Princess

I present to you,

Bea in her princess room.

It has kept her very busy planning and decorating

that is for sure!

How to make a graham cracker

To me these are extremely delicious. Maybe they aren't that amazing but they are really good and very easy, and if fat doesn't worry you they are really a nutritious snack. What it takes: 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (for a really crunchy cracker) or

1 3/4 cup whole wheat and 1/2 cup white flour ( for a more nabisscoey experience)

1/3 cup brown sugar 1 t baking powder 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1/4 t cinnamon 5 T honey 1/4 cup water 1 t vanilla 1/2 cup butter- melted How we do it: Heart oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients all together. Then add the liquid ingredients. (A quick tip- don't measure the honey. You will just get the spoon all sticky. Just do 5 nice tablespoon size piles onto your flour mixture :) Stir this all well until a ball forms. Put dough onto a greased bar pan and spread with a greased rolling pin or your hands to cover the pan. Cut into 2 inch squares and and prick with a fork if you wish. Now place them in the oven and bake for 18 minutes at 350*. Turn the oven off after 18 minutes and leave crackers in the oven for another 20-40 minutes. This allows them to have a nice crunchy, crumbly, flakiness. Store them in an airtight container.

Let me tell you there isn't to much yummier than these with a homemade marshmallow warmed in the microwave for about 10 seconds!!! So yummy.

So enjoy them however you wish, with milk, hot chocolate or marshmallows. Just be sure to enjoy them. Blessings,

~Anna

Building

My Children have really been into playing with their building toys the last few weeks. Which has made for some very dangerous walkways :) Here is what Gregory and Margaret did while Travis read to them this afternoon. Whose is whose do you think? One is some kind of aircraft, the other is an ancient vaulted tomb.

Kefir, an educational post

Making kefir is one of the most important things I do to keep our family healthy. It is not always readily appreciated by other people. Somehow it's flavor can be offensive to some people, but I think anyone can learn to enjoy a kefir smoothie. We sure do!

Now, I do not do a lot of research so I am not really that knowledgeable of all of kefir's health benefits, but I have read that it has more probiotics than yogurt does and is easier for you to digest. The guy I got my grains from said that the kefir had healed him of his lactose intolerance and acid reflux.

When you first start your kefir journey you might feel like you need to do it just so. That is not really the case with kefir, it is a very simple product that is very forgiving. Just keep going and giving it fresh milk and your grains will live.

It starts with getting the kefir grains. You find a friend that already has some and they can share. They are always growing so they won't mind sharing. Or there is a website where you can get them from someone else for a small fee or just the shipping cost, this is how I got mine. Although they are called grains they aren't of the wheat, barley type grain family. Sometimes your grains will be a big glob and other times lots of little globs.

Once you have your grains you need to put them into a jar with milk, any milk will do. It is creamier with whole milk but works with raw, pasteurized/homogenized, and skim. About 1/2 cup of grains to 1 quart of milk. You need to place them in a glass or ceramic container ( Islamic people used to keep it in a goatskin water bag) that is a little bigger than the amount of milk you use as they do produce a gas and expand some as the fermentation process continues.

The more grains you use to the amount of milk just speeds up the process and the kefir will be ready a little quicker. If you are a person who likes to measure and do things on a schedule than it might be wise to keep track of the amount of grains you have. I just notice that the kefir looks ready and so on, no measuring ever :)

Now that your grains are in the milk you can put the lid on and let sit for 24 hours on the back of your counter. They do seem to grow faster in a warmer environment. If you notice a little whey in your kefir before you are ready to strain it you can give your jar a shake, shake, shake. In fact you should do that at random intervals anyways. (in some cultures they kept their kefir hanging in the doorway and everyone who passed by was to give it a swing, to mix the grains up)

The next day after they have sat for about 24 hours put a strainer over a container and gently pour your kefir into the strainer. It can kind of splat a lot, so pouring slowly and having a rubber spatula handy is useful. I rub my grains with the spatula to get all the kefir out of them.

If your kefir gets to a chunky with whey stage don't worry, use it anyway. It does that if it sat a little to long.

After you strain your grains put them in room temperature milk, give it a shake and start the process all over again.

To use your kefir is as varied as there are people, but my favorite way is to make smoothies. Once in awhile I use it for sour cream and in baking but rarely very much there as I feel like a lot of its value is then baked out of it, or killed. I do soak my wheat in a little kefir plus water before making bread.

To make a smoothie I place some frozen berries and about 1/4 cup of sugar into the blender and then pour kefir to fill it about 3/4's of the way full. Too full and it will find a way to escape from the blender! We also use frozen juice or apple sauce, cinnamon and brown sugar. Beatrice's favorite way right now is orange juice concentrate, tiny bit of sugar and vanilla added to the kefir and blended well.

