Grape-nuts

Growing up, we always kept a supply of grape-nuts on hand. Since store bought cereals were a very rare treat, our favorite cold cereal was grape-nuts. With five hungry brothers we went through a lot of them, and sad to say, I learned to not enjoy making them.

For the first time since we got married, last week I finally pulled out the recipe to make grape-nuts. The girls were amused and intrigued by the very pioneer-ish look of the batter, and couldn't imagine how it would possibly be turned into a good cereal.

Much to their surprise, everyone loves it, and I see it becoming a go to recipe for our family, successfully breaking the teenage promise I had made to myself to not be making grape-nuts once I'm in charge of all food decisions.

They take simple basic ingredients, and while they do take a long time to make .... I can't believe I'm saying this ...... they're worth it. Here's the recipe I used, but you may want to reduce the size.

Grape-nuts

7½ cups milk
½ cup vinegar
4 cups blackstrap molasses
2 Tbsp baking soda
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp salt
5 lb whole wheat flour

In a bowl combine milk and vinegar. Allow to set for a minute or two.

In a large bowl, as in, a really large bowl combine molasses, milk mixture, salt, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir until thoroughly combined. Add flour, about ¼ of it at a time, mixing well after each addition. Divide batter into 3 - 9x13 cake pans and bake at 400º for 40 minutes.

Once cool, cut into chunks and grate. I can't imagine trying to do it without my King Cutter, but LV's family used to use a handheld grater when they made them.

Spread the grated crumbles onto a cookie sheet  and bake at 210º stirring every 10-15 minutes until they're dry and hard. It took me 12½ hours to dry them all, working with two large cookie sheets in the oven the entire time.

Pour into a bowl to cool, then store in an airtight container.

These are really filling. When eating I would suggest starting off with only half a cup full. They absorb a lot of milk, so we always add more than you would think would be needed.

Picture my Week

    On a walk to the woods, Buddy, the girls, and I were thrilled to come upon a patch of flowers with at least twenty butterflies fluttering about. I discovered just how hard it is to take a good picture of a butterfly. After numerous attempts to capture them and ending up with only the tip of a wing or nothing but flowers I decided the best that's going to happen is the one with these two.

   Rosebud designed a dress for Sunbeam, made a pattern, and sewed it all by herself. It was her first attempt at tackling a project like this on her own. Sunbeam is happy to have a new play dress, and after it was complete they decided it warrants a photo shoot. This was one of my favorite poses even though it doesn't show off the entire dress.

   I decided to make a batch of grapenuts. It's a simple recipe, one that we used regularly while I was growing up. It is also time consuming once it has been baked to get it all grated and then dried. Having a different tasty option as a breakfast cereal makes it all worth it.
It wasn't until I was resizing this picture that I noticed you can see another part of our week in it. I spy an unpopped popcorn kernel and a single nicely popped one along the back corner of the countertop. Sunbeam has taken to popping popcorn every evening as a bedtime snack.

   Buddy was impressed with this giant balloon Sunbeam gave to him from her birthday stash. Shortly after this picture was taken the thing popped, scaring us all with its almost gunshot noise.

Sometimes you just have to smile at the things that pass by. This time it was an Amish man transporting a few Jersey cows.

Bumblebees are loving the flowers on those big thistle plants. LV is the best photographer in our family. He gets the credit for capturing this.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. If you could sit beside and/or jump in any lake in the whole wide world today, which lake would you choose and why?

I would probably opt for Seneca Lake in New York, because it's the first lake I have memories attached to. My grandparents used to have a house that looked out over the lake, and during the summer we used to visit it when we could to fish and play.

2. What's your favorite 'fruity' drink?

Lemons qualify as a fruit, right? Other than water, lemonade is my favorite drink.
 

3. I read a list here of thirteen things to do right now to simplify your life. They were-

clean as you go, re-evaluate your relationships (cut toxic ties), unsubscribe (too many blogs and websites), de-clutter, write down your daily goals, reply to emails right away, forget multitasking, create a morning routine, re-evaluate your commitments (which hobbies and responsibilities are most important to you), say no, clean up your computer, and plan your day ahead

Which of the tasks listed do you currently find most helpful in keeping life simple? Which item on the list should you adopt in order to simplify your life this month?

