There's nothing like drinking a Tazo iced chai latte on a hot May afternoon,

especially in a cute little cup.

We had to say goodbye to Faylene today, a dear friend who came to visit and to have some retreat time. She wasn't here long, but she blessed us with some cookies, rather, the mix that she had intended to make but the cabin she was in did not have any cookie pans or mixing bowls! But, I mixed them up this afternoon and made little sandwiches.

They were "strawberry lemonade" cookies. Not bad :)

I also made some tortillas today, but had to make white ones as I am out of wheat flour

They turned out really soft and pretty and I hope they'll be good as quesadillas tonight!


Other than that I've been spending the day praying, worshiping and in other words, trying to get my head on straight. Came across this verse today:

"It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep."

(psalm 127v2)

and that is exactly what i needed to read today.

Kitten Chow

A couple weeks ago, Alex and I were craving something sweet. Seeing as we hadn't been grocery shopping in  a while, our selection was somewhat limited. However, I, being so creative and awesome, came up with an amazing version of Puppy Chow. Last week, I made a bigger batch of this crazy good stuff to give to some friends. Puppy Chow, as you probably know, is chocolate and peanut butter coated Chex cereal. Kitten Chow is butterscotch and peanut butter coated honey graham cereal.

First, I started off with a box of generic honey grahams. I don't remember what size box, I just know it was the smaller one. I poured it into a large mixing bowl (use one that has a lid, preferably. You'll see why later.)

  

:::

Then, in a microwave safe dish, I took about a cup of butterscotch chips

Half a cup of peanut butter

And 1/4 cup butter

I melted it all in the microwave until runny and stirred until smooth. In this picture here, they needed melted just a little more to make the mixture really smooth

Then, I poured the melted mixture over the cereal and stirred with a rubber spatula until all the cereal was evenly coated

Then, I let it sit an hour to cool and let the mixture harden a little. After that, I sprinkled about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.

I put the lid on the bowl and shook it.. this is what it looked like when I opened it!

Then, I packaged it all pretty-like to give to our friends:

Kitten Chow Recipe

1 small box honey graham cereal
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Pour cereal into large container or mixing bowl, something that has a lid. In a microwaveable dish, pour the butterscotch chips, peanut butter and butter and melt in the microwave until smooth and runny, about 2.5 minutes. Pour over the cereal and stir with a rubber spatula until all the cereal is evenly coated. Let sit for an hour, until the mixture has cooled and hardened. Add powdered sugar and cover bowl. Shake until mixture is evenly covered with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Thursday last week, we went on a morning hike to Abram's Falls:

and yes, that last picture is a bear cub! alex saw mama bear on the embankment on the other side of the trail, so we kept moving :)

today, i start working at starbucks! i'm excited and nervous. more excited, though. and we need the money, that's for sure. we've been keeping a very carefully balanced (and teetering) budget, with neither of us working regular jobs. but the lord has been faithful in making ends meet and we are learning more than ever the importance of being diligent in keeping a strict budget.

well, i must be off to get ready for work! tomorrow, i hope to post a recipe for a variation of puppy chow i like to call "kitten chow", but we'll see!

Bread, Revisted (aka the easiest, most delicious bread you will ever make)

Recently, I posted about a bread recipe I was trying. I had some success with it, but wasn't totally satisfied.

Today, however, I think I have made the best bread I have ever baked.

I started with The King Arthur Flour recipe for hearth bread (also known as "the easiest loaf of bread you will ever make"), as I did last time. And then, I made it my own.

Graham Flour Hearth Bread

• 2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
• 1 tbs (approx one packet) dry instant yeast
• 1 tbs sugar (I used raw, organic sugar, but feel free to substitute honey or other sugar)
• 1 tbs salt 
• 2 cups graham flour (I used Bob's Red Mill. This is where you could substitute any whole-wheat flour of your choice. I happened to have graham flour on hand and loved the light, slighty sweet, airy feel I got with it.)
• 3 - 4.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (it would probably be ok to use a bread flour if that's what you have on hand.)

1. Mix the warm water with the yeast, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and let sit for five minutes. The top of the mixture will look foamy/bubbly.

