Our family's life in New Zealand
Several days ago, I cut open a pumpkin to cook. Little Miss wanted to dig the seeds out of it, and we were talking about how many seeds there were. I got curious, so we divided all the seeds into three groups and I had the three school children each count a group. First, we all guessed how many. I was closest; I guessed 500 and there ended up being 518! That’s a lot of seeds.
Do you sense a theme here? Milk last week, meat this week. Hmm. What does my life revolve around? It couldn’t be feeding a lot of hungry people, could it?
We’ve processed two cows in the past month. One was an old dairy cow that we boned out and ground up because she was too tough for much else. The other was a 1 1/2-year-old steer that we raised. He was on the small side for eating, but because of his bad habit of jumping fences, we decided that he had better jump into the freezer before he caused any more trouble with neighbors. We have a lot of meat in the freezer! I thought I’d share a few pictures of some of the things we did with all that meat.
First, here is a picture of Simon running it through the mincer. We normally use that table for school in the mornings, but the days that we were working on meat, we set up a table in the living room and used that, instead.
I made a lot of the meat into meatloaf. I packed it into plastic-wrap lined loaf pans, froze it, then popped it out and put two loaves into each ziploc bag in the freezer. We’ve already had a couple of easy meals from that.
Another lot of meat got shaped into hamburger patties and frozen, then put into bags, free-flow. I put plastic wrap between each two layers of patties on the cookie sheet, and stacked them up about four layers high. It wasn’t too hard to pop them apart with a butter knife to transfer to a bag when they were frozen.
I also saved out a lot that day to make into meatballs the next day, which are also in the freezer. I guess we forgot to get a picture of them!
Another lot of meat I cooked up right away and froze that way. It sure is handy to pull out a package of frozen, cooked hamburger and throw it into my soup or whatever! I liked it so well after doing the first cow that I cooked up a lot more from the second one. I was also going to can a lot of it, but I got sick and spent the day in bed, instead, so Esther just divided the meat up and froze it raw.
We saved all the bones, too. We cut them into smaller pieces with a power saw, and divided them into bags according to the amount that will fit into my biggest pot. I fill the pot with water and add some vinegar, then simmer for a day or two. Then, I pressure can it and we have the beginnings of instant soup or gravy!
We got all these bones from the old cow! I didn’t make it through all of them before it was time to do the steer, but had friends who were happy to take some.
One of the evenings we were working on meat, I didn’t have much time to cook but needed a nourishing meal quickly. I opened these jars–beans, stew beef, and broth–and made a quick, delicious stew.
Then end product: I had some black beans in the fridge, and added a package of pasta. We enjoyed it that evening, and there was enough left for men’s lunches the next day or two.
Book: The Title Wave
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance
Release date: April 25, 2023
All he wants to do is help people, but local women want to help themselves… to him!
When Henri Tupuola returned to Suamalie to open his holistic mental health clinic, he had no idea what he was getting into. After ten years in Australia getting his degree and practical experience under his mentor, the locals had all but forgotten the quiet “boy” who had always made them feel like he could see right through them.
Not anymore! The ladies of Lafoina are eager to meet the island’s therapist and spend hours staring deeply into his eyes on their weekly dates… ahem, sessions.
Desperate for relief, he hightails it down to The Title Wave and begs Ezra to order him a couple dozen copies of his own book. Yes, author copies would be cheaper, but he needs these things fast. Maybe if he hands out his book like an old-time quack handed out pills, the ladies will get the hint and leave him alone.
But when he tells his troubles to Ezra (who’s the therapist now?), and she jokes at how much her father would love to have people flocking to his “sessions” so to speak, Henri gets an idea that could save his sanity… if only Ezra will agree.
Take a trip to the Suamalie Islands where palm trees sway, the sand and sea pulse with life, and the people will steal your heart.
Chautona Havig has done it again. This is the funniest book I have read in awhile. Ezra’s soliloquy about how if Dad uses an expression, it’s probably not in general use any more; the time Henry was laughing at his own stupidity; the time he left his phone on, leading to total mortification; the hilariously stupid poem he wrote…. I also loved the word that Ezra made up. There was not nearly as much substance in The Title Wave as in many of Chautona Havig’s books. Rather, it’s more of a fluffy romance. However, as far as romance goes, this is my favourite kind. I really enjoyed it, and I’m hoping for another visit to the Suamalie islands again sometime.
I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.
USA Today Bestselling author Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.
