As you drove away, I couldn’t help but remember, how you used to pretend you were a superhero, and ride around in the back seat of this very same car. 

Every year, I find something like this laying around. The list. The big grand ideas. This list — better than any Mother’s Day gift…it’s priceless:

Allow me to interpret:

Ideas for mothers day:

Diamonds

Emeralds

Rose — connected to origami dress 

Smarties

Chocolate

Radishes (Ratishes!)

Poached egg…. maybe

Barrett

 There will be a fifth grade graduation this year — and an 8th grade one. God bless the mother who is willing to put together a video of the enitre fifth grade. She wants three pics of my fifth grader (What day, was it, exactly, that he grew up, she asked with a sting in her eyes.) Tell me, do you remember when I read The Wizard of Oz to him– and he wondered why his eyes were wet? 

Or how about the time, I realized I was getting used to him being away at school?  Treachery.

I was torn… I had five our six that I wanted to send.. OK — a hundred. Here are my top four: 

]

The process of drying sourdough has been, in a few words — aromatic (what is that smell, that is somehow —  appealing?!) interesting, easy and fascinating.

It all started by smearing some of my vibrantly healthy French sourdough starter on parchment paper,and just letting it sit

and literallydry- out

until all moisture was gone,

and I was able to crumble it up into little ziplock bags (quite fun) and send out to those who want a fresh start.

It was that simple!

I saved a small batch for myself — just in case something would ever happen to mine. (Store it in the freezer in a well-labled jar). The rest is about to be mailed to those who need a start.

Now — how do you bring a dried sourdough back to life? Quite simple, really:

Reviving Dried Sourdough Starter

2013-05-09 13:39:43

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

Healthy, dried sourdough starter

Instructions

Reviving Dried Sourdough Starter

Soak ½ tsp. dried starter in 1 tbs. lukewarm purified or spring water for a few minutes to soften.

Stir in 1 tbs. all-purpose flour, cover and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. While not necessary, stirring again once or twice during this 24 hours will expedite the fermentation process.

Stir in another tablespoon of flour with an additional tablespoon of purified water. If the dried starter is at all viable, as it should be, you will most likely see the bubbling action of fermentation begin somewhere between about 24 and 48 hours. If not, something is most likely wrong.

Continue with twice daily feeding

If using a scale, combine equal amounts of sourdough starter, flour and water by weight. For example, feed 50 grams of sourdough starter with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water.

If using measuring cups, feed one part starter with one part water and a scant two parts flour. For example, feed 1/4 cup of starter with 1/4 cup of water and a scant 1/2 cup of flour.

Mix the starter, flour and water together and stir vigorously, incorporating plenty of air. Cover the starter with a loose lid, towel, plastic wrap pierced with a fork several times, etc. (so the naturally created gas can escape). Leave in a warm spot for 4 to 12 hours until the starter becomes bubbly.

After a few days you will have a vital sourdough starter that can be used for baking and be put on a maintenance schedule which requires minimal attention and effort.

By Breadtopia

Susiej http://www.susiej.com/

When the big boys were little, I took them to a clay class at the community recreation center about once a week. The girl who taught the class was a vivacious Italian, who spoke with a bit of broken English sometimes. She was so delightful, and the boys loved it when she would let them use the potter’s wheel. 

She mentioned that she had an artist friend who liked to use fruits and vegetables in her sculptures. To preserve them, she simply brushed them with a couple of coats of shellac and they lasted forever.Fast forward about 12 years later, and I’m ready to try it. I found a bunch of lemons for $1 a bag at the grocery store … I think these would make a nice wreath.

So, I dipped them into a can of shellac, and I’m waiting for them to dry…So far, they are shinny, and gorgeous… 

Work in progress….

When the seasons change, bringing new scents, new foods, new routines and new faces. And sometimes there is something different — you can almost feel a change coming through the wind as it shifts. For those times, there is nothing quite like jumping on a swing, and letting go until your feet get grounded again.  

Since I started letting my hair grow longer, I’ve been in this constant battle to pull my hair back with something. I’ve been smitten with those vintage button bobby pins on Pinterest, signing with a “someday I’ll make those,” refrain.

Lucky me, the boys asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day, and it suddenly occurred to me, that the boys could easily make those bobby pins for me!

Turns out, this is the perfect craft for a kid. They studied the buttons, looking for matches, wondering how to make a pattern, and deciding that this button was big enough to stand on its own.

“You know,” I told them, “Many of these buttons came from my Grandma — that one is from her winter coat right there — and others came from my Mom — it really couldn’t be a more perfect mother’s day gift.”They weren’t impressed.

