More baking

This seems to be turning into a food blog lately just because I've been on a bit of a roll in the kitchen. I noticed the pictures are all rather brownish, but that's probably because most things have whole wheat in them and, well, they're BAKED.

This morning I had five apple halves that needed to be used up so I looked for an apple coffee cake recipe. The only one I found in the cookbook used Bisquick which I don't generally keep on hand so I had to get creative.

Here is the recipe I used this morning along with what I actually used:

Sour Cream Coffee Cake (Betty Crocker Cookbook 2001 edition)

3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour (half white, half whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar (1 cup)
3/4 cup butter or stick margarine, softened (1/2 cup canola oil)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream (didn't have any sour cream so I used 3/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt and 3/4 cup vinegar-clabbered milk)

Brown sugar filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (medium chopped walnuts from KLM Farms--Butte City, California)
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Added to the layers: a total of 2 1/2 sliced apples fanned out around the ring

Beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat about one-fourth of the flour mixture and sour cream at a time alternately into sugar mixture on low speed until blended.

For Bundt cake pan, spread 1/3 of the batter in pan, spread 1/3 of the filling; repeat twice.

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Remove from pan to wire rack. Cool 20 minutes.

Grandpa dh and baby Zachariah

Holly stopped by with the baby last night and I got a picture of dh with Zachariah. Aren't they cute?

The "A" Family Bakery

Last night I had my Messiah choir practice so dh stayed home with the girls and made chocolate chip cookies. They are slightly caramalized and have crunchy edges. Absolutely delicious. Not that I'm eating near the number I'd like, of course--gotta keep to my diet. :-)

Today I made bread for general use--sandwiches, snacks, toast for breakfast, etc. This batch made two large loaves and they are 30% white, 60% whole wheat, and a 10% mix of oats, ground flaxseed, and sunflower seeds. I don't know if I've ever made better. As I was getting ready to close up the cookbook my eyes fell on a recipe for rye bread. Quite some time ago my mom brought me enough rye flour to make a loaf of bread but I never did anything with it. Miracle of miracles, the flour was right where I thought it was and it was just enough for the recipe. The dark brown color comes from molasses, coffee powder (we don't drink coffee so I used some coffee substitute powder), and cocoa powder. It called for optional caraway seeds and I knew I didn't have any, but I thought I had some dill seed which is similar. I'm sure I had some at one time, but I must have used it up, so I made the bread without any seeds. It is good but doesn't have the characteristic flavor I think of when I think of rye.

We are set for bread and cookies for a few days. I love it when we have the energy to bake like this. It's only been about 2 months since the last time I baked bread but it seems like a long time. After having the first bite of the crunchy heel of fresh bread dripping with honey, I have no idea why I waited so long.

I can get used to this!

I had breakfast delivered to my office this morning! Luckily my office is only about nine steps from the kitchen. ;-) C told me last night she was going to make breakfast for me again and this is the delicious breakfast she delivered:

• Peanut butter toast
• Dried apricots
• Hot orange-chocolate

The apricots made me laugh because we don't usually have them for breakfast, but she knows when I'm looking for something "extra" to add to their school bag lunches, I often reach into the supply of dried fruit. I assume she thought the plate looked a little bare so she did what I do--added the apricots. It was all delicious.

The doll quilt--FINISHED!

Yesterday I finished my little doll quilt. The binding turned out to be narrower than I expected--I thought it would be about 1/4" and it is less than that--but given the diminuative size of the overall quilt, it is perfect. I used a tutorial for the binding and it was very easy to do. I didn't quite start at the leading edge of each successive side because I didn't realize I was supposed to, so I think the front corners aren't quite as crisp as they should be, but I was very happy with the way my corners turned out. I guess I'll have to make another one and try it again, right?

Five tips for a strong marriage

I subscribe to a blog called The Simple Dollar. Every week or so the author takes readers' questions on any subject. I really liked his answer to this question as I think his ideas are key ingredients to my own happy marriage.

Q: You and your wife seem to have a very strong marriage. Can you give me some tips on how to keep my marriage strong? What do you do to keep it that way?- Sally

Here are five things I make a conscious effort to do that seem to help our marriage stay strong.

• I tell my wife I love her every single day. I usually do it in the morning before she leaves the bedroom, and on weekdays I’ll also tell her when I see her in the evening for the first time. I usually couple it with a kiss. It’s so simple, but it’s a constant reminder of the fact that I do love her, no matter what.
• I ask about her day, listen, and ask follow up questions. I do this not only so I can keep tabs on her professional life, but also to give her a great chance to vent about her situation. Everyone needs to talk about themselves sometimes to someone who is interested - I try to provide that for her as often as I can.
• I try to surprise her on a regular basis. I’ll spend an hour preparing a really excellent supper when she doesn’t expect it. I’ll spontaneously give the kids a bath when she’s comfortable on the couch under a blanket, even if it’s her turn. Doing these little unexpected things not only shows her I care, but also often compels her to do similar things for me.
• I hold her hand. I do this all the time, whenever it crosses my mind and seems appropriate. I’ll just hold her hand gently while we’re talking or we’re riding in the car or we’re waiting for an appointment or we’re sitting on the couch in the evenings.
• I talk about EVERYTHING with her and let her determine what’s interesting. If something is concerning me, I don’t hide it from her. I tell her about it. Most of the time she’s interested and we’ll discuss it - sometimes she’s not and I let it drop (this is key - if she’s not into the topic, I don’t push it). Either way, though, she gets the message that I’m making an effort to share and be open.

Sweet breakfast made by a six year old

Last night C told me she was going to make breakfast for me but I thought she'd forget. She didn't. I was finishing up some business in the office this morning and she kept popping it to ask me breakfast-related questions. Finally she came in grinning from ear to ear and told me my breakfast was ready. This is what was waiting for me. Sweet, isn't it?

A neat visit to another LDS Church meeting

In my area we have three large church congregations (called wards) and six small congregations (called branches). Because the members in the branches get tired of hearing the same people speak in church over and over, once a month the speaker is a guest from one of the wards. Today dh spoke in a small branch about 23 miles from here and the girls and I decided to go with him.

The church building in this town burned down about three years ago and had to be replaced from the ground up. I had heard the new church building was a double wide trailer and wondered what that would look like. It was beautiful! It may have come in on two trucks, but it was manufactured to be an LDS Church. It looked nothing like a "home trailer." I think it was two sections 16' x 80' each, so the square footage was about 2,580 square feet. One end had a small chapel with 48 chairs for the congregation and about 10 in front for the branch presidency, etc. I was impressed with the excellent organist until I saw her put both her hands up briefly during the song. She wasn't playing! It was some kind of electronic organ with a small screen that was used to select the hymn, then it played automatically OR it could be played manually. I've never seen such a thing before. Down one side of the building there were several small classrooms and on the other was a small lobby and offices and bathrooms. It was such a pretty, functional building that I'm sure the local church members there are very proud of their church.

We had obligations back in our town so we couldn't stay past the end of sacrament meeting, but we would have enjoyed staying and visiting. I think they were disappointed we couldn't stay because we increased their attendance by about 25%. :-)

Baby pic

I've had a few requests for grandson updates. Zachariah is 3 1/2 weeks old and starting to fill out. He has a little double chin that is really cute. Dd says he is staying awake more now, but I think he still sleeps a lot. Newborns are kinda like that. ;-)