4 Sweet Sisters

For years my Babcia has been relaying stories of my Father and Aunts childhoods. One thing that usually comes up about twice a year is the snacks she would make for them after school. One of their all time favorites being doughnuts. Yum! Today I was thumbing through MaryJane magazine (thank you Lora for passing it my way) I saw a recipe for Chocolate Aebleskiver . Basically, an old fashion, unfried doughnut. Well this month I've been trying really hard to find cooking experiences with my little chicks. Ones were it doesn't have to be perfect (a first born mama problem) and it's something we've never tried before. One stipulation. You must be done with your school work if you would like to help! So here we go Babcia. My take on your yummy fried doughnuts! 3 egg whites (called for yolks also mixed in separate with the milk err half and half - I didn't read the directions well enough) 2 cups whole milk (didn't have any half and half) 2 cups whole wheat flour (1/2...

The week before Thanksgiving and the weather is balmy 78 degrees. What's a Mom (who dreams of real falls and mild winters) supposed to do? Make Ginger - Lemon Slushies ! Actually the ginger in these slushies is the gift that keeps on giving. Last year we had a couple of weeks of fresh ginger in our kitchen basket. So I needed to figure out what could be done with it. I made candied ginger. Yummy! I had a small jelly jar of the candy and a 3/4 jar of dark, rich syrup left. Yesterday we attended a Pioneer Harvest Party. We needed a dish to share from the time period. The day before we were reading in a Plymouth Cookbook that the Pilgrims would make ginger tea regularly . Perfect! Here's what I did. I put the candied ginger in the blender with some water and pureed it. I pop it on the stove and simmered it until all the pulp rose and clung to the sides. I then scraped that out added more water, the ginger syrup , and a bit more dark sucanat . The Pilgrim's were said to ...

The apples are about done and I miss them already. I feel like I need another case or two. Crazy? I'm seriously starting to think that I need to open a seasonal bakery. Here's the totals for 5 boxes of apples: 30 apple pies 4 apple crisps 13 quarts of applesauce 7 quarts cinnamon apples (these were supposed to apple filling, but I didn't like the recipe) 10 gallons of dried apple chips 50 apples for eating lots of cores and peels for chicken food I'm hoping to get one more pie out of them tonight! This weekend I'm moving on to a case of pears that are ripening on my kitchen table. Date night with Superman. Outdoor Movie Night with the chickadees. Oooooo and making baby burp clothes for a cutie pie that will be born in the new year! I also probably should clean up craft room which looks like a bomb exploded in it and help make 4 Sweet Sisters Pumpkin Bread! Have a Great weekend! julie

School Girl By my tally we have made approximately 27 apple pies and 2 large apple crisp in the last week! I know what you're thinking, "She's nuts. Doesn't she already have a full to overloaded plate?" The answer is a resounding YES! We Mom's tend to do what we have to do and what we probably don't have to do also. Ahem. The Little Chefs friend Well there were some hectic moments. Like the small fire in the oven that only got bigger when I opened the door to throw in salt. SCARY. Or the black smoke streaming out of the ovens. I'm so thankful we have had a patch of cold weather so the windows could be open! First timers! Some fun times were teaching a gaggle of preteens how to bake their first pies. They were so excited. My own little chickadees and I even had a chance to bake some big ones! Farm Girl's friend. We made 3 different types of crust: -Whole Wheat with butter -White flour with butter -White four and vegetable shortening Flakiness Fa...

Hi Folks. I can't believe it has been so long. The fact of the matter is schooling, girl's groups, play practice and a much needed vacation is kept our family overloaded. All wonderful things, but you know how it is. Right? What's been going on around here? Well unfortunately last night Farm Girl found old Gert ( one of our first chickens) dead. Just before we had a passel of ladies convening on the homestead to make apple pies. Not good timing. She was truly one of my favorites. She had a wonderful life here. Eating spaghetti, hunting frogs, bugs and children. She also gave us some wonderful eggs! Farm Girl was a sad, but seems to be learning the ways of farm life. Saturday she is going to look at about 150 new chicks a friend of ours just got in. Maybe we can persuade Superman to get a couple ;) Our garden is perking along. We are already harvesting collards for the chickens! We put in two rows in just for them. The weather has not been cooperative. We haven't had a...

I really didn't want to do it this year, but Superman is all about it! We are trying a new location for our garden. Gardening in Florida without pesticides is hard stuff. A lot of labor and sometimes (okay most of the time) very little fruit. I really have given up, but there is a small part of me hoping to be proven wrong. The year before last we tilled up a large piece of our backyard just outside our kitchen door. That's what Square Foot Gardening suggested. We blocked off 12, 4x4 foot squares, amended the soil and laid on a thick layer of mulch. I planned out every square and the rotation for each. Superman set up a water system and I fantasized about cutting our coop bill and not going out to the 4-H garden. The growth was exciting. The garden was flourishing until ( dunt , dunt , dunt , dunn ) the winter sun changed position in the sky. Over a week or so we saw the shadow of our house covering the entire garden. Needless to say most everything stopped growing. We were a...

