'Little House on the Prarie' Afternoon

Darling, Stephen & I are reading 'By The Shores of Silver Lake' by Laura Ingalls Wilder as we drive to Darling's work. There has been several things that have come up as questions from Stephen. For instance - what is a kerosene lamp? What does it look like? What is threshing? To that end, we planned an afternoon to experiment with making the green pumpkin pie I've meant to make for years, ask my parents to bring their kerosene lamp and to make a button lamp. Here's how it went --

We made the button lamp from 'The Long Winter'. When the Ingalls ran out of kerosene to keep their lamps running, Pa bought a large can of axle grease from the store (the only type of grease left in the town). Ma made a candle by taking a button and wrapping it in a piece of calico, tying the cotten tightly with thread near the button. She then twisted the top into a wick and coated the tip with grease. Then she placed the button bottom in grease on a saucer. When the lit the top of the calico, it burned and created light. Which considering they had 7 months (!) of blizzards every 2 days (!!) and it was dark alot, I'm sure the light was a great comfort.

Darling devised ours this afternoon using some bacon grease (the thickest grease we had), a button and some leftover turtle cotton material from a pillow I made for Stephen. It worked! I was a bit surprised, actually. First, it burned down a bit, until it reached the thread, then it began to pull the grease up 'wicking' it and creating a continual flame, just like a candle. It was so cool!

The button lamp, from the top

 

Placed in the bowl of grease

 

Here's where we weren't sure if it was going to just burn the cloth and then then grease (it was in the sink and we were ready with water)


Here it is in it's continual burn. It made a surprisingly big flame.

Attempting to blow it out. We ended up needing to snuff it out with a plate (cuz the flame is surprisingly big). In the future I think we would use a smaller button, to make not such a big flame. Then again, if we were in a large room needing a lot of light for many people, this size would be much more preferable.

 

 

AND --

We finally made the green pumpkin pie!

Right before the Ingalls endured the long winter, Ma had Laura pick a green pumpkin from the field to make a surprise pie for Pa. She lined the bottom of the pie with brown sugar, 'spices', then the pumpkin, thinly sliced. She topped it with 1/2 cup vinegar, a pad of butter and another crust. When Pa tried it, he said in surprise, 'Apple Pie?! Where did you get apples?' Since reading this story when I was about 8, I have wanted to make a green pumpkin pie. You may recall we picked a green pumpkin when we went to the orchard last weekend.

 

Since the instructions via the book were rather vague, here's what we did: lined the bottom pie shell with 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp nutmeg (amounts from an apple pie recipe I have). Then we placed the green pumpkin pieces on top of that. Then we poured 1/2 cup of white vinegar on top, adding a pad of butter on the top and covered it with another crust.

 

The end result was a delicious, incredible, moist pie that -shockingly- tasted just like apples! That said, I didn't read the instructions close enough. Ma had put the pie in right after breakfast so it would be ready just in time for lunch. Hmmm.... I suppose that is why it was a 2 hour pie. And it even had a slight al dente then (but that was good too, surprisingly enough). SO! For the next one (and trust me, there will be another, it was so good) I will either boil the pumpkin first (or pressure cook it) to soften them so it will bake quicker in the oven. Unless I need to run the stove for a heat source already (like Ma) and having it in the oven for 3-5 hours is a good thing.

Janou and Stephen VERY excited to start

 
The hallowed out shells

Stephen holding the peeled and scraped out pieces (he really liked rubbing his fingers on the 'icky' part inside)

Stephen also loved placing the pumpkin pieces in the pie shell. FYI: make the pieces into much smaller pieces than what I did. Especially if you don't roast or boil the pumpkin first.

Playing 'How long are my arms?' with the pie shell boxes

Consulting the book for instructions

The pie cut up nicely (which after 2 hours I wasn't sure what we would find)

Now we had to eat the pie by kerosene lamp to be truly authentic (Stephen had gone to bed an hour before. He'll try it tomorrow)

The one on the left is the one with the crust on top, the right one we did a crumb topping. Another FYI, use a top crust. VERY necessary to make the pumpkin steam properly.