It happens with every book—probably for every author. What “it” is… that’s always different. Sometimes it’s the moment you realize that your character has morphed into someone you didn’t intend for him to. Other times it might be that you discovered a huge plot hole in your mystery and there’s no way any of it would have happened (not that I’ve ever had to deal with that or anything). It could be that your characters don’t have chemistry (and that doesn’t have to be romance—friends should have it!). Let’s face it. Lots of things can derail a book.
And if you don’t lay some new track fast (think Gromit in A Grand Day Out laying tracks as fast as he can as the toy train hurtles him after the penguin), your story could end up as the biggest trainwreck this side of… wherever they have bad train wrecks.
Or in my case, sink the book boat.
So there was blithely typing my first chapter when I realized something was wrong with my premise for The Title Wave. See, I had a plan. This would be a fake-dating romance. A local therapist needs a fake girlfriend to get the women to quit hitting on him when he was supposed to be helping them with their problems. Reasonable right?
Yeah. There’s all kinds of problems with this… starting with the fact that I don’t actually enjoy FAST romances… and I wanted them together—like totally committed—by the end of the book. OOPS! Not only that, but come on. Fake boyfriend/girlfriend? Ezra is an MK. This girl isn’t going to want to live a deception like that. She’s got a sensitive conscience, thanks to close ties with the Holy Spirit Who indwells her. She’s not going to do that.
But I needed her to.
I have this group of ladies who read everything as I write it. Most have been with me for over ten years! So, when I realized my book was in serious trouble (as in drowning before it really got out to sea!), I went to them and told them what I wanted/needed to happen and why it wasn’t going to work.
Guess what? They came through for me (as they always do—love you, Escapeables!). After just a bit of tossing out ideas and lobbing them back and forth, things fell into place.
Yes, Henri will approach Ezra with the idea.
Yes, Ezra will have a fake boyfriend.
And yes, being the romance it is… they WILL be committed by the end and without irritating myself with a bunch of insta-love.
Somehow. Since I’m writing this before it all plays out, we’ll both have to see just how that all works out. Join me for a cruise through love-tossed waters?
To purchase your copy, click here.
To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.
To enter a fun giveaway, click here.
We are milking two cows this year, and right now we’re getting about 20 liters (5 gallons) a day. Poppy, our older cow, gives about 12 liters a day, and Bluebell, the younger one on her first lactation, is giving about 8 liters. Bluebell gives A2A2 milk, so we primarily use her milk for drinking, kefir and cooking, since Gayle does all right with that kind of milk. Poppy’s milk is A1A2, so that’s what we give to friends who need it, and turn the excess into cheese. In the summer, I used a lot of it to fertilize the garden or as a spray to try to ward off powdery mildew (I still don’t know if it works). I was thankful for friends who needed a lot of milk for the last few months, but now their cow is giving them plenty of milk, so I have a lot to deal with again! Yesterday morning I decided to make a lot of cheese, to clean the fridge out for the weekend. This is what I started with:
The big pot, 20 liters (5 gallons), was mostly cold milk from the fridge. I turned that into a block of hard cheese. The pot to the left is about a gallon (5 liters), which I made into feta. The pot to the right is six liters (a gallon and a half) which I turned into mozzarella.
I started with the hard cheese, since that takes about four hours of on again/off again work to get it into the press. This is what I end up with a day later; it’s a type of Colby. Because I use raw milk, and don’t have a climate-controlled area in which to produce and store it, it varies quite a lot in texture and flavor, but is always delicious. I keep the cheeses in the kitchen on a mat for a week or two, flipping them frequently until they develop a rind. Lately, with the chilly, damp fall weather we’ve been having, I have had a problem with mold growing on the outsides, so I’ve been rubbing salt into them to help the rind grow without mold; when mold does grow, we rub them with vinegar to slow that growth down. Usually, the cheeses develop a nice hard rind within two weeks, and then I move them to an old fridge where they keep, without any wrapping, till we use them. Some that we have out there right now are four months old, with quite a sharp flavor.
These are the cheeses I made over the past couple of weeks. The oldest is the back one on the left; the front right one is only a couple of days old.
After the curds are out of the whey, I bring the whey to a boil to extract the rest of the protein. During the growing season, we just take the whey out to the garden and feed it to the tomatoes, but there isn’t anything out there right now that needs it. We can’t eat very much ricotta, since most of it is made from Poppy’s milk and Gayle can’t have it, so we feed it to the chickens. It’s a good source of protein for them! I bring the whey to a boil, stir in a little vinegar, then drain it through a cloth and hang it up overnight to finish dripping.
