines, lots of water and the time I ordered a pizza from Mellow Mushroom and had Reid pick it up on his way home.  Between my first two doctors appointments I had lost 8 pounds.  I told Reid I was going to give up real nutrition for good and write "The Pop-Tart Diet." 

Luckily, I've been feeling better all around the past week or so and am finally okay with more variety again as well as eating a much better breakfast most days.  So while I'm glad the aversions toward EVERYTHING aren't as bad, the cravings are definitely starting.  As evidenced by Reid and I driving to Athens Friday afternoon just so I could get a ham sandwich.  It was so worth it.

-Kathryn

Homemade (but not really fast) Fast Food

I was born in Atlanta and the current address on my drivers license* happens to be the childhood home of Robert Woodruff in Columbus, GA.  So naturally, I don't think you can get much better than a Coke or a Chick-fil-a sandwich.  Since neither Reid or I drink many soft drinks or eat much fast food either one of these is a pretty occassional thing.  And since it seems you crave Chick-fil-a way more on Sundays than any other day, I decided to do a little "mock" fast food for dinner. 

*This is due to my parents temporarily living in my uncle's house when they first moved to Columbus while he was in Namibia.  He had restored the birthplace of the longtime President of Coca-Cola along with the Woodruff House.  It just happened to coincide with the renewal of my drivers license in college and was the "permanent" address.  Tomorrow, however, this will no longer be the case as a kindly Washington, GA police officer recently informed me that you actually only have 60 days to change your license, even if you did spring for the 10 year plan, you at least changed your name on your social security card and you dislike paperwork.

Luckily at Ingles, they had a great sale on organic chicken breasts.  I also picked up a box of bread mix.  I knew I could whip up some sandwich buns pretty quickly but I was kind of secretly curious about those mixes.  And, since it was a "fast food" night I thought it was fitting as well as being way better than a bag of store bought buns or sandwich bread. 

At home, I pulled out the Cuisinart breadmaker that Reid's cousins gave us for our wedding.  I had used this religiously when we first got married and didn't have a working oven.  (Along with a panini press we had eaten the best sandwiches in our limited kitchen.  Plus it was kind of awesome to have Reid come home to the smell of freshly baking bread...definitely felt like a housewife extraordinaire).  So I was psyched to use my long lost kitchen helper. 

After it took me about 20 seconds to "make" bread by adding a cup of water, the mix and the yeast packet, I started on the chicken.  I googled a few "mock" chicken sandwich recipes and the basic tip was adding powdered sugar to the flour/salt/pepper breading.  It might have worked but I didn't have any powdered sugar on hand and it kind of sounded gross anyway.  Just wrong to do that to organic chicken.  I did add a tiny bit of raw sugar but decided I would be just as happy with paprika/sea salt/pepper batter than trying to match the fast food favorite perfectly. 

I first cut the chicken breasts in half and then tried to pound them a little flatter which probably would have worked better with a wooden meat pounder than the back of a big spoon which was what I used.  Then I let the chicken soak a few minutes in a cup of organic milk with an egg that we got at the market from Sandy Saturday.  (She said technically they are Charlie's chickens).  Then I battered them (did the process twice for that full on FF effect) and put them all at once in a cast iron chicken fryer.  Covered it for 5 minutes; turned them and covered them again for five minutes.  They came out pretty perfect.

Well...that didn't take very long and we still had about 2 hours left for the bread to finish.  Since we rarely fry anything I always feel like I have to "make the most" out of it because you've got all this batter and hot oil assembly line going. I don't reuse oil (oxidation=not good for ya), so I did what any short order fry cook would do and sliced up an onion.  About twenty minutes later Reid and I were feasting on homemade onion rings with plenty of ketchup.  (My favorite is the Heinz organic ketchup...taste is really phenoemenal, but I'm still pretty happy with the "Simply Heinz" which is at least void of high fructose corn syrup). 

This made a pretty great appetizer because it was still a little over an hour before we could eat our "real" dinner, i.e. my homemade, "It's Sunday and we live an hour away from the nearest Chick-fil-a anyway"  chicken sandwiches.  When the bread machine buzzer finally went off, I ran over to see what this magical quick mix had done.  Unfortunately, it didn't do a whole lot and gave us a loaf about 3 inches high as opposed to the picture on the package which looked more like a good 5-6" loaf.  Oh well-the denser loaf turned out to be a little sturdier for our sandwiches.  I was about to butter the bun then realized there really was no point since the bread had literally just finished baking and didn't need it.  Plus, Reid wanted a little Duke's on his anyway.  After then piling them high with pickles (two really isn't enough in my opinion), they were all ready to go. 

Well, almost.  I realized my little homemade fast food sandwich was missing one thing-an icy cold can of Coke.  (And not that diet stuff either). 

Now, I am a firm believer in not buying 2 liters of soda or cases of soft drinks to have on hand at your house.  Diet or not, there is absolutely nothing of nutritional value in them.  They are empty calories that do little to nothing to ease your hunger.  Many people treat soft drinks as simply another beverage like milk or water, but believe me- it ain't water.  Soft drinks really should be treated more as a very occassional dessert.  And even though the "diet" drinks don't have calories, they do have artificial sweeteners (*GRAS) and plenty of phosphoric acid-which isn't good for your bone health and certainly doesn't compare to the benefits of water or green tea.  (If you really need that fizz, try sparkling water, like Perrier, with a splash of lime, OJ and pomegranate juice...kind of amazing and more like a daytime "cocktail." Scandalous huh?)