Store your kefir in the fridge until you are ready to use it. It will continue to ferment/ripen as long as it isn't eaten. Keeping it in the fridge just slows down the process.

Things to pay attention to.

Don't expose grains to chlorinated water, always use dry jars, strainers and so on.

Don't expose your grains to heat, such as hot containers from the dishwasher.

Don't expose your grains to metal unless it is stainless steel, or has a a non- reactive coating.

Don't keep them to long in a closed container that is too small as gas will build up which could burst your container.

Happy kefiring!

~Anna

The Museum of Russian Art

On Monday we were able to visit the Museum of Russian Art

It is in a quaint old building originally used for a church building and built to look like the Alamo. They do not allow photographs taken inside so you don't get to see their beautiful pictures. In the basement they had a temporary exhibit of pictures taken along the Silk Road. Another room was full of shelves of Matryoshka dolls. Amazing variety in all the different sets. Matryoshka dolls have only been around since about the 1890's. They were designed as a way to keep the distinct Russian art styles alive.

Here they allowed the kids to play with a few different sets of nesting dolls.

They also had scavenger hunt sheets to encourage the kids to actually look at the pictures.

One of my very favorite authors had several kids books in the gift shop. It was really hard to pass all of them by. Especially since several aren't available in our library. Her name is Patricia Polacco and she is a master story teller in my opinion!

Blessings,

~Anna

P.S. isn't it funny how all of this last paragraph is underlined and refuses to not be underlined?

Grande Day Parade

We did attend the Grande Day Parade, but it was not a grand day for a parade. We were properly soaked by the time it was over. It was slightly misting when we left the house but most of the time we were gone it was more than a mist and very cold feeling.

While we waited for the parade to begin we took refuge under this building's canopy since none of us were properly attired for the rain.

Our favorite part of the parade was the hot air-balloon baskets. They would let off these huge flames every so often and really warm the place up! Doing their part for global warming :) There was four of them through out the parade, all Remax. We did worry about the people in that sky walk. it seemed they were awfully close to it a few times when they let the burners flame up.

Our other favorite part was the loot we brought home. Here they are showing off some of it.

Margaret is sitting on a poncho pioneer press threw out. She got to wear it and was not cold anymore and didn't understand why Harrison and Gregory were ready to go home before the two hour parade was over. Because we were so cold we went into the ice skating warming house and had a cup of hot chocolate as an intermission to the parade. Thanks to Toyota Sienna it was free :)

The ice sculptures were neat, but they were clearly loosing shape from all of the rain they have sat through.

I have had fun reviewing our water logged parade experience. I hope you did too.

~Anna

Ice Skating

Our Winter Carnival started yesterday. Ice sculptures are always a part of it. Here I am in front of one, which is in front of one of the coolest buildings in downtown St Paul. That building has a lot of history that happened there. John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Machine Gun Kelly were all tried there when it was a federal Courthouse. Anyways, I didn't intend to talk about the Landmark but it shows up so nicely in this picture Margaret took, that I just had to mention it.

We were able to go ice skating today at the Wells Fargo rink. It was very balmy out. We haven't done much skating at all since we moved here, 5 years ago, so it is pretty much a new experience for the kids. They really liked it, once I tied their shoes tight enough, that is. A lady that works there came up to Margaret and asked if her shoes were to big or else she needed to tighten her laces and that did the trick for both Harrison and her.

The rink closes next Sunday so I hope to get them there a few more times this next week so they can really feel comfortable skating. They rollerblade some so that did help them get comfortable on the ice. Still both Margaret and Gregory said that their bottoms hurt this evening from landing a few to many times.

Tomorrow, Lord Willing we will be heading out to the Grande Day Parade. Hopefully the rain stops. It is a sheet of ice on the driveway and sidewalk right now. Until next time,

~Anna

A Winter Walk

This Wednesday on our way to church we left extra early and took a lovely winter hike. We are fortunate to live near the Mississippi River and it has some nice bluffs along it around here. In this particular area there are also several caves that we like to climb up to and into. The floors are a beautiful white or yellow sand, depending upon which one you are in.

Heading up to a cave.

Nearing the entrance of another one. Harrison felt sure he didn't need his jacket. I made him bring it "just in case".

Up in one of the smaller caves. Our whole family was still able congregate in here though. As we wonder along the rock walls it is fun to try to read all the carvings. Some people have really spent some time doing it. Some are serious in their art work and others a little naughty.

Going down the other side of the mountain :). It is getting darker. Time to head for church.

Enjoy the sunshine.

~Anna

Birthdays!

Blessings to you on Your Special day LUKE!!

~Anna

Basil

Update April 18, 2010See they grew! Except I had to replant and I added parsley seeds too.