When I was about halfway through making the hard cheese, I started the mozzarella. A few years ago, I came across a recipe that gets around using citric acid. Instead, use a mesophilic starter to acidify the milk. The proportions given were 1 quart of starter to 3 quarts of fresh milk (I doubled that this time), and I’ve found that works very well with the Caspian Sea yogurt I use for starter for everything I make. Kefir would likely work just as well. The recipe says (and I actually followed it this time!) to mix the starter with the milk, heat it to about 90ºF, hold for half an hour, then stir in half a teaspoon liquid rennet diluted with water. When it coagulates, cut the curd, then stir gently while heating slowly to about 100-105ºF. Strain through a cloth, let hang to drain for about 20 minutes (I think I went about an hour or an hour and a half this time). Reserve a quart or two of whey for a brine. Heat some water in a pot to about 150ºF, slice the curd into roughly 1/2-3/4 inch slices and cut into chunks about 2-3 inches square. Put a chunk of curd into the hot water till it’s soft, then stretch and form into a ball. If it is just the right acidity, it will stretch beautifully and form a smooth, shiny ball. If it’s not acidic enough, or too much, it won’t work. This time happened to be perfect–I’ve had a lot of failures, though! Drop each ball into cold water, or if you want a block of mozzarella, use larger chunks and drop them into a container to melt together and form a brick of cheese. If making balls, when finished, cover them with a brine made of a quart of the reserved whey and a teaspoon of salt. These balls rarely last more than a day or two around here; the children love them!
The smallest lot of milk turned into feta. This is the easiest cheese to make! I take milk still warm from the cow, put it into a pot, and stir in maybe 1/4-1/2 cup of starter. The Caspian Sea yogurt works great; kefir would, too. Stir in 4-5 drops of liquid rennet diluted in water (for 4-5 quarts/liters of milk). Cover and let sit on the counter top all day. In the evening, ladle out into molds (or a cloth-lined colander). I have several ricotta/feta molds, and they are wonderful for that. Let drain overnight. In the morning, unmold and sprinkle all over with salt. Turn once or twice through the day and sprinkle with more salt. Eat any time. As you see here, someone had a sample an hour or two after I took them out of the molds this morning. I rarely bother to refrigerate this cheese, since it stays nice on a plate on the table for 3-4 days and is gone by then anyway.
So, there is my day yesterday, in cheese. I also made butter, but forgot to get any pictures of it before it was finished and in the freezer. In one picture, you can see the cream warming up. I got it out of the fridge the night before and mixed some started (the Caspian Sea yogurt again) into each jar. Halfway through the afternoon I made the butter. I have discovered that my Bosch mixer, with the whisks, works great to make butter. Depending on the temperature of the cream and the cows’ diet, it takes anywhere from five minutes to half an hour to make a batch of butter. I can put about 3 quarts of cream in my 6-quart mixer at a time. From about 9 quarts of cream, I got around 4-5 pounds of butter. Because the cream has been cultured before churning, the butter can stay at room temperature for a couple of weeks without going rancid, as long as I work all the buttermilk out of it and salt it properly.
We are thankful to be able to have our cows! It does get to feeling like a lot of work sometimes, but I’m grateful to be able to feed my family such good food.
Book: Guess How Much God Loves You
Author: Karen Ferguson
Genre: Children’s book (picture book)
Release date: July 19, 2022
Take a journey through the Bible with Lucy Lu, a colorful, creatively curious first grader who is starting to have serious questions about God.
Questions like: How old is He? Does He sleep? What does He do all day? And the biggest one of all – does God really love me?
After one very hard day, feeling like she doesn’t matter, Lucy sits with her Papa Joe who has promised to answer these questions and more, launching them onto an exciting journey to discover God’s never changing, never failing, never ending love.
What follows in this book series is a wild adventure through the Bible, where Lucy and her Papa find themselves in the middle of it all, on each page of the powerful story of God’s love and faithfulness for all people, throughout all history.
This first book is all about God’s Creation.
Guess How Much God Loves You is a vibrant, fun, and biblically based book that is sure to captivate young readers as it teaches them important Bible truths that will help them build a firm foundation in God and His Good Character – all through the lens of His unconditional love.
I read Karen Ferguson’s Guess How Much I Love You to my little girls (ages 8 and 3) yesterday. They both loved it (although, to be honest, there are few books they haven’t loved!). They both enjoyed the quirky pictures, and I hope they took in the message of the book.
Lucy had a question for her papa (her grandfather): “Does God really love me?” Of course, Papa Joe assured her that God does, and proceeded to show her how much. As he cuddled her, he told her all about the six days of Creation. Lucy kept her eyes closed and pictured herself there, watching everything appear on the earth. She learned that God loves her more than any person ever can, and how special she was to God.
The pictures are delightfully goofy. In some of them, Lucy is shown riding her Papa’s electric wheelchair through scenes from Creation. In one picture, she is riding a dolphin, and in another she is cuddled up with a lot of mammals, taking a rest. The pictures are done with pencil drawings, painted in with watercolors, and very pretty. I mentioned the paintings, and my artistic boy spent some time studying them.
I really appreciated the message in Guess How Much God Loves You, and the way it teaches children about the days of Creation. The one thing I didn’t like so much was the way the Bible glowed while they were reading it. At the end of the book is a page about Jesus, Who He is and how He wants to be your friend. There are also some discussion questions do discuss with your child.
I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.
Karen Ferguson is a freelance writer and small business owner with a background in K-8 education. A grateful wife, mom, and grandmom she loves words and the Word of God and is passionate about writing stories that grab and hold young readers’ attention, teaching them all about God’s unchangeable truths, and His unchanging love for them.
Her first children’s book, Guess How Much God Loves You, was released in July 2022 through Ambassador International and is available wherever books are sold.
Are you looking for God honoring books that will captivate your child’s imagination, teach them faith-building biblical concepts, and help them grow in their reading skills?
Then I have the perfect book for your young reader…Guess How Much God Loves You
This beautifully illustrated book introduces young readers to the Creation Account, through the eyes of seven year old Lucy Lu, a creatively curious first grader who is starting to have serious questions about God.
Questions like…
How old is He? Does He sleep? What does He do all day? And the biggest one of all – does God really love me?
After one very hard day, feeling like she doesn’t matter, Lucy sits with her Papa Joe who has promised to answer these questions and more, launching them onto an exciting journey through the Bible to discover God’s never changing, never failing, never ending love.
I wrote this book because I want every child to know their life matters. To know that the God of all things created them in His image, on purpose and for a good purpose.
Guess How Much God Loves You will have seven books in the series with each one covering an important Bible account critical to building an understanding of God’s character and His love for all people, including your reader!
This first book is about the Creation Account as recorded in the Bible. Future books will cover the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark, the Exodus and more.
I want children to understand these are not just stories about fictional characters, but historical accounts about real people they can relate to. People who experienced God’s power, love, and faithfulness.
My greatest desire is to see this next generation trust the Bible and enjoy reading it. More than ever, young readers need to hear the message that they are valuable, loved unconditionally by the One who created them and gave them the best gift of all, His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
To purchase your copy, click here.
To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.
To enter a fun giveaway, click here.
I was excited to receive the newest book in the Brady Street Boys series, and started reading it as soon as I could. Yes, I know it’s a children’s book, and I know my children want to hear it, too—but I need to get a review written and up on my blog as soon as possible, right? So, I had the perfect excuse to whiz through Rivals on the River quickly. I’ll go back and read it to the children as soon as we finish another book I’m reading to them, and I’ll be able to say no to any requests for extra chapters, because I already know what’s happening. (Like I’ll always say no… I’m quite a sucker for “just one more chapter.”) Can you tell I enjoyed this book?
Terry, Gary and Larry are still on their quest to locate the doctor who amputated Gary’s leg when Gary had cancer several years ago. Gary wants to talk to him and find out for sure that it was the necessary thing to happen—but the doctor has disappeared and Gary’s medical records have gotten lost. The boys found a Post Office box address for Dr. Jefferson in Lansing, Iowa, and Uncle Aaron has agreed to drive them out to look for clues to the doctor’s whereabouts. They arrive just in time for the annual fishing contest, and enter, hoping to win enough money to continue the search.
The boys make friends with an autistic boy at the house in which they rent a room, and are surprised to learn that Dr. Jefferson lived here for a short time last year. He even left a forwarding address! However, the address is locked inside a safe, and the combination for the safe is missing. How can the boys get into it? And when something about the fishing competition seems, well, fishy, can they discover the truth? And, who along the way displays this week’s Fruit of the Spirit, gentleness, best? Some of the twists taken by this story are pretty fun!
Please, don’t miss out on reading the Brady Street Boys series. I think Rivals on the River is one of the best yet. I really like the respect the boys have for their parents, and the way they obey and respect Uncle Aaron, who is in charge of them on this trip. They work together well and try to do what is right, and treat others they way they want to be treated. This series is one that I can wholeheartedly recommend for all children, especially boys.
