how the pentagon makes brownies

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blender pancakes

This hearty pancake recipe is great on a cold, blustery day. We never get those, so I just make 'em when I have a craving.

1 c. milk (or 1 cup plain yogurt, or a combination of the two totaling 1 cup)
3/4 c. whole wheat berries, NOT flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. oil (I use olive oil)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract

• Blend the milk/yogurt and wheat berries about 4 minutes
• Add the rest of the ingredients, blending just a few seconds until thoroughly blended
• Pour batter onto well-oiled, hot griddle or well-oiled hot non-stick skillet, and cook until bubbles are clearly breaking the surface. Turn and cook until steaming nearly subsides. Don't overcook!
• Serve hot with butter and real maple syrup. Mmmmmmm......
  

a good pizza crust recipe

Found a pretty good crust recipe at King Arthur Flour - halfway crispy/chewy. Chad still is not convinced that this is the Holy Grail of crusts. He continues his quest (well, cheers me on) for the perfect crust. He really loves the frozen California Pizza Kitchen uber-thin crust style which he claims is chewy, not crispy. I just haven't been able to duplicate this delicate balance: super thin yet chewy, not crispy.

Not to brag, but the fresh basil and Italian parsley were from our garden, as were the chopped tomatoes. No, I did not make the fresh mozzarella (although I have a recipe for it and would love to try it!).

attn: fellow almost mexicans

This time of year in Almost Mexico, people are trying to offload their citrus before it spoils. Last week, Chad brought home a plastic grocery bag filled with homegrown lemons from a co-worker's tree; I just used my handy-dandy food processor juicer attachment to juice 2 quarts of juice, then I made up a batch of the best lemonade I've ever had:

1. Make a simple syrup: in a small saucepan over medium heat, dissolve 3/4 to 1 cup of white sugar in 1 cup of water. It doesn't need to boil, just dissolve.
2. In a pitcher, add the simple syrup to 1 cup of lemon juice.
3. Add in 3 - 4 cups of cold water and stir.
4. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, 45 minutes at least.

You won't ever have a better glass of lemonade! Oh also, I made it with 1 cup of sugar and it was waaaaay too sweet for our taste, so we added in more lemon juice and water to tone it down. But if you like sweeeeet, use 1 cup of sugar.

planning ahead

Due to the recent economic challenges, Chad and I have started planning for tough times. Before you start calling us "weirdos", consider the tenuous nature of the world economy. We aren't becoming "survivalists", we believe we are being prudent.

We have been asking local bakeries and buying 5 and 6 gallon food-grade buckets with self-sealing lids to store food staples. On Saturday, we went up to Costco and bought 50 pound bags of sugar and rice and a 25 pound bag of salt. We will be buying 50 pound bags of whole wheat and white flour from Wheat Montana (probably the most premium flour in the U.S. for its high protein content and the grower's "better than organic" farming methods). We might even buy 50 pounds of whole grain and a grain mill. We're going to get some sort of dried bean mixture, and continue to freeze fresh meats, etc. as we go.

I really struggled with this for a while. I felt that we weren't trusting in the Lord's provision, and that somehow we were not living faithfully:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal... Matthew 6:19

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and {yet} your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a {single} hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is {alive} today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, {will He} not much more {clothe} you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:26 - 34

But then I started to think about the way that the Lord provides: through a paycheck, knowledge of world events, the wisdom of friends, etc. I don't believe that Jesus was telling us to just stop cooking meals because the Lord would drop manna from Heaven. He provides in ways through work. Think about Adam: he was given the job of caring for the Garden of Eden. Before the Fall. Work is good, and planning is important. The Lord gave Joseph special knowledge through dreams warning him of famine in the years ahead. He stored up plenty of food to provide for Egypt and his family.

I'd love to hear your thoughts: criticism? suggestions? ideas?

real

"But Mom, how can they pray to God? They're not real." asked Ingrid this morning while watching the classic Shirley Temple film, "Bright Eyes". While demonstrating dubious theology (Daddy's in heaven honey...now he's a real angel with real wings), the movie did show something rarely seen in modern mainstream Hollywood: a little girl at bedtime praying to The Lord, asking Him to watch over her Daddy, and to tell her Daddy the she and her Mommy love him very much. It also got me thinking....

Ingrid recognized immediately after this bedtime prayer that the character Shirley played was not real.

How many prayers of ours aren't real? When we ask with earnestness for a new 102" flat panel with 20,200 DP, is that prayer real? If are heart is longing for some other ludicrous piece of stuff, is the prayer real? Or is it fake because our heart is not necessarily in line with God's heart? If we ask for the starving children of the Sudan to receive the meal they need to survive for today, but we are praying out of guilt, is the prayer real?

Recently I got something that I have looooonged for for a looooong time: a KitchenAid food processor, 12 cupper no less! I am truly thankful for it. Truly! But, I got along without it for 12 years of marriage, cooking and baking up a storm without its help. Was my heart wrong to long for this piece of metal and plastic? Now that it's sitting on my counter, and I have spent the last two hours rearranging my countertop and some of my kitchen cabinets in order to accomodate the adjustments necessary to house all of its attachments. But I am feeling a little bit down. After I get something that I have wanted for a long time, I feel guilty and selfish. There it is, all bright and shiny and new and beautiful. Were the longings of my heart the same as a prayer?

I guess I should move on with thanks to the gift-giver and learn a lesson about heart attitude.