They glued them down, discovering that it was easy to glue the buttons first, and lay the bobby pin on top. 

Finally, they were done.

They’re as pretty as jewels…

And, I have a new hair video for you. Watch these videos and enter for your chance to win. Each week, we’re giving away prizes to 3 lucky winners: one grand prize viewer will receive a $250 Visa gift card and two more folks will each receive a $100 Visa gift card! Looking good is its own reward, of course, but this is even better! To see the official rules, click here.

Hair rollers. The perfect hair styling tool — requiring very little styling after you’re done!

Someday, when you have kids of your own, I will tell you this story:

So, you lost your tooth. But you were sleeping out in the hallway, because you were mad at your brother. So, that’s where your blankets and sheets were all set up — like a little miniature campground. 

So, how was I to know that the little clinking sound I heard, when I was running the vacuum over your campsite, was not a Lego, but actually was your tooth? 

I didn’t realize this until hours later, when you said, “Mom, where do you put my tooth?! It was right here, under my pillow until you messed up my bed!”

Whoops.

Later that night, after you went to sleep, I opened the sweeper bag and went through it until I found your tooth. 

I washed it off and presented it to you the next morning. And then, that day, you lost another tooth. So, you put it on the console in the kitchen — I didn’t know this at the time. You also put it with your homework pages, which I sorted through and put away. 

Something might have fell on the floor… because later, you stood right in that same spot, and said, “Where are my two teeth?!”

I must have knocked them on the floor when I was cleaning up. And, of course, I vacuumed there too.

I will be going through the sweeper bag, again, soon, after you’re asleep.

Love, 

Mom

The great thing about a waffle iron is that the hot iron squishes and hides a multitude of healthy stuff.

Inside each of those little squares are hidden flax and chia seeds — and you would never know it.

Why flax seed?

Flax seed is high in most of the B vitamins, magnesium, and manganese, but also, most of the oil in flax seeds is alpha linolenic acid (ALA), an Omega-3 which is a precursor to the fatty acids found in salmon and other fatty cold-water fish (called EPA and DHA). Plus flax contains  soluble and insoluble fiber that helps to stabilize blood sugar, and, of course, promotes proper functioning of the intestines.

Why chia seeds?

No room to list all the health benefits here, but 2 tablespoons of Chia contain 7 grams of fiber, 2 grams of protein, 205 milligrams of calcium, 5 grams omega-3. And, Chia seeds are an excellent source of antioxidants —  even more antioxidants than fresh blueberries.

The people from Carrington Farms sent me a sample of already ground flax and chia seed — mixed together. Ground to allow your body to absorb more nutrients. But really – ground so that you can mix them into your waffles without any noticeable effect.

Perfect.

Then, using my sourdough starter, to help the body digest the wheat contact of the batter, I’m all set to make a healthy breakfast.

But hang on just a minute — before you start — know that chia seeds coagulate… that wonderful character that makes a healthy jam, without pectin, can truly work against you when making waffles. Soon, the batter will become like glue, and make it impossible for you to open your waffle iron! Trust me — been there.

The solution, add the chia/flax seed mixture at the very last minute. Scoop out the proper amount of batter for one waffle, and mix in the chia/flax seeds, and then pour onto your waffle iron.

Perfect.

I’m also giving away a pack of Carrington Farms Flax Chia blend.  To win?

Leave a comment here, at the end of this post, and let me know which of the social media platforms you are following me on, below:

Sourdough Chia/Flax Seed Waffles

2013-04-26 12:59:13

Healthy, delicious way to start a day

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

For the overnight sponge

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. sugar

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup sourdough starter, straight from the refrigerator (not fed)

For the waffles

2 large eggs

1/2 cup chia/flax blend

2 tablespoons of oliv oil

All of the overnight sponge

¾ tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

Instructions

To make the overnight sponge, combine the flour, sugar, buttermilk and sourdough starter in a large mixing bowl.

Mix well to blend.

Cover and let rest overnight at room temperature.

When you are ready to make the waffles, preheat a waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the eggs and oil or butter. Add to the overnight sponge. Mix in the salt and baking soda, stirring well to combine. The batter will bubble. Scoop out two tablespoons of batter into a cup, and add a teaspoon of flax/chia blend, and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the preheated waffle iron and bake according to the manufacturer's instructions.Continue scooping out batter, adding chia/flax until all waffles are done -- and batter is all gone!

Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Susiej http://www.susiej.com/