The Adventurous Barista presents "Macchiato in the Making"

macchiato: italian for marked or stained

The true way to start off, is to brew a couple shots of espresso in a genuine espresso maker. Ya know, that fancy contraption that drips life juice? But we don't own one of those beauts, so I make do with a strong brew of espresso grind in our French press pot. 

If you happen to be the lucky duck with the espresso maker, go ahead and heat/steam your milk. (For a 12 oz. drink, use about a cup of milk) 

Prepare your mug or cup with a Tbs of the flavoring of your choice. (I use this vanilla flavoring, or if I want a healthier version, just a tsp or so of pure vanilla extract) 

If you are in the same position as me, and don't have a machine to do the work for you ;), just heat up some milk on the stove and whisk it until it's nice and frothy. 

works like so ;) 

Now it's time to start building your masterpiece. Go ahead and either pour or ladle your milk into the cup. You need to make sure that there's a good amount of foam in there, so if needed, just skim some extra in. 

Wait for a moment (about 30-60 seconds) until you can clearly see the milk settling into two layers: 

Beautiful, ain't it? 

Ok, now you want to measure out a shot of your hot espresso (don't let it cool any) 

Here's where the magic of the drink comes into play. But it's a very fragile beauty, and can only be done with a good deal of patience and steadiness. You are going to take a spoon and angle it so that the tip is pointing down towards the edge of the glass. SLOWLY pour your shot of espresso onto the back of the spoon, letting the coffee make a SLOW entrance into the foaminess. If performed correctly, you will begin to see a neat separation of the elements, as the coffee settles beneath the foam, but above the milk. I use at least 1 shot per drink....depending on the day, 2 may be more appropriate. ;) Like I said, the slow and smooth factor is VITAL to this layered drink. But I tell you, it is worth it.....

....when you behold the full glory of your creation! 

And the look don't take all the cake.----this has been a HUGE hit in our house, and I get custom orders from my mom and sisters every day. ;) You can do so many variations of this drink: caramel, hazelnut, mocha, almond, irish cream, etc. I didn't put a topping on this one, but feel free to use your creative juices, and sprinkle with cinnamon, garnish with chocolate shavings, or whatever your little barista heart desires. 

Ladies, and Gents. I give you the

MACCHIATO

You're very welcome,

Sarah

Mythology: Tzatziki

"Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth." -Homer, The Iliad

Paleo triple-berry sorbet!

For my contribution to the theme of Mythology, I chose to make a cucumber-yogurt dip called tzatziki. I had never even heard of it until we went to Romania, where we had it quite often on schnitzel and later on shaorma. Tzatziki is one of those things that you make and then think, "Now what?" And since it's a versatile sauce, that question is fairly easily answered. In Romania we had it on meat and sandwiches, here we dipped vegetables in the flavorful sauce. Also, I made a few alterations to the original recipe so it was extremely light and sour and a little more modern than your general serving of this Greek favorite. Below is the recipe as I made it--next time I would replace the lime juice with lemon, and add some fresh dill-weed:

Tzatziki (cucumber-yogurt) Sauce

and do forgive the poor image quality. this was done with my tablet-camera

what you'll likely need:

2 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded

2 cups Greek yogurt

3 Tbs. olive oil

Juice and zest of one lime

1 Tbs. minced garlic

salt & pepper to taste

1.) Grate your cucumbers and mix in medium-size bowl with yogurt and olive oil.

2.) Zest and squeeze lime and add with remaining spices to the cucumber-yogurt mixture

3.) Cover and chill in fridge until ready to use. Serve on pita-sandwiches or with fresh cut veggies.

