273- Totally Cracked

This has been such an odd season! We had a long cool spring and now we are having record high temperatures in September! Makes me feel totally cracked... just like my tomatoes.

Why do they do this anyway?

272- Land o' Goshen

Lasterday Gordon and I took a little explore. We went down the I-15 to Santaquin (population 4834) through Genola (population 71), past Goshen (population 874), around West Mountain (population one crazy driver in a black Ram truck who just about hit us!!!) and back home again.

Between Genola and Goshen the green-ways (can I call them that in Utah... they aren't always green... frequently they are brown... but this day they WERE green) were dotted with milkweeds just opening up and letting out there fluffy glory!

It reminded me of when I was little and I was so captivated by their beauty. Now they remind me of talking walks with Grannie Annie (my sister) in her fun little rural town (population 733) in central Utah.

Aren't they beautiful? But as Grannie Annie taught me, "One year o' seedin' makes ten years o' weedin'!"



AND since I grew up in the steaming metropolis of Greenville, population 1500 I can make population statements in this post...

271- Diaper Goal Surpassed!

I had no way of knowing that when I challenged the sisters in the Hobble Creek 8th Ward (almost 8 weeks ago) to make 300 diapers for Marie to take to Haiti that they would nearly double that number! But I will also tell you that I am not surprised!

We had 3 nights where we met at the church and worked like house-elves! We laughed, visited, sewed, un-sewed, ate and basked in the glow of doing good for people we don't even know. But countless more diapers were taken home and finished and returned.  Sisters made them by the dozens. Service is such a wonderful blessing!

Marie got those vacuum bag-thingies to suck all the air out of the diapers and pack them in as tightly as possible.



The airline is allowing each of the Healing Hands for Haiti team members to check 3 bags. Marie's are mostly filled with diapers but the others have medical supplies, crutches (yes, in the bags) and they were even going to try to get a wheel chair dismantled and in a bag!


MARIE'S BAGS WITH THE LAST MINUTE DIAPERS FINISHED SINCE LAST THURSDAY... ABOUT 6 DOZEN.

The young women in the ward wanted to do something too. They spent several activity nights making these darling little brown-skinned dolls for the children.



Marie told me that there is an American lady who lives permanently in Haiti to help the relief efforts, Marie will talk to her and determine where the greatest needs are. I can hardly wait to see some of the faces of the recipients... it is my prayer that they will reach those babies, and mamas, who need them most.

Service truly is good for the soul!

270- Zinnias in Bokeh

This spring I went down to help my De-Lor-ee-us plant some of her garden. She has lovely raised beds that had become root bound. I helped her dig, garden fork and remove all those old root and then plant her turnips (ick!), tomatoes, melons and other various plants. We had a lovely time.

When I got home I thought, "Hey, I've got lots of old flower seeds I've been saving! Why don't I plant mine?" So since I was already dirty, and tired, I went to it... about 3 nights later I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered that about a month before all this planting I had dutifully Preen-ed (a pre-emergent weed deterrent) all of my flower beds! GREAT COOGALEE-MOOGALEE! All that work with my 10 year old seeds gone to waste!

The only little plant hardy enough to overcome the Preen were these lovely Zinnias, one of my favorite, happy flowers and some California Poppies. I've been so pleased to see these spotty zinnias! I'd never seen spotty-polka-dottie ones before. You can bet that this year I will NOT be Preen-ing that flower bed as zinnias reseed themselves.



And what could make these beautiful fall-day flowers even more beautiful? My nifty-fifty (50mm lens) and a rich bokeh background.

269- More Glorious Light

I am so grateful for glorious light! Not only the kind we can see but that which can be felt as well.

Saturday night was the General Relief Society broadcast.  It is held the last Saturday in September, just before October General Conference each year. It is one of those meetings that I don't want to miss, and I've only missed a couple since their inception. Saturday's broadcast did not disappoint... but I knew it wouldn't. I'm so grateful for the continued light and knowledge we receive from our leaders.



There is usually one or two things that just stick out in my mind as I sit there taking notes. This time is was Sister Sylvia Allred's comments:

She asked, "What helps us stand steadfast and immovable?"  I love the answer... it is so simple-

• Prayer
• Scripture study
• Obedience [!]
• Service

I CAN do that! 

(You know what else I love?  Each of these bullet points was already a tag on my blog!)

