Here's a recipe that will put your homemade vanilla to good use.

Vanilla Muffins

4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (I may do a little bit more next time)
8 Tablespoons butter, melted

Mix dry.
Combine and whisk wet.
Add wet to dry.
I sprinkled the tops with maple sugar - not necessary but quite good.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.
Makes about 2 dozen muffins, or 10 giant-Jon-sized muffins.

365 photos in 365 days. Done.

Shortly after my 17th birthday I met Jon.

Shortly less than 17 years ago I met Dagny.



Time flies when you're having fun.

When's the last time you blew bubbles in your cup?

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
(aka The Best Hummus Jon's Ever Had)

2 large cloves garlic
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2-3/4 cup roasted red peppers (If you're using peppers in a jar, 1 of the bigger jars, drained, will do)

The recipe I found was all about the food processor, but here's how you do it by hand:

Mush the chickpeas with a fork til smooth.
Mince garlic and peppers and add to chickpeas.
Add tahini and lemon juice.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I haven't actually tasted these yet, but Jon (who may come to regret telling me he wanted giant muffins when he sees how many different kinds I want to try making) says they're good.

Jam Muffins

1/4 cup jam
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (You're all making your own now, right? Seriously - try it.)

Heat oven to 400.
Grease muffin tins.
Whisk the jam til smooth and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients.
Mix wet ingredients.
Add wet to dry and stir until batter is just blended.

Fill muffin cups halfway.
Make a shallow well in the center of each with a spoon.
Fill with a rounded teaspoon of jam.
Cover with remaining batter.

Bake 12 minutes.

If you'd like, dust the tops with confectioners' sugar.

I've wondered what the subdivisions that are sprouting up on the farmland down the street will look like in the future. Will they take on personality? Or will they remain (not so) little boxes made of ticky tacky that all look just the same?

Roasted Carrot Soup 16 Carrots, peeled, cut into chunks (about 1 1/2 inch) 1 Yellow Onion, quartered 1 Sweet Potato, cut into chunks (about 1 1/2 inch) 6 Cloves Garlic, whole 5 Cups Stock 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg 2 Tbsp Olive Oil Coarse Salt to taste Freshly Ground Black Pepper Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Arrange the carrots, onions, sweet potato and garlic in a baking tray. Mix in the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast the carrot mixture for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from the oven. Peel the skin from the garlic. (I just peeled it before roasting.) Put into a large saucepan. Add the stock, ground ginger, and nutmeg. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, and then puree. Simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

This week Dagny requested my mom’s chicken casserole. Jon’s usually in charge of making this one. He makes two batches, one following the recipe and one changed a bit for the tastes of the vegetarian-no-canned-mushrooms crowd. With chicken or without, I still call it chicken casserole. Old habits die hard.

GrammaDonna’s (no)Chicken Casserole:

5 lbs chicken breast

1 lb longhorn (sharp cheddar) cheese

1 box pasta shells

1 lb box frozen sweet baby peas

2 small jars pimento

2 small cans mushrooms

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

2 cups stock (Mom used chicken, we use vegetable)

breadcrumbs

Boil the shells and the chicken in separate pots. Add the cheese to the shells while they are hot. Add the other ingredients, then put the mixture into an oven safe dish. Cover with melted butter and breadcrumbs.

Bake @ 350 until golden and bubbly (about 45 minutes).

We usually eat it all up pretty quickly, but it does freeze well.

A new recipe from Amy:

Honey Baked Lentils

1 cup red lentils
2 cups water
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ginger
1 clove garlic (I doubled, as always)
1 small onion

Bake in a covered dish at 350 until tender. (1:15-1:30) You could also substitute barley or rice for some of the lentils, and add whatever winter vegetables you have.

Current 'Make' list:

Brown Sugar Muffins
Challah
No Knead Bread
No Knead Caramel Rolls (In the oven right now. You awake Dagny?)
English Muffin Bread
Wheat Bread
French Bread
Cookies
Peanut Butter Bars
Chocolate Stuff
Fudge
Waffles
Pancakes
French Toast
Crepes
Granola
Rice Pudding
Cider Jelly
Honey Baked Lentils
Roasted Carrot Soup
Creamy Tomato Balsamic Soup
Sushi
Lasagna Rollups
Pizza
Chicken/No Chicken Casserole
Six Cheese Gnocchi with Spinach
SOB Lasagna
Peach Salsa
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I had a couple requests for the recipe for the bean stew I made on vacation. The original recipe came from Lisa Heyman, and I did alter it a bit. If anyone wants the original recipe, let me know.

