Baking & Cooking

On my days off, I like to bake and cook. Life is so busy with school and work that I have to think ahead all the time or my family would never eat nutritious, wholesome, homemade food. Thankfully I think cooking and baking is somewhat of a stress reliever for me, so I do a whole lot of it. Today I made, "Who Bread", one other bread in a cast iron pan which turned out phenomenal, black beans & rice mix for taco night, split pea soup, and delicious chocolate chip cookies. We are also slightly infatuated with sun tea at the moment, maybe it is the 70 degree plus weather we have been having, so I brewed 4 jars of it. Speaking of weather, we have been having incredibly sunny, hot days recently, but at the moment it is pouring rain outside and I am just enjoying the peacefulness of listening to the rain. Oh how I love rain sometimes, especially curled up with a good book or under the covers snuggled up to my hubby. The rain is bringing a whole lot of serenity right now.

Check out those cookies, aren't they awesome. The recipe made almost 4 dozen, so hopefully they will last at least a couple of days. You never know in this family though.

Happy Cooking, Yasmin

10 Things

10 Things I am Loving and Enjoying right now!

1. Skirt weather...yes! In fact it was 81 degrees today.
2. Yummy Sun Tea.
3. Pretty blooms everywhere.
4. Tailgate Market season starting again, so I can buy lovely fresh produce and make a lovely meal.
5. Wine at most suppers.
6. Roses given to me for free from a coworker.
7. New books: "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck and "The Dirty Life" by Kristin Kimball.  Coincidentally, both have a farming theme...hmmmm.
8.  The residual feeling of serenity from my Ohio trip, thanks Alison and Jeanine. If I come to a point where I am finding it difficult to feel at peace, I can yell "Serenity Now!" ala George Costanza's dad.
9. Only three more weeks left of school, woohoo.
10. My Prius V and the ability to go without filling my tank for at least three weeks.

What are all of you loving right now?
Peace, Yasmin

Birthday Boy

Taking a break from Ohio vacation posts because today is a special day. Today isn't just Easter, today is also my little man's sixth birthday. We started the day out with French Toast, and ended it with tacos and mini strawberry shortcakes. Only the best for a little boy turning six.

It is amazing how fast birth to age six goes. I miss those baby days, but this boy of mine is growing up to be a lovely little guy...atleast most of the time. Okay this old sick lady needs to get some sleep.

Night, Yasmin

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Yesterday we dyed Easter Eggs with natural dyes that we made using recipes from "Naturally Fun Parties for Kids" by Anni Daulter. We tried making red, green, blue, yellow, and orange. I emphasize the word "tried", because it didn't quite work out the way we wanted it to. Granted we did not make the recipes exactly as stated nor did we cook them long enough, we think. All was not lost though...we had one very blue egg. I will try this again next year with the exact recipes and perhaps cooking the dyes a bit longer. In the end the kids had fun and that is all that matters. The children also picked wildflowers (ahem weeds) to set the table, but they do look beautiful don't they. To use up the dyed eggs, I made egg curry (sorry forgot to take a picture) which was delicious and very popular with the children. So success.

Egg Curry Recipe:

Serves 4 to 6

Tandoori Masala Spice Mix                                 

1/4 cup Garam Masala                                          

2 Tbsp Ground Coriander                                    
2 Tbsp Ground Cumin                                          
2 Tbsp Spanish Paprika                                        
                                                                              
 Ingredients                                                                              
  6 eggs hardboiled cut in quarters                                                                             
  2 Tbsp Oil (I used Peanut)                                                                           
  1 Tbsp minced Ginger
  1 Tbsp Tandoori Masal Spice
  1 cup fresh Tomatoes chopped
  1 cup vegetable broth
  Pinch of salt & pepper
  1 cup of Plain yogurt
  2 Tbsp of flour (I used Rice Flour)                                                                            
Method
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, such as cast iron. Add Ginger and Tandoori Masala Spice and let cook for about a minute. Add chopped Tomatoes and let cook for one more minute. Add Vegetable Broth and cook for two more minutes. Meanwhile mix Yogurt with the Rice Flour in a separate bowl. Add yogurt mix to the tomato broth slowly and whisk it in. Bring the curry mix to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Let Simmer for fifteen minutes. Turn heat off and add the eggs.
Serve the egg curry with rice and naan bread if you would like.
It was truly delicious, easy, and filling. This curry recipe is not too spicy because of the yogurt added and there is something magical about adding the previously dyed Easter Eggs to it. A hit for the 4 children that ate it today. Yumm.

Peace, Yasmin

Vacationing

We are on Spring Break at the moment and we are enjoying time away in Ohio with a friend. I think that sometimes you just need to get away...even if it is just to Ohio. Truth be told, Ohio is not so bad. We are enjoying lots of play time, craft time, and plain old de-stressing. I am getting to catch up with the closest of friends and my kids are making new friends. What more can you ask for?

Alison reading to the kiddos, Ashleigh embroidering, popsicle time, piano playing, donuts at the farm, and jamming with the band. Great start to a week, two more days of fun.

Peace, Yasmin