Busy Hands Homestead

Before Christmas I purchased a bag of almond flour and a bag of hazelnut flour for a variety of German Christmas cookies.  In spite of having baked many ( too many ) batches of Christmas cookies, I still have a partial bag of hazelnut flour sitting on my pantry shelf.  This is a unique pancake recipe I have developed to use up the remainder.  The result is fluffy and moist and both Sylvan and Ivory are guaranteed to ask for seconds. Hazelnut Pancakes 1/2 cup white flour 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup hazelnut flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon oil 1 egg 1 1/3 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir until mixed well add the wet ingredients and stir until well blended ladle onto a skillet or griddle that has been oiled and warmed over medium heat turn when the craters formed in the batter stay open after a minute or two remove from heat and pour on another pancake! These a...

I love mornings. I love my first cup of coffee. I love breathing the dark aroma and sipping the smoothness of cream as I sit and pretend that we have absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the day.  I breath in and pretend that everything is calm and peaceful while in reality the kids are running across the house from kitchen through dining room and into the living room. The pretense of a leisurely moment is furthered by the fact that I am not actively cooking breakfast. We cook breakfast every day, but I have discovered the joys of baked breakfast. We often eat Puff Pancakes , but recently I added baked oatmeal into the rotation of family breakfast.  Just like the Puff Pancakes, the baked oatmeal is a baked dish that allows me to just sit and sip and breath for twenty minutes. Baked Oatmeal 1 cup oatmeal  3 Tablespoons brown sugar 2 Tablespoons coconut flakes 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup walnut pie...

After many, many more hours of work and a treacherous fall that put me flat on my back with this thing on top of me the clay component of my sculpture is finally built.   It is slowly drying, covered in plastic and hopefully no cracks develop.  This sculpture will be my first attempt to combine the many hand crafts I enjoy.  I hope to incorporate fibers -  sewed, knitted and crocheted - in the final piece.  (I like this form so much it will be hard to make myself take that next step.)  

Sylvan is sitting at the dinner table.  His fork in his fist, the prongs sticking strait up.  "I thankful," he is not quite shouting. "I thankful. I thankful. I thankful." "Well, I am thankful... ", Ivory begins. "NO NO NO NO NO NO. I thankful", Sylvan shouts across the table at her. "I thankful." "Hold on Ivory.  I think Sylvan is trying to tell us what he is thankful for." Usually Ivory decides what Sylvan is thankful for.  It is most often the food we are eating or something exciting we did that day while Sylvan stands on his chair at the dinner table turning in circles singing: "Thankful, thankful, thankful."  I usually am poised at the edge of my seat, waiting for the moment that his thankful dance takes him over the edge of his chair.  (Thankfully, that has not happened yet.)  But today it seems he wants to speak for himself. I thankful is followed by a string of sounds, very serious sounds, and I take his...

6 Tablespoons melted butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups pumpkin (cooked and pureed) (I actually used an acorn squash.) 1/4 cup sour cream 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup white flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional) 1/4 teaspoon cloves (optional) preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit  combine melted butter, sugar, eggs, pumpkin and sour cream in a bowl and blend well add the whole wheat flour, white flour, baking powder blend well add the semi-sweet chocolate chips, crystallized ginger and vanilla mix in well pour the batter into a greased bread pan (9" x 5") bake 1 hour and 10 minutes up to 1 hour and 20 minutes.  If the top of your bread gets to brown you can set an aluminum foil tent over the bread pan.  cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool completely (about 3 hours).   I added the cinnamon a...