Bean Stew

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 whole heads of garlic, peeled and minced
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 jalapenos, seeds removed unless you like it extra spicy, minced
4 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp lemon juice
6 Tbsp honey
2 tsp chili powder
3 Tbsp cumin
Cayenne to taste
Cilantro, chopped pretty small (I do about two hands full, chopped.)
4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 big can crushed tomatoes
1/2 small can tomato paste

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a big pot.
Add peppers and spices.
Add remaining ingredients.
Simmer 20 minutes.
Serve with rice.

'Joy of Homecoming on the Horizon', by Dagny and Andrew.

(Ok, named by me. Art's open to interpretation, right?)

Jon’ll have to remind me where he got this recipe. I think it was Mindy’s family? It makes 4 loaves, which is a bit too much to fit in our mixer, so Jon cuts it in half. It’s great for sandwiches, but my favorite way to eat it is toasted and shmeared with peach honey butter.

Foolproof Wheat Bread

2 TBS yeast

½ cup warm water

5 cups hot water

1 TBS salt

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup honey or molasses

12 cups whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Combine hot water and 7 cups of flour and blend in mixer with dough hook.

Add salt, oil, and honey, and continue to mix. (Rue note: Measure the oil first and the honey will slide right out.)

Add 1 cup flour and yeast mixture.

Mix thoroughly, then add 3-4 more cups flour and mix until dough cleans the sides of the mixer.

Knead (mix) at least 10 minutes.

Transfer dough into a large greased bowl, spin to coat with oil, cover with towel, and let rise 45 minutes.

Oil hand, punch down, and shape into 4 loaves.

Place in well-oiled bread pans.

Cover with cloth and let rise again, 35-45 minutes.

Bake at 350 40-45 minutes.

I mentioned to Amy the other day (has everyone visited Amy's shop? It's fits right in with what I'm thinking about here - buy as little as possible, but when you do buy look for quality things that will last and that are made with care) that our KitchenAid stand mixer was a great investment. We've had it about 10 years and use it regularly. Heck, we like it so much it got its own cabinet when we re-did the kitchen. I remember that when we bought it it was $200, and I was so unsure about spending all that money. (Looks like it's more like $300 now.)

Just as an aside, I never saw a stand mixer until I was an adult. I still remember the first time I saw Jon's mom pull hers out of the closet. I did a lot of baking as a kid, and finding an invention that would cream butter for me was amazing.

I was thinking about what other things we've bought that were not so easy on our budget at the time, but have worked out to be completely worth the initial ouch. Some that come to mind right away:

Calphalon cookie sheets (used ONLY for cookies - cheapo $1-$2 cookie sheets are fine for everything else). We've had these 10 years as well, and they look pretty much like new.

Good pots/pans (Actually, if anyone has any recommendations for pans that will last the rest of my life, other than cast iron, I'd like to hear them. They need to be able to go in the oven. They don't need to be dishwasher safe.)

Silk long john's

Wool sweaters

Wood furniture

Glass containers

Handmade items

For the past couple of years I've been considering the idea of a food processor. I go back and forth on whether it will really save me so much time/effort that it's worth the cost and space in the kitchen. On the one hand, I've lived just fine without ever using one. On the other hand, there are things that look so much easier to do with one (chop nuts for example). If you have one, what's your opinion? Should I stick with my knives? Is there a brand you use that you'd recommend? Is it worth getting a bigger one? I think I'd almost need to be talked into it, really. I can see my kids growing up and using my mezzaluna. I can see a food processor ending up broken and in the trash. But if I'm wrong, I'd like to hear about it.

Oh, and check these out. They have a lifetime guarantee for breakage. We go through a LOT of straws, so I'm thinking these might be a good investment.

Our room is on Modish!

A note for hungry readers: I've gone through some old posts to add labels to them. I think I've tagged all the recipes, so if you're interested in those they should be easier to find now.

So far I'm the only one eating this at my house. Jon is feeling anti-chickpea. Dagny has apparently developed a major dislike for cloves. Rowan generally avoids spicy. Not sure what Andrew's excuse is.

I think it's really good, so I'm ok with not sharing.

Spicy Chickpea Ragout

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

8-10 whole canned tomatoes (reserve the liquid)

3 teaspoons ground coriander

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Heat oil in a large skillet.

Add onions, garlic, and ginger.

Cook 3-5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, breaking them into pieces with spatula.

Add ½ cup reserved tomato juice with remaining spices.

Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Add chickpeas.

Cook 10 minutes.

Serve with rice.