Madison Cruise-In

A couple weeks ago Nathan and I and my parents piled into the Blueberry and drove her up to Madison, GA for a cruise-in. It was a lot of fun even though it ended early due to bad weather moving in. Here are a few pictures.

Strawberry Rhubarb Butter

On of my favorite websites is Food in Jars. I used a lot of her recipes for canning last year and just made Strawberry-Rhubarb Butter using with the strawberries we picked. Butter always takes a lot of time to cook down but it is worth the time.

Sourdough Bread

I stole a cup of sourdough starter from my mom a couple weeks ago and I've been re-familiarizing myself with feeding and making bread. I forgot how long it takes this stuff to rise because I'm so used to using yeast that only takes 2 hours to rise instead of 8. Anyway it all came back to me after my first attempt last week flopped. This week it turned out perfect! I let it rise all night and baked it off as soon as I got up. There is nothing like warm sourdough with butter.

Picking Strawberries

Yesterday we got up and headed over to Bell Farms to pick strawberries with the nieces and the Cook family. Thankfully we got there earlier so it wasn't quite as hot and with all the little helping hands we were done in an hour. I've already frozen 3 gallons and I plan to make strawberry rhubarb butter with my last gallon.






We planted all of our herbs last week and Nathan is going to put our peppers, eggplant, tomatoes in the ground today. We can't wait for summer produce!

We Made It

Sorry for the lack of post these past weeks but except for the few minutes on the in-laws computer I've been without internet. We now have web access at our little guest house so I'm finally posting our travel pictures. Some of these will look a little like this post last September just going in the other direction.

We left Sioux City, IA at 4:45 on March 21st.

We stopped in Paducah, KY and I would have stayed forever.

I thought this would be great for outdoor restaurant seating.

The Ohio river...I didn't know it was so big!

Almost there!

Another Bend In The Road

We'll God has new plans for us down in Ga. We're packing up right now and heading back on Monday.
Nathan already has a couple interviews lined up in Savannah and Macon. Depending on where we get jobs we'll either live in Macon or Statesboro. We are very excited to be close to family and friends again.
We're very sad to be leaving our church family here in Iowa. We have been so welcomed and cared for during our time here. Our fellow believers will be greatly missed. Please keep us in your prayers!

Rye Bread

I made this bread two weeks ago and it was really yummy but due to limited time I didn't let it rise quite long enough. Yesterday I had the day off and had plenty of time to let it rise so I tried again and it was even better! The pictures are from my first round two weeks ago so they aren't as pretty as my loaves yesterday.





Dark Rye Bread
(recipe from The Cheese Board Collective Works)

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup medium or dark rye flour
2 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons lukewarm water
1 Tablespoon blackstrap or dark unsulfured molasses

In a small bowl, whisk the yeast into the warm water until dissolved. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In the a separate large bowl, combine the flours, salt, and caraway seeds.

Add the yeast mixture, lukewarm water, and molasses to the large bowl with the flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are combined. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and a bit shiny.

Form the dough into a ball and place it in a large oiled bowl. Turn the dough over to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 3/4 hours, or until doubled in size.

Lightly flour a baking sheet. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into an oval and place on the prepared pan. Using a spray bottle, mist the loaves with water and sprinkle them with flour. Spread the flour smoothly over the tops. Cover with a floured kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 12/ hours, or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression.

Fifteen minutes before the bread has finished rising, remove all but the middle rack from the oven. Preheat the oven to 375F. Slash the top of each loaf and wait at least 10 minutes for the slashes to begin to open.

Place the loaves in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the baking sheet front to back to ensure even baking. Bake 20-25 minutes longer, for a total baking time of 40-45 minutes, or until the bread is deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.