A Few Things

When I was little, I wanted to be a Judd....and when Naomi Judd had to quit due to health reasons, I was ecstatic. I was convinced I could take her place. I would lock myself in the bathroom and sing into my hairbrush. Yep.

Sometimes I vacuum the whole house, even when it really doesn't need to be done, just to drown out the whining and bickering constant stream of noise coming from my children.

I don't like to look at baby pictures very often because it makes me sad to see how fast my kids are growing up. 

When I put on mascara, the kids ask, "Where are we going?" 

I wish I could play the banjo. Sursly. 

For the last 2 years, I have been asking my 6-year-old what she wants to be when she grows up. Her answer is always the same, she wants to "sell snow cones." And it has me a bit worried. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

About 5 years ago, I came across this recipe and it has been my go-to CC Cookie recipe since. The secret is in the browned butter and extra egg yolk. This is my first baking tutorial......ever! Here we go! 

You will need all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, baking soda, salt, 14 TBS salted butter, pure vanilla extract, 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, and chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate....most of the time I use milk chocolate). 

Start by warming 10 TBS of salted butter over medium heat. You don't wanna walk away here, keep an eye on this and stir often. 

In a mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and 3/4 tsp salt.

After a few minutes, the butter will start to get foamy on top like this.....continue to watch it and stir frequently. 

Then, the butter will start to get bubbly like this.

After it bubbles up, it will get foamy again and start to brown and smell like toffee. When the butter is a deep golden color, take it off the heat and add the remaining 4 TBS of butter.

As soon as the added butter melts, you can pour all of this into the bowl of sugars and vanilla.

As soon as this mixture cools down a bit, you can add the egg and egg yolk...just beat it up with a whisk. 

Add 1 3/4 cups of flour and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Add about 1 cup (more or less) of chocolate chips. I just used what I had on hand in the fridge so I didn't have to use my unopened bag. There are milk chocolate chips and Hershey mini-kisses in there.

After you put them on a cookie sheet (I scoop them out with a melon baller), let them chill in the freezer for about 20 minutes. This step cools down the butter and allows the cookie to rise instead of spreading out too much.

Bake them at 375 F for about 8-10 minutes....just watch them. You want them to be brown on the edges, soft in the middle. Oh, and if you want them to be pretty and round...don't overcrowd the pan like I did here. I should have baked the batch on 4 separate cookie sheets...but I crowded them onto two. My kids do not care if they are perfectly round and honestly,  As Sweet Brown would say, "Ain't nobody got time fo dat."

Happy baking! 

Confession

I am a BBC junkie. It's true. When the kids are in bed and my house is clean, I love to unwind with a good British flick.....well, unless the Thunder are playing. Why can't American shows be so great? They definitely have us beat when it comes to television. Anyway, I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you....that way, you will have something to watch until Downton Abbey returns!

 

 Judi Dench? I think yes! And there is a sequel. 

 

Lark Rise to Candleford, beats Downton Abbey in my book. There are 4 seasons worth of episodes and you can watch every single one of them with your children sitting next to you. I got the entire DVD set for my mom for Christmas last year. She watched 4 seasons in 2 weeks. And she was sad when there were no more to watch. It's that good. You will recognize a Downton face or two in this one.

 

Call the Midwife. This one I liked, but my hubby refused to watch it because there is a LOT of birthing going on. A LOT. Definitely not one for the kiddos, but I do recommend it.

And lastly, The Forsyte Saga. 

Legacy

Its always been a joke in my family, that one legacy passed down through the generations is thrifting. I come from a long line of thrifters. My mother, grandmother, and those before them. For me, thriftiness is a necessity AND for the thrill of the hunt. But I am sure, that for my grandmother and those before her, thriftiness was a necessity. 

When I was growing up I was dragged to garage sales every Saturday morning, and I loathed it. Now, I do the same with my kids, but they love going! See there? Passing down that legacy! 

When I go to garage sales and thrift stores, I am always looking for antique (100 years or older) or vintage (less then 100 years old) glassware, dishes, flatware, ironstone, tea pots, serving pieces....etc.  Oh, and chairs, I have a thing for old chairs....and books...and mason jars, milk glass, old tool boxes, you get the idea!  Here are a few of my recent finds!

Fostoria cream and sugar set.

 

I found this at a Goodwill store. It is stamped "Made in England" on the bottom of the silver stand. I think it will be perfect for cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

I could NOT pass up these little nesting coffee mugs. I found these at Goodwill also. I love the color and patterns, but most of all, I love the USA stamp on the bottom. I am on the lookout for one more polka dot mug and matching saucers.

 

Are you a thrifter?

My Funny Valentine

Its that time again! Rachel spent yesterday morning working on her valentines for the American Heritage Girl exchange tonight. 

I really love this shot of her little hands.....nails that need to be cut, chippy nail polish....this was earlier in the morning......I think she changed clothes 4 more times before the day was over. After lunch, I noticed she was wearing her older brother's swim shirt from last year....?????

It's hard to tell, but she was sporting a chocolate milk mustache...I *may have edited it out a bit....ahem.

She is so precious to me, my funny valentine. 

Baby Chicks....almost!

 Yesterday, I made a visit to our county extension office and picked up an incubator, egg turner, and 30 fertilized chicken eggs! 21 days from now, we should have chicks. This is our first time to do this and needless to say, everyone is pretty excited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The eggs are kept in this incubator at 100 degrees for 21 days. After the chicks hatch, we will keep them for about 3 weeks in a brooding pen (large Rubbermaid container) under a heat lamp. Believe it or not, the chicks will be ready to process at 3 weeks. Most chicks are not ready until 6 weeks, but these are fertilized eggs from Tyson. They are a hybrid chicken, bred to get big very quickly. They will not be cute little chicks very long! I'm not sure if we will have them processed somewhere, or if we will give them to someone who could keep them for eggs. We will NOT be keeping them.....unless they are in our deep freeze. Sad but true.

Henry Bob has been very interested in the goings on in the laundry room. We will have to keep a close eye on this dude. 

 

And whatever Henry Bob is curious about, Andrew is too! We are all on guard duty for the next few weeks around here. 

Have you ever raised chicks? Did you keep them? Give them away? Process them? I'd love to know!

Morning

Every morning I have a cup of hot tea and time with Jesus. I'll take a cup of Twinings Earl Grey with honey and cream over a cup of coffee any day! I'm sure the Queen would cringe at the thought of this American girl putting such in her tea.

We are nearing the homestretch of our 3rd year of homeschooling. This morning I was reading in Proverbs 1 and verse 7 was especially encouraging to me. "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

How do you start your mornings?

Andrew Micah

Documenting daily life is the main reason I started blogging.

 

Andrew loves all things "boy!" Dirt, cars, trains, and trucks.

Why can't they stay 3 just a little longer?

My Favorite Children's Books!

I really, really love children's books. When I was a little girl, my favorite part of the day was when my dad would tuck me in at bedtime. He would read me a book, or tell me a story. Now I have 4 blessings of my own and I love to read to them. Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order.

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman

Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom and Felicia Bond

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling

Kiss Good Night by Amy Hest

 

The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone

Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle

What are some of your favorites?