People Get Ready: St. Nicholas Is Coming!

I'm updating this post to add a link to Like Mother Like Daughter where there's a link up for living Advent. Click over there to see how Advent can be wonderful and simple.

Our reading bench has been transformed into our Advent bench. I suppose it would be better if the drawers and wrapped books were in pink and purple instead of red and black, but we go with what we have.

We hung our stockings on the first day of Advent because St. Nicholas is coming on the eve of his feast day, December 6th. On Sunday morning, we'll wake up and find our stockings full of little goodies. It took a while, but in the past few years I have finally gathered enough stocking holders I really like for all six of us. I'm also still incredibly happy every time I see the stocking I made for First Son. (Apparently, I need to post some close-up pictures of it finished in a stocking shape.) First Daughter's is well under-way. She has high hopes it'll be ready by next year but I doubt that unless I pick up the pace.

The other stockings are all just mixed and matched. We have enough of the glittery green and red ones for everyone, but I let them choose. Second Son insisted on the doggie stocking which is supposed to be for our dog.

 

For some reason, Second Daughter decided she wanted to make her own stocking. She cut some fabric the girls had in their stash and stitched it together in a semi-stocking shape. It's hard to tell in the picture, but she then stitched on a block she cut from a sunflower fabric. It is simultaneously awful and wonderful. Let's hope it holds up to her gifts from St. Nicholas.

Last year, St. Nicholas brought "Christmas coupons" for all the children. Good until his feast day this year, they were gleefully received and redeemed. Here are a few of the favorites from last year and some new coupons we expect St. Nicholas to bring this year. I'm pretty sure he just created them in Word, printed them on his home printer, and cut them apart.

• Choose the movie and snacks for a family movie night (rentals accepted) - This was one of my favorites!
• A grocery list addition (with a maximum value)
• A batch of homemade cookies of your choice
• Choose the first game on a family game night
• No meal chores today
• One chocolate milk
• Go out to dinner with Mom or Dad
• Stay up 30 minutes past bedtime (specified nights only)
• Eat dessert when it's not a dessert night
• Choose a book or app (cost limit) for the Kindle or iPad
• Bonus 30 minutes of screen time
• Be First Day (when the coupon holder will be able to choose first for where to sit, which cup to use, and whenever else there are choices during the day)
• Choose a book from any source (used or new, with a maximum value)
• Enjoy a post-bedtime movie with Mom and Dad
• Choose what's for dinner
• Choose what's for dessert
• One cup of frozen yogurt at our favorite outing spot

First Son appreciated that there were twelve - one for each year. Because I'm that kind of person, I wrote on the back of each coupon when it was redeemed and for what, if it was a movie or grocery item.

We also made St. Nicholas cookies. I always make this recipe and nothing says Advent has begun to me as much as kneading this sweet spicy dough on the counter until it's smooth. (I use lard instead of shortening so it's soy-free and this year I omitted the cloves for a friend who is on the Feingold plan.) I made two batches - the first with my almost-three-year-old goddaughter while all the other kids played outside (joy!). The second batch I split four ways and let my kids have free rein with cookie cutters on the kitchen table.

First Daughter made a good mix of different shapes. Second Daughter made a whole tray of gingerbread man cookies. (I like to make whole trays of the same cookie, too.) First Son made only a handful of really thick cookies. Second Son made fewer cookies than the others because he ended up with a handful of dough too covered in flour to be molded into a shape, but he had fun. The girls "branded" their cookies with initials so they would be able to tell which they had made even after they were baked.

The kitchen and two of the four children were a complete mess, but we now have lots of St. Nicholas cookies to share. They are especially delicious for grown-ups when dipped in tea. Children generally prefer to cover them with icing and sprinkles.

We'll decorate a few on the eve of the feast (Saturday night) so they look more like St. Nicholas. Here's First Daughter with the one she made last year.

Book Review: The Perfect Egg

The Perfect Egg by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park

We've had chickens grazing here on the Range for almost six years (in fact, it will be six years next month) and have learned to enjoy eggs for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts. We are always watching for new recipes, though have a solid repertoire already. Kansas Dad, especially, has perfected his skills for a number of egg presentations.

