Wacky Wednesday

It was a typical day, a day like any other. The sun was shining, and we had just finished doing a great cleanup job on the Family Room and all three bathrooms and then .... unexpectedly and unexplainably...fun broke out at our house. What is it we wondered? What can it be? Then we realized that today is Wacky Wednesday (Beginner Books(R))This book was one of our kids favorite and most requested books, so much so that Wacky Wednesday became incorporated into our everyday lives. We even ended up maintaining names for all the days of the week, usually in relation to our household chores or other events that typically happened on that day; Marvelous Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday-we often wore our clothes inside out that day (one of them usually did anyway) Thorough Thursday and Fun Friday.

After some school work we went to the park. (believe me it was also a wacky thing to do - it was still to cold out to spend any length of time!)

Faith is a place that I can go.....

If any of you know of the amazing story of Garden of Life founder, Jordon Rubin, then you will want to see this inspirational video, written and sung by Jordon himself. (I feel like I know him personally-I saw him speak live at a small health food store recently during his Change Your World American Tour. He certainly is a multi talented man and God has given him a message.
I love this song...

Super Sour Saturday!

I had such fun yesterday. I had the whole day to play. I happened to find a mother load of fresh but half price raw milk at my local Health Food store and bought not one, not 3 but 5 gallons of it! I wondered what to do with it all but could not pass up $4.39 per gallon. (Remember this is raw, living, full of enzymes raw milk- not dead, cooked, sterilized and highly allergenic pasteurized milk.) You can find raw milk cheaper but in my locale I have to travel about 45 min to find it at $5.50 straight from the farmer so I am content to buy it at normally $8.79 pr gallon upon occasion or as often as I can at $4.39 a gallon!

So what I did with it all!




I set one large glass jar on the counter to separate into curds and whey. The whey I will use for souring grains and all flour products, (muffins, pancakes, bread, etc,since whey keeps about 6 weeks in the fridge) and the solid I will be making into cream cheese of which I have plans to make a raw cheesecake to take up to Canada when I visit my grown children and their families next weekend)

Another gallon (and a half) I made 6 qts of kefir, (see first picture) and that is on my counter setting right now.






The third gallon (and a half) I made a big batch of yogurt, which is sitting on a heating pad covered in towels as we speak. (Notice the thermometer-95 degrees is perfect for 12 hours)

The fifth gallