in the kitchen

Homemade yogourt in Weck jars in the fridge, next to plenty of eggs from the Farmer's Market, made me smile to myself all day.

I seem to have a lot of cookbooks. (Some aren't pictured.) Do you have a favourite recipe from any of my books that I need to make? Please share! I'm feeling adventurous. I love how cookbooks look, almost as much as what's in them - they seem to be a pretty lot, there on the shelf.

Adam's out, I think the boys are both asleep (they're quiet, anyway) and my brain is just shutting off for the evening. Nope - I take that 'quiet' comment back - T just started talking. In fact, his exact words were "Mama, Dadoo, Phillip. Mama, Sheeeeerrie!" It is so cute when he calls me by name. I'll be wrapping up some soap to send to Molly (sorry I didn't get it out last week, M!) as I watch something on Netflix. (Yes, probably Murder She Wrote.) Oooh, we finally started watching Downton Abbey the other night, and everyone who recommended it to me was right - it's glorious. Along with the good dialogue, plot, etc., the clothes are insanely beautiful, and the sounds are wonderful. Rustly book pages, clinking dishes, shoes on wood floors, and no plastic to be seen. Beautiful cinematography in the opening particularly, and the font and style of the credits is lovely. Mmmm. Those are the things I love in a show. (Does that make me strange, or does everyone else like those kinds of things, too? No, really - I don't know.)

I adore this spice rack. At that price, though, I don't think it will be mine any time soon.

Oh, hey - speaking of buying things - want to buy a house? Ours is still for sale! (And I love it more and more with every other house we go to see.)

I hope that you're having a pleasant weekend!

an un-storm day

I'm up before the boys, but still groggy. There's some nasty snowy/ice-pellety/freezing rain-y weather coming today, and I was hoping that it would be a snow day and I wouldn't need to go to work. But it's not. (The ice pellet stage is supposed to happen when the kids are safely at school and then it will turn to rain before they come home on the buses. I, however, need to drive all over the place during that time. I can cancel seeing the students and work at my office if it's too risky, though.)

Now I need to go and get all of Phillip's things ready for school that I didn't last night because I was SO hoping that it would be a snow day. Alas.

I took these breakfast pictures on the weekend. I love grapefruit.

Have a good Friday, and a lovely weekend!

homemade crackers!

You can make crackers, you know. (And it's really, really easy, if you have a food processor.) There are a lot of things that Adam can't eat, especially certain oils, and it seems like most of the grocery store options that he can eat taste like cardboard. Or else they cost more than a kidney on the black market. (Not that I would actually know what a kidney on the black market costs, of course.) With these crackers - problem solved! I use olive oil as the oil, they taste fantastic, are super inexpensive, use ingredients I have on hand, and I can flavour them however I like. And they are super quick to put together. How's that for a good deal?

I got the recipe from Kristin, and the original is here. I've changed it a little bit, so I'll give you my version:

Impress Your Neighbours Crackers
(mostly copied from and very slightly adapted from Kristin's adapted recipe, here.)

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup unbleached white)

1 tsp baking powder

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for the tops

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

few shakes of turmeric

few shakes of garlic powder

1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water (my dough needed 1/2)

• Put all the dry ingredients into a food processor. Pulse until it's a coarse meal. (Kristin added a sprinkle of minced dried onion; I didn't have any on hand, but I'll bet it would taste fantastic!)
• Beat the egg, oil and vanilla with a fork in a measuring cup.
• Slowly add the oil, egg and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Pulse and scrape down (repeat) until it's a consistent texture.
• Add the water, a little bit at a time, until it all forms one ball.
• Put half of the dough on parchment paper, and using a bit of flour, roll it until it's thin. Cover it with plastic wrap (I actually didn't because my dough was damp enough that I didn't think it needed it), and put it into the fridge on a cookie sheet to keep it flat. Do the same with the other half. Leave them in there for half an hour or more.

• Preheat the oven to 350.
• Take out one part of dough. Roll the slab thinner.
• Prick it all over with a fork. Paint some water onto the dough. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Lightly roll the salt down so it sticks. Cut them into whatever shape you like - a pizza cutter worked really well to cut into squares.
• Slide the parchment paper full of pre-crackers onto a pan, and place it in the oven. Watch them closely. Depending on your idea of "thin," they could take 8 to 25 minutes to cook. I copied Kristin and took off the outer (thinner) ones as they browned, then put the rest back in to cook more, repeating this process a couple of times.
• Cool completely on a rack before storing in an airtight jar.

And Kristin's copied suggestions, because I love her style: "Instead of garlic and onion, try cheese. Or herbs. Or seeds. Or, you know, whatever floats yer boat. This is your cracker! Have a party." Have a party, indeed! Thanks, Kristin!

Has anyone else made crackers? Have a recipe or technique to share? Please do!

a roll

I seem to be on a thrifting roll lately. Today's finds: this beautiful bowl, and something else I've been hoping to find for a long time: a handmade surprise mug. Total: $2.30.

Phillip looked out of the window on Sunday morning and yelled, "Mama! A one-legged something was in our backyard!"

I hope you're having a good week. Mine has been full and busy, as usual. A lot of driving to and from students again this week. 10 degrees (celsius) and wet today - I was going to and from the car with no coat this afternoon (after the rain was done, of course.) This is January. And the snow pictured was from the weekend. Crazy.

Good night!