268- Sourdough Chocolate Cake

Does the title of this one just knock your socks off? It did mine!



So, I made you all a promise and I try very hard to keep my blogging promises (real-life promises have a better percentage rate, sorry! I just forget...) to share some more of my new found sourdough recipes with you.

Let's get started! You need to start with the starter (heh, heh, heh). This lovely has been in the fridge for a couple of days and you can see that it has separated. Just stir it back together.



Measure out 1/2 c starter and mix it with flour, hot water and powdered milk to make the sponge. Cover and let it do its magic for at least 3 hours. See the magic?  See why it is referred to as a sponge?



Like any self respecting cake we need to cream together the fat, I used Imperial Margarine, (but you could use shortening or butter, just not that low cal stuff) sugar and eggs. I love this part!



Melt 3 squares of unsweetened baker's chocolate. I remember my first encounter with UNsweetened chocolate... what a sad disappointment! But it's ok here... we add it to the yummy creamed sugar. Try to resist licking the spoon, you will be disappointed too.  (Using a microwave heat in 30 second increments until melted.)



Add the melted chocolate and vanilla, of course, to the creamed mixture and mix well.  I added my soda, salt and cinnamon here too.



Now we will add the sponge. Mix gently, yet well. I used slow speed on my mixer this time. The first time I gently folded it in and had a marbled cake.

You will notice that this is a thick batter with a glutonous bread like consistency.  Don't worry, that's the sourdough doing its magic.  Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan. 



Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool before icing.



OK, now this is where the real beauty starts! I've NEVER had a better chocolate frosting than this in my life. I call it a fudge frosting, you'll see why.  Mix more unsweetened baker's chocolate, butter, salt, half  & half, and powdered sugar in a small saucepan.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, until the butter and chocolate are melted.  Pour it into your mixing bowl and allow to cool.



Beat in another 3 cups of powdered sugar, perhaps a little more, to make it spreading consistency. Look at this! Doesn't it look like fudge? Smooth, satiny...



delicious... opps! I got some on my finger! What shall I do?



Spread that fudgy goodness on the cake... it makes my mouth water! I found that this made slightly more frosting than I wanted to use on a sheet cake and you would have plenty to frost and fill a layer cake. But now I have leftover fudge frosting... hmmmm.



Enjoy this marvelously moist cake. ( I love the cinnamon in the batter. It reminds me of my Mom's Chocolate Raisin Cake...)



SOURDOUGH CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 1/2 c flour
1 c hot water
1/2 c starter
1/4 c powdered milk

Mix together until smooth. Cover and let ferment for 3 hours.

Cream together:
1/2 c shortening (I used Imperial margarine)
1 c sugar
2 eggs

Mix in:
3 squares unsweetened baker's chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Then:
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Add sponge and blend well, yet gently.

Pour into a buttered 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.
Remove and cool before frosting

FUDGE FROSTING

In a small saucepan combine:

3 squares unsweetened baker's chocolate
1/2 c butter
1/2 c half & half
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c powdered sugar

Heat to boiling, stirring constantly until butter and chocolate are melted. Pour into mixing bowl and allow to cool.

Beat in:
3 c powdered sugar (perhaps a little more)
Add enough sugar to make a good spreading consistency.

267- A Pear [of]Triplets

Yes, I know... that really doesn't even make sense!  Perhaps that's why I like it so much!

I was lying on the couch in the family room talking to Gordon, the sun was starting to get low in the western sky but all I could see was the *pear triplets* in that glorious, golden pre-sunset light! 

Be still my heart...ooooh, I just love it!

I said, "Gordon, there are pears I HAVE to take a picture of!"  His response... better hurry!  What a guy!

266- BIG and little

or you could say...

• tall and short
• new and old
• manly and girlie

I went down to the church to be set apart for my new calling**.  When I came out these were the only two cars in the parking lot! Little, cute, dependable, economical, red Beatrix and Brother Clyde's red manly-man truck. It made me laugh right out loud!

Now do you want the second piece of funny information?  Brother Clyde is 6 foot 7 inches... I'm 5 foot 3 inches on a good day.



** I am very excited about this new calling!  I will be teaching the 15-year old Sunday School class!  I haven't taught SS.  I love to work with the youth and the kids in our ward are outstanding.

265- In Silhouette

I love it when the light looks like this. I've heard it referred to as *God's Light*. I just think that is so fitting. Clean, sharp beams of light coming down from our loving Heavenly Father.