A bad day canning is better than the best day shopping! Can I tell you that I have been going crazy wanting to can! But unfortunately there has been absolutely nothing available to stock up on and can. That is until these fabulous peaches went on sale for 69 cents a pound. That is a terrific price for where we live! It's been years since I've done peach jam. So I read up on all the procedures and on how to can peach slices. I made sure I had plenty of lemon juice, clean jars, lids, rings and sugar. I also watched Homestead Blessings, Canning addition. The Chickadees really enjoyed watching the West Ladies and I got a little braver about trying my new pressure canner. (I still haven't used it.) Scoring peaches for their hot tub time. Boiling for about a minute to loosen skins. Some of them just didn't want to loosen. I let them sit in ice water next to help even further. Some still were persnickety! Farm girl stopped by from the pool to help out. You can see some of th...

A beautiful thing is taking place here. Every once in a while the Lord just puts something ever so precious in my lap. Right now that something is Bible & Beach. About 13 young woman and a couple of us moms are meeting weekly at the beach. We're digging in deeper to what the Lord has for us and fun fellowship. We are working our way through Eric and Leslie Ludy's book, When God Writes Your Love Story. For some it's a new concept and for some it's confirmation. While for others, it is a helpful reminder of all the beauty that awaits those who seek after His heart. The main reason I highly recommend this book is because it places the reader in the "driver's seat". It's not just what parents, grandparents or even what pastors say we have to do or should be doing. Its not about rules, regulations or the "perfect" way to date. Just an invitation to invite the Lord into all parts of our lives including our romance life. Heavy and rich. Better t...

I'm really getting excited about SWAGBUCKS. If you look over in my side bar you see the icon to join. I'm saving for Christmas gifts and I'm well on my way. I have one high ticket item (i can't disclose) that I hope to purchase in full from Amazon. A $5 e-certificate is 450 swagbucks and I've got a tidy little sum building. Swagging is super easy. Set up a tool bar and start searching. Swagbucks will appear as you search and go right into your account. You can also do surveys, purchase items from real online stores, and find codes to earn lots more SB's. Interested? Click Here and join or go to my side bar. Have fun swaging and saving for gifts! julie

Bakerella and the Cake Boss we are not! But we sure enjoy pretending we are and acquiring some new skills a long the way! I really have to make an effort at times to just let my chickadees do it their own way. So I set a morning a aside a couple of weeks ago for them to practice there cake decorating skills. The white and chocolate cupcake pictures are from that day. Farm Girl concentrating... Isn't she sweet! Farm girl learned to make this and the flower cookie below. She had a great time at a birthday party with friends creating and decorating. I thought she did a terrific job on these little flowers. This was the Little Chefs first experience. It was all about squeezing hard and getting as much on the cupcake as possible. More chocolate please! Some of the finished product. Here is a beautiful cake that was created by a friend at Country Boy's . She loves to make cakes like the Cake Boss. What neat birthday gift for the Little Chef who really wanted a Pink Castle Cake ...

Ever wonder what happens when "the cats are away"? Ah Ha! I found these on my camera. I'm pretty sure she is the Ring Leader. I mean she just bought a stir fry cookbook at Ikea. The evidence points to her. Have they gone deep sea fishing? This must be the Right Handwoman or maybe the girl who does the dirty work! Something looks like it smells good. WaLa! Stir Fry ala Urban and School Girls. Love the crinkle cut texture on the carrots. Fancy they must have picked that up from me. Someone really enjoyed themselves. Next sauces! julie

School has "officially " been back in session for a week here at our house. I frequently get asked why we start so early. I'm not a very eloquent person and usually fumble on the spot. I use words like,"uh", and " that's what I was meaning to say". But , the reasons we start back so early are: It's SUPER HOT here! I like to be done with the bulk of our studies in April so that I can start planning in May before the Homeschool convention. Usually 3 out of the 4 chickadees are begging to start. We still have summer fun, take days off and so it isn't straight school, day in and day out. A little crazy on my schedule, but doable! So these are some of my reasons. Catch me on any given day and I could have more or less. I spoke of scheduling. I'm a real nerd when it comes to scheduling. I micro manage our individual and daily schedules down to the last minute. Then I feel totally relieved that I have this wonderfully organized schedule and ...

Creative juices are flowing down on the farm. The sewing machines have been buzzing with the chickadees homemade creativity. Today is all about making costumes for Chick-Fa -La's Cow Appreciation Day tomorrow. It caught us all by surprise, it's usually closer to the end of July. Kids of all ages get involved in it here. Even the High School kids get together and make costumes. Then they head out for some tasty chicken nuggets or a wonderful chicken sandwich. School Girl needed white shirts so she sewed them up out of a sheet. Yep, I needed the sheets for another project, but don't tell her. The chickadees have also started their couch quilts for fall and winter. We (I) made the fleece blankets about 7 years ago and they are looking a bit bedraggled. So we (I ) decided it was time to freshen it up a bit. So here's what we (they) have done so far: -Bought a $3 white sheet from Walmart. -Bought Sharpie style fabric paint markers with 50% off Coupon. -Cut out 9 x 9 square...

