Cuckoo for crackers!

Homemade Sourdough Crackers

Really...anyone can make these.
I have been messing around with sourdough starter for nearly a year now, and have come across some phenomenal recipes.
Plus, I have been adapting some artisan breads using sourdough starter in place of the yeast called for.
All winners, as far as I am concerned.

These crackers are one of the easiest I have ever done.

Find the recipe HERE

But I'll tell you right straight that there are only 4 ingredients to these...
sourdough starter, whole wheat flour, lard, and salt.
Then the sprinkles of your choice.

Sourdough crackers in the making...

One thing I find indispensable when making crackers is a Silpat baking thingy.
I got mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond
(that name always brings back memories of Toy Story's famous line..."To infinity...and beyond!)
for $15 each with my $5 off coupon...which by the way...never expire in spite of the fact that there is an expiration date on said coupon)
That's a lot of money, I know.
But I use mine all.the.time.

If indeed, you do take the time to look up this recipe, I will say that I have always used the lard called for.
It makes for a tender, yet very crispy cracker.
These roll out super thin, and if there is a bit of bare spot, the dough is so forgiving that you just mend it a bit with your fingers.
And I brush the rolled out dough with plain water, not olive oil.
They don't need the extra fat, and water works just as well for the herby sprinkles to stick.
I use a variety of herb toppings.
This week I used herbs de provence mixed with a bit of kosher salt.
Yesterday I tried some parmesan cheese, basil, and kosher salt.
You could also just have them plain, with a bit of sea salt.
Your call.
Just make 'em.
You'll be glad you did!

xoxo,
Cindy

P.S. Watch carefully, as they burn quickly. I always plan on staying in the kitchen while they bake, and usually have to remove the outer ones well before the rest are done.

Fermenting & Gardening On My Mind

Cookbooks and Gardening books are always on my night table

Because there is a lot of snow still on the ground and the skies are gray, I NEED something to bring a ray of hope.
Gardening books and cookbooks are just the ticket.
I have a plethora of them!!!
SO many ideas, so little time.

Organic Figs

I have made fermented apricot butter in the past and I love it!
When I saw the organic figs at Costco a couple of weeks ago, I knew I wanted to swap out the apricots for figs.

Fermented fig butter...YUM!

So I did!
All you need is a food processor, a bit of honey, some salt, and some whey.
I have all 4....so I jumped right in.
I like to use about 1 TBL or so of the fermented fruit spread in a kefir smoothie.
Gives it just a bit of sweetness, and mellows out the tangy flavor of the kefir.

Fermented fruit butter

4 cups unsulphured dried apricots or figs
1 TBL sea salt
1/4 cup liquid whey
1/4 to 1/2 cup raw, unfiltered honey (I use 1/4)

Cook fruit in filtered (I use my well water, straight from the tap) water to cover until fruit is soft. This typically takes about 15 min. Watch carefully and add more water if necessary. I always have to add more water.
Let cool and place all ingredients in food processor and process till fairly smooth.
Place in a 1 QT mason jar and close lid tightly.
Leave on the counter for 2 days then refrigerate.
I like to take about 1 cup of this and put it in a separate jar and keep it in the fridge. I freeze the remainder in a jar and refill my small jar when necessary.

We have been using up the ferments from this fall at a rather rapid rate.
I think the kimchi is my favorite, with sauerkraut with caraway a close second.
Also the escabeche (fermented jalapenos, carrots, peppers...) is wonderful alongside any type of Mexican food. Mmm...good on a sourdough style sandwich too.
I have been doing a bit of research this winter on other kinds of ferments and hope to have some new ones to share as summer comes upon us and the fresh ingredients are once again available.
Meanwhile, I am happy knowing the spare fridge still has a few gallons of sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.

xoxo,
Cindy

I am an urban homesteader

Flower beds with potatoes thrown in for good measure

Herb garden

Lettuce, lettuce, and more lettuce.
Oh, and some beans and peas.

Rooster

Yes, I am an urban homesteader.

We live in a tiny college town in West Michigan.
We have 1.5 acres.
We grow a lot of our own veggies.
We built a hen house and raise chickens for eggs.

'Nuff said....

To see what all the hullabaloo is about...
HERE
and
HERE


In His grace,
Cindy

BEST.PIZZA.EVER.

Sourdough pizza crust with various toppings

I have been messing around with Jim Lahey's (of no-knead bread fame) new bread book, "My Bread". It doesn't have a lot of recipes, per se, but what it does have are recipes I have been using as a springboard to using more sourdough starter.
Cause I love the flavor of sourdough.
And cause I have a mah-vel-ous sourdough starter sitting on my counter that I have been taking very good care of for a long, long time.

If you have ever working with Lahey's no-knead recipe you will find it easy to change it up a bit, as you already know how wet the dough is supposed to be.
If you haven't, then I would at least try his basic recipe a couple of times so you get an idea of what it should look like.
You can google "New York Times no -knead bread" and you will easily find the recipe.
I have been making his bread for several years now, and it is always a big hit.
Even better now that I have been replacing the yeast with sourdough starter.
Just sayin'......