When I saw this book offered by Blogging for Books, I couldn't resist requesting it even though I doubted it could have many new-to-us recipes. I was mistaken!

It seems like this book focuses on innovative ways to present the egg. The Morning section was our favorite include recipes like Mediterranean-Style Baked Egg Boats, Arepa de Huevo (which I haven't tried yet because I haven't found masarepa), Egg Bhurji (an Indian take on scrambled eggs, which is a new dinner favorite here on the Range for the grown folks), Egg Clouds, and Gyeran Bbang (a Korean street food that was delicious but made a horrible mess of my muffin pan). Of course, there are versions of croissants, pancakes, and eggs benedict as well. For many recipes, like pancakes, deviled eggs, and egg salad, a base recipe is presented along with a variety of options for modifying it, encouraging tailoring the recipe to your own tastes (or what you have in your pantry).

In the days of internet recipes and search engines, cookbooks are not necessary for learning how to cook or bake something delicious and healthy. The authors' personal comments for each recipe are like reading a letter from a friend about a recipe we simply must try. More than anything, though, contemporary cookbooks provide beautiful photographs of the food and this cookbook has a full page photo for every recipe.

I'm pleased to have this cookbook on our shelf.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are my own.

What I Loved about this Morning

Would you believe I completely and totally forgot about posting What I Loved about Last Week until about 11 am this morning? Usually I write a bit each night and finish it up on Friday night. This week, I did none of that. (Kansas Dad and I watched the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring instead last night, a more than worthy excuse, I think.

I do remember going to pick up First Son from Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and watching the older children race from the parish hall to the church for reconciliation after class. What a beautiful sight!

The week just doesn't compare to this morning, though. We woke late (8 am!) and Kansas Dad made his signature Saturday morning breakfast (eggs to order including 3 different omelets, toasted potatoes, and turkey bacon). Then Kansas Dad went out to butcher a deformed chicken which is now bubbling away on the stove for a delicious late lunch of chicken soup. First Daughter and I made granola bars which are cooling on the counter. Most wonderfully of all, I made homemade challah bread which is baking in the oven now and will grace our places as challah french toast tomorrow morning.

Now...what shall we do this afternoon?

What I Loved About the Last Two Weeks (55th Ed.)

1. The kids sang at the Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. They did a wonderful job, especially with a Magnifcat in Latin and in rounds. Our children's choir director is fantastic! (And just happens to be a dear friend, so I admit to bias.)

2. First Son's birthday party was a few weekends ago. We had a Ninjago party with some good friends.

3. A few days after the party, we celebrated First Son's actual birthday with chocolate angel food cake. Our parish priest came for dinner, too, which is always a treat.

4. We ate some tasty cinnamon swirl bread for the Feast of St. Lucy.

5. Kansas Dad picked out a Christmas tree for us. We decorated it the day before Gaudete Sunday. Second Son is so funny with it. Every once in a while he walks into the living room and yells, "Christmas tree! We have a Christmas tree!" All the kids take ornaments down and hang them around the room, on the train tracks, or just step on them. We've lost a few already, but I didn't put the most precious ones on this year (having a two year old and all) so hopefully there won't be any really terrible tragedies. At least no one has pulled the whole tree down. Yet.

6. First Daughter made her first cheesecake. I told her she could choose one recipe from her cookbook as an Advent treat (making it more than eating it) and she chose raspberry cheesecake. Given the price of raspberries, it was incredibly expensive, but she made almost all of it herself and it was delicious.

7. I finally made homemade thin mints. They've been in my binder for years. Kansas Dad had expressed interest in them before, so I made them as a surprise for his birthday. The girls helped me dip them in chocolate. (It took twice as much as the recipe said; we did about half in dark chocolate and half in semi-sweet chocolate. Both are tasty.) They weren't quite as thin as they should have been, but still tasty. I still had candy canes left from last Christmas so I smashed one up and we sprinkled bits on some of them.

Second Son only liked the chocolate coating.

8. First Daughter and Grammy went to see The Nutcracker, just the two of them. (First Son went last year and was ready to leave at intermission, so we decided he could take a year off. Second Daughter isn't quite ready to sit still that long; maybe next year.)