A lot of you have asked me about swagging. Swag Bucks rewards you for using a combined Ask.com/Google engine. Just search the Web like you normally do, earn "Swag Bucks" along the way, and then you can redeem them for merchandise, gift cards, and other goodies. So basically when you open a search page it will tell you if you have won any bucks. That's it. It keeps track of all of you earnings. You can also take surveys and win them through just having the toolbar. I set it as my homepage. So if you interested in giving it a try click on my Swag Buck side bar. Then you and I will get even more Swag Bucks! Have fun and earn some great gifts! julie

Focacia (sp?) Have you ever wanted to make your own fresh bread? My Girlies just adore it and it makes the most wonderful sandwiches. Well on Thursday night, July 22nd we will be discussing the types of grains, grinders, mixers, and bread machines. Then will dive into making our own loaves of sandwich bread by hand. Come join me. Space is limited to 10 ladies. Cost of the class is $10. Your payment... will reserve your spot! I will send out welcome emails to all those participating once I receive your confirmation. Hope to see you there! Banana Chocolate Chip julie PS. Couldn't find a picture of our sandwich bread. There here somewhere.

All the girls from Grace. Oh the mountains are so beautiful! I could have stayed longer had the rest of my family been with me. As it was I was more than anxious to be home. Superman and School Girl did a superb job of running the house and getting extras done. Nothing for me to clean up or do when i returned home! Thank you. I've slept, slept and slepted again since being back! Those rivers can sure take it out of a girl. Putting in at the Ocoee . Getting a little wet and wild! Pure Exhilaration or Crazy? Lots of water, wonderful devotions, time alone and with friends. What a great trip! julie

Tomorrow I leave on a trip with a bunch of crazy fun young adults (in training )! We're headed for Tennessee right after service. It should be a fun, crazy trip of river rafting, tubing and just being in the mountains. I'm thrilled to be going with Urban Girl! My relationship with her is changing. From one of Mom/daughter to Mom/friend and young woman/daughter. I'm glad for these time where I get a chance to slowly ease into our new stage and see her as more than my little girl. I don't mean to say that I don't already get daily glimpses, but this is a blessing. I will say it's strange to be going and leaving so much of my family behind. They have exciting plans while we are gone and I know Superman can handle just about anything. I mean we don't call him Superman for nothing! But still, I'm the Mommy and I'm used to being in charge of my home. School Girl and I planned fun meals for while we are gone. So I know it's under control. So all thi...

I called the younger girls in from the pool, seeing that they didn't accomplish a task that they were required to do earlier. While they were starting said task I went into the schoolroom to work on lessons plans. All of the sudden I hear moaning , then crying... Somehow daughter #3 got daughter #4's hair caught in the sweeper vac that we use on the wood floors! Yup, not just one section, but multiple sections of her head. I shut it down and held it tightly while daughter#2 unraveled the tresses admist the tears. My first thought: where did I put that camera? (sad i know.don't judge.) Yes, I did blow up a tenny tiny bit. I'm assuming the best and leaving it up to natural consequences. I hope we all have learned a very important lesson ! Let me know if you figure it out. julie

So I was over at Raising Homemakers this morning. I get reminders from their site via face book . Anyhow, I 'm really enjoying the site because sometimes I get bogged down in the midst of it all. I even feel at times I'm in a battle, unfortunately a battle of wills. Much of it is of my own making. Today the discussion revolved around keeping a household. A huge item jumped out at me... Yikes! Dare I come clean... here goes..... I don't follow through enough with my girls. Ugh!!! Those of you who know me know this. I've been trying to keep it from myself and blame it all on them. Bad mom, I know. Now believe me I'm not being to hard on myself. We all (I hope I'm not the only one) have things come up in life that throw us off track. I unfortunately don't always get back on! One of my summer "head" goals (meaning I didn't write it down in stone) was to get on top of it with my girlies and stay there. I'm not talking about being mean. I...

No rhyme or reason. I just had a chance to be here today! School Girl coaxed me into buying a cupcake book for school this coming year. It's so cute and we're having fun working our way through it. We started by making picnic ants with watermelons on their backs! Too cute, but alas I have no pictures. So today I made and effort to make sure we took some pics of her Koi fish. They turned out just like the book! I think the children at the swim party will really enjoy them. Beside baking we have been super busy with the daily life of running a house, finishing up any loose ends for the school year, writing class plans and getting everything ready for August. Swimming and scrap booking are in full swing. I've also taken some time and read 5 books in the last 3 weeks. I really enjoy reading, but I put it on hold because I get to engrossed in it. This year I'm trying to read out in the screened gazebo in the evenings and quiet myself down for the day. Ahhh. Any ideas o...