Huevos Rancheros

Mmmmmm.....Who says you can't get a large portion of vegetables at breakfast?

You Might Be A Redneck...

We are not your typical Texans. I grew up here, but was raised by non-Texans, who did their absolute best to keep us from sounding and acting like hicks. Jerry was raised in Ohio, with no exposure to "the South" whatsoever. We don't really talk with Southern accents (although I can turn it on at any time, and speak with with a twang involuntarily if I am around friends who have a strong accent), and we don't say "y'all." We don't have broken down cars in the yard, and we never eat with our fingers! However, sometimes the redneck around us seeps on in.

Our dryer has been having trouble getting clothes dry in a timely fashion lately. The sensor had quit working and each load was taking 90+ minutes to dry. So we called the repair man out to the house. After carefully looking at our machine, he told us that there were about $350 worth of repairs he could do, but he didn't think any of them would actually make the clothes dry any faster. His diagnosis: vacuum everything out really well. Now we thought we had tried this before calling him, but he showed us all sorts of places we could vacuum that we didn't know about! We had vacuumed down the lint trap, but lo and behold, there is another pocket that traps lint (not by design) that can only be reached through the lint trap. So we set out to vacuum (and by we, I totally mean Jerry by himself).

The only problem came when we realized we didn't have a vacuum tool that was both long enough and skinny enough to fit down into the vent! So out came the redneck solution: paper towel tube and tape! And whamo-presto!

Now the lint is gone, and the dryer dries my loads in about 60 minutes. Still not stellar, but the fix was free (well, except for that $60 charge for the man to tell us where to vacuum) rather than $350! Who said redneck was always a bad thing?

Lily Got a Hair Cut

We usually wait until they are two years old, but the back of her head looked like a rat's nest and it didn't really help to comb it. My precious grandma has given all four of the older kids their first hair cuts. I love that.

Remember that cream cheese?

I thought I'd let you in on what I did with all that wonderful homemade cream cheese! I decided to experiment with it by making a recipe where cream cheese takes center stage and can really shine. I thought the recipe was good, but my kids really didn't like it, so next time I'll make some changes, which I'll outline at the end of the post.

Start with 1/2 cup butter (softened), 1 cup homemade cream cheese, and 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (the recipe just calls for whole wheat, spelt, or kamut, but I had this pastry flour and decided to use it), 1/2 cup Rapadura (pictured below), 1 tbsp. vanilla extract, and 1 tsp. salt.

Mix these ingredients together to form a ball. At this point, the recipe says to allow this mixture to rest in a warm place for 12-24 hours. This resting allows the phytates in the wheat to break down, which is helpful for those who have a hard time digesting grains. It also allows the flavor of the cream cheese to "ripen." If a more sour pastry appeals to you (think sourdough bread), let it rest. I let it rest for 24 hours.

The next day, assemble the remaining ingredients:

You'll need: 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/4 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts). Also pictured here are the ingredients used yesterday but not pictured above: 1/2 cup Rapadura (sucanat), 1 tbsp. vanilla extract, and 1 tsp. salt.

Roll the dough into a rectangle to a 1/4 inch thickness. Brush this will the melted butter, and then sprinkle with cinnamon and nuts. Roll up 1 1/2 turns and cut lengthwise. Roll another 1 1/2 turns and cut lengthwise, and then do it one more time. You should now have three long rolls.

Cut these long rolls into 1 to 1 1/2 inch lengths and bake on a buttered cookie sheet at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes.

These are good, but if you are expecting a sweet pastry, you are in for a disappointment. Because they are sweetened with Rapadura and not sugar, they are not as sweet. I made a simple icing with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to top these, and they still aren't super sweet. I think if I were to make them again, I would only rest them for 4-6 hours so my kids would enjoy them more. I would also probably use sugar instead of Rapadura. Then I think everyone would like them. These keep in the refrigerator or freezer well.

Challah Braiding

I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!

Usually I just braid two braids and put one on top of the other, but I used this video instruction to braid a 6 stranded challah loaf. Woohoo!

Corn

We are a corn-on-the-cob lovin' family.

Except for Anna; she likes sleep.

Wondering

I am wondering when I will have the time and energy to post all the things I think about posting. Will that day come? Will it come soon?

Andrew is sleeping better during the day. Yea!! This is despite yet another ear infection, which is requiring his seventh antibiotic. Yep. You read that right. I see tubes in his future.

Aaron has hit a whining stage. I don't think he remembers any longer how to speak in a normal tone of voice. This makes me wonder what his teenage years will sound like...

Ethan fell off the top bunk two days ago. I don't think I will ever get that image out of my head. I saw it happen. ::shudders:: He swears he will never go up there again. I am giving him until next week.

Andrew is eating more and more foods! He now has eaten avocado, banana, rice cereal, plums, pears, and peaches. (In that order) He loves eating solids. He loves eating. Period.

I led a seminar at my church for a women's event today. There were three seminars to choose from, fewer than thirty women in attendance, and only three chose mine. It made me a bit sad to have so few, but mine was a crafty option and the others were practical/spiritual. I'm trying not to take it personally. :) I led the women who came through the Patchwork Card Tutorial from Craft Apple. I've made these lots before and it is so fun and easy. The women who came had fun. They went on and on when we got back together as a big group, showing off their goods. That made me feel good. Other women said, "Ooh, how cute!" "How did you do that?" and "I want to learn how to do that!" That made me feel good, too.

Have you made the Glazed Lemon Cookies from p. 142 of May's issue of Everyday Food? You really need to make these. (she says while licking her lips) I took them to the seminars today and women openly drooled over them and went for seconds and asked for the recipe. That made me feel good, too.

That's all I got, folks!