Ahh.

My heart feels very full right now.

I spent most of yesterday dealing with food. Fresh out of bed I made butter, followed by yogurt, then a dozen crescent rolls and a loaf of toast bread. I worried over the creme brulee but it turned out perfectly. I even got in a couple loads of laundry and picked up the apartment.

I must have been a cook in another life (oh, wait, I was ;) ). I love food. I love making it and seeing how things combine and go through these phenomenal chemical changes and become these flavorful, aromatic creations. Then, THEN, oh, my favorite part. You get to set the table! Beautiful plates, shining silverware, clear cups, delicate napkins (usually not, but they are cloth in my house so I can pretend). It's the perfect setting to place your master piece.

I mean seriously, the whole table is decked out and perfectly equipped to fully appreciate what is wrapped up in those beautiful serving dishes. What other artist has such a receptive audience? Stomachs rumble, noses inhale, mouths water. The plate asks to be filled, the knife to cut, the spoon waits in anticipation for dessert. A painter must suffer, a musician, too, but a cook! A cook is surrounded by people waiting deliriously for dinner. What mother hasn't had to chase her children (and her husband) out of the kitchen just so she can finish preparing in peace?

It's so amazing that God has provided us something that we must have to function, created it in such a way that we can make it beautiful and appeal to every sense, created us in such a way that we tend to gather together when we partake of it, created the sense of satisfaction and contentment that comes after a good meal and made that feeling extend to everyone present. It's so amazing.

To top it off, today I get to go to a yarn shop.

I'm so excited. My friend Kate discovered it and claims it has the softest, squishiest yarn. From what I've seen of her work, I suspect she's right. I cannot wait. I have a million projects running around my head (geez, I'll never have enough time) just waiting for the perfect yarn and eager hands.

Plus, I have a lined dress waiting in my sewing room for me to make it. I am making it for Emily and Karl's wedding in March. I am just a guest, but I want to honor them in what little ways I can. It calls out every time I pass the door. "I'm here! Still here! Waiting to be what I am intended for! Come and make me!"

Oh, that we would be so willing.

Butter Again

I made butter again. This time I skimmed the cream off of our farm fresh milk and beat it. The butter is sooooooo yellow. Margarine yellow. Wow. The buttermilk was a beautiful white (especially when contrasted with the yellow butter). It tastes pretty delicious, too. I'm so glad we have a herd share.

Bread and... butter!

So. Butter is possibly the easiest thing I have ever made. Pour cream in to bowl. Beat. Don't eat the whipped cream. Wait until the butter separates from the butter milk (you can't miss it, the butter sticks to the beaters and suddenly there's white liquid in the bottom of the bowl), about 20 minutes. Strain buttermilk. Kneed butter in bowl of cold water to get all the butter milk out. The buttermilk will make the butter go rancid and the cold water keeps it from melting all over your hands. Salt if desired. Eat. Yum. $4.50 for the quart of cream produces $3 worth of butter + however much 2 cups of buttermilk costs. I am so making my own from now on.

New Blog of Note

While searching for a new bread recipe, I stumbled across The Simple Dollar.

I found it simply delightful. Written by Trent Hamm, the blog gives straightforward investment advice in layman's terms. Trent also gives tips on how to save and spend wisely and ways to DYI (such as the bread recipe). So far I am very impressed with how he explains the uses of money and treats the questions of his readers. The articles often strays from the bottom line and into the moral use of money. A perspective this Bachelor of Business Administration appreciates.

Baking Day

I love baking day. The apartment smells amazing and I, of course, have to taste test everything!

It seems we never have snack food in the house but both Dustin and I often just want something small. Today was the day to fix that. After my revelation that one didn't actually have to buy pre-made truffles, I began to wonder what I buy off the shelf because I assume I can't make it as well, or even at all, at home.

I decided on a cracker. Who doesn't love crackers? You can put tons of yummy things on top or just eat them plain. Originally, I wanted to make a saltine or club type cracker. In the end, I settled on a Graham cracker. Now, I hate Graham crackers. Maybe it's from all those years working in a nursery. It seems Graham crackers are the toddler snack of choice. But the blog where I found the recipe claimed these homemade Graham crackers were much better than the store-bought ones. That they would be more nutritional, flavorful and not crumble over every surface in sight. I have to say, it was right. These crackers are amazing. I had three and felt like I'd eaten a full meal. It was a strange sensation, but a good one. I will definitely be making them again.

