Whiteley Creek Homestead

twiggy’s treasures

October 22, 2009

Late this afternoon, I returned 15 library books that I had checked out for my grandkids for their visit from New Jersey two weeks ago. It seemed a waste of a trip to town just for this one errand, so I pulled into an open parking spot directly across the street from a shop called Twiggy's Treasures. I had learned of the shop from my friend, Jackie, who had stopped by the shop during her stay at my bed and breakfast over MEA (Minnesota Education Association) Weekend. Now how does it happen that an out-of-towner discovers such a fun funky shop with "an eclectic mix of vintage treasures at very affordable prices" (quote from owners' facebook page) before I do? The two owners, who just opened their business on October 5, have created an artsy oasis in downtown Brainerd (Minnesota) on a stretch of street whose neighbors include Coco Moon Coffee Shop, Cat Tales Book Store, The Bead Shop, Between Friends Yarn Shop, and Downtown Art and Frame Company. Their wares are creatively displayed in "rooms" formed by using a sofa, chairs, and various other tables and shelves that hold merchandise but also serve a secondary function of warmth and coziness. One of the owners practices Reiki, which she offers in a corner of the shop. According to the International Center for Reiki Training, Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. Thursday evenings, the shop is open for special events. Tonight they were offering wine or cider and snacks with music by Emily Hammer, a singer songwriter guitarist. Just a bit ago, I listened to some of her music on her MySpace Page. Oh, I do wish I had braved the cold temps in the low 30s tonight to listen to her perform. I got too comfortable curled up in my flannel pjs and by the time I realized what I was missing… it was too late. Take a listen… http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=181422081

I came away with this old but well-preserved lap quilt sewn in cheerful bright colors and a bonus of polished stones. The stones are "gratitude stones" for placing a monetary donation in a jar to be used for women in need. The shop's owner recently organized an event that raised $50,000.00 for the cause, which was matched dollar for dollar by the Brehmer Foundation in Brainerd. The donation jar is to add to the fund.
sunny fruit slices

October 19, 2009

Sometimes people, ever so effortlessly, make one's life happier by little gestures that come about because they paid attention to… made a mental note of… the most minute detail that could be so easily missed. For example, I ever so briefly mentioned "sunny fruit slices" in a September 14, 2009 post regarding a stop at St. Cloud. Minnesota's Good Earth Food Co-op. Here's the sentence from that post: "Today I brought home pluots (plum and apricot cross), a heavenly fragrant herbal orange spice tea, organic "sunny fruit slices" (like candy orange slices except they come in many different fruity flavors and are mini bite-size pieces) that are always so fresh, 4 lbs of buffalo meat which I can get at our Brainerd Farmers Market but only one day a month and sometimes I'm not able to make it in that day, a little chunk of nitrite-free hormone-free antibiotic-free ham to slice and brown a little for breakfast alongside deep-orange yolked eggs that only come from free range hens that can eat bugs, worms, seeds, and other naturally occurring outdoor things… I can't wait for breakfast, and 6 ears of organically-grown sweet corn." This is one very long sentence and yet there it is, buried deep within the heart of the sentence… sunny fruit slices. In the post, I didn't elaborate on how much I love the glittery coating on their exterior that looks so very much like snowflakes. I didn't describe the soft gelled interior with its authentic fruity flavor. I didn't go on about the lovely cheerful colors. Yet, what did a bed and breakfast guest and her sweet 7 year-old daughter present to me as a gift this past weekend when they came to stay? Yes, a little bag of these treats from the St. Cloud Good Earth Food Co-op. Thank you, Jackie and Maeve, for noticing the little things and realizing that the greatest joy comes from the simplicities of life. Happy 32nd birthday today, Lisa! Love, Your Momma
indoor classroom