With the carolers before the ballet

9. Kansas Dad celebrated a birthday. We served the thin mints and gave him a stuffed aardvark. Aardvarks are a running joke with Kansas Dad and the kids. When he joked we should get one and make them our family mascot, I thought to myself it would make a perfect birthday gift. We don't usually actually buy anything for each other, so I think he was a little surprised, even though he'd said it just a week before his birthday. He and the kids are still debating the aardvark's name. (I wanted to get a picture, but I kept forgetting every night until after we exercised and then he didn't want a picture. Maybe next week.)

10. It snowed! We had our first snow of the winter. It was just a smattering, but Kansas Dad took all the kids out to play. Second Son didn't last very long, but it was fun because he's too young to remember the snow from last year. The kids were disappointed when it started to melt later that day; I think they all want to move to Minnesota.

11. First Son's baptismal anniversary was yesterday. We celebrated with pierogies, inspired by The 8 Polish Foods of Christmas on A Very Veggie Christmas (a wonderful Christmas CD).

12. If all goes as planned, I'm off today for a whole day without kids or responsibilities!

A Recipe and a Product Review: Muffin Scoop

For my birthday last year, I received this OXO Good Grips Large Cookie Scoop from my brother and his family (which his wife selected for me, of course).

I love it.

I use it all the time.

I tried it for cookies, but it makes huge cookies, which First Son prefers to make by hand and I prefer not to make (because eating more cookie is not really something I need to do).

It is perfect for muffins. I make a lot of muffins here on the Range, so it gets a lot of use. Every time I pull it out and squeeze batter into the muffin pan, I am happy. 

I usually use slightly rounded scoops, which is less than most muffin recipes expect, so a 12-muffin batter will often make 18 for me. I like that because I'm not throwing away as much gnawed muffin when my toddler is done with it, but I also don't have to listen to him complain as I would if I cut a larger muffin in half for him. It's also nice for portion control for bigger people.

The handle for this scoop needs only a little pressure and the batter comes right out.

The muffin pan, full of perfectly shaped batter scoops.

Beautiful muffins!

I also love using the muffin scoop when I use my mini-loaf pan (like this one) or small loaves (these, and they are truly fabulous). I use two scoops for a mini-loaf and three for a small one. If I don't mix it together with a knife, they break right into halves or thirds at the table, which my girls think is fun.

Now, so you have something to try out when you buy your own muffin scoop, I'm finally posting my Banana Bread on the Range recipe. I've adapted this recipe from one that was in a Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, but one that is long out of print and they no longer include the original recipe. (I no longer have the original book, either, because the first copy was set on fire and the second one fell apart. I salvaged a few of our favorite pages when I realized the new edition didn't include some of our favorite recipes.) I long ago modified the original so I think it's acceptable for me to print it on the blog.


Kansas Mom's Banana Nut Bread
Makes 27 muffins using a slightly rounded scoop with the OXO Good Grips Large Cookie Scoop, leaving a tiny bit in the bowl for little helpers to taste. I also often make 1 loaf and 18 muffins or 2 loaves and 6 muffins...whatever works for you.

4-6 medium bananas (6 is best), as ripe as you can get them (frozen is fine)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp lemon extract (optional; you could also use some finely shredded lemon peel)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup ground flaxseed
2 tbsp wheat germ (optional)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin and/or loaf pans with cooking spray.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, bananas, sugar, cooking oil, and lemon extract.

3. Add dry ingredients, up through the flours. (I add them in the order listed, right into the mixing bowl.) Mix until almost combined.

4. Add the chopped nuts. Mix just until you don't see any more flour. (Ideally, you'd mix these in by hand, but I'm too dependent on my PowerAid mixer.)

5. Spoon into the prepared pans or use the muffin scoop.

6. Bake loaves for about 45-55 minutes, muffins for 18-24 (depending on your oven, pan sizes and how you've filled them).

