Fall Time Fun

I realized I better post some fall pictures before winter is fully upon us! These are from a few weeks ago when my parents took the kids and I to the cider mill. Lots of fun!

Bagels Under My Belt and Before There Was Nyquil

A little lame to put all that in the title, I know! But with mama and daddy sick, and two of the three kids sick, I don't know when I'll have another chance to blog.

Last night, as Nate and I lamented over our sore throats, we started reminiscing about the honey, whiskey and lemon treatments of our childhood. I remember laying in bed crying because I didn't want to drink the horrible hot concoction that my father made for me. But, despite my crying, the treatment always brought relief and quality sleep. After a little research on the internet, Nate found a hot toddy recipe that we agreed upon. Since we are not whiskey drinkers, he headed to Meijer for the ingredients, along with some more medicine for the kids.

We decided to substitute apple juice for the water, figuring it would help it taste better. If you want to spend the money or have it on hand, apple cider would be even better. The hot toddy is strong, so it is definitely for sipping, not slamming! It thoroughly coated our throats, warmed the belly and made going to sleep a breeze.

Hot Toddy for Two

• 1 cup apple juice or cider
• 4 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. lemon
• 1/3 cup whiskey

Heat apple juice, honey and lemon in a small pan until nice and hot. Remove from heat and add whiskey. Sip and enjoy the relief it will bring!

Since I am completely insane and I needed to do something with my sourdough starter, I decided to make bagels. The process started last night with making the dough, kneading it, letting it rise for a few hours and then forming the bagels. This morning I boiled and baked them. They turned out pretty good. Nate was happy and he has a thing or two to say about bagels. I was happy that I finally got around to this, as it is next to impossible to find bagels at the store without a long scary list of unpronounceable ingredients. We will be making these again. The kids gobbled them up too!

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bagels

adapted from several recipes

• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat four

Combine all ingredients and knead until smooth. Dough will be pretty stiff! Let rise for a few hours until doubled in size. Punch down dough and divide into eight portions and shape into ball. Stick your thumb through the middle and shape into bagel. Heat oven to 500 degrees and place a small pan of water on bottom rack. Boil bagels in a large pot of water with 1 Tbsp. of baking soda. Only do about four at a time. Boil for around a minute and turn them to boil on the other side for another minute. Place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, seseme seeds, or topping of your choice. Bake at 500 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Chef Julius

Lately, I have begun to wonder if Julius will be a great cook. He has been duplicating our family meals in his own kitchen. We always have to "taste" his creations and be careful of all his hot pans. I really became convinced the other night when he insisted on taking two of my cookbooks to bed for his bedtime reading material! It was adorable to find him later, with his sleeping face smashed into slow cooker recipes. A son that can cook. I can only hope!

Mr. McGregor's Garden

My flat parsley has really enjoyed the cooler weather of fall. It has gone crazy the past few weeks. So have my children. They have discovered that the parsley is edible and I can't keep them out of it. I figure it's another way to load them full of green leafy things! They have been eating it by the handfuls. After checking on them outside, I overheard them playing "Peter Rabbit," taking turns chasing each other out of Mr. McGregor's Garden. Maybe they are rabbits after all!

An Emergency Indeed

This article was published on the Campaign For Liberty website. I usually love everything Anthony Gregory writes!

An Emergency Indeed

By Anthony Gregory

The White House has declared Swine Flu a "national emergency." In the last year, at least 5,000 have died worldwide from H1N1, according to the WHO, making this an "epidemic." Contrast this with the 250,000 to 500,000 — 50 to 100 times as many — who died of the regular flu. Then consider that the great majority of swine flu diagnoses in the last year turned out not to be the flu at all.

The real national emergency is the threat to our liberty. When the president declares a "national emergency," he typically martials the heavy hand of the state in ways unseen when there is no "crisis." Today we have so many "crises" — terrorism, economic collapse, health care, global warming and now swine flu — that no area of our lives is safe from government meddling. This particular "emergency" could lead to despotism: Mandatory vaccinations, quarantines, government control of transportation and so forth.

Be on the lookout in the next couple days for a new piece by Dr. Adam Murdock on swine flu hysteria in our featured articles section.

Sassy Gingersnaps

You know the question: "What is your favorite dessert?" Whenever I get that question I really don't have an answer. Don't get me wrong, I am not a girl to turn down dessert. Offer me pretty much anything in the general dessert category, and I will take you up on your offer. But, to narrow it down to just one - impossible!

This week I made a batch of gingersnap cookies. I hadn't made these since last year during the holiday season. I knew I really liked them, but upon pulling these spicy sweet lovelies from the oven, I had an epiphany! This just might be my favorite cookie! I know, it still does not meet the full criteria of the all-time favorite dessert question, but at least I got an answer for the cookie department! Eating the first one, warm from the oven, confirmed my love for this snappy gem. Then I had to wonder, if I love these so much, why hadn't I made them since last December. Never really came up with a definite answer, but I believe I had categorized the gingersnap as a seasonal cookie.

The gingersnap surely pairs well with crisp fall leaves, frost on pumpkins, juicy turkeys, silvery sleighs, jingle bells and other holiday fare. But, please don't make the mistake that I did with limiting the gingersnap to only a few precious months of the year! Pull out this recipe spring, summer, fall and winter to give this little treat the respect it is due! You just might discover a cookie favorite of your own, or at least one of your favorites!

The way we generally handle cookies in our household is to make the dough and just make one sheet of cookies. We refrigerate the dough and continue to make one tray at a time over the next several days. What can I say! I like fresh cookies and can't really stand making tray after tray of cookies, trying to lay them out all over the counters to cool. It's just easier this way.

I feel like I must confess that on Wednesday, I ate 11 gingersnap cookies over the course of the day. E-L-E-V-E-N! And that does not include all the cookies I ate Monday, Tuesday or today! Maybe I have discovered the real reason why I only make these cookies a few times a year!

This recipe comes from Sugar Pie Farmhouse. Head on over to Aunt Ruthie's to feast your eyes on some amazing holiday decorating inspiration.

Gingersnaps

from Sugar Pie Farmhouse

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ground ginger

Beat together butter, sugar, molasses and egg until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Combine all ingredients until well blended. Chill dough for 1 hour in a covered container. Roll teaspoon amount of dough into a ball. Roll dough ball in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes, depending on how soft or crispy you like them. Enjoy!

Joys of Toddlerhood

Julius has been singing "Mawee had a yiddle yam" all morning!