 

• Clean as you go is a good one. I don't care to spend an entire day cleaning, when a few extra minutes of doing it as I go is all it takes.
• Relationships, I hate cutting ties, but I'm learning that sometimes when things happen and relationships end, it's best to allow it to happen rather than running after them.
• Unsubscribing .... too much work. A lot of the blogs I used to follow and read regularly, sadly, have died over the years. I'm still subscribed to them though. I have a different email account that I use when asked to subscribe to websites. They can email all they like and it doesn't bother me, because I never check it.
• I write down goals. I'm big on lists of basically every kind you can think of.
• I need to start doing better in answering emails right away. I get a lot everyday, and it happens more often than I care to admit that some of them take longer than planned to get answered. Sorry.
• I have a morning routine.
• Commitments .... I have re-evaluated them and cut back on some to where it works nicely for our family.
• I'm also learning to say no.
• Cleaning up my computer .... files etc, I have well organized so I can easily find what I'm looking for. Outside cleaning ... a weekly wipe down is a must in our dusty farmhouse.
• Planning my day ahead basically falls in the daily goals we addressed above.

Basically I already do everything on this list, except for the answering of emails.

4. What did you do the summer after you graduated from high school? 

Gardening, canning, taking over the main household duties of cooking and cleaning, and helping out in our woodworking shop when needed.
 

5. Are you a fan of podcasts? If so what's a favorite? 

What's a podcast? I don't listen to any.
 

6. Do you think today's fathers have it harder, easier, or just different than fathers in the past?

That depends a lot on the family.

7. Tell us one way you're like your father? Or not at all like your father if that's easier?

 

We are both a bit of a perfectionist.

 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Today we will be enjoy our annual end of the school year ice cream sandwich celebration. We only have ice cream sandwiches once a year, so this is a tradition the children look forward to.

The Blink of an Eye

I was a teenager when Jacob and Rebecca got married. They moved onto a farm in our church district and before long children were being added to their family. It was always interesting watching their lively children, and I couldn't help but admire Rebecca's gentle, patient interaction with her children.

A few years later LV and I got married. Jacob and LV became really good friends as they sat in the same section in church and always had a good time visiting before and after services. The year we welcomed Sailor into our family, Jacob and Rebecca welcomed another baby into theirs. A little boy they named Andrew.

Life happened and many major changes. We left the Amish and we no longer had a lot of interaction with all the friends we used to have while we were Amish. Jacob and Rebecca however remained friendly. They're close neighbors and when ever we see each other we'll smile and wave, and occasionally we'll visit a little.

Yesterday morning on our way to church we passed them while they were walking to church. Again we all smiled and waved and then discussed how life would be had we remained Amish. Sailor would be part of the annual instruction class for baptism. Those boys would have been his classmates, and now part of his group of friends during his rumspringa years.

This morning we heard sirens. Something that always makes you pause and listen because it's not something you hear very often. A little later we received the news, sixteen year old Andrew had been killed in an accident.

In the blink of an eye their life has been forever changed. We cry with them, pray for them, and hug our own children as we're reminded anew how fragile and precious life is.

Picture my Week

After a rain storm early Wednesday morning, the sun came out, and it became very windy. Windy enough that it didn't take long for things to dry off enough to go for a walk in the woods.

The wind was roaring through the treetops above us. Below the ferns were dancing in the breeze.

The girls wanted to take a different path out of the woods, while Buddy and I decided to turn around and head back to the house. He announced that he'll take care of me, and lead me back so I won't get lost. I let him take the lead, and he followed the trails always make the right choice when ever he came to a fork and had to make a decision which way to go.

Rosebud tried a new cupcake recipe. It turned out to be one of the best ones we ever had. A strawberry chocolate cupcake with fresh strawberries in the cake.

 

Our dryer had been acting up for quite a while already. Finally this week LV took it apart to see what he could do to fix it. After ordering the part we needed he left the thing sitting dismantled in the laundry corner, which happens to be right outside the bathroom door. I can't even begin to tell you how often I opened the door and was startled to see this ugly thing. The children thought it was hilarious.

 

The part came yesterday and everything is working great now. So today we'll be tackling the giant heap of laundry that accumulated.

With cows in the pasture by the creek, we can no longer play there when ever it's nice outside.

Sailor had an unexpected encounter with a nest of yellow jackets. One of them got him right above his eye.

 

Not being able to play in the creek, we opted to take a friend up on their offer to swim in their pool. Buddy lasted about five minutes in the water after which he decided he would rather slide on the pool slide with Mom catching him at the bottom before he plops into the water. His drink was the highlight of his afternoon though.