Kombucha

Joel and I started our very first batch of kombucha last Sunday and today we pulled it out to give it a look before bottling it up tomorrow with raisins and possible other additions.... We are very happy with the new scoby's growth (look how thick it is!!!) and excited to enjoy the finished product come next week. Here are some photos!

In other news, here's a "joke" told to me by Joel:

The doctor comes in and tells a woman who has just given birth, "Well, I have some bad news. Your son...is a giant eyeball."

She responds appropriately in horror, "Oh no! That's dreadful!"

The doctor continues, "There's worse news...he's blind."

After hearing this, I apparently did not respond appropriately and failed to laugh. Joel's reaction is that it's because I'm a woman and women can't appreciate high art.

Jenny Pastor

We've survived the wedding day, returned from the honeymoon (see picture below for information on who we shared one of our campsites with for a few nights)moved in to a room in a house in Ithaca, NY, went back to Norman for a funeral, visited people in D.C. and Mississippi, and returned to our new home in time to start planting things.....

As for planting things, we also have new friends, Sydney and Erin Penner. Sydney is a farmer and has 6 of the Cornell student garden plots at his disposal (totaling I think he said 3600 sq ft? I'm not quite sure.....). They're about to leave to visit his parents in Nova Scotia and we're going to weed a bit of their garden while they're away, and maybe use a bit of the leftover space (the beans never came up) to plant a bit of our own stuff!

Before knowing this, I had started what I assumed would be a rather meager garden for this year, some zucchini and herbs, and a new addition of some tomato plants. Unfortunately, while scoping out the best spot in our yard for a garden, I was informed that one of the rather large trees was a black walnut....which exudes a toxin, particularly harmful to tomato plants and potatoes. Luckily, they don't seem to harm squash nor carrots.... So, the offer of garden space was great! We'll keep the majority of the zucchini and herbs, and a few tomato plants in pots, but the others, off to the bigger and less toxin-infested garden.

We've also, as of today, started a little compost pile. While raking up some old leaves to cover the kitchen scraps with, I saw some of the biggest earthworms I've ever seen! They're thicker than a pencil and as long as....well...an unsharpened pencil. So, pencil-sized. Anyway, that's pretty big for a worm! So, yay for fertile soil (toxic maybe, but at least fertile for that which can grow....).

More to come, later, I'm sure....

Apartment!

We signed a lease! The lease doesn't actually start until August because a few complications (the current tenant subleased it until August instead of only until June and the paperwork wasn't turned in until the morning we looked at apartments, thus not seen by the guy showing us around until we were at the office to sign a lease). But, the apartment is connected to the back of a five-bedroom house and it may just work out that we can rent "a room" in said house for June and July, have the whole house to ourselves, and only have to move from there to the back.... We're praying. :-)

So, on to the pictures of the place where we'll be from August until next June....

Here's the "bedroom" which may look strangely like a loft to some of you, but really, it's a bedroom, just without any interior walls.... It's only five feet tall at the peak, but look at all the light from the window and from the skylight!



Moving on down from the loft, here is the kitchen. Quite a few cabinets for its size, a skylight overhead (not the same one you saw in the picture of the loft), a nice fridge/freezer, an apartment-sized oven, and a teeny bit of counter space (but more than some of the ones we looked at!).

Now, down to the first level, ground level. This is the front door, and more windows! On the left, you will see the doors to the one closet in the entire place. The ceiling is the same as the floor of the loft. On the right is room for some bookcases and maybe a desk.

This is the other side of the same room; it's rather a long room, you see. In this picture you can also see how they connect a bit. A few steps up to the kitchen, and a ladder up to the loft. There is a rail connected to the ladder. (Becky is glad there is a rail, for she hates stairs!)

Here is a closer few of the connection between the three levels, and the doorway to the bathroom (I figured you didn't really need pictures of it....). The strange person in the red jacket is none other than my dear fiance.

Here is another picture of one of the skylights. It's the one you saw in the first picture and is directly above the couch (seen in another one of the pictures). We can hang things from the beams!!! Like plants and drying herbs and stuff!!!

Here is a picture of the doors to the back porch/deck! It's huge. There's space for a table, chairs, and a grill, plus more space for pots and the like! They even said I could plant things in the backyard if I wanted to. Yay! This door is located to the right of the couch, if one were sitting in it. Ooooo, and do you notice that the floor of this level is wood? Yay for dancing and the like!

There you go! I hope you enjoyed the tour. :-)

By the way...

Joel got into Cornell! This is choice number two and we found out a lot earlier than we were expecting. Yale (choice #1) will let him know either late February or early March. So, not sure exactly where, but I'll definitely be moving to the Northeast come late May! Ithaca, NY or New Haven, CT.

Gooey Cake

93 days until I get married!!! :-) Yay!

Right now there is a "gooey fudge cake" in my oven. Intriguing recipe. You make the main batter, then top it with cocoa-enhanced brown sugar (a lot of it), and then drizzle boiling hot water on top! Afterwards into the oven for forty minutes. I hope it turns out well.

"What's the occasion?" you might ask.... Is it a Valentine's Day treat for my fiance? Nope. Just for fun? Nope. It's for my daddy! Today he gave his two weeks' notice to one of his jobs! He's been working two full time jobs for around six years now (yes, that means 80 hours a week). The one that he's quitting he'd been working at for over 25 years. Anyway, he's been promising to quit for about.....6 years now(to his credit, while stalling he paid off an incredible amount of debt, almost unbelievable). But, today is a day to celebrate! Dad loves chocolate, so why not gooey fudge cake? I haven't figured out dinner yet, but I figure I have some time (Mom and Dad don't get off until 10:45 PM).