This is a very forgiving recipe. The last time I made it, I ran out of nuts, so I substituted shredded coconut for the rest and it turned out great. Early in my marriage, I once made it without salt or baking soda. (I have no idea how that happened.) A sprinkle of salt and 30 seconds in the microwave and it was just fine. More recently, I forgot the sugar until after it was in the loaf pan. I just mixed it in and it was fine.

As written above, this is a good solid recipe you can feel good about feeding to your kids every day at snack-time.

What I Loved About Last Week (8th Ed.)

1. Halloween night - We had a wonderful time at Grammy and Paw Paw's house: pizza for dinner and then trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. I took six videos trying to get Second Son to growl for the camera. This is the best one:

Second Daughter as Elmo, First Son as Mario, First Daughter as Princess

Handsome Kansas Dad as lion tamer

2. Walnut bread for the feast of All Saints on Tuesday from the My Bread cookbook - delicious!

3. Second Daughter at choir rehearsal. She refused to go up on stage at first. When she did for the last song, she sang little but twisted and turned a lot. I hope the choir director did not find her too distracting. I thought she was adorable. (She will probably choose not to sing in the concert, and that's alright.)

4. We used a bunch of our Halloween candy to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Martin de Porres on Thursday with mouse cupcakes (original idea here). Then the kids and I delivered some to friends. I loved how they called to tell us how much their family enjoyed them. It was a wonderful lesson for my children on sharing our excess to bless others.

5. Library book sales - I had the opportunity to preview a sale at our little library and came home with about 20 books I want to read, plus a handful for the kids. I also found a copy of Unlikely Pairs (Bob Raczka's Art Adventures), which I think will make an interesting addition to our art appreciation for the year.

6. Dinner out and frozen yogurt on Friday for no reason.

7. A hair cut with a friend on Saturday morning. We went to an academy where students cut hair at a discounted price and it was wonderful! They treated us wonderfully, the stylist behind the academy made an appearance and complimented everyone and the hair cut is great. Of course, Second Daughter was inspired to cut her own hair...so now she has a few bangs again.

8. Last soccer game on Saturday! We have Saturdays free until the spring! Well, except for the choir concert coming up.

9. Planning week 12 of our year - I am loving my planning system and am looking forward to the week. We're starting Pagoo, finishing our second unit of Connecting with History (right on schedule), preparing for our choir concert and I'm starting to think seriously about Advent.

10. My first earthquake! Kansas Dad and I were awake for the aftershock in Oklahoma that could be felt in parts of Kansas on Saturday night. I was scared at first, but it was fairly gentle and over quickly and I gleefully announced, "I think that was an earthquake!" Who would have thought after six years in Kansas, I'd have never seen a tornado but felt an earthquake?

11. A handsome seven year old, First Son. I should have taken a picture of him hard at work on math or Latin or copywork or something! He still captures my heart when closely studying the Lego magazine (essentially a glorified ten page advertisement, sigh).

What did you love about your week?

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 2

1. The Cosby Show is one of the best shows. Kansas Dad and I have been enjoying it much more than we remember when we were children. Not only is it much funnier now that we're parents, but I can appreciate how much of the writing created a show perfect for the entire family to watch together and discuss. We're up to the third season. It's available to stream on Netflix.

2. Can anyone tell me the chigger's place in the ecosystem? I'm having trouble imagining them doing any good whatsoever. I'm starting to think they're a result of the Fall.

3. I have been exercising consistently every day for over seven weeks and am just starting to think I sees some results. Sadly, I have sprained or strained a muscle in my abdomen and now have to take a few days off. I'm afraid it's going to destroy all my momentum. It also ruined part of my plans for today as I was going to take the kids to a museum, but I'm not anxious to be walking around that much. (It hurts to stand straight or lay down straight -- much better to be sitting or curled.) I'm very thankful for my doctor's office's walk-in clinic that let me visit a PA who assured me it wasn't appendicitis. (We didn't really think it was, but it's nice to hear it from someone "official.")

4. Yesterday I was in the middle of mixing a batch of muffins using a new recipe when I opened the refrigerator and discovered we had NO eggs. For a few seconds, I wondered what I would do. Then I remembered, we have chickens! I sent First Son out to collect one for me, but he couldn't find them. So the girls and I trooped out as well (while Second Son napped) and I dug five out from under a hen who was resting in the nesting box. We went in to finish the muffins. It was a good country moment.