 

At this point, I really wish I had another green pumpkin to cook. It was a blast and we had a wonderful afternoon. We have loved learning new ways to come at things today. We're finishing the day by watching 'Cinderella Man', a movie about a boxer who gets a second chance during the Great Depression. Another time when a button lamp or a green pumpkin pie recipe would come in handy.

 

Love to you all, whomever you are. God bless you and know we are praying for you.

-Shaun for the crew

Hail & Birthday Pie

On Thursday we had an incredible hail storm! We got a great pile right under the gutter outside our window.

 The pile under the gutter

 

He and Auntie got red hands from showing me all the hail they collected.

Stephen has been waiting for 3 months to throw a snowball (I'm not sure why...)

 

Stephen was very excited to put on his wintercoat. Although by the time we got to Darling's work we were SO HOT we had to take them off again (hello fall!)

 

The road looked like it had snowed

Jax called for Darling's birhtday and Stephen was SO EXCITED!

 

The peach pie I made for Darling's bday dinner. It was good, but not nearly as good as when we had it with Jax (Jax always makes it better!)

We were given a gift card to a local restaurant from Auntie & Uncle, so we used it for Darling's bday lunch. He got a free sundae! And it was pretty good too!

 

 

Today Papadou and Janou are coming for us to have  'Little House on the Prarie' afternoon. We are going to make a green pumpkin pie (from 'The Long Winter'), have Stephen see a kerosene lamp work (not a common thing now-a-days) and Darling has made a button lamp (also from 'The Long Winter'), which works amazingly well! Tune in later for the photos... 

Darling's Birthday

Yesterday Little Man was a bit under the weather, so we had a tv day. He and Auntie watched Ratatouille and then played bubbles (thanks Janou!). Then they put stickers on a package we're mailing to Jax.

 

I am very thankful for so many things today, so I am going to list them:
-My cousin's daughter is home from the hospital (heading back in in a week)
-My other cousin and new baby are home too (although still struggling from a difficult delivery)
-A dear friend got a job we were really praying she would get.
-It rained several hours yesterday and what a blessing rain is! It helps the really dry ground we've had.
-Stephen is such a healthy guy, days like yesterday are rare ones.

Today Stephen woke up and asked if we could watch 'Lady and the Tramp.' Since he's still sick, I said yes. And how can you watch Lady and the Tramp without eating Spaghetti and Meatballs? :-) A unique breakfast for sure but what a great memory.

Also today I'm fixing Darling's birthday dinner. Since we finished reading the 'Boxcar Children' series, we have started in on 'Little House on the Prarie'. We started with our favorite one: On The Shores of Silver Lake. The first time Darling and I read it (about 6 years ago) it was a snowy day and we fixed this incredible meal from scratch that I have from Emeril Lagasse (well, his website anyway :)  It's Southern Fried Pork Chops with a Sausage Gravy over Mashed Potatoes. I'm not sure if it was reading all day about a family who made the most of every moment, every gift - no matter how small - and each other, but that meal rocked. So that's what I'm fixing him tonight, along with a peach pie for dessert. I made the pie when Jax stayed with us right before she moved and it was amazing. Needless to say, we probably won't be eating alot for the next few days :-)

All the family that was in town (missing Jax in LA - happy for her, sniff for us) went to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard farm this last Saturday. We celebrated Darling's birthday all along the way. It was a lovley time, although the apples were quite small because of the drought southern Colorado has had this year.

                                                                   Stephen and Auntie

Beautiful Janou in the pumpkin patch (she is so at home in a garden)

Stephen chose a green pumpkin, which really made me happy, since Ma (in reading Little House on the Prarie) made Pa a green pumpkin pie once and he said it tasted just like an apple pie. I'm excited to try!               

We would pick the apples off the trees, take a bite (by the farm's recommendation) and therefore determine if we picked apples from that tree. Some were juicy!

Stephen loved pulling the apples off the low-hanging branches

Papadou using the 'apple picker' to reach the high apples

Papadou and Stephen loved working together

Can't have a family get-together without seeing this tongue....