Buy your copy here. This is an affiliate link, which will help to support Esther’s website if you purchase through it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.
A couple of weeks ago, Elijah organized a four wheel drive trip. He bought a souped-up Surf last year, and badly wants to use it, and has been wanting to go on a particular track for several years. It is called the Power Line Track, and goes from the Buller Gorge, over the mountains to Denniston, north of Westport. Five vehicles went on the drive, including Elijah’s Surf and another young man’s Surf, Simon’s L300 Mitsubishi ute, one friend’s Land Cruiser troop carrier, and another friend’s 4WD Mitsubishi van. They took off from here reasonably early one morning and got back late in the afternoon.
They took off from this bridge, the Iron Bridge, over the Buller river between the Upper and Lower Buller Gorges.
Ready to go! Elijah’s Surf is in the lead, and Simon brought up the rear.
Simon driving his ute, with Mr. Imagination in the coveted front middle seat.
They hadn’t gone very far when Elijah’s Surf stalled and smoke came out from under the bonnet. The ground wire had burned through and they had to jerry-rig something. No problem–there were five mechanics on the trip!
They came across a DOC camp, where people were checking on the local kiwi population.
The Surf made it through the deep river crossing!
As they approached the river crossing, the spare tire fell off the van.
This crossing was rather exciting–several people took videos of it! Everyone was worried that the van wouldn’t make it across, or that water would get through the air intake, since the van didn’t have a snorkel. If you watch the video, you’ll see our James leaning out of a window behind the driver’s seat, watching the intake to make sure water didn’t get in, and even putting his hand over it at one point. They had hooked a strap from the Troopie to the van to pull it through, in case the water got too deep and the van had to be shut off suddenly to protect the engine. No problem; it made it through–but as they came out the other side, the strap wound around the front axle and it was a challenge to get off.
Partway through the trip, the group came across this coal bank. There was an old chimney beside it; apparently, the people who lived in the house mined coal from here to heat their house.
At the end of the trip, the group drove up to Denniston, a former coal mine. This was the newest building up there, a bath house, which was vandalized after the mine closed.
Everyone who went on the trip enjoyed it! Esther and I enjoyed staying at home and getting some things done here without being jounced around for hours on a rough track.
Book: Stormy Encounters
Author: BJ Howe
Genre: Teen/YA Action Adventure
Release date: March 14, 2023
When the biggest bully in town has you in his crosshairs, you can run, or you can dig deep inside and discover who you really are. Steven Carlson finds himself saddled with an unexpected debt he cannot afford, changing his plans for a summer of fun to one that forces him to places he never wanted to go.
There are storms on the horizon and equally daunting storms of the heart. With a father he doesn’t understand and a mother he can’t remember, Steven’s sixteenth year launches him on a journey that will forever alter his world.
In one unforgettable season, Steven Carlson is pushed to the edge of disaster and forced to confront his prison of self-doubt.
To be very honest, this book did not appeal to me. I offered to review it because more bloggers were needed for the tour. When it arrived, I looked at the cover and was, again, less than impressed. However, one of my teenage boys happened to see it laying on my desk. He picked it up and was on the second page before he realized he was hooked! So, I believe it will appeal to the age group for which it is intended: teenage boys. I read it quickly (another plus for boys who are perpetually in a hurry!), and did enjoy the story. It is clean, and gets the point across that living for others and obeying your parents will bring blessing. The message of forgiveness comes through, as well. I still think it needs a better cover!
I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.
Barb (B J) Howe has enjoyed entertaining others with stories since she was a child. As an adult, she used storytelling techniques to communicate in various workplace settings before exploring the art of memoir writing and fiction.
Stormy Encounters is her first significant work of fiction. Writing about teenage boys and lightning fast cars was inspired by her grandson, who at age four attempted to drive her car, and at age ten reminded her that he was a mere five years away from a driving permit. He is now entering his teen years.
Howe resides in Chanhassen, MN with husband, Dave Howe, author of Live Pure and Free: The 90-Day Game Changer. She is on staff with Christian Grandparenting Network, and has contributed to several publications including: Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Jr. Magazine and Guideposts. Her desire in writing this book is to encourage young adults to mature in their integrity and pursue a personal relationship with Christ.
Getting through those teenage years is an adventure. Ask anyone who’s been there. The challenges are real, the outcomes, let’s just say unpredictable. Today’s young generation seems to have more than a fair share of confusing messages roaring at them, and far more outlets than any previous generation to access them. This can make the journey to adulthood far more daunting.