5. Speaking of muffins, I have made three batches this week and a number of loaves of bread. We've been busy with all the great summer offerings in our local community and with our friends. My house is reasonably clean and (as I mentioned above) I've been exercising regularly for the first time in years. All of that is good and yet I still find myself thinking in the evenings of all I (and we) haven't been doing during the day. I feel like I'm always asking myself if I have my priorities in order. Am I accomplishing what I should be each day? Should I be doing more? Or something differently? Perhaps my list of things I'd like to do is too ambitious? I have grand plans to finish our alphabet (Alphabet Art) and do some experiments (Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method). I want to pre-read all our read-aloud and reading lesson books for next year. I want to read some grown-up books about next year's topics as well to prepare myself. I want to finish my liturgical year binder. I'd like to be cross-stitching, working on Second Son's baby album, organizing pictures from the last year (none of which are in albums). And so on. Logically, I think I'm in a good place for a wife and mother of four young ones, but it's hard to convince my emotions of that. There are just so many good things to do each day and my time is no longer entirely my own. (It hasn't been for many years, but since I was pregnant with Second Son I struggled so much just to get the bare minimum done I haven't had time to think about how my time is not my own.)

6. My "new" laptop is up and running again. It's about three years old, I think, but that's two or three years younger than the desktop I was using. I'm still getting used to it and still haven't pulled pictures from the camera, but it's nice to have my own computer again. It's surprisingly hard to go back to a Mac after (dare I admit it?) more than a decade away but Kansas Dad keeps telling me I won't regret it. Another task on the to-do list: figure out how to get the desktop out into the living room where First Son and First Daughter can use it but Second Daughter and Second Son cannot destroy it. And figure out if we need a parental protection program. They won't be searching for anything but still...

7. Our summer reading program ended yesterday with a pizza party and a run through the librarian's sprinklers. The three older ones all received prizes (for showing up yesterday): a book each. I love our summer reading program! You should all have one as wonderful. I'm glad it's over, though, and we have Mondays and Thursdays to ourselves...for a week before swimming lessons start. I think our summer is turning out to be as busy or busier than our school year. Just without the lesson planning.

Jen has more 7 Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

Cookbook Review: My Bread

My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey

My very sweet brother and sister-in-law sent me this cookbook back when I was horribly ill, so I'd have something to peruse and plan while I was feeling too sick to do anything. Her brother is a real chef, with a restaurant and everything. He gave this book his seal of approval so she knew I'd like it. And I do!

Years ago, when Kansas Dad and I lived in New York City, we'd select all sorts of scrumptious food at local stores. (Let's not talk about how much money we used to spend on food!) One of our favorite meals was crusty bread with salami and cheese. I have tried a few times over the years to recreate that bread at home with no luck at all. I can make a good solid loaf of sandwich bread in the bread machine and some decent cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls from scratch, but the crusty loaf with soft crumbs on the inside eluded me and I finally gave up.

Until now.

Not only do the instructions and recipes in this book give the perfect loaf of crusty bread, but they are so easy and inexpensive anyone can make it! First Daughter nearly always helps me get it started.

Basically, you need some bread flour (and other flours like wheat or rye, if you want to try the variations), a smidge of salt, a tiny amount of yeast, and water. Mix it up and let it sit on your counter overnight. Back when it was winter, I let mine sit for 24 hours or so.

You can see the ingredients are simple and frugal. In fact, this wonderful bread uses a fraction of the yeast of a standard loaf of bread. Since it's often one of the most expensive ingredients, you can make a lot more bread for your money with this book.

Jim Lahey writes, "A benefit to using a smaller amount of yeast is that it makes room for naturally occurring flavorful bacteria that are attracted to flour to enter into the equation during the 12- to 18-hour fermentation." Do you know what that means? In a very real way, this bread can taste like home.

The dough is very wet at this point. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it's very sticky.