Uncle and Auntie sat under an apple tree and sang 'Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me' (by the Andrews Sisters). We are the biggest dorks :)

See, I told you - dorks

 

On the 'hayride' heading down to the pumpkin patch

Darling blowing out the candles on his chocolate cake (which was great; Stephen and I soaked the cake in coffee then layered it with whipped cream, chocolate pudding and toffee bits....oh my)

Okay, this photo is not from the weekend, but I couldn't have a family get-together without Jax's picture :D

 

 

Fall Baking

Last week, Stpehen and Auntie made Jello Jigglers. These were cherry and Stephen loved eating 'cherry jigglers and whipped cream'. For the next 3 days, he would say, 'Ama, I'm thinking of something red and white....'

 

 

Cooking cutters and jello to cut into shapes

 

Pressing down hard!

 

Finished product!

Today we did some fall baking. Yesterday I was doing spring cleaning (maybe I have my sesasons backwards). We made pumpkin bread and pita bread. The pumpkin bread we are taking to our neighbors, so we made mini loaves. The pita bread is to make pita pizzas for lunch!

The pumpkin bread is fantastic and I HIGHLY recommend this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-bread-iv/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=pumpkin%20bread&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page. As one reviewer suggested, I used all applesauce and no oil. It is soooo good and as Auntie said, tastes like fall in every bite!

 

 

Getting set up. We required 3 bowls because there was SO much batter! The original recipe made 3 normal size loaves and we doubled it. Next time I'll do one recipe at a time, just so it can all fit in one bowl.

 

4 of the mini loaves

Off to deliver our pumpkin bread!

Plants for Winter

Earlier this summer, we planted a 'mini-garden' on our outdoor windowsill. Now that fall is coming, we were wondering which ones can we (hopefully) successfully bring indoors. I think we have settled on bringing in the rudbeckia, the impatiens and the begonia. We're going to transplant the rudbeckia and begonia into smaller containers (versus the long planters we used for the summer) but leave the impatiens in their long planter. From our research, we're going to mist the begonia & rudbeckia for the winter and create a 'pebble drainer' to create a mini greenhouse effect for the impatiens. Our experiments may fail, but it's worth a try.

On a cooking note, my sister just made a wonderful dish of roasted parmesean broccoli. It was truly delicious! She sent me the link for the recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-broccoli-cauliflower-10000000258467/.  Since I've been -almost- dreaming of this since she made it, I plan to make it today or tomorrow.

Darling is a bit under the weather today, so we're spending a sick day inside. Hopefully some 'couch-sleeping' will help him overcome this touch of illness he has.

Here's a recap of the last few days!

 

Monday was Cooking Monday! My amazing parents brought over some fresh vegetables and things they had got on sale (they are wonderful!) to share with their kids. So 'Auntie' and I brainstormed creative ways to use it all together. This was what it produced:

Turkey Meatloaf with Fresh Roasted Anaheim Peppers
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Butterscotch Cashew Blondies
Magic Muffins (aka Malt-o-Meal muffins, aka if Stephen is sick and can't eat anything else, he will eat these!)
Brownie Cookies
Banana Bread Mini Loaves

Now obviously, even if I froze everything, this is waaay too much food for the three of us. The baked goods are actually for a 'just-because' package 'Auntie' and I are sending to some relatives who have loved ones in the hospital.

We also received fresh okra from some friends who live in the south. Darling loved frying it up and we ate it like popcorn during a football game Sunday night.

Can you tell he's physched?

 

 Today it is raining, which is so wonderful. One, cuz the ground has been so dusty (although with the rain God gave in August, it seemed to prevent any more fires). Two, I miss the rain storms we used to have 20 years ago. Stephen is loving hearing the rain fall on the ground and come out of the gutter. We are also loving the smell of rain.

Today, Stephen made me a 'cupcake' out of his legos (and it really did resemble the shape of a cupcake). He said it was cherry flavored. When I asked where the candle was, he found the perfect lego to go on top and then we 'practiced' blowing it out.

Enjoying a casual day here!