Too many of the books found at public libraries and book stores carry dark messages with little hope. Stormy Encounters is about smokin’ hot cars, swaggering bravado, and, of course, girls. You know, the things that get young guys’ engines revving in high gear. This approach cruises into their world and shows how to work through difficulties without getting preachy. That’s the kind of thinking that first enticed Howe to speak to teens through fiction.
Face it. No matter who we are, we all share at least one thing in common: every day we make hundreds of choices. Some of those choices affect the rest of our lives. Stormy Encounters is all about helping teens, especially teen boys, make the kinds of choices that bring positive results. The pace is fast enough to be exciting, steady to drive interest. Don’t worry; it’s all clean. Maybe these are the reasons teen girls and adults also enjoy reading Stormy Encounters.
Howe’s writing career began with corporate and freelance writing. But it was the nuances of memoir writing that led to fiction. They’re both centered around human interactions. With Stormy Encounters, readers get to see how three different generations come together with all their individual quirks in one complex story that explores the emotions of grief, happiness, love, sadness, and hope. We can all use a big dose of hope.
When not writing, Howe enjoys urban hiking (a.k.a., neighborhood walks), bicycling through the countryside, and baking bread. Try this wild rice bread recipe. It positively screams Minnesota, the state where Stormy Encounters takes place.
Ingredients:
¼ cup wild rice, raw
2 cups water
1 package dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
2 cups milk, scalded
2 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup honey
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup rolled oats, uncooked
½ cup rye flour
1-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
½ cup bran
3-1/2 cups unbleached flour, plus up to 1 cup (if needed)
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water
¼ cup hulled sunflower seeds
Directions:
1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add rice, cover, and cook over very low heat until rice is tender, approx. 45-60 minutes. Allow to cool.
2. Stir yeast into 1/3 cup warm water and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in milk, butter, honey, salt, and oats. Add cooled rice mixture to milk mixture.
3. Using a wooden spoon, stir together rye flower, whole-wheat flour, bran, and 3-1/2 cups of unbleached flour. Add to milk and yeast mixture, stirring until soft dough forms. Add more unbleached flour, as needed, until dough is easy to handle.
4. Turn dough onto a floured board and knead until soft and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and turn so the top is oiled. Let rise 2 hours.
5. Punch dough and shape into two loaves. Place in 2 greased 9-1/2 x 5-1/2-inch pans. Let rise again, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Bake 45 minutes. During the last 15 minutes of baking, brush loaves with 1 beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon of water and sprinkle with sunflower seeds.
To purchase your copy, click here.
To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.
To enter a fun giveaway, click here.
A few weeks ago, when Simon was home for his two days off, he took Mr. Imagination on an excursion. They took along Simon’s deer rifle in case they would see a game animal, but ended up climbing a mountain and not doing any hunting. The only animals they saw were a couple of goat kids. They came home tired, but very happy with the climb they had done. It was a mountain up the road from us maybe a half hour’s drive, overlooking the Ahaura River.
That’s the Ahaura River visible through the trees.
Looking to the northeast from the mountain. Simon was able to make out one of the farms he works on, and Gloriavale is visible, as well.
Mr. Imagination found this katydid.
It was after dark by the time they got home, and both boys were hungry and tired, but they had the time of their lives, and Simon felt rejuvenated and ready to go back to another week of work.
Here are the rest of the pictures I have found on our devices from the last couple of months. For some reason, we aren’t taking many pictures. I guess we’re too busy living life to document it! And, nothing that exciting has been happening; just daily life.
We found a pear tree near the river that no one claimed, and processed a lot of pears. What a treasure!
James had a bicycle accident in March and landed on his face on the pavement. The three younger children all saw it happen, and Mr. Imagination drew this picture while I was at the hospital with James. He had a concussion and his face was messed up, but by now he is no longer extra tired, no longer getting headaches, and his face is looking much better.
The hot peppers in the greenhouse have done very well this year. I dried a lot and ground them in the food processor into hot pepper flakes. When I need cayenne pepper powder, I’ll grind that in the spice grinder.
Elijah went to the farm on which Simon is working and they shot a stag. Elijah had quite an audience the next morning as he skinned it before he went to work!
We spent the day boning out the deer, and got about 80 kg (170 pounds) of meat.
As usual, we went to Timaru for Easter. We took a shortcut on the way, which led through a very beautiful area I had never seen.
The Lego lovers of the family built some four-wheel drive vehicles, and then tested them out on the stove.
