Archive: July 2010

Homemade Pizza

By Charlotte

I received this recipe from a friend’s mother. She likes to cook and try new recipes. Once she’s tested them, I get some of her good ones. This is a good one.

I was going to have lovely pictures of this process, but I am out of the habit and didn’t remember until I was almost done.

Start with one package of yeast, 1 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 tablespoons oil. Give that a slight stir and let sit for five minutes. Next add 2 cups flour and stir. Put 1/2 cup flour on a flat surface and knead dough into the flour. This usually takes five minutes or so. Place dough back in a bowl

and let raise 20-30 minutes in a warm place.

Split dough in two pieces and roll onto greased pizza pans.

Return to a warm place and let raise another 15 minutes.

Bake at 425 for 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and put on toppings. I usually use plain tomato sauce under the cheese. This time I used a pepperoni topping on one and ham and sausage on the other.

Bake at 425 for another 8 minutes or until done.

Eat and enjoy.

Charlotte

Verse of the Week:Psalm 23:4

Since Chelsea’s computer is down, she gave me permission to post things without her pre-reading them. I hope she doesn’t regret this.

I read Our Daily Bread on Monday and it talked about Psalm 23. Specifically verse 4: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

The author of the little blurb, Julie Ackerman Link, then went on to point out that David felt safe because God was with him, not because God removed the evil. We are safe because God is with us, not because of our circumstances.

Charlotte

A Tribute to an Eastern Oregon Rancher/Businessman

by Charlotte.

My Dad-in-law died recently.

He was raised in a different time with different rules. He appreciated the Great Basin traditions without making more of them than should be. I know he taught his sons and daughters proper cowboy etiquette.

He taught them not to cut people off when you are working cattle and to help each other out in a herd. He taught them respect and team work. I have heard that he always roped with a reata when he branded calves. He had many shots in his satchel when it came to the branding pen, all depending on the opportunities that presented themselves.

He had the wisdom to marry a truly wonderful lady, one whose outside beauty is matched only by her inward beauty. Then they had a few kids.

Even though all he had ever wanted to do was ranch, he had the courage to leave all he knew and start in a different direction. He started a feed store in an area a few hours from where he and his wife were raised. And as near as can happen on earth, he lived happily ever after – except that he wasn’t on a ranch.

I shall miss his smile, his sense of humor, his stories, his opinions, and well. . . him.

Love, Charlotte

A Long Weekend

Well, my friends, my computer is having some major issues. I think I’ve overwhelmed it, like completely. It has to go to the computer doctor today. The doc thinks it’ll only have to be admitted for one night and after some IV fluids and a few enemas, it’ll be good as new. After it’s discharged, it’ll have a full day of rest before it gets hooked back up to the internet on Wednesday afternoon at our new house.

I am highly disappointed as I have all sorts of fun things to share with you. I suppose it’ll just have to wait until Wednesday night or Thursday morning. In the meantime, I’ll be packing up our old house and trying to fit everything into the new one. I’d much rather be writing to you….

Have a great few days. I wonder what you’re up to…

A Good Cowboy Daddy

We attended an event last night… an event that I’m really excited to tell you about…. next week. Basically it has to do with a certain Grandma in our life who just published a certain book. I’m going to tell you all about it next week and there’s going to be a giveaway involved. A signed giveaway.

Anyway, last night while at the certain event, I saw something that delighted me and I feel a need to show it to you this morning.

Background: Buck, who is a manly man’s man, lives with three girls. It doesn’t bother him. In fact, he’s totally great with it. When I was pregnant with Katelyn and we knew she was a girl, people would say things to Buck like, “Maybe next time you’ll get a boy,” or even “Better luck next time“. (?!?!!) These comments made Buck defensive and, well, angry. I mean, who could ask for “better luck” than this…

or this…

All of that to say, it’s not uncommon for Buck to have pacifiers stashed in his pockets or in social settings to have someone’s special pink blanki draped over his shoulder. He’s secure enough in his manhood to do those kinds of things. So…last night when we were leaving the aforementioned event, I noticed a checkbook in one of Buck’s back pockets and Pooh in the other…

Now that, my friends, is a good cowboy daddy.

–Chelsea

Finished Floors

Well, the very fun surprise turned out to be a very-hard-job of a surprise. The Red Fir floors in our new house are finished! It’s been a long, dusty, and stinky road. BUT it’s been worth it and I’m really pleased with how they turned out. There are a couple of “bad” spots, but with an area rug or two, no one (except you) will ever know!

So…. here’s where it started….

(Please note: paint was not ours ;-)

Then we sanded it down to this….

Then we stained it and put 4 coats of Polyurethane finish on top to achieve this…

A few little tidbits I learned while working on the floors:

*DO NOT stop moving while running a belt sander. IF and WHEN you stop there will be divets in the floor.
*Divets in the floor add character.
*Palm sanders make your hand numb & shakey… for a long time.
*Stain makes ants very confused. They don’t want to walk on it and when they do, they can’t figure out what to do with themselves. Stain, when inhaled long enough, can have the same affect on you. Ventilation is key.
*Polyurethane makes things very pretty– the more coats the better.
*Refinishing floors is a lot of work, but the end result is worth the pain. ;-)

–Chelsea

Verse Of The Week

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

For today, I’ll add a little quote C.S. Lewis wrote, too, just for fun…

“I believe in Christianity just as I believe the sun rose this morning. Not because I have seen it, but because by it I see everything else.” –C.S. Lewis

Breakfast at Emily’s: Buttermilk Pancakes

Straight from Emily’s griddle to yours…

For years I tried making plain old buttermilk pancakes for my family. Sure, they were edible, some were even delicious, but I just couldn’t get the flavor or consistency to match my memory of pancakes growing up.