264- Smoky Sunset

I want to call this a smoky sunset but is it really? Look how high in the sky the sun still is. Sadly this is the time of year for wildfires.



This particular fire is up by Herriman. It was caused by machine gun fire at Camp Williams. The media refers to it as the Machine Gun Fire; how original.

263- Homemade Sourdough Bread

Last Thursday was a Relief Society activity at friend-Vicki's house. She demonstrated how to home bottle meat and then friend-Kelli, her daughter (yeah, and why do I cry every time I talk to Kelli? That's what I'd like to know!), demonstrated how to make sourdough bread! Yum! Sourdough bread has got to be Gordon's most favorite bread in the whole world!

Can't you just smell it?  It just came out of the oven.  Don't you wish you were here?



I've played around with sourdough starters and recipes before, but there is something special about this one! I got my starter from friend-Karen (if you live locally and would like a starter just shout it out!) but you can also make your own (directions at the end).

The first step is to make a *sponge*  (batter) with your starter.  You always want to use pottery, glass or plastic with your start, NEVER METAL!  I just happened to have this darling old bean pot that belonged to my Mom.  It made me happy to pull it out and give it a job... I think it made my mom happy too.



So I mixed up 2 1/2 cups flour and 2 cups hot water and then stirred in the starter, put on the lid and let it do its thing over night. Then this morning I had a crock of bubbling sour goodness! (my photo was too blurry to post)  Can you guess what decade my canisters were purchased?  Yup, 1970... gotta love that burnt orange and avocado green!



Always measure out 1 cup of starter and store in the refrigerator for next time.

Now mix up the bread dough. Watch out... this is the hard part! Add 1 cup of warm water to the remaining sponge.  Add 1 teaspoon salt and then stir in 4-5 cups of flour until it is a soft dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 2-3 hours. This is what it looks like after the rising. Turn it onto a heavily floured board or counter top.



Sprinkle the top with flour, flatten out dough and fold over in half. Repeat 3 more times. Shape into a round loaf and place it on parchment paper.

I am a little bit controlling with my dough and didn't want it to spread all across the counter top so I put mine in a pie dish. Sprinkle the top with flour and cover with a tea towel and allow to rise until nearly double about 1-2 hours. (Or, if you are like me... forget about it, come back in 3 hours, reshape it into a round loaf and start the rising time over again... just sayin'.)



Ah, look at that fluffiness. Doesn't it make you want to poke your finger into it?



Now, enter the hero! This is where the magic happens. This little beauty... a Dutch oven. Put it into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Yep, the empty Dutch oven.  (I got mine at Sam's Club it is a Member's Mark 6.5 quart Dutch Oven.  I couldn't find a link online so if you want one you'll have to go to Sam's)



When the oven has reached 450 degrees remove the Dutch oven and carefully transfer the dough into the hot Dutch oven. Just grab two opposing corners of the parchment paper and lift. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and return to the hot oven. Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid, lower the oven temperature to 400 and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes.



Behold the beauty! Remove bread from Dutch oven, remove parchment paper and cool on rack... or be like me and cool it on the cutting board because I NEED to have a slice of hot sourdough bread with butter... right now!



TO MAKE SOURDOUGH STARTER

For best results, use glass or pottery containers. Never use a metal container or leave a metal spoon in the starter. A good starter contains only flour, water and yeast. It has a clean sour mild order. The liquid will separate from the batter when it stand several days, but this does not matter. If replenished every few days with flour and more water, the starter keeps fresh. If the starter is not to be used for several weeks, freeze or dry it to keep it from spoiling. To carry it to camp, add enough flour to shape it into a ball and place it in a sack of flour. In the dried form, the yeast goes into the spore stage which will keep inert for a long time. Water and warmth bring the yeast back to the active state.

Mix well in a large bowl:
2 cups flour
1 package of yeast (1 Tablespoon)
2 cups warm water

Place in warm place or closed cupboard overnight. In the morning, put 1 cup of the starter in a pint jar with a tight cover and store in the refrigerator or a cool place for future use. This is the sourdough starter. The remaining batter can be used to start a sponge.

BASIC SOURDOUGH SPONGE (batter)

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups hot water
1 cup sourdough starter

Use a wooden spoon or plastic whisk to mix flour and water until smooth. Add starter. Mix well and cover. Set in a warm place overnight or 10-13 hours. before using.