In other news, I'm learning a lot about potting soil. Chocolate cake, mud pies, potting soil....all run together, right? No, I didn't put any dirt into the cake. I wonder if cocoa powder would be good for soil.... Anyway, I'm doing an independent study class to finish up my botany minor. I worked a bit with soils last semester, comparing different mixes (Hyponex=eeew!, Expert Grower=strong start, deplorable finish, Miracle Gro=not bad, Cal's=much much better). Cal is the greenhouse manager at OU and is full of plant wisdom. He mixes his own soil and it's quite a good mix. Unfortunately, I won't always be around Norman to get soil directly from Cal. And, although I have his recipe, it won't particularly be practical for me, at least not for quite a few years.

So, what do I do knowing I have to use sub-par soil? I amend it! So, that's my experiment for the independent study. I bought the Expert Grower potting mix, knowing it was not the greatest, but also not the worst, and fairly reasonably priced. We've mixed in various things and potted up some zinnias in the new mixes. Now I have to watch and record any happenings. I'm excited! Did you know that you can tell a lot about soil from how it smells? It's true! Anyway, if you have any soil questions, feel free to ask and I'll be happy to tell you what I've learned so far. No guarantees. ;-)

around 42 hours

spent in airports or on planes this weekend.

moral: don't fly through Chicago in midwinter.

Semester's beginnings...

So, the semester has started, as of Tuesday. I enjoy my classes so far and have not yet decided whether or not to clep out of government. In the meantime I'm in Boren's class, along with about....199 freshman. One of these today thoroughly disgusted me. I've seen people text message during class before....especially in a class so large. What I have never seen is this: said freshman was text messaging and did NOT have his/her phone on silent!!! And it wasn't one short little text message. The beeping lasted for well over a minute, with slight pauses. AAAAAGH! *ripping-hair-out motion*

Anyway, I have to pack before going to my next class. My whole (well, not quite, immediate plus a few) family is getting together this weekend in Mississippi. It's Josiah's first birthday on Monday! So, maybe I will post later, but no promises as Josiah's cuteness may keep me far from a computer.

Bread update

The bread turned out rather well.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread -one 8 x 4-inch loaf

• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened oat bran cereal
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 and 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, oat bran, brown sugar, yeast, salt and cinnamon.

In a small saucepan, heat the water and butter until warm (105 degrees F to 115), then gradually stir the water mixture into the flour mixture.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cover the dough with a clean dish towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly oil an 8 x 4 inch pan.

On the lighlty floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12 x 7 inch rectangle. Beginning at the short end, roll up tightly as for a jellyroll. Pinch the seam and ends to seal. Place, seam side down, in the prepared pan. Cover the pan with the dish towel and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

From Bob's Red Mill Baking Book, page 90.

Instead of unsweetened oat bran cereal I used Raisin Bran (more or less attempting to avoid adding in raisins) and reduced the brown sugar to about one and a half tablespoons. And instead of heating the water and butter in a saucepan, I just let the tap water heat up until steamy, added the butter and stirred until it melted and let it cool to the point where it was still quite warm, but didn't hurt to stick my finger in it.

Also, who waits until the bread is cool to taste-test? Especially the first time through a recipe? I know I don't have that patience and rather enjoy my bread still warm from the oven. :-) It has a nice dense grainy texture and a good, slightly crunchy crust. Yummy. The cinnamon isn't overpowering and it's not particularly sweet.

Happy New Year!!

Well, it's been rather a long time since I've written, but rather than trying to catch up I think I'll just write whatever comes to mind.

It is now 2008 and three days until my 21st birthday. Joel's coming into town for a day or so and we're helping host an Epiphany dinner Saturday night. That should be a lot of fun. And there will be champagne. :-)

I've been cooking a lot these past few days. I've baked chicken, made risotto at least twice, some pasta stuff (with zucchini! yay for zucchini!), baked "skillet cornbread", a loaf or two of bread, some muffins, and I have two batches of cookie dough in the fridge chilling. It's been fun, but unfortunately means that I've been washing a few more dishes than usual as well. I've learned that with some things you should maybe make them more than twice using a recipe before experimenting without referencing anything even as a guideline (this comes from the second batch of risotto...quite funny taste...maybe too much chicken buillon...).

There's been some progress with wedding planning and such. I've started addressing "save-the-date" postcards. So far mostly only family from the addresses compiled by my sister, sister-in-law and some additions from my mother(I never knew how many relatives I had!). The date is May 17th, by the way. :-)

One of my Christmas presents was a new ESV Reformed study Bible from my soon-to-be in-laws. I really like it! I had forgotten what it was like to have a study bible. I had a teen study bible but about seven years ago my brother gave me a little pocket sized NASB and that's the only one I'd used consistently since then. With the gift I've seen a surge in reading which I hope I can continue on with consistently. I'm in Deuteronomy right now, as well as the Psalms.

My sister is engaged, her guy gave her a football and she said yes. There was a ring attached. Cute story. She's pretty excited about it.

Work starts back up tomorrow 6:30 AM. I'll miss the free time, but it will be nice to get up early again. I've been getting up around 8:30, but it feels so late. It's good that classes don't start up again until the 14th. I'll have time to readjust to getting up early before having to also be alert and paying attention to lectures.

I'd better go check on the cinnamon bread in the oven. Ciao.