Was I delusional?

Was I chasing after the unattainable, trying to live up to my mom’s buttermilk pancakes?

Nope.

I was using the wrong recipe.

I had mistakenly thought that my mom used the recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook. My mom gave me that cookbook as a present because it’s the one I learned to cook from (Copyright 1978, 1969 edition) and so naturally I assumed that that was the residing place of the buttermilk pancake recipe of my dreams.

Then, about a year ago, my mom casually asked if she had ever given me Grandma Dorothy’s Buttermilk Pancake recipe.

WHAT?! Hold the phone!

There’s another? It’s not the one I’ve laboriously tried over and over? And it’s really easy? And you kept this from me for how long?!

I suppose I could have asked her sooner rather than toil under my erroneous assumptions, but I didn’t.

But now I have that recipe.

And we probably eat way more pancakes than we should.

This is my go-to recipe for Saturday mornings; it’s so easy I can almost mix it up in my sleep (and sometimes it feels like I am, considering my kids haven’t learned that Saturdays are for sleeping in).

It’s also perfect for those days that I get engrossed in a project and “all of a sudden” my husband walks through the door after work and I’m left wondering where the day went and what the heck I’m going to make for dinner.

And it’s easily customizable for those who love pancakes thin and for those who like ‘em fluffy.

So without further ado and/or babbling from me:

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

Add buttermilk to desired consistency (more for thinner batter, less for thicker). When I make a double batch I use about a quart of buttermilk, we like them thin.

Mix all ingredients together.

Spoon onto griddle of choice, lightly greased with greasing agent of choice. I use this when I have it, a little butter when I don’t:

Cook? Fry? What’s the proper pancake terminology? Until bubbles appear.

Turn and cook a little longer.

Put on plate, slather with butter and syrup or toppings of choice.

And now you have that recipe, too!!

–Emily

Accumulation

This moving thing is starting to look and feel real. There are piles and stacks all over the place…

I can’t help but go through things and feel sentimental. We’ve accumulated a lot of stuff since we moved here four years ago. My parents gifted us a table and chairs a few years ago for Christmas. We have a recliner chair. I’ve accumlated several different sizes of clothes- thank you Motherhood (the store as well as the life stage).

Look at all that we’ve accumulated:

TWO CHILDREN….

#1….

and #2….

I’m feeling so stinking sentimental! Those pictures make me all teary. I could just stop right there– right there with those pictures. I have nothing more to say. Alright… maybe the tears are because the second child was born with her right arm up in her face like that. That memory definitely brings tears to my eyes.

Moving on…

This. This little house is where we brought those little monkeys home from the hospital. This. This is where one of them was conceived. Can I say that here? If I can’t, pretend I didn’t.

“We’ve” also accumulated….

Stretch marks! (can I leave those here when we move?!)

Grey hair. Buck, not me ;-) He’s blonde so you wouldn’t know it, not unless you were the one to buzz it for him every few weeks. The way I figure, if I have to have stretch marks, he can have a few grey hairs.

Cows…

A bigger TV. (I don’t want to leave anything out.)

A car. Then a pickup. Then a minivan. Thankfully Buck is content in ol’ green…

I love this truck. Buck bought it when we were dating. It now has 250,000+ miles and is still going strong. It has managed to hit three deer and knock down one pole entry-way. Besides needing a new windshield after the entry-way accident, it has never complained. What I really love is the man who is content to drive ol’ green and would rather put the miles on it than our newer rig. Seeing this outfit drive in the lane each and every night, with the man I love behind the wheel, makes my heart happy, very happy.

I guess the whole point of this whole post is simply that it’s weird to leave a house after four years. It’s especially weird after the four years we’ve experienced here- the start of our family, the growth of our family, and all of the memories that go along with it all. I’m really excited about our new place, but a piece of my heart will always live back here.

–Chelsea

The Yearly Cycle Of Life

I absolutlely love this time of year. There’s still a little snow on the mountains, the grass in the valley is bright green, and the water is running.

All over the county, irrigation is in full swing…

Pipes are being changed and pivots are running in full force…

Where the water isn’t running, there is hay down. It’s being raked… swathed… baled…

then picked up and stacked.

It’s just a part of the yearly cycle– winter ends and we start preparing for another. It shows sustainability– while the cows and calves are out on pasture or rangeland, hay is busy being made. The cows and their new set of calves will be well provided for next spring with the lush grass that grows here in our valley.

The water that irrigates the fields makes quite a journey every summer… from the snow- capped mountains, melts into the lake and streams, then pumps out onto the fields all summer long.

What a beautiful picture of how God orchestrates the details, both big and small, in life. How easy to take for granted the water that gets pumped out of the pivot. How easy to complain about the snow that never seems to quit coming during the winter. How easy to forget that the whole God-ordained process is exactly what makes the cycle work. It’s a really amazing system and I’m so thankful we get to watch the whole thing each and every year!