Posts in Category "Recipes"

Spiced Rooibus Tea

We’ve had days of beautiful, sparkling snow, just perfect for the Christmas season. Mother and Emily Rose have been busily packaging all the orders for Clementine Pattern Co.. Daddy has been faithfully taking them to the post on the way back to work after his lunch break, lightening the load for us.  (Thank you, Daddy!)

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I’ll frequently take tea to the studio, so after nearly exhausting my tea supply, I decided to experiment for a spicy, chai-like tea.  It’s nothing radically new, and the ingredients are rough estimates – but it’s yummy!  Next time I think I’ll add more spice or steep it longer for a stronger tea:

SPICED ROOIBUS TEA
1 spoon of Rooibus tea
1 good pinch of cinnamon
1 good pinch of nutmeg
a few “petals” of star anise
a sprinkling of ginger root
1 small pinch of allspice
Stevia, to taste

Combine ingredients in a cloth tea bag.  Bring a kettle of water to boil, then steep the tea for 5-6 minutes.  Add cream if desired, and enjoy!  (Makes one serving.)

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Drawing and painting for the storybook Bible continues in the studio . . .

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Pretzel-making

One of my new year’s resolutions is to try a new bread recipe every Monday. I’ve been making our regular bread with our home-ground wheat for the past year, so I’m definitely ready to branch out!

On January 4th I tried the pretzel recipe in “Wildflour” by Denise M. Fidler. We use this book for many of our ground-wheat recipes. (The bread we make regularly was adapted by Momma from this book.)

Due to the hard work and copyright of the author, I won’t be posting the recipe, but I highly recommend “Wildflour” to anyone interested in grinding their own wheat.

Now for the pretzels. . .

The most delightful part was rolling out the chunks of dough into long floppy snakes and twisting them into the familiar and beloved pretzel figure.

How to twist a pretzel:

1. Using your hands, roll out the dough into a snake, about 2 feet long. (If the surface of the dough has dried a little, you can lightly rub it down with a bagel wash [1 c. warm water + 1/4 c. baking soda] while you roll it out.)

2. Take the two ends and switch them twice.

3. Then press them onto the opposite side of the pretzel.

4. Dip them in the water/baking soda mixture. Place them on the pan and sprinkle them with sea salt. (Table salt works fine. That’s what I used.)

These homemade pretzels were very tasty, especially with strawberry cream cheese. I’d also like to try making homemade strawberry cream cheese from strained low-fat yogurt and homemade strawberry jam. We’ll see how that goes.  :)

My Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

This used to be my very own secret recipe. . . but then I started sharing it, so now it’s really no secret. Actually, the original recipe was from a friend, but the first time I made it I messed it up, and voila! They turned out well and are quite fabulous, if I may say so. (This is the recipe I used for the cookies in this post.)

In a large bowl mix:
– 1 cup Crisco oil
– 3/4 cup brown sugar
– 3/4 cup granulated sugar
– 1 tsp. vanilla
– 1 tsp. water
– 2 eggs

In a smaller bowl mix:
– 2½ cups flour
– 1 tsp. soda
– 1 tsp. salt

Combine both mixtures and add one 12 oz. pkg. of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Use a small scoop to place them on lightly greased sheets, and bake at 375º for 8-10 minutes. Be sure you take them out of the oven just before the edges turn golden. Yields approx. 60 cookies?

.:. .:. .:.

And don’t forget to share them!

::Portable Hospitality::

Bake some cookies or other treats (my favorite is definitely chocolate chip).

Use simple crafting supplies to decorate a brown paper sack, such as ribbons…

…and some tissue paper flowers.

I then packaged the cookies in cellophane bags and placed them in the paper sack.

And voila! You have a lovely gifts of sweets for a friend.

.:. .:. .:.

Mocha Mix!

I discovered I really, really like mocha.

Momma found a delightful mix for instant mocha and I must share it with you all. I am looking forward to chilly icy days in January, curled up next to a heat radiator, studying History, sipping up my sweet little mug of frothy chocolate.

The Perfect Hot Mocha Mix (Half Gallon Mix Recipe)

1/2 cup instant coffee granules
3 cups powdered coffee creamer
2 1/2 cups dry milk powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups instant chocolate milk mix

All you have to do is stir all of these ingredients together and keep it in a sealed container. Just add 1/3 cup of dry mocha mix to one cup of hot water, and enjoy!