In a fortuitous turn of events, we also had a lot of unused goat's milk in the fridge so I tried my hand at making homemade feta cheese. It wasn't until much later that I realized that too will fit into this week's theme, since feta cheese is an essential part of Mediterranean cuisine! The cheese requires salt-curing for 4-5 days so I won't be able to taste it and tell you how it turned out till next week. However, so far it looks perfectly edible! I also was set the task of pickling our overabundance of cucumbers--one of my favorite summer jobs. The results are, according to Daniel and one of his colleagues, "Unbelievable." Let us hope this is true, and not just a recommendation from starving bachelors. ;)

The tzatziki was fresh, delicious, and something we'll definitely make again! I'm hoping to use the rest in sandwiches or on a salad with the feta cheese next week--in the fridge I'm positive it will last that long. So now I'm wondering, what did you make? Don't forget to link up in the post below! I can't wait to look at all of the recipes you submit. :)

New Blog Series: Culinary Cabaret! :)

Okay guys! I am thrilled and excited to introduce to you to the new blog series starting here on Two's Company! This series will be called "Culinary Cabaret" after the line in Disney's "Be Our Guest" which runs: "Beef ragout, cheese souffle, pies and puddings en flambe! We'll prepare and serve with flair a culinary cabaret!" Essentially, this series is a challenge you all will be able to link up with any week you'd like! It will run for 52 weeks (hopefully 52 adjacent weeks...we'll see how that works out) which is a year. The idea is that each week I'll post a theme, and you will have a chance to make one new recipe (or a variation of an old one) that fits the theme. Themes could be as simple as "Indian", "Greek", "Italian" or as complex as "Pixar Movies", "Downton Abbey", "Autumn", or, hey, something as crazy as "Oxford don". Sarah and I will chose one new recipe a week and blog about it--and you'll do the same!

And for those of you who are sitting there looking at this post thinking, "Aw, gee, I don't think I can be that creative," all I'm saying is that it is one recipe a week. Not a whole meal. It won't be expensive because, hey, people in India don't always have a ton of money and if you've got some watermelon and some milk and ice you can make a melon lassi that would fit that theme and not cost a dime. And besides--a challenge isn't supposed to be terribly easy. It's meant to be doable though, and I thoroughly believe that one new recipe a week is doable. I will be posting the theme for the week on Mondays and you will have until the following Monday to link up with your post and recipe. Not only will Culinary Cabaret improve your own creativity, but we can serve as inspirations for each other! And remember, linking up once does not mean that you have to do all 52 weeks! I would love to see you anytime throughout the course of the challenge. So please spread the word, and if any of you are wizards with blog buttons, feel free to make and share a button about the challenge. I want to get as many people involved as possible. :)

Looking forward to breaking out my skillz,
                                                          Rachel

DIY Soothing Facial Mask

Today we have something a little different for you: a natural face mask tutorial! 

Recently I've been trying out various recipes for homemade and natural face products, and I thought I'd share one with you all. This is an Oatmeal based mask with lemon and honey. I kind of made my own blend from different mixtures I'd seen online. 

Step 1:

Take about 3 or 4 Tablespoons of rolled oats and pulverize them in a coffee grinder.

Step 2:

Add in about 2 Tbs. honey, 1 Tbs. lemon juice, and half an egg white. Mix well. 

This is what your mixture should resemble. It'll be a little gloopy, but should feel kind of like....Oatmeal. ;P 

Step 3:

Apppllly. Yesh. It's very messy, but it's worth it. Just smear it all over your face/neck and it's also good to rub in circles, so as to exfoliate. 

^ That's pretty much what it looks like when finished. (It's a tad lumpy, but if you extra grind yours, you should be able to get it more smooth)

Step 4:

Take a chill pill and relax for about 15 minutes so that your mask will have the time to be most effective. The egg white will dry pretty stiff, and you should try not to watch Glozell movies, or anything else that will make you laugh. Actually, you can't move your face at all....thus the odd expression. ↓

all stiffened up and unmovable. ;P

Step 5:

Now all you have to do is wash off the mask with warm water, rinse with cool to close the pores, and pat yourself dry. :)

And that's the gist of it! Your face will feel nice and tight, and I loved how soft my skin was afterwards! 

Before

And After.