2. Stir in the graham flour slowly, about a cup at a time. Add in the rest of the flour one cup at a time.You can use a mixer with a dough hook, if you're not like me and have it available and not packed in storage many states away haha. If you are mixing by hand, it will become really tough to stir and I used my hand to knead the flour in while it was still in the bowl.

3. When the flour is mixed in, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes, adding a little flour if the dough gets too sticky. Let it rest for two minutes, then knead for another three minutes. Shape dough into a large ball.

4. Oil a large bowl and set the dough inside, then turn it over so the top is oiled. Cover with a dish towel and let sit in a warm spot for 45 min - 1 1/2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.

5. When the dough has doubled, punch it down the bowl and split it in half. Take half and press it out flat. Now, shape it how you like. I tried doing 2 small boule shapes last time, but I had a small pan and a small oven and that didn't work out very well. If you have a normal sized (not a camper sized) kitchen, unlike me, feel free to make boule shapes! This time, I made a Italian loaf, which is a little wider than a French loaf. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

6. Using a sharp knife, slash the bread. On an Italian or French loaf, about three slashes is right. On a boule, you may want to do a criss cross on the top. Gently place your loaves on a greased baking sheet Spray or brush the bread with a cold water. Then, bake until golden brown on top, about 30 - 45 minutes.

See? If I can do this in a camper, you can do this at home! So easy. And you know exactly what is going in to, so there is no need to worry about preservatives or other not so nice additives.

Things have been pretty laid-back in the Moeller camp these days.

On Thursday, my second-youngest brother turned 14. I have a brother who is 21 and one who is 14. That makes me feel rather old. However, I still have a brother who is only 10 so maybe I'm not too old :)

 I decorated a cake for him, isn't it lovely? Haha, it was the best I could do with all my piping bags and tips packed in a storage building in Indiana.

We've been spending our weekends putting in some hours and earning our keep at the campground's food stand, named "The Shire". I'm not sure why they named it that, but since I feel rather hobbit-ish most the time (being on the short side and perhaps a bit too fond of eating) I think we fit right in.

 We use the smoker to make a wonderful smoked chicken salad, and maybe also just for the ambiance of it all.

 the gorgeous mountains provide a spectacular background.

workin' hard... aren't we cute? hehe :)

today has consisted of two new baking adventures in my tiny camper kitchen.

first, homemade bread. i used King Arthur's flour recipe:

1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups warm water (not over 110°F)
5 1/2 to 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 
(I used 3 1/2 cups all-purpose, unbromated, unbleached white flour from the natural food market and 2 cups Bob's Red Mill whole wheat flour)
cornmeal 
(I used graham flour, which was probably a mistake)
boiling water (didn't even use this)

Basically, you mix together the first four ingredients. Let this stand until the yeast, sugar and salt are dissolved. I added the flour one cup at a time until it was was well mixed (which wasn't easy). Then I turned the dough out onto the floured counter and kneaded for five minutes, let it rest while I cleaned and greased (with olive oil) the mixing bowl, kneaded for another two minutes and then shaped the dough into a ball

I put it in the greased bowl, and let it rise for an hour and half, until doubled. Then I punched it down, kneaded it a little on the counter to get the bubbles out and shaped it into two roundish-oblong loafs..

As you can see, my oven has no racks so i have to improvise by putting the sheet pan on top of a cake pan. 

Apparently, the idea to make a rounder loaf than the recipe called for (it said to make french or italian loaves) maybe wasn't the best idea..

Ha. Funny shaped bread. It still tastes great, though. I was modelling the loaf shape from a hearth bread I made from The Bread Bible (my copy of which is, alas, in a box in a storage building in Indiana. Why or why did I not have the presence of mind to take it with us?!) 

I also made whole-wheat tortillas today, which while less adventurous, turned out fairly well but next time I am going to try to find a different recipe

Now, off to clean up, then make alfredo sauce for dinner tonight!

Hello blogger. Right now, I'm sitting in my camper, smelling bread bake in the oven and listening to the rain and the civil wars. it seems like a change of blog is fitting for the changing pace that is taking place now. i'll be posting pictures and updates and hopefully sharing the fun, insights, adventures and thoughts that take place in our crazy life :)

for previous posts please go to my tumblr blog