October 18, 2009

The month of October has been unseasonably chilly. By mid-October, we have had three snowfalls and morning lows in the 20s for more days than I care to keep track of. It's just not right. Our normally amazing peak autumn leaf color, that generally occurs around the 3rd week in September, didn't occur because September was too warm to trigger the onset of fall colors. Then, at the beginning of October, the heat source switch was flipped off. The green leaves froze on the trees and have been fluttering to the ground alongside some that managed to change color. I decided to quit waiting for the weather to turn around and, instead, snuggle into my indoor surroundings. I had been studying my nutrition and herbology curriculum on my backporch but, when I had to struggle to turn the books' pages with my gloves on, change was imminent. A large round table positioned near a bright window in my living room, became my indoor classroom. However, I had papers scattered everywhere. It wasn't even remotely conducive to studying. This afternoon, I searched for a receptacle to corral my textbooks and set up a file system to organize my steadily growing paperload. What I came up with is an old oak file drawer that I had purchased at a yard sale or antique store at some point in time. It's very large… perfect for what I have to contain in it with room for additional items as I progress through my terms.
honey caramel apples

October 16, 2009

Cream and honey… a honey crisp apple… a perfect pairing. This coating tastes as good as the Kraft version requiring unwrapping 40 caramels, it adheres to the apple instead of forming a puddle at the base of the apple, prep/cooking time is equivalent to the Kraft version, and it consists of three ingredients versus Kraft caramel's eight ingredients (corn syrup, sugar, skim milk, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, whey, cream, salt, and artificial flavor). Heidi Swanson, the mastermind behind the 101cookbooks.com blog where I discovered this recipe in her October 2008 archives, recommends a mild clover honey when making the caramels. I only had buckwheat honey, which is at the opposite end of the honey spectrum with its dark color and dominant robust flavor, but I liked the somewhat pronounced taste of honey in the end product. Maeve, who stayed at our B&B with her mother Jackie over MEA (Minnesota Education Association) Weekend, apparently anticipated that she was going to like them just as much… based upon her expression. After biting into the apple, Maeve queried, "Momma, these caramels have an interesting flavor – what do you think it is?" Jackie told me, "I should have guessed that they weren't just some caramels from a package."

Honey Caramel Apples

6 – 8 small cold unwaxed apples (I had enough caramel to coat 10 apples. The number is determined by how thick you prefer the coating.)

1 cup heavy cream

½ tsp sea salt

1 cup honey

candy thermometer

popsicle sticks, lollipop sticks, or twigs

Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper. Push a popsicle stick, lollipop stick, or twig deep into each apple through the stem end. Fill a large bowl ½ full with ice water and set aside. In a medium thick-bottomed saucepan, heat the cream and salt until tiny bubbles start forming where the milk touches the pan (just before a simmer). Stir in the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to an active simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 15-20 minutes or until the mixture reaches about 255-260°F. To stop the caramel from cooking, gently and carefully set the bottom of the saucepan in the bowl of cold water being careful not to get any of the water into the caramel. Stir until caramel begins to thicken up. You want the caramel to be thin enough that it will easily coat the apples but not so thin that it will run right off. If the caramel thickens too much, simply put the pot back on the burner to heat it up a bit. (I did this and it softens perfectly.) Tilt the saucepan so all of the caramel forms a pool on one side, then dunk and twirl each apple until it is thoroughly coated with caramel. You can also drizzle caramel over the apple with a spoon. Place each apple on the parchment-lined baking sheet and allow the caramel to cool and set.
squash toadstools

October 14, 2009

When my October 2009 Martha Stewart Living Magazine arrived in the mail recently, I immediately knew that my next trip to the local farmers market would include a hunt for varying sizes and colors of squash to create toadstools pictured on the magazine's cover. Then today's craft segment on Martha Stewart's T.V. show featured the toadstools, so it was the inspiration that I needed to make some of my own for an autumn table centerpiece set atop a little carpet of moss.

Martha's directions stated to cut the top off a squash for the toadstool's cap, remove the insides, then press the "cap" down onto the base squash (the toadstools' stem). I simplified the process by just turning the "cap" squash upside down (without cutting the top off and removing the insides), then I poked its woody stem into the base squash. Simple as that… done. Last night, and today on this overcast drizzly mid-October day, I turned on the light inside the tiny house. So cozy…
breakfast custard

October 10, 2009

The first snowy groundcover… so pretty, but it brought my garden prep for next year's planting to an abrupt halt. A shovel and a wheelbarrow are the only remnants of digging in the dirt on a warm afternoon one short week ago.