Weird fact of the day: Cary Grant's real name was Archibald Alexander Leach

Bread, Beans & Birthday

Auntie's birthday was a lovely event! We have the beof bourgninon. This recipe changes every single time for me! It ranges from 'amazing' to just 'really good'. This particular one was 'really good'. The croissants - for the first time ever - didn't rise! I was so surprised! I must have not gotten the milk warm enough before I added the yeast.... Even with that, they were really good! Just very dense. And the chocolate souffles were great, esp with candles in them.

Today, we are making a new pinto bean recipe, called 'Terry's Texas Pinto Beans'. I have spent much of my life not enjoying beans and have only recently discovered them, mostly thanks to my parents gift of a pressure cooker. This is the recipe I'm using: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Terrys-Texas-Pinto-Beans/Detail.aspx. To go with the beans we'll have cabbage (my favorite, much to my brother's chagrin) and a new bread. I was hoping for a bread to serve at a family chili lunch tomorrow (minus Jax, sniff), so although cornbread is amazing with beans, I found this 'looks-so-wonderful-can-I-wait-for-it-to-rise' recipe that calls for a cornmeal/wheat flour/white flour combo: http://www.krissys-creations.com/2011/05/honey-cornmeal-wheat-bread.html. It is rising as we speak.

Brioche Update:
I have to admit (no offense, Julia Child) but I was quite disappointed by the Brioche. Perhaps because of the time invested (near to 24 hours from beginning to end) or perhaps because I have made 2 'shortcut' brioche recipes before now (which both were wonderful). Whichever the reason, I wasn't that pleased. Darling wasn't very impressed either, but he has been with me in all the bread recipes. We had a friend staying with us who really liked the bread, however. But, just as the recipe was about to be placed in the 'Not Worth My Time' recipes, it was saved by becoming french toast (supposedly a wonderful thing for brioche, and I have to agree). It made some of the best french toast I've had.
                                                   
Darling & Stephen & I have wanted to read 'The Enormous Egg' by Oliver Butterworth for some time now and strangely, today is the day we started! It is fun and hilarious and, since it takes place on a farm, perhaps even better when you can smell beans cooking and bread rising.

                                             Gotta love Saturday morning hair!

Brioche & Croissants

Since I turned 30, I said, 'This is the year I will make Brioche!' It's not a bread I've been particularly intimiated by, just one I hadn't gotten around to. It's also supposed to be fantastic. That said, I did make Bricohe Sticky Buns for Christmas Eve and last week we made those Brioche Hamburger Buns. Both recipes were excellent, so I have hopes for this bread as well. We started the dough at 4:30pm and finally put it in the fridge around 8pm. We'll take it out tomorrow morning around 8 and have the bread to eat around 10:30am. (See why it's taken me so long to get around to it?) I am hoping that the bread will still be warm when we see Darling for lunch.

My sister's birthday is in 2 days and I am making a special dinner for this incredibly special person. We are having Beof Bourginon with 3 Day Croissants and No Bake Chocolate Souffle for dinner. I'll probably do a cheese and cracker appetizer to keep that course simple. We started the croissants tonight (the dough needs time to 'grow' for flakiness). Fortunately, I've made all these recipes before, so making them should be a breeze.

Recently, I was surprised at how much pita bread costs at the grocery store, so I set out to find a simple and good recipe. Mission semi-accomplished (aka recipe found). Wednesday we'll be having pita pizzas for lunch (us 3, my sister, bro-in-law and some friends in town). Recipe link here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/peppys-pita-bread/. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Today, Labor Day, we attended the local Hot Air Balloon festival. It was great! Earlier this summer we had tried to attend a festival in Steamboat Springs, but that festival was cancelled on account of fire danger. This festival had about 100 balloons and Stephen loved it! We were able to walk in and around the balloons as they were going up. For the first 45 minutes Stephen would hide behind our legs whenever the fire was lit to fill a balloon. Towards the end, he was much braver. The last balloon we saw go up was Smokey the Bear.

Stephen hiding

Happy filming!

 Smokey the Bear going up

'Smookie' the Bear

                                                  

                           
                                  
                                           

 For the rest of the day, Stephen kept talking about 'Smookie' the Bear and building miniture ones out of his legos.

 

As my cousin recently said, the typical and normal days are probably my favorite. But this event was a lovely labor day adventure.