Always remember to take out 1 cup from the sponge to use for your next starter. Keep in covered jar or crock in the refrigerator until needed for next basic sourdough sponge.

SOURDOUGH BREAD

1 recipe of basic sourdough sponge minus 1 cup
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
4-5 cups flour  (maybe a smidge more)

• Stir warm water and salt into basic sourdough sponge.  Using a wooden spoon mix in enough flour to make a soft dough. 
• Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 2-3 hours.
• Sprinkle the top with flour, flatten out dough and fold over in half. Repeat 3 more times. Shape into a round loaf and place it on parchment paper. Allow to rise in warm place until almost double.
• Preheat oven and empty Dutch oven to 450 degrees.
• When the oven reaches 450 degrees remove the Dutch oven and carefully transfer the dough into the hot Dutch oven. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and return to the hot oven. Bake for 30 minutes then remove the lid, lower the oven temperature to 400 and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes.

I have more recipes that I'll share in the next few weeks.

262- Diapers IN Haiti

Meet Gary!  He is one of the first diaper recipients in Haiti.  Look at that bright and happy face. I just want to just pick him up and love him!



Doug and family came over for dinner tonight, the first time since he returned from Haiti. He brought his photos. The minute I saw this one of Gary I knew he was going to be the *poster boy for our diapers*.

Doug delivered the first dozen diapers in Haiti when he was there last month. Even though he broke his right arm, both bones right at the wrist, the day he got there he served the Haitian people with his sweet smile. Here he is giving diapers to some of the ladies at the tent orphanage, yes, tent orphanage!  Notice that the ladies are holding some diapers.  He is holding little Gary. 


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Another 56 diapers went with the first group of Healing Hands for Haiti last week and more are headed with the next *wave* going this week.

We have our last diaper sewing night this coming Thursday. Marie will depart the following week.

Remember that challenge I gave the ladies? Let's just say we made it and then some! At last count we have 339 AIO diapers plus another 11 dozen regular cloth diapers. What a blessing... for us and for the Haitian orphans!

EDIT from Doug-

Mom-

I just read your blog about the diapers. Thanks again for sending them with me. At the risk of sounding picky, most of the orphanages I went to were in tents since the buildings had either been severely damaged or leveled by the earthquake. What really set that particular orphanage apart for me was the fact that they were literally in the middle of a field, they never had a building. Do what you will with that information :-)

I love you- Doug

261- It's a Sickness!

From the time I was a tiny girl I've been a barefoot gal! I'm sure that having Fred Flintstone feet has something to do with that!

Now that I'm older I do wear shoes more often, but the minute I sit down off they come. When I want to find my shoes I just have to remember, "Where was I sitting last?"

But, come on! This is ridiculous! So now I feel guilty and will put them where they belong.



This reminds me of Auntie P. When she was working *down-below* all those years she wore heels but she didn't like to drive in heels. She'd put them behind her seat in the car... by the end of the week she's have more shoes behind the seat than she did in her closet!

Guess we've just funny girls with a bad sickness!

260- "Scout, it ain't time to worry yet."

There aren't many books that I will read more than once (except the scripture, which is my daily sustenance!). But this is one of them...

To Kill a Mockingbird



Not only did I read it twice; I read it back-to-back. I love the characters. They were so alive and real to me. I love Atticus' statement, "It's not time to worry yet."

I've pondered how fitting that is in my life. Too often I will get worried about something and chew it over like Harley chews his rubber-squeakie-toys! But you know what? Most of the time... it ain't time to worry yet!

259- Peach Salsa

My tomato crop has been so sad and small this year. If I could put all of the tomatoes I've picked this season into one 5 quart ice cream bucket I still wouldn't fill it up! Usually by now I've bottled anywhere from 14-21 quarts of tomatoes or made a googalin of salsa or stewed tomatoes. But not this year. Actually most of my crops have been small this year. I guess that's what happens when you have a silly cool spring (but I'm not complaining!!)

I decided that since I didn't have many tomatoes or peaches that I would try making some peach salsa. I took my regular salsa recipe and modified it a little. Chunky!



Here are my cast of characters (as Pioneer Woman says... but trust me, I am no Pioneer Woman).  Tomatoes, red pepper, Ancho chile, Jalapeno peppers, some funky green chile which name I don't remember, onions, peaches, cilantro, and (not shown) vinegar, salt, pepper & garlic.