A hot bowl of oatmeal would have been perfect on this cold morning, but I chose instead to make Creamy Coconut Custard, a recipe from Jane Kinderlehrer's Smart Breakfasts Cookbook to change things up a bit. It turned out to be a warm soothing choice that has the same ingredients as a bowl of oatmeal drizzled with milk and topped with bananas, nuts, and seeds… just combined in a different way to produce an entirely new end-product proving that breakfast can be as varied as dinner and supper. My daughter Lisa and two of our grandkids from New Jersey flew in for a little visit. We couldn't refill our 1 ½ year-old granddaughter's bowl of custard fast enough. Even our grandson, who somewhat dislikes coconut, finished his off.

Creamy Coconut Custard

1 1/3 cups milk

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

4 eggs

2 tbsp molasses (I used maple syrup. Honey would be a good substitution too.)

1 ½-2 cups mashed ripe banana

½ tsp nutmeg

1 cup granola

Combine milk and coconut in small saucepan. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat eggs; stir in coconut milk, and remaining ingredients. Pour into oiled casserole dish or divide the mixture among 6 oiled custard cups. Place the casserole dish or custard cups in a cake pan then pour water around them to a depth of 1 inch. Bake for 30 minutes or until custard is set. Top with granola. Serve warm or serve cold with a pitcher of hot milk on the side.
kitchen cabinets… pre

October 6, 2009

In an email that I received from my daughter Lisa yesterday, she simply stated, "ok… so i'm getting sort of tired of the stewed prunes picture." Like Lisa, if you have been checking my blog lately, you haven't seen much going on… just the prunes for 9 days. I have been doing things. For starters, I have been painting my kitchen cabinets. Here's a "before" photo. I only had one little corner left that had some of the old color… Martha Stewart Hollyhock Red… that I am painting over top of. It's not that I disliked the red color that covers a dark 1970s stain. The problem is that I only have a single small window over my kitchen sink and, when we added our backporch 13 years ago, I no longer had direct sunlight streaming in. Therefore, I needed to brighten up the kitchen by altering the one thing that would create the most impact… the cabinets.

So I have been painting… with some time out today to bake a batch of iced ginger cookies. It was that kind of day… a chilly autumn cookie baking kinda day.
stewed prunes

September 27, 2009

I sliced into a loaf of autumn zucchini bread, that I made yesterday, to serve with stewed prunes for Dick's and my breakfast this morning. If you had an aversion to prunes as a kid, give them another go-round. You may discover that your attitude toward them has changed over the years.

Stewed Prunes

Makes about six ½-cup servings.

2 cups prunes, pitted or not

2 ½ cups water or orange juice

Combine prunes and water in saucepan. Cover and simmer gently until prunes are soft, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Among other valuable nutrients, each serving has 4 grams of fiber.
autumn zucchini bread

September 26, 2009

I have all of my ingredients prepped and measured to make loaves of zucchini bread… seems like a perfect thing to do on a late September day. The colors of the ingredients even look like autumn. I found a recipe on one of my favorite recipe blogs, 101 cookbooks, which I highly recommend for nutritious recipes. (Thank you to my daughter, Lisa, for suggesting that I check out the blog.) This particular recipe needed a little "cleaning up", so I substituted 1/2 cup maple syrup for the 1 ½ cups sugar and added in dried cranberries for some additional natural sweetness. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger so that provides some sweetness, too. I used pureed prunes and applesauce instead of 1/2 cup butter. To pump up the nutrition and vary the texture as well as the visual appeal, I threw in some raw sunnies in place of some of the walnuts.

This is what crystallized (candied) ginger looks like, so you know what to look for.

I draped unbleached parchment paper inside four little bread pans then scooped the batter into them. The paper makes post-baking removal a cinch. You wouldn't need to leave as much overhang as I did… kinda ridiculous.