And just a few informational facts about the ingredients:
Oatmeal is used to moisturize, balances out the oil in your skin, and is super soothing, also.
Honey is a naturally antibacterial, and promotes quick healing of sores, plus many other positive elements! 
The egg whites are well known for their skin tightening and nutrition for your skin cells,
and the lemon juice works on lightening any scars/discoloration, and giving your pores a deep cleaning.
So there you have it. :) A first time facial DIY on Two's Company. I'd love to get your feedback and let me know if you're interested in more DIYs.
Cheers,
Sarah

iced-tea popsicles

As any true Southerner knows, summer is not really for swimming....

it's not really for reading...

it's not really for vacations...

it's not really for camping and hiking and catching-of-fireflies.

Summer is really for Iced Tea. :) 

And what better way to experience "the life's blood of the South" than in a Popsicle-format? None that I know of! :)

Iced-Tea Popsicles

1/2 gallon sweet tea

Popsicle sticks (or plastic spoons! :)

Popsicle mold (or plastic cups :)

This is easy, peoples. :) Just pour your tea into the molds or cups, place the sticks in the proper place, and stick in the freezer for a day. (or overnight.) At the end of the time pop 'em out, head to the porch, and start licking.

It's the new way to be a Southern Belle. ;)

Coffeelicious! ;)

 One thing you may or may not know about me is that I love coffee! :D Last week I was looking around the web for new ideas and recipes to use coffee in and found this one. I made it one night for the whole family, and I believe it was a big success. :) I mean, seriously. Coffee, chocolate, cherries, and whipped cream all rolled into one steaming mug?! How much better can it get? ;) So, without further ado, here's the recipe:

Deutschland Black Forest

Ingredients:

• 6 oz hot coffee
• 2 tbs chocolate syrup
• 1 tbs maraschino cherry juice
• Whipped cream
• Chocolate shavings
• Maraschino cherries

Preparation:

In a mug, mix coffee, syrup and cherry juice. Stir well then top with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and cherries. Yep, it'll make you want to start speaking German and give you the urge to visit the German Alps! Serves 1 person, double or triple the recipe for more people.

 I hope you all have a blessed weekend! :)
-Sarah

Layered Peppermint Bark

Hello! Here's a very holiday-ish recipe for one of our favorite Christmas candies! We made this for the first time a few years ago, and it's turned into an annual tradition. :) You can make it as a fun treat for your family or you could put some in a pretty box or tin and use it as a gift for a dear friend. :)

Layered Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. white chocolate (either chips or bar)

• 1 lb. semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

• 2 tsp. peppermint extract

• crushed candy canes

Okay, so this recipe couldn't be simpler. :) I have made quite a lot of this candy and have kinda modified several recipes to the results I like. 

First of all, let me give you a very helpful equivalent to keep in the back of your head: 

1 cup of chocolate chips = 6 oz. 

I was constantly having to go use those equivalent calculators, until I read this recently. 

1. Melt your dark chocolate in a double-boiler. (or if you don't have one, you can be like me and make your own. Simply take a medium sized pot, fill it with water and set your smaller pot (the one the chocolate will go in) in there when it's boiling.

Tip #2. We've been making Peppermint Bark for our Coastal orders for the past few weeks. Several times as I was melting my chocolate (for some reason it's only happened with the white chocolate..) it wouldn't melt down well, and would get terribly grainy. So, after it happened again today, I Google searched my issue. And guess what? Apparently it's common enough in candy-making. When that happens they say the chocolate has "seized". It's caused by the chocolate coming in contact with water. Which makes complete sense, because I'm using a double-boiler and I'm sure I've had a few splashes make it into the pot before. 

2. Once the chocolate's melted, add in 1 tsp. of peppermint extract. Stir it in well, but you don't want the alcohol evaporating, so try not to keep it on the heat for too long. 

 

3.Then get a cookie sheet and put parchment paper on it. Spread the chocolate out evenly all over the pan. Stick in the freezer for a couple minutes to let it set.

