Chapati

Yesterday we made chapati.  We followed this recipe:  http://rasamalaysia.com/chapati-recipe/2/

And will be making them again!  Very simple and delicious (best warm off the pan). 
I have a wonderful memory of my Uncle Jim sitting on the kitchen floor rolling out chapati in their Massachusetts kitchen when I was a child.  My Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jim were in Ohio this week.  That's what spurred my desire to make them, recollecting that first time I had chapati...

Aunt Ellen gave us a copy of Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian as a gift.  I look forward to trying many recipes in that cookbook!

Uncle Jim played several pieces on guitar for us...one was especially beautiful by Fernando Sor.

This is my dad's sister, Aunt Ellen, with her husband Jim and our girls and Rob.  It's also the day we celebrate my dad's "namesday" as when he was baptised he chose St. Paul the Simple as his patron saint. 

January 1, 2014

Last night Hannah and Olivia's cousin, Brianna, came over.  The girls played Monopoly after dinner, then we watched "Turbo" a movie about snails racing.  I really enjoyed it and so did my husband and the girls...

Today they played LIFE.  Last night at midnight, we went outside to watch the fireworks going off in our neighborhood and noticed a new truck in the parking lot.  We took our dog for a walk.  We gave the cat a bath.  The truck was still there.  We saw a note taped to the window.  The girls wanted to wish the lonely truck driver a safe trip home...and a little something inside a bag...it was nice to give a RAK (random act of kindness) to start off the new year.

This morning we made homemade 2014 bread and ate it with lunch!

Sweet little mouse New Year animation by Maggie Rudy:
http://mouseshouses.blogspot.com/2013/12/happy-new-year.html

We gather together

We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year.  I made homemade rolls using "spent grain" from a local brewery.  All of my sisters were in town to celebrate the NEW church blessing last weekend.  I think my parents were very happy everyone could make it!

We sung this beautiful Dutch hymn together many times (reminds me of my grandmother, who passed away, she would play it on the piano):
 
We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

 Olivia made me a new bracelet.

 We do not have a special loom, but used toothpicks and forks instead.

Elizabeth (that's my sister, Mary's daughter)and I one morning...  

We have had them at our house for over a week now and are enjoying their company.  My other sister, Andrea, and her 2 little boys flew back to Portland today.  We have all been sick (the stomach bug went through almost everyone) this week, but still had a nice time together.  ♥

Cranberry and rosemary muffins

We got a bag of fresh cranberries (one of these days I'm going to go see a cranberry bog in Wisconsin or Maine). Last year we used a needle and thread and strung fresh cranberries and popcorn together and hung the garland outside in the tree for the birds and squirrels.  It was fun to watch them nibble away.

I made cranberry muffins and since we have a flourishing rosemary (which stayed out all winter last year, and here in Ohio, it was such a mild winter that it survived), I decided to add some to it.  I ♥ rosemary.  It was an awesome flavor combination.  So here's the recipe:

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

2 cups cranberries

1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary (remove green "leaves" from woody stem)

Preheat oven to 400'F.  Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make well in the center of the dry mixture and add the milk, egg, butter, cranberries and rosemary, stirring until just moistened, batter will be lumpy.  Put liners into 12-cup muffin tin.  Scoop batter into cups (a little over half full), you may want to sprinkle sugar on top, too.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Enjoy.  I like to eat them with cream cheese.

Baking for St. Basil's day

 Here is the loaf before baking:

And nice and browned afterwards...  My sister, who is visiting from Canada, got the gold coin in her slice of bread!!!  ♥
(See previous post for recipe for this St. Basil's day bread, if you missed it!)
Olivia bought herself a pair of roller skates, yes, the old-fashioned kind.  Hannah has been using my rollerblades, as she wears an adult size 5 now.  I also love to skate.  I remember the days when my husband used to skateboard.
All the snow has melted in southern Ohio.  We're hoping for more.  It was really warm this past week, but got really cold again today!  The weather is so fickle.  I wish it were truly winter, and would just stay cold.
Tonight we're sipping hot tea and playing Scrabble. 

Butter cookies

My husband ordered this cookie cutter for me.  It's made in Germany.  And it's awesome, you can personalize your cookies with a message or someone's name on it. 

Butter cookies (this is the recipe my mom always used, about half the sugar that the average sugar cookies recipe calls for, and super scrumptious):

1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (or lemon or almond)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Blend butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together well.  Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the butter mixture.  Chill for about an hour.  Roll it out to about 1/4" thick and then cut and bake at 425'F for about 5 minutes.  Allow to cool.  And then you can ice them!  Enjoy ♥

P.S. Reading "Wheat Belly" is really eye-opening, but it's going to be very hard to change.  I love baking with wheat flour.

Yarn along: little Christmas gifts

I've made some big shawls...but now I'm crocheting little matching shawls for their dolls, for Christmas gifts.  Join in the "Yarn along" here!

I picked up "Wheat Belly" at the library and "The World We Found," at the library today.

I just finished reading "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry.  What an interesting book!  Many horrible things that happened in India in the 1970s make me appreciate our life.  There were parts that were wonderful...the main characters, Dina, Ishvar, Narayan, and Maneck cooking together, laughing, like a family.  ♥

It made me want to try Indian recipes.  Yesterday I made parippu (a lentil curry with coconut milk), and ate it with homemade pita (I will try making chapati soon, basically the same, one is baked in the oven, the other cooked on the stove top)...and today I made chana masala (chickpeas, ginger, garlic, onions, etc.) and we ate it with rice and potatoes & carrots.  My girls would like me to serve food on banana leaves, as they do in India.  So many wonderful vegan Indian recipes!

Last year, I read "Life of Pi."  Now, it's been made into a movie.  Another story of people from India, who are out at sea, on their way to Canada, when their ship sinks...what happens as Pi struggles out at sea?

Transforming the backyard garden...

Rob tilled up the garden...we planted more lettuce and wheat.  There is still kale growing, it's green with purple undertones.  The girls each got a red oak seedling about 5 years ago at the library, they are both very pretty now...their leaves have turned a reddish hue.

Our tomatoes are ripening up...one week of sitting on the windowsill!
P.S. We got our Christmas cards from Shutterfly (I won a $50 gift card on Jamie's blog!) and have been signing each one, address them to friends and family.  

I know it seems early, but last year I started preparing for Christmas in November, too. Get ready for your own a book-a-day countdown...we started last year and ♥ it, better and more meaningful than a chocolate calendar!