Then, you tuck the ends under and let it rise for about two hours before baking it in a cast-iron pot in the oven. Notice, I did not say knead. There really is no kneading involved. Just mixing and shaping. Here's a picture of my very first loaf (from a few months ago):

The picture looks pretty good, but the bread is unbelievably good. We rarely have a single bite left after cracking a loaf open.

Essential to the process is the cast-iron pot. We bought a Lodge Logic L8DOL3 Pre-Seasoned 5-Quart Dutch Oven with Loop Handles. It's just about the most reasonably-priced option. I think nearly any dutch oven would work, but believe it or not, we didn't own one! It works perfectly for the bread. We've also used it for lots of other meals and are very pleased with it.

Another tool that makes this bread simpler and more likely to succeed is a kitchen scale. A few years ago, I received the Oxo 1130800 Good Grips Food Scale with Pull-Out Display (11 lb, 5 kg) for Christmas. I use it almost every day and love it. You'll see a great improvement especially in breads with a kitchen scale because the balance of dry to wet ingredients is so important, but I use it for all sorts of baking and cooking. I've found it has decreased my dishes because I don't use nearly as many measuring cups.

The only hard part about the whole process is washing up. Trust me on this: wash your spoon immediately after mixing the bread. It will not come clean in the dishwasher and it will be annoying to wash by hand later. Along the same lines, soak or wash the bowl immediately after setting the dough to rise.

I cannot recommend this cookbook highly enough. I hope you all have a chance to try it yourself.

I did not receive anything for this post. I either purchased or received as a gift from family everything in this review. If you follow any likes to Amazon and make a purchase, I do receive a small referral fee.

My Small Successes XXXIX

In honor of my yummy cookies, I'm posting Small Successes two weeks in a row.  Danielle Bean says, "It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph."

1. Inspired by last week's success buying new cookies sheets, I actually made cookies for Easter.

Here are the Oreo cookies, complete with blue and green frosting. (First Daughter wanted purple, but I discovered too late we were completely out of red food coloring.) They are delicious and do taste surprisingly like real Oreo cookies.

We also made sugar cookies with some of our new sprinkles. I was trying out  a new recipe, one that doesn't require rolling them out and using cookie cutters. I love cookie cutters, but it's certainly faster to do without. I overmelted the butter so I had to drop them rather than roll them, but they are delicious! They melt in your mouth and even Kansas Dad, who does not really like sugar cookies, approves. First Son approves of the Oreo-look-alikes.

2. All four of the kids were great at mass for Easter. No one had to go out the back during the mass! More their success than mine or Kansas Dad's but we'll take it when we can.

3. I survived basketball! Our last day of spring basketball camp was yesterday. First Son loved it and has really improved his passing and shooting skills. I didn't have to do anything except entertain the other three for two hours once a week, but that was tough enough. First Son is already looking forward to next year's camp.

Click over to Faith and Family for more Small Successes!

I'm Busy Today

I'm over at City Wife, Country Life with a guest post.

Blueberry (or Strawberry) Oatmeal

I made a stand-by for breakfast recently, Blueberry Oatmeal, only I used strawberries instead because we still have some in our freezer from last year's harvest. I wanted to mention it here on the blog and realized the original page at Money Saving Mom is gone. Tragedy!

That's just not acceptable for all you poor people that haven't tried it yet. (The post was a few years old; I'm guessing they either expire after a while or it got lost when she transitioned to her new and improved site recently.)

So here's the Range recipe, a modified version of an original posted in the comments at Money Saving Mom by Suzanne Mosley. You can find her at Keep In Touch Stationary Co., though I don't think she's posting any recipes there.

Blueberry Oatmeal (aka Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries)

6 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (18 oz) *
1/2 cup brown sugar  **
1 cup applesauce
1 cup milk ***
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon (increase or decrease according to your taste and how much cinnamon may already be in your homemade applesauce)
cooking spray
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen) ****

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix everything except the berries together in a bowl. Stir well.

Coat a 9" x 13" Pyrex dish with cooking spray. Pour the blueberries in. Top with the oatmeal mixture. (I prepare the oatmeal this far and store it in the refrigerator overnight. It makes it a bit quicker in the morning. Just pull it out and leave it on the counter while your oven is preheating, then bake as below.)