So that being said, Reid and I didn't just have a Coke in the fridge to pull out to go with our sandwiches.  We thought about it for a second and then deemed it totally worth it to jump in the car and drive to the nearest Coke machine.  This just happened to be the one in front of Bobby Steven's store a few miles from our house.  We grabbed some quarters and then set off on our little late night "Coca-Cola run."  (Just one of our many romantic adventures).  The best part is that we were completely right on it being "worth it" and I savored every sip.

And here is a pic (finally, right?) Reid took of our semi-homemade fast food meal (that took closer to 3 hours to make)...

Hope ya'll enjoyed your dinner as much as we did!

-Reid & Kathryn

Almond Butter Cookies

I think pretty much everyone knows the super easy Peanut Butter cookie recipe which is this:

1 Cup peanut butter
1 Cup sugar
1 egg

Mix together and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes.

My mom makes these and when I typed in "easy peanut butter cookies" the first handful of links were all pretty much this same recipe.  Some versions call for a little vanilla and others add some baking soda.  But you can get nice PB cookies with just the 3 ingredients although I bake mine a little longer because I like somewhat of a crisp cookie.

This morning before I made up a batch of these cookies I realized that a) I needed more than a dozen cookies which is what the recipe makes and b) I hate measuring out peanut butter, especially the all natural kind where the oil separates and you can never get it mixed completely right.  I was also going to use evaporated cane juice instead of straight "white" sugar. 

Evaporated Cane Juice is pretty much the same as sugar except less processed so you still get some trace vitamins and minerals.  It is still 15 calories/tsp like fully processed white sugar but since it a) tastes better and b) is slightly better for you, I think it is the clear winner to bake with in most things.  It is also slightly sweeter than sugar so you can get away with using a little less.  It costs more but using gratuitous amounts of cheap sweeteners may be a good habit for all of us to break anyway...

But back to the cookies.  Here was the recipe I used for tonight's dessert:

1 16 oz. jar of organic all natural peanut butter
1 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
2 organic cage free eggs

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
Nutrition Info:  36 cookies; 117 calories, 6.5 gm fat, 12 gm carbohydrates, 3 gm protein, 0.8 gm fiber and 39mg sodium.

I used the whole jar of peanut butter so I didn't have to measure anything out (it is the equivalent of 1 3/4 cups so I just did 1 3/4 cup of ECJ since it was a 1:1 ratio in the original recipe) and also so I didn't have to stand there and stir in the oil.  When you just use a spatula and put everything in a bigger bowl it's way easier and the oil, ECJ and eggs mix up super easily.  Some people are probably much cleaner about it that I am but whenever I'm first mixing the peanut butter I always have oil spill over the jar. Then it's all greasy and hard to open the next time.  (Even when I store it upside down first before opening.). 

An obvious solution may be to buy a jar of JIF but unfortunately most peanut butters that are already "mixed" have a lot of extra sugar, salt, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and/or partially hydrogenated oil (trans fat) added to them.  And mixing up peanut butter is really not the hardest thing in the world. 

Anyway, once I made the cookies it kind of hit me that they were inherently gluten free (like the flourless chocolate molten cakes I made last week) and lactose free, two more common food allergies/intolerances.  Since peanuts are another big allergen I thought how easy it would be to substitute almond butter and make them even more allergy friendly.  Also I thought the peanut flavor didn't shine through as much and the cookies could still be great with much less sugar or ECJ. 

So when I ran to the store for those last few items I grabbed a jar of organic all natural almond butter.  A note on almond butter-make sure you read the ingredients because there are several brands that have flax seed, wheat germ, etc. added to them.  While this may taste great and add some more nutrients, it kind of defeats the whole gluten free thing.  (Get it, WHEAT germ?)  It's also close to $10/jar which is about twice as much as a jar of organic peanut butter. 

But for a super easy, versatile cookie that could please anyone with or without a food allergy it's not that bad.  (Ever seen the cost of a box of gluten free cookies?  Non-wheat flours are expensive...)  The brand I bought was straight almonds so no extra sodium either.  Also, almonds are technically a seed so allergies to them are much less common. 

Since these are so easy to make I thought I'd whip up an "experiment" batch right before Reid came home so he could have some warm cookies.  (If they didn't turn out, he could still just have dinner with the peanut butter ones.  And in the end he just had both.  Research, right?)  I might add a tiny bit of sea salt and vanilla to these but they are pretty good as is.  So here is the almond butter/less sweetener version:

1 16 oz. jar organic almond butter
1 cup evaporated cane juice
2 organic cage free eggs

Bake at 350 for 14 minutes.  (For a super soft cookie you can bake them for only 8 or so minutes).
Nutrition: Makes 36 cookies (slightly smaller); 99 calories, 6.5 gm fat, 8.3 gm carbohydrates, 2.4 gm protein, 1.7 gm fiber, 4mg sodium

*Cookie baking hint:  Use parchment paper to line your cookie sheet.  This way you avoid gunking up your pan with baking spray which then turns the pan black. You also don't get any funny taste from the sprays.  If you are making a ton of cookies this especially helpful because you can just slide the whole piece of paper onto the cooling rack and then re-use the parchment for additional batches.  Slide on, slide off.

Enjoy!  I think these are going to come to the Discharge Planning meeting with me on Thursday.  A hospital is a great place to sample allergy free treats, right?

By the way..I'm still working on trying to figure out my new cameras so one day we'll finally have pics back on the blog.  I'm such a slow technology learner...they should probably just give me an instant camera and then let CVS hand me a disk of pictures!