This zucchini bread is seriously… I mean seriously yummy. You'd never believe that it has no butter, oil, or sugar. The subtle little bursts of candied ginger, the sweet chewiness of the dried cranberries, and the crunch of the walnuts and sunflower seeds makes a perfect mix of flavors and texture.

Autumn Zucchini Bread

~~½ cup unsalted butter~~ (I substituted *¼ cup baby food prunes + ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce.)

~~1 ½ cups sugar~~ (I substituted ½ cup pure maple syrup.)

~~3 eggs~~ (I reduced to 2 eggs because of the extra liquid from the pureed prunes and applesauce.)

2 tsp vanilla

~~1 ½ cups chopped walnuts~~, plus a few to sprinkle on top (I substituted ½ cup walnuts, ½ cup raw sunflower seeds, and ½ cup dried cranberries.)

1/3 cup poppy seeds (optional)

zest of two lemons (optional)

½ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

3 cups grated zucchini (about 3 medium) skins on (If the shredded zucchini is overly juicy, you can squeeze some of the liquid out then refluff.)

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

~~1 tsp salt~~ (I reduced to ½ tsp salt.)

1 tsp cinnamon

Needed: Two 4 X 8 loaf pans or four 3 ½ X 6 inch loaf pans.

Preheat oven to 350°. Line the pans with unbleached parchment paper leaving a couple inches overhang on each long side to lift bread out easily after baking. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a mixer, combine the prunes, applesauce, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Gently mix or stir in walnuts, sunnies, dried cranberries, poppy seeds and lemon zest (if using), crystallized ginger, and zucchini. In a separate bowl. whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet, mixing just until combined. Do not overmix. Divide the batter equally among the loaf pans. You can sprinkle a few chopped walnuts on top before baking for added texture and visual appeal, if you like. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. To finish cooling on the wire rack, take loaves out of pans and remove parchment paper to prevent soggy bottoms. Makes 2 -4 loaves depending upon size of pans. *A tiny jar of baby food prunes = ¼ cup.

I wrapped one loaf for my friend Debbie, whose birthday is today. The acorns are plunking like raindrops onto the walkway between our railroad car tearoom and the backporch, so I snatched one to tie onto the top for an autumn touch.  (A helpful hint: I removed the loaf from the pan to cool on a wire rack and peeled the paper off after a little bit so it could cool completely and not get soggy. When the loaf was cool, I wrapped a fresh piece of parchment paper around it and placed it into a clean foil pan.) Deb and I celebrate our birthdays together each year since they are 4 days apart, so we are meeting up tomorrow. I am preparing lunch. Besides the homemade zucchini bread, I'm giving her three waffle-weave dishcloths housed in a retro looking box, a dozen free-range chicken eggs with deep orange nutrient-packed yolks, and a pound of locally-raised ground buffalo. I'm thinking that she hasn't tried buffalo before.
Ann Louise Gittleman

September 23, 2009

There are just not enough bars in South Dakota… the bars indicating a strong cell phone service signal, that is. As we traveled west across the plains of South Dakota, wound our way through the Black Hills, then today began our trek east back to Minnesota, cell phone service has been hit and miss. Disappointedly, I was not able to access this nonrequired conference call tonight that was set up through Clayton College of Natural Health where I am earning my Bachelor's Degree in Holistic Nutrition, but I'm pleased to learn that Ann Louise Gittleman is an adjunct professor at the college. In fact, she earned her doctorate degree from CCNH. I purchased Ms. Gittleman's book Fat Flush Plan several years ago, which I am so impressed with. It is a good primer to get one started with the basics of a healthy lifestyle… nothing wacky… just good old-fashioned wholesome nutrition and exercise. I'm hoping the session will be recorded with access to the recording provided at a later date.

Conference Call
Wednesday, September 23
7:00 p.m. Central Time

Ann Louis Gittleman, PhD — CCNH adjunct professor for Holistic Nutrition

Join CCNH Adjunct Professor of Holistic Nutrition, Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD for this week’s discussion, Your Thyroid: The Metabolic Master Mind. Learn how to properly assess thyroid function and address deficiencies naturally.