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 16-20 minutes (until browned).

Serve warm. My kids like brown sugar sprinkled on top. I like a little milk poured on top.

If you have any left-over, it is yummy warmed and served the next day or for a snack. It also works well cut into squares and frozen for a quick breakfast. It can be reheated directly from the freezer.

* Do not, I repeat, do not, substitute quick oats for any portion of the regular oats. Not even a tiny bit. Your baked oatmeal will be dry, tough, and unwanted. You may end up feeding a significant portion of it to your chickens, not that I would know anything about that.

** The original recipe called for 3/4 cup brown sugar. I'm decreasing it a bit at a time because we always sprinkle the brown sugar on top. My kids don't believe in brown-sugar-less oatmeal and they can't see it if it's already in the oatmeal. I should be bold and just eliminate it altogether.

*** You can substitute 1/3 cup dry milk plus a cup of water if you're short on milk, which we often are when I decide to make this. No one will notice.

**** I used four cups of whole frozen strawberries. The two cups didn't seem to cover enough of the bottom of the dish and we have a lot of frozen strawberries. I think having more was nice with the strawberries because they melt into the oatmeal more than the blueberries. I also think it would still have been good with only two cups if you don't happen to have the luxury of your own strawberry patch and an abundance of strawberries.

Random Tip No. 16

If you're making butterscotch oatmeal bars, don't forget the flour.

If you do forget the flour, don't throw it away. Eat some out of the pan. Discover it's quite yummy. Save it and sprinkle it over vanilla ice cream.

Random Tip No. 13

Baking and cooking are good preparation for chemistry.

It's important to read ahead so you know if you are supposed to reserve a liquid before you pour it down the sink.

My Small Successes XXXVII

I haven't participated in Small Successes since last September. I discovered my days went much better if I didn't turn on the computer until after the school day (and usually until after Kansas Dad was home from work), so most of the Small Success fun was over before I was online. (That's still true, but I couldn't resist this week.)

1. I'm not taking antibiotics anymore! I got sick just before New Year's Eve and it's taken a month to beat it, but that's all behind us now.

2. I made granola (from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life with added wheat germ, shredded coconut and dried cherries, blueberries and cranberries; I don't post recipes from cookbooks, but you can find it here), strawberry sour cream muffins (those lovely blueberry sour cream muffins from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains (King Arthur Flour Cookbooks) with some of our strawberries substituted for the blueberries) and banana bread this week. I haven't baked that much in months. (The banana bread is a little questionable since I put bananas straight from the freezer on top of the eggs and froze some of them, then First Daughter flung them around the kitchen when I said she could turn on the mixer, and then I realized as I was about to put it in the pans I forgot the sugar...but they taste fine. Quick breads are very forgiving.)

3. The last bit of our half a steer is the tongue, which is now defrosting in our fridge. We picked a recipe from The River Cottage Meat Book and will give it a try. (It has to brine for five days before we cook it, so it'll be a while yet.)

Of course, just when I thought I'd start to catch up after being sick for a month, Second Son caught a cold from the girls. With three sick kids, thing will still be kind of slow around here. Such is life with kids.

Read more Small Successes at Faith and Family!

Tasty Tuesday: Hot Cross Buns

Remember the Feast of the Triumphant Cross? It was way way way back on September 14th.* Remember now?

Well, Second Son took an afternoon nap that day. I remember, because I decided at the last minute to make some Hot Cross Buns to celebrate the feast. Not having prepared ahead, I turned to my most trusted baking cookbook: King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains (King Arthur Flour Cookbooks). (Seriously, if you read my blog with any regularity and like baking in the least and haven't checked out this book...there's just something wrong with that.)

Let me just tell you, these are just about the most delicious buns I have ever eaten. I adored them! I ate three of them! And three more the next day. (Wait, did I just admit that?)

Kansas Dad said they were good, but they would be better without the raisins. No worries, I told him, next year I'll make them with currants soaked in rum. If that doesn't want to make you try them, nothing will.