Gregory, Beatrice and I planted basil seeds today. I can't wait for them to come up and be flourishing plants. Ever since fall I have intended to plant them, but I keep forgetting. We have been studying plants and roots and such in science, these two and I, so it seemed time to get it done! I saved seed pods from my basil plant this summer. They were a bit immature when I brought them in so I really hope they germinate. It was going to frost or I would have waited a little longer. We shall see. I'll show you the plants if they grow.

Blessings,

~Anna

The Making of a Marshmallow

Here is how I make marshmallows. It takes: 3 Packages or Tbsp unflavored gelatin 1 cup ice cold water 1 1/2 cup white sugar 1 cup light corn syrup 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/4 tsp cornstarch Nonstick spray To create the marshmallows: 1. Place the gelatin in your mixer bowl along with 1/2 of the ice water. 2. In a small sauce pan combine the remaining 1/2 cup of water, the white sugar and the corn syrup and whisk together. Cover and place on medium/high heat and allow to cook like that for 3-4 minutes. Uncover and stir until syrup boils at a full rolling boil, approximately 8 minutes. Remove from heat . 3. Turn the mixer on low speed and stir the gelatin, slowly add the sugar syrup into the gelatin mixing constantly until thoroughly blended. Once all of it has been added turn the mixer to high speed and allow to mix for about 15 minutes. Until it is lukewarm and very thick. Add the vanilla during this last minute of whipping. (It will be okay if you forget the vanilla, I know because I did this last time, but it is better having it in.) 4. While the mixture is whipping prepare a 9x13 pan by spraying it thoroughly with a non stick spray. 5.Mix the powdered sugar and the cornstarch together and sprinkle across the greased pan. (save any extra powder as you will need it later) 6. When the mix is lukewarm immediately pour it into prepared pan. Spread evenly with a greased spatula. Sprinkle the top with more powder.

7. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours, or overnight even.

8. Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1 inch squares with a greased pizza cutter dusted with powder mix. Once cut, dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powder mix.

Store in an airtight container for up to three weeks.

These take about 35 minutes of prep time and 4+hours of waiting time.

The recipe makes about 1 1/2 pounds of marshmallows.

This is where I found this recipe.

The fine photos for this post were done by none other than Keren Ruth!

I hope you try this and have lots of fun doing it.

Enjoy!

~Anna

Outside FUN!!

Now that the temperature has moderated and is above zero the kids and I have been having more fun times out in the snow. I am trying to absorb some vitamin D each time I go out by not wearing any head coverings. The Kids I tell to tip their faces to the sun as much as they can :)

Look at that form!

Gracefully gliding down the hill.

Joyfully journeying down the incline.

genuflecting down the slope

Peace,

~Anna

Hurry Curry Chicken

First let me say, I don't think Curried Chicken is very photogenic. It really is a very delicious meal but there in the picture it just doesn't look to great.

• So the ingredients are:

1 1/4 lbs frozen skinless chicken breasts (sliced into strips across the grain)

1Tbsp oil

1 t paprika

1Tbsp curry powder -to your preferences- more if you like a spicy curry

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1 8oz container plain yogurt

1/2 c low fat mayonnaise

1/2 c chopped onions

1/2 c raisins ( I never put these in, but sometimes serve them on the side for people who do like them in their curries)

1 t ginger

• Now saute' the onions, and spices in the hot oil until hot, add the chicken and cook until the juices run clear on med-high heat. About 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, Combine the yogurt (you may substitute with sour cream if you like) , the mayonnaise and the ginger.
• Add sauce to chicken and let simmer for 3-4 minutes until warmed through and flavors mixed.
• Serve with rice or couscous and Enjoy!

Leo Tolstoy

I have a "new" author I am enjoying reading to the kids. He really isn't new, I think he wrote in the 1800s but I haven't really read him before.

One reason he is working so well for us is because his chapters/stories in this book are very short and that keeps Gregory's attention better in a non-picture story book. Yet the content is interesting enough to keep Harrison and Margaret interested.

What started me on Tolstoy at this time is the story of the cobbler who is expecting Jesus to come visit him one day. As the day goes by he helps several poor people that come by his door, but at first feels a little disappointed that Jesus never comes until he realizes that Jesus was in each one of those visitors. If you would like, you may read this story here.

That was such a well written story and I wanted some more like it. In searching, I found a couple at our library. We have only read this one, Classic Tales and Fables for Children, so far.

Happy reading,

~Anna

Marshmallows

We have a new passion at our house this week. It is Homemde Marshllows!

They are very good to eat and lots of fun to make, yet really they taste pretty much like the ones you buy in a bag at the grocery store- not super exciting.

But, if you add them to a hot cup of cocoa= YuuMm!

Even better,

roast them over hot coals in the stove- Oh My! they are a truly sticky, delicacy!

So, although they are not a practical item to make they are a fun one and one I am sure we will do many more times. I am wanting to try them in rice krispy bars and all sorts of other ways.

Happy day to you!

~Anna