Do you all know about slipping the skins on tomatoes and peaches? You put them in boiling water for a minute then into cold water and then the skins just slip right off. It's almost like magic.



I chopped up everything by hand, I don't have a food processor... maybe some day... maybe not. Then stirred it all together... looks so yummy! I always want to stop right here, but of course then I wouldn't be able to preserve the salsa, which is kind of the point.



When I make this again I will not use two jalapeno peppers.  It's a little hot for me... but Camille will like it!

Peach Salsa

8 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
8 cups roughly chopped peaches
1-5 chiles, diced (use a mixture of Ancho, Jalapeno, red bell, whatever)
2 bunches fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 c vinegar
2 T ClearJel (this is a thickening agent made from tapioca that can be used in canning), optional

Bring all ingredients except ClearJel to a boil. Lower temp and cook 10-20 minutes, stirring frequently. If desired, remove some of the liquid to a small bowl and mix in ClearJel. Stir back into salsa and continue cooking until thickened, about 5 min.

Ladle salsa into clean hot pint jars. Wipe rim of jars clean and adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes.

Makes a little over 8 pints (so you have enough to taste!)

258- A Gaggle of Dragonflies

About dinner time Gordon went out to get the mail, when he came back in he told me to get my best camera and go fast out to the driveway... there was a whole gaggle of dragonflies out there buzzing around like crazy.

It was very difficult to get a photo of them they were moving so fast. There had to be a couple o'dozen of them!



I've been wondering why they were here and what they were doing. Then a thought just popped into my head!!! fruit flies! Yes, dragonflies are great bug catchers... I sure hope that is what they are doing!

257- Raisin Making 101

Each year I've tried to figure out what to do with the plethora of grapes my vines produce.  I've tried-

• Raisins the hard way (blanch them first) then use a dehydrator (borrowed).  They were tart and not so tasty.
• Grape juice (it looks like green pea soup... I'm not joking!  Come look in my fruit dungeon!)
• Sun-dried raisins (yeah that lasted 24 hours and they got rained on!)
• Raisins done in the dehydrator, sweet product, yummy results!  Eureka!

Last year I bought a second dehydrator after my sun-dried raisin experiment failed so I could deal with the mountain of grapes I dragged in of my deck. (Click on the grapes label if you want to read all the drama!)

I love raisins!  I love them in cinnamon rolls, but mostly I love them in my morning oatmeal!  Sad... I ran out of home-made raisins about 6 months ago.

So this year I was all ready to really go to town and put in my year's supply of raisins!  I started by picking a googlin of grapes (to be more specific 9 buckets full, of which I've given 2 buckets full away, bucket and all.)

I do my very scientific wash consisting of: filling my big kitchen sink full of water, dump in one bucket of grapes, agitate gently, carefully remove to extra large colander while sorting out leaves and stowaway insects.

Of course then all those happy little *bobbers* have to be removed from the stems. Yes, it is mindless work, but that's ok... I can be mindless especially if Gordon helps or I have something to listen to on my MP3 player. Then you put them on the dehydrator racks.



But here is what I wish I'd known before I bought my second dehydrator... dehydrators are not all created equal! This is the Nesco FD60 and the air circulates down the sides and it is 500 watts.  I have even drying and a batch takes a little less than 24 hours.



This one is the Nesco FD35 and it blows the air down the middle. It tends to dry unevenly getting the ones in the middle crispy and the ones on the outside still not totally raisin-ified.



After about 24 hours this is what you will have... yummy raisins! I spread them on my large cookie sheet to cool and let them air dry for an unspecified amount of time.



Then I package them in 1-gallon Ziploc bags for storage. I stored them in the freezer last year until I needed to refill my raisin canister just to make sure that all my hard work stayed good.  I think I'm about half way through my plan... bet you know what I'll be doing every day this week!

256- Grape Tendril

I started my grape harvest on Saturday. It took me a minute to remember that, this time of year the days start to run together. We picked 5 3-gallon buckets of grapes; all of which have been given away, devoured or turned into raisins. And that 5 buckets barely scratched the surface.



So today found me out there again in need of a machete! Those vines are crazy! I trimmed some of them so I could get to the grapes from the sidewalk side of the fence. I will wait until early spring to trim the inside. Can you believe that this little stretch of grape vines is so prolific?



What a blessing to have fresh garden produce to share! Can't you just taste the sweetness of these lovelies?