4. Do Step 1 and 2 with the white chocolate, this time spreading it on top of the dark chocolate layer.

5. Sprinkle on the peppermint candy pieces and stick the tray in either the freezer or fridge.

6. Once the chocolate's set, remove from freezer and here's the fun part. Take a hammer and brake up your peppermint bark into whatever size pieces you'd like! =D (if you don't wanna risk the hammer ordeal, just brake it by hand. ;) 

Since this candy is so quick to make, I always seems to forget to take pictures of the process. :P But here are some of the final product! :)

 

Mmmm.....doesn't it look scrumptious??!! ;)

Until Later,

Sarah

Oh Snap! Bethany King Edition

 Today I'm interviewing Miss Bethany King from Bethany King Photography. :)

Hey Bethany! Thanks for being with us today.

Okay, let's get started:

 

How did you get started into photography? And how old were you?

I became interested in photography as a teenager. In high school and college, I was always the one with the camera taking embarrassing pictures. When I was a child I spent hours and hours looking at my parents' old albums, and I think that's what really inspired me to do the same. I love to print out my photos and put them in albums, and I have so many albums from all stages of my life, with every sort of embarrassing haircut and fashion faux pas from the last twenty years or so. My one regret is not writing down everyone's name in the pictures--you'd be surprised at how quickly you forget people's names.

What was your very first camera?

Hmm, my very first camera? I think I had a Fisher Price camera as a child! I remember that it was blue, long and skinny. Does that count?  

 

Who or what inspired you to take up this hobby?

My husband was my main inspiration-he really encouraged me to pursue photography as a career and follow my passion. He believed in me even when I didn't. My two kids, Miles and Stella, are also a major source of inspiration for me.  

 

What kind of equipment are you using right now?( camera,flashes,lens,etc.)

 I shoot with a Canon 7d. I try to use natural light when possible, but I do have a Vivitar flash with a Gary Fong LightSphere that I use in low light conditions. I mainly use a 28-135mm lens and a 50mm lens. I also have an older Konica Minotla 5d body that I use as my "back-up" camera. I've got a few lenses for that body, but my current favorite is the Lensbaby 2.0, which produces dreamy, soft focus photos.

 Are you self-taught, or have you had classes?

A little bit of both. I am mainly self-taught, but I have taken some classes to learn the basics. I took my first photography class in college.While I feel that experience is the best way to learn, and just lots of practice, classes helped me to better understand my camera. My latest challenge is to master studio lighting-I'm trying to teach myself using the internet, books and practice.

 

What is your favorite subject to shoot? (landscapes, profiles, artistic shots, candid moments,etc)

I love shooting people! Kids are so fun and make great subjects, but they are also quite the challenge. My kids are probably the most difficult subjects because they are so sick of me sticking my camera in their faces. My ideal portrait session is with someone who is creative and flexible, who is willing to try out my whacky ideas and who has a few whacky ideas of their own.

 

Do you have any professional experience?

Yes! A few years ago I decided to start my own photography business. I launched Bethany King Photography in 2009, after my family and friends convinced me that I was talented enough to make something of my photography hobby. I shoot kids, families, couples, singles, weddings, engagements, bar mitvzahs...I'm up for anything.

  What is your method for getting new tips, techniques, or new information?

The internet is my favorite way to get new information, for sure. I follow a few very talented photographers online, and I am always getting new ideas and inspiration from them. I also have photographer friends that I share tips and techniques with.   

 

Do you, or have you sold your work?

Yep! I sell my work via my business, Bethany King Photography. I sell prints, canvas wraps, cards, albums, etc. However, as a photographer in a time when digital images are so prevalent, I try to focus on selling my time and and creative energy rather than paper or prints. Sure, people may want prints for their walls at home, but they also want to be able to post their shots to facebook, on their blogs, or send to their families in an email. My business model is a little different than other photographers in that I have a slightly higher session fee, but you get all of your high-resolution images after the session and you are free to do whatever you want with them (except sell them). I really think that this is what people want with their photos. I'm not going to charge you $200 for an 8x10 print.  