I hope no one gets too upset that I have now participated twice in Tasty Tuesday and have yet to actually post a recipe, but I have that phobia, remember? I searched and found basically the same recipe online posted by someone who knows a good cookbook when she sees one. Or, you could just go get a copy of the book from your library or favorite bookstore. These buns might just convince you to buy it. (If not, try the Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins and use the white whole wheat flour...so light and delicious and...oh, we have sour cream in the fridge and I just might have to make a batch tomorrow...if only Second Son would let me put him down without crying!)

Check out today's Tasty Tuesday post at City Wife, Country Life and be sure the read the comments for some yummy-looking fudge and caramel recipes.

* Yes, I did start this post in September. It's been sitting in draft form for over two months. And I didn't even post the recipe. I'm not a slacker, though. Really, I'm not. Really.

Alphabet Pretzels Brought to You by the Letter A

Way back on September 2nd, the kids and I made pretzels together. The idea was to encourage First Daughter in her letter-learning by shaping the pretzel dough into letters, particularly A and B. She decided to make some other letters and I didn't mind.

Playing with the dough was the fun part, of course. First Son was just as eager to make letters; he decided O was the easiest letter to shape.

Here's First Daughter with the letters she made, with lots of help from Mama.

Then, we ate! I thought my kosher salt was too chunky for such little pretzels, so I made cinnamon-sugar topping instead. The kids informed me they were actually cookies. (Notice we had to change our clothes, too. Perhaps St. Nicholas will bring aprons for the kids this year...)

I used a recipe from Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry but I thought it was nothing great. It also did not make very much; plenty to entertain the kids when divided in half, but it really only lasted for one snack. If I were to use it again, I'd double it and shape half the dough myself. I think instead I'll seek out another recipe. A friend suggested the ones with egg are tastier.

Tasty Tuesday: Caramel Apples

This is my first attempt at a Tasty Tuesday post. I thought about posting on the chocolate angel food cake I made in celebration of Mary's birthday last week. It was suggested in Marian Devotions in the Domestic Church and I used the recipe there, but you can find all sorts of similar ones online. Delicious! The key with angel food cake (based on my vast experience with the two I've made) is to use fresh eggs (we have our own chickens), a PowerAid mixer (oh, how I love mine!) and to use a real angel food cake pan. My kids are ambivalent about angel food cake, but they ate up the chocolate kind so we're sticking with the cocoa from now on.

If I'm going to post for Tasty Tuesday more often, I'm going to have to work on my food photography skills. Seriously lacking.

I'm really posting another tasty recipe, though: caramel apples! The key to scrumptious caramel apples is making your own caramel. Do not be afraid! It's very simple, if a little time consuming.

I used my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid), which is always being updated, revised, changed and re-released, so I don't even know what version I have any more. I found the exact same recipe online, however, here. I'll let you go there for the recipe (or your own cookbook) because I have a phobia about putting other people's recipes on my blog. Instead, I'll sum it up for you:

1. Melt half a pound of butter.

2. Mix in vast amounts of sugar, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk. Heat until bubbly.

3. Continue to boil until the caramel reaches 248 degrees F (about 15 - 20 minutes).

4. Mix in vanilla.

5. Dip your apples!

A few tips:

1. This is a fantastic way to use yummy apples that you've grown or picked. Any small blemishes, because they are real apples, will be covered by the caramel.

2. Do not, I repeat, do not unwrap and melt store-bought caramels. Just don't.

3. Do not make this recipe too often. (See the ingredient list.)

4. A candy thermometer is essential to successful caramel, and any candy-making. They are not very expensive and are a wise investment because you also need them to make lemon meringue pie. I've never made lemon meringue pie, but one day I may and I will be glad to have my candy thermometer.

5. Be prepared to stay by the stove and keep an eye on your boiling pot. Or, ask your husband to do so while you check your email.

6. The recipe says to pour the caramel into a pan to firm up. I just dip my apples then and pour what's left into a small pan.

7. Caramel apples are best prepared for a party or gathering of some sort. Otherwise you'll realize you've eaten ten caramel apples in three days and wonder why your teeth and stomach ache a little bit...as you're reaching for an eleventh. (See #3.)

If you're looking for some more tasty recipes, click over to City Wife, Country Life for Tasty Tuesday.