Sourdough starter

RECIPE: Makes two 13X18 pizzas

3 3/4 cups of bread flour
2 1/2 teas. salt
1 teas. sugar
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1- plus- cup of room temp. water...depends on what kind of day it is, really...I think I use about
1 1/4 cup of water

Mix all of the above (about 30 seconds) and let sit on the counter for about 2 hours, or until dough has more than doubled in volume. Dough will be fairly wet, but not runny.

Using a rubber spatula, remove the dough from the bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly shape into a ball.
Let sit another 30 min., covered with a damp kitchen towel.

Meanwhile, oil (olive oil) two 13 X 18" rimmed pans.

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees....yes, 500 degrees. Rack should be in the center.

Pick up 1/2 of the dough and plop it, floured side down, onto oiled pan. Gently stretch it to pretty much cover the entire pan. Don't worry about bringing the dough up the sides. Not necessary. If the dough sticks to your fingers, lightly oil them and continue.
Remember...this is a thin crust pizza!

Top with a small amt. of pizza sauce.
I use a recipe for homemade sauce I found at Food Network by Tyler Florence.
We love it and it's cheap and easy.
Too much will make the dough soggy and it will not crisp up well. Add toppings, but be careful not to overdo. Soggy pizza...not so good.

I used a jalapeno, finely diced, some thinly sliced onion, several tomatoes that I seeded and cut into small pieces, sliced green olives, and a bit of diced summer sausage.
Top with about 8-10 oz. of mozzarella cheese. Or cheese of your choice. Mmm...feta is good!

Bake for 15-25 minutes, watching carefully.
This is a thin, crispy crust, and it can easily go from lightly browned to crispy burned in a very short amount of time!

All of us have agreed that it is the BEST.PIZZA. EVER. to come out of my kitchen.
And I have been making pizzas for a very, very long time!

In His grace,
Cindy

Wordless Wednesday...

I can only imagine...

Sunset

From the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same...
The name of the Lord is to be praised!

Is that not just incredibly beautiful?
We were in the midst of making supper last night when we were totally and utterly distracted by this.
I must have taken 30 pictures from different parts of the west side of our house.
Took me over an hour to whittle them to down to 15.
Could hardly bear to delete even the imperfect ones.

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-28

If these words do not bring you comfort, I pray you will seek the One who gives everlasting life.
The Lord Jesus Christ.

In His grace,
Cindy

Indian Dal

Main Ingredient

Easy Peasy

Tho many Indian recipes can be complicated, for the most part, dals are not.
And they don't have to be incredibly spicy...your choice.

Moong Dal over Basmati Rice

I found the recipe HERE,
tho I didn't follow it exactly.
I left out the diced tomatoes, and also the asafoetida.
The asofoetida is difficult to find around here, and I have heard not good things about it's flavor.
Tho it is called for in many Indian recipes, most say it is optional.
I also increased the jalapeno to one whole, diced, without seeds.
Still not hot, but I think jalapeno's are just not that hot this time of year.

I had a couple of Tandoori Chicken thighs leftover from last night's supper, so those will get diced up and put in Farmboy's bowl.
The rice was also leftover from last night's supper, so really, this was a VERY easy peasy supper!

The whole kit-n-kaboodle only took about an hour to cook, and it is pretty much low maintenance.

In His grace,
Cindy

side note:
SO much going on in the world...we must keep our eyes upon Jesus.
HE is our only hope...

Glass half-full...

Fuzzy

I think I am a "glass half-full" kind of gal.
In the midst of a LOT of snow, I am looking to spring.
In the midst of heartache, I am looking at not what I don't have, but what I do have.
In the midst of tribulation, I am looking at deliverance from my God.
And saying all of that reminds me of this....

Sophia

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

In His peace,

Cindy

Cat photos...just because

Blue skies after the storm...and soup!

Our driveway.... two hours and $50 later...

Whew! Schools around here are closed for the 2nd day...not because of bad weather, but because the secondary roads have not all been cleared yet.
The neighbor kids are out in droves!

Ollie...sittin' pretty in the front window.

He wouldn't go outside yesterday for anything.
Oh...he thought about it!
He's stand by the door, scratch to get out, then as soon as we opened the door and he felt the wind, he'd high tail it back to safety!

A White Winter Soup recipe from Culinate.com

Perfect for the bone-chilling day we had yesterday!
A LOT like potato leek soup but with a whole head of cauliflower along with the potatoes and onions. I wasn't sure how that would all go together, but really, you could not even tell there was cauliflower in it.
Pureed till fairly smooth and creamy, it paired perfectly with some crusty sourdough no-knead bread.

It was delicious, and one that I will add to my long list of soup favorites.

Find the recipe HERE...

Homemade Vegetable Bouillon

The soup recipe above references some vegetable bouillon, with the recipe also on Culinate.
This stuff is GREAT!
Mix up the veggies, kosher salt, and herbs in the food processor and put it in a jar and keep it in the freezer.
I think it calls for 1.5 teas. per cup of water.
Perfect for when I don't have homemade chicken stock in the freezer.
If you are salt sensitive, keep in mind that the recipe makes 1 quart of bouillon (all ground up) and 1 cup of that is kosher salt.
Feel free to cut back on the salt.
I think you could easily cut it in half.

Find the recipe HERE...

And lastly, I am reading Ann Voskamp's book,
"One Thousand Gifts".
I am pretty much speechless....for now.
Absolutely incredible.

Keep in touch!

xoxo,
Cindy