 

Show me one of your favorite shots you've taken. (I know it's a tough question.....)

That is tough! Here is one of my favorites from a recent engagement session that I did. This was shot at Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C. 

 

Which of these would you label the photographer side of yourself as: Passionate, a wanna-be,
obsessed, artistic, avid, a newbie, a photo-holic, or a die-hard?

Definitely artistic!  

 

For how many years have you been interested in this sphere of art?

For as long as I can remember! But I really became passionate about it about 5 years ago.   

 

Now for the big question: is it Canon or Nikon? (or neither :P)  ;)

Canon for the win! 

 

And the last one..... 

 

Why do you love photography, and what is your purpose for doing it? :) 

At the risk of sounding like a cliche, I use my photography as my artistic outlet, and as my way to be creative. 

 

 Bethany King is a photographer from Northern Virginia. Bethany lives with her two kids and husband in Falls Church, VA. She is left-handed, loves ice cream and chocolate, and hates ice, celery and carrots. She once had a pot-bellied pig named Hercules as a pet. Check out her website at Bethany King Photography or like her on Facebook at here.

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! This was so much fun! Thanks for taking time to do this with me, Bethany. :)

~Sarah

 

p.s. Coming up: Layered Peppermint Bark Recipe and Pictures!! :D

Tarte au citron: A Taste of Summertime

I love lemon tart for the same reason I love lemonade, lemon curd, really, lemon anything! It's because it tastes like summer sunshine. :)

I was immensely pleased with the lemon tart recipe I found last year. It tasted like *real* lemons with not a whit of cornstarch or food coloring in the filling! You will be amazed at how good this is. :)

This is the recipe I started with. I copied it below, courtesy of David Lebovitz- Living the Sweet Life in Paris

Lemon Tart

One 9-inch (23 cm) tart (recipe below)

This makes a modest, but very tasty lemony layer. If you want more filling, feel free to double the recipe; any filling that you don’t use can be spread on toast, fresh biscuits, or scones.

You could substitute fresh lime juice for the lemon and if you have Meyer lemons, reduce the sugar to 1/3 cup (65g). You can use a favorite tart dough recipe, or the one I’ve linked to.

1/2 cup (125 ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
grated zest of one lemon, preferably unsprayed
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, salted or unsalted, cut into bits
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks

One pre-baked 9-inch (23 cm) tart shell

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C.)

1. In a medium-sized non-reactive saucepan, heat the lemon juice, zest, sugar, and butter. Have a mesh strainer nearby.

2. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and the yolks.

3. When the butter is melted, whisk some of the warm lemon mixture into the eggs, stirring constantly, to warm them. Scrape the warmed eggs back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and almost begins to bubble around the edges.

4. Pour the lemon curd though a strainer directly into the pre-baked tart shell, scraping with a rubber spatula to press it through.

5. Smooth the top of the tart and pop it in the oven for five minutes, just to set the curd.

6. Remove from the oven and let cool before slicing and serving.

Now for the French Tart Dough recipe- I love this, because I can't abide making pie crust! It always sticks to the waxed paper. :P No rolling out here!

French Pastry Dough

One 9 (23 cm) tart shell

Adapted from a recipe by Paule Caillat of Promenades Gourmandes

90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used canola)
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
150 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 410º F (210º C).

1. In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, such as a Pyrex bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt.

2. Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges.

Do be careful with the hot bowl of butter. Not only will the butter spatter a bit when you add the flour, but it’s uncommon to have a very hot bowl on the counter and easy to simply give in the urge to grab it with your bare hands.

3. When done, remove the bowl from oven (and be careful, since the bowl will be hot and the mixture might sputter a bit), dump in the flour and stir it in quickly, until it comes together and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

4. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch (23 cm) tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it a bit with a spatula.

5. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your and, and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold. Reserve a small piece of dough, about the size of a raspberry, for patching any cracks.

Enjoy! This is a super easy recipe and it's a wonderful dessert for a hot day! :) -Rachel

Hot Cross Buns! :)

"Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters
Give them to your sons.
One a penny, two a penny
Hot cross buns!"

Gracie and I made Hot Cross Buns today! :) I read that they were a traditional Good Friday treat, and so I made them today....on Saturday. :P You can read about their history HERE. It's really quite interesting! :) The recipe I used is below....
Buns:
7 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. each of nutmeg and cloves
pinch of salt
1 cup chopped raisins, craisins, currants, etc.
2/3 c. diced, candied orange peel (I just peeled two oranges, diced up the peel, and tossed it in sugar, since I didn't have real candied peel)
2 eggs
7 tablespoons butter melted
4 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. milk, warmed

Crosses:
4 tablespoons cold butter
1 cup flour
Cold water

Step One: Mix together flour, sugar, spices, salt, raisins, and orange peel.
Step Two: Make a well in the center and add melted butter and the eggs. Mix well
Step Three: Mix yeast in the milk with a pinch of sugar and proof a couple of minutes, then add to flour mixture.
Step Four: Form 2 dozen buns from the dough, and put on cookie sheets.
Step Five: With hands squish butter into flour until crumbly, add water to make a pie-crust-like dough. Roll out into strips and lay on top of buns in cross shape.
Step Six: Cover and let rise 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step Seven: When baked, bring out of oven and while warm, brush on a glaze of milk and powdered sugar boiled together until sugar is dissolved.
Enjoy these scone-like buns! :)

Recipe For Foccacia Bread

Hey guys! I was making foccacia bread yesterday, and I thought I'd share the recipe with you guys! (I don't know if anyone pays attention to recipes anyway, but I'll try this time! ;)
Okay. So here is the basic recipe:

Rachel's Focaccia (foe-cotch-a) Bread Recipe:
4 1/2 tsp. yeast
4 cups warm water
4 tsp. natural cane sugar
5 tbs. plus 1 tsp. olive oil
4 tsp. sea salt
8-10 cups white-wheat flour
By the way, this makes enough focaccia bread that our family of 11 ate it for dinner last night with left-overs, and there is still a pan for lunch with my grandparents today. If you are a small family, just cut the recipe in half or so! :)

Okay. So I started by grinding out white spring wheat in our Whisper Mill. There's nothing like freshly ground wheat!

Then I combined the yeast and the sugar in one cup of the warm water. I let this proof for about 5 minutes. Think it's puffy enough? :)

I added the yeast mixture, along to the remaining water, oil, and salt in our mixer. Then I slowly added the flour until it formed a nice ball of dough. At this point I turned it out on the floured counter, and kneaded it till it was... well as we say, "smooth as a baby's bottom". :) I made a nice, smooth ball and put it in a greased bowl to rise on the warm front porch for an hour or so. Meanwhile, I crammed some more of Ivanhoe. (Still trying to finish it! :)

When the dough is done rising, you grease two pizza pans, and dust them with cornmeal. I didn't have any, so I used flour. It works the same way.

Here is the dough after it has risen!

You then divide the dough in half, and roll each piece out to roughly the size of your pan. Plop that in the pans, and cover it. Let rise again for about 1/2 hour or so. After that is done, comes the fun part! You get to poke a bunch of holes all over the top and dimple it. Brush the surface with olive oil.

Here's where I go off the recipe: I like making a mixture of dried herbs to go on the top. So I just grab whatever is in the cabinet, and make up a mixture that is spicy and tasty enough to suit Daniel and Dad! :) I think I used basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, onion powder, and garlic powder this time. Sprinkle whatever you decide to use on the top.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

So here it is when I took it out of the oven!

