Front Doors

Our upcoming church art show is about "Proclaiming" the Gospel. 

I'm thinking a lot about our parental responsibility to "proclaim" the Gospel at home first and not overlook the ministry to our families for the sake of the command to "Go and make disciples..." 

Because God also commanded, "Fathers, bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Ephesians 6

And He commands, "And these words... teach them diligently to your children." Deuteronomy 6.  

So I'm painting the front doors of six Christian households from our church, all of whom are raising kids in the Lord while also sharing the Gospel with the larger world. 

A strong Christian home might be the best proclamation of the Gospel in a world where families are often falling apart. 

I'm finished with three doors including my own. 

I'll be painting the next three in the next few days, since the deadline approaches. 

Snow

The amount of snow we are getting is putting my new-found love of winter to the test. 

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Adele came up to me, pointing at Ree Drummond's chocolate sheet cake recipe and asked, "Mom. I'm bored. Can I make this?" 

Of course, I said, "Yes."

After it had cooled a little, we cut big pieces and ate it and watched Bill Cosby's skit about giving his kids chocolate cake for breakfast. 

And then, full confession, she and I had some of this cake for breakfast the next day. 

(It's better the second day because the frosting sets and crystalizes. Wow!)

Turnipseed Sisters' Loaf

I'm making a bread that rises with hops starter instead of traditional packaged yeast. 

In a previous post, I explained that I had to make the hops starter with liquid steeped from hops flowers, mashed potatoes, corn meal, etc. 

This concoction sat out on my counter in a warm spot until it got bubbly. 

This took more than 24 hours; It actually took two days! 

Once it was bubbly, I transferred it to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and left it in the fridge until the liquid separated from the solids (as instructed by the recipe). 

Once that happened, I mixed the liquids and solids together again, added a cup of this starter to flour, salt, sugar, etc. and left it out on the counter overnight to create what is called a sponge. 

This is the first bread I've made that required a sponge, so I didn't know what to expect. The recipe said it would be bubbly. 

In the morning, this is what the sponge looked like. 

To this sponge, I mixed in more flour and some lard then kneaded the dough for several minutes by hand. 

Then I left the dough to rise for the first time in a bowl for a little more than two hours. (It takes longer for bread rising without traditional yeast to rise, apparently.) 

Then I split the dough into two lumps and shaped them into loaves and placed them in pans. 

I let the loaves rise another two hours until they were coming over the top of the pans. 

I baked them as directed and... Beautiful! 

They smell amazing! 

I can't wait to taste them! 

Potato Rolls and Hopps Starter

Amazing things are happening in my kitchen today. 

Adele and I both had plans that required baked mashed potatoes. 

So we started our day baking potatoes. 

Then, Adele used the potatoes to make homemade potato rolls... 

to go with the meatloaf and carrots she is making (under benevolent supervision) for dinner tonight. 

Wow! 

(Adele is often so busy in our kitchen now that I am somewhat relegated to sous chef/ dihswasher, but I can't say I mind.)

It's a joy to watch her and advise her when needed. 

And I get to eat what she makes. 

Today, I also made hopps starter with my portion of the morning's baked potatoes. 

This is a mixture of a "hopps tea" made from dry hopps flowers steeped like tea, then strained, then some of the "tea" is boiled with cornmeal, then all of everything is mixed in a big bowl with mashed potatoes, sugar and salt... 

this ferments on my counter in a warm spot for at least twenty four hours...

before mellowing in the fridge for a few days... 

before I stir it and use it to make the next bread in Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Bread. 

Like I said, amazing things are happening here! 

Art and Design

Avril's taking Around the World Through Art and Design with Delightful Art Co. this year. 

This is a recent project done in the style of Australian dot art. 

The girls have taken Delight Art Co. classes for years. 

And their skills have grown year by year. 

These art classes been a great way to infuse our Classical homeschool curriculum with beauty and vitality. 

Your Best Friend's Recipes

I was at my BFF's house while she was making dinner, so her recipe box was out and open and I had occasion to flip trough it. 

I took pics of some recipes that sounded good to me. 

Flipping through a best friend's recipe box is great idea that I can't believe I hadn't thought to do before then. 

What a great way to get some new ideas!