Since we light candles in our chapel twice a day, we tend to burn through (haha) a lot of votive candles. When they get too low to light comfortably, we toss them in a box and get some new ones. Bryan wanted to throw them out, but I kept saying that I'd melt them together to make new candles. I finally got around to doing that. Olivia and I braided some embroidery floss into wicks, made a double boiler using a tin can, melted candles, and poured new ones. No report yet on how well they work; we have to wait for our current candles to burn down.
I bought a wheat grinder. It was necessary, seeing as I recently purchased a significant amount of wheat berries. Now we can grind wheat to make cream of wheat and/or flour. I have not tried to make enough for bread, yet, mostly because I still have wheat flour available. The girls and I did grind some cream of wheat, though, and it shows some promise. :)
Our piano came with a cover, perhaps to keep the keys from getting dusty when it is not in use. Recently I realized, however, that the cover was really just keeping us from playing. One day when Olivia remembered that the piano existed, she pulled the cover off and asked me to turn it on for her. I decided to put the cover away for good, and she has decided to play the "peeteeoh" (I have no idea why she has trouble with the word "piano") every day since then. :)
One of the highlights of the convention I went to was a booth where they were handing out free finger-topper space guys. I don't even know what the actual purpose of the booth was, but my friends and I all snagged two space guys and we've been sending periodic pictures of them doing things. My space guys made candles, ground grain, and played the piano. Jacque, maybe you should get some space guys (or something similar) and take pictures around New York to post on your blog. You might not have cute kids, but you do have a pretty famous city. Think of the adventures they could have!
Pictures:
The girls play the "peeteeoh":
Making candles:
Grinding wheat:
Waiting for Daddy:
Painting Olivia's nails before her hair appointment (for the wedding a few weeks ago):
The space guys play piano, too:
I will call you Laura and come visit you so that I can grind wheat too. We shall have to find some straw to twist too so that we can bake the bread :-)
ReplyDeleteHahaha the little alien guys sound a little like a more fun version of Flat Stanley. I may have to try this :)
ReplyDeleteOh grinding wheat is great! What kind of machine did you get? I have a Whispermill...supposed to be quiet...would not want to hear a loud one :) Family loves the bread and I find it to be very forgiving.
ReplyDeleteJust curious where you got your berries? Our local source is the Amish store...always entertaining. Hey, Justine, would you want to go there in August?
I have a simple muffin recipe that works great with the whole wheat flour if you are interested. It has been adapted from the Tightwad Gazette if that gives you any ideas :)
I looked at WhisperMill, but opted for a Victorio Deluxe. It's a hand mill that comes with an optional motor attachment. I like the hand mill part because it's quiet, Olivia can help, and I can grind the grain as course or fine as I want (including, presumably, cracked wheat, though I haven't tried that yet). I've not yet tried the motor, as it is intimidating to me and I still have wheat flour in my pantry. :)
DeleteI got the wheat berries -- along with some other stuff (like 50 pounds of oatmeal and 30 pounds of raisins) from a bulk foods store in Battle Creek. Mom picked them up for me; I believe you played a part in that adventure. They also have them at my local Wal-Mart, though they're slightly more expensive there.
I would love your muffin recipe. You can email it to me or just post it here for everyone else to see, too. :)
Somehow I should have known that you had a hand mill :) I am pretty happy with mine...I have a fair amount of settings that I can use.
ReplyDeleteThe muffin recipe is meant to be generic so you can change it up...what I use most frequently is in parentheses
3 cups grain ( whole wheat)
1ish cups of milk
1/4 c oil (canola)
1 egg
1/4 cup sweetener (white sugar)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 cup additions ( less than 1 cup choc. chips)
Mix the dry ingredients together. In a 2 cup or larger liquid measuring cup add the 1/4 c oil then fill to 1 1/2 cup line with milk. Add the egg and mix. Add the liquid to the dry. Stir about ten times and stop. It will be lumpy etc but that is good. This should make 12 muffins. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes if you actually started preheating the oven on time and 22 minutes if it is not to 350 yet :)
The fun part with this recipe is that you can switch all the components and end up with cinnamon apple muffins...or raspberry walnut...or...oatmeal raisin...