And here is a piece after it is cut! This has become a favorite recipe in our family! Hope you enjoy it! :) -Rachel

My Favorite Illustrator

Hey guys! Before you read this, make sure you go on down to Sarah's post below and see all the pictures of our snowy-day fun! Okay, most of you know that I love Tasha Tudor's illustrations. They are so timeless and beautiful! One of my dreams-that-will-never-some-true-since-she-is-deceased is to write a book and have Tasha Tudor illustrate it. But anyway, Mama found a really neat website about their family, and about her home, and it sells a bunch of really neat things, so if you want to learn more about this intriguing lady, click here. Also, here is the recipe for snow-cream. It tastes so good! I just made it with Gracie, and it is so much cheaper to make than icecream!

Snow Cream:

One gallon (16 cups) fresh, clean snow

1 cup heavy cream or sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients and return outside to stay frozen until you eat it! Yum!

More From Auld Mary, The Yarb Woman

Hey guys! Pardon the strange title. That is my official name when I do my herbal things. (I got it from a Little House book so blame them!)Okay, here I go! As I have already stressed my love of God's blessing in the way we can use herbs, I won't bore you by repeating it. But here are some of my latest accomplishments (or scrapes. You decide)

I undertook the task of making an all-purpose scrape, bruise, bump ointment, because as we all know, there are countless opportunities to use such a thing, and it is alot of fun to make. Or so I thought. One batch of burned herbal oil later, I have discovered that you must be very particular with a gas stove. You can't heat oil directly on it, so I decided, 'Ah-ha! I'll make a double boiler!" so there I go making a tidy little double boiler out of a pot with a glass bowl nested inside. That batch burned too. We were treated to a very suspicious-smelling fragrance all through the house though! (Yuck!!! :p) The reason? All the water had steamed out of the bottom pot. So I made a slapped-together version of a double boiler, and babysat the oil, and finally had the proper thing finished. I used equal parts of St. John's Wort, calendula, and comfrey in vegetable oil. (I burned all our olive oil! Shame on me! I hate wasting!)Anyhow, after straining the oil from the herbs, (or vice-versa) all that was left to do was add beeswax, and pour off into a glass jar. Voila! There! I have my first first-aid ointment.
Next I'm off the make cough drops. I just got a recipe online, and if they work, I'll post it! But here comes the one that absolutely cracks me up. It is a remedy for all the convenient little sores, burns, sprains and things that the children show you by the dozens at choretime! ;) Anyone should have the ingredients to make it. Ready? Mama's Cure-All Remedy
cayenne pepper
vinegar
garlic oil
strong peppermint oil, etc.

You shall probably get the idea by now. Make it smell bad, and sting, and soon enough there will be no more convenient ailments from the little ones! Isn't that brilliant? A lady at church told me about it. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading about my little mad-cap experiments, and I hope I don't blow anyone up anytime soon!
-Rachel

Rachel's Crumb Cake

Cheerio! Since I am going to be so busy the next four days, I thought I'd share a really good recipe I made yesterday for breakfast. Everyone likes Crumb Cake right? This is the good kind: almost more crumb than cake! :) It turned out really well! But I would next time add a little lemon zest to the cake, and a bit more vanilla. Anyway you look at it though, this is a great, figure-fattening breakfast cake! (Like anyone is looking for a fattening breakfast! :)
Without further ado I present:

Rachel's Crumb Cake

2 Tbs. oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used white wheat as usual)
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour in an ungreased 9X13 baking pan, spreading to edges with spatula. Sprinkle topping (see below) over batter. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, turning pan after 15 minutes. Remove, cool, and dust with powdered sugar before eating. Cut into squares.

Recipe for the Crumb Topping :) 2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar (I used Demerara sugar)
2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter, melted

Combine all ingredients until crumbly. sprinkle over batter.


So anyhow, the recipe book said that it would serve 6. I don't know what they were thinking! It served 10 of us with good sized pieces, with left-overs! :)
Hope you enjoy this recipe, and tell me how it turned out if you used it! -Rachel