I also made two loaves of Challah, which is usually what happens on a baking day, and a batch of very yummy and surprisingly healthy Apple Muffins. I have a lot of whole wheat flour sitting in the freezer and really wanted to use it up in something that wouldn't have that whole-wheaty texture/taste. You know the one. The one that tells you you're eating something healthy and that's really the only reason you're eating it. These turned out really well. They're definitely a breakfast food, not a dessert, but really good. The only change I made in the recipe was to cut the apple into chunks instead of shredding it. Chunks give the muffin more texture and keeps it moist longer.

I was going to make a batch of chewy granola bars but, alas, I didn't have nearly enough rolled oats for the recipe I wanted to use. Next week!

Truffles!

Dustin and I had dinner with new friends last weekend and, after an amazingly delicious homemade ravioli dinner complete with winter vegetables, salad, and bread, we were served homemade truffles. Did you know you could make truffles at home? I most certainly did not. It was just one of those things that someone else made and you paid for.

But no more! A good friend and I decided to try our hand at the ancient and revered art of chocolate making (we used pre-made chocolate. Sorry, we're just not cool enough to roast and press our own chocolate... yet... Hey, Sarah...! ;) ).

These beauties are what we ended up with after several hours and ounces of chocolate. We now know what mud-pie making is really training children for.

Note: The tray was full when we were done, but Sarah was entitled to her half. :)

Connecting

I had a conversation with a friend this weekend and what I realized how true what I said was after I had already said it (strange, I know.)

For those who don't know, I am the oldest of a fairly large motley crew. I have three brothers and a sister. The oldest boy is already attending college, the next one down is a Junior in HS and starting to look seriously at various options, and the youngest brother and my sister are Sophomores. Also for those who don't know: yes, they are twins; no, they are not identical; yes, we get that question fairly often. When I left home, none of them were even in HS yet.

Now, this is the normal course of life. Children grow up, children leave home, and, in our culture, children may never bother to come back. I've seen it happen with my extended family. We've seen both sides an average of every two years. I really want more for my siblings and me. I've been so excited watching us all grow up these last four years. We're not a malicious family (which I have been shocked to observe in other friend's families) or very competitive (at least not against each other) so we get along pretty well.

But they'll leave soon. They'll all go off to college or vocational school or where ever. Will they come back? Will we still be a family? or just the people you send letters to on the holidays?

Now, over the years I have learned exactly why parents are constantly telling the older children to set a good example. What I do, as the oldest, is very persuasive. It shows what is acceptable or, at the very least, what can be gotten away with. So now I am trying my very best to stay connected to them. To be home for the big events. To call to play games just because. To show that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. To show that I think they are important. That we are important. The whole time silently asking, when you are gone, will you come back home, too?

Will my example be enough? I most surely hope so.

Which is why I am so very excited about this Halloween party and why I was so very upset for the few days when I thought we wouldn't be able to do it. Mom said we could do it next year. But next year won't be the same. Next year we'll all be different people. Next year, Allen could actually be gone and Phillip starting to pack. Next year John could have decided on what he'd like to pursue in life and Valerie could have a personality change (for the parents of teenage girls, you know how that goes) and already had her first boyfriend. Next year is too late. It needs to be now. It's this year that Dad is trying to reconnect, this year that he's had a change in values. Next year mom won't be willing to throw a party like we are this year because they will be gearing up for two in college and the ever ready reason of 'we don't have the money' will be all too convenient.

But it is this year. And we're going to decorate the house like no one could have believed, we're going to pull out all the stops (at least I am), we're going to provided an environment to do what everyone in my family loves to do (theatre), and we're going to pull in every last close friend we can find. Because we're a big, creative, family. And for now, we're friends. And hopefully this event will help us stay that way. Perhaps it will be a precedent, perhaps it will only be a memory. But if it is a memory, it will be a good one. One we can all look back on and say, yeah, my family did that.

And hopefully, when they leave, they will come home again.

Bread

The bread turned out well. It's very yummy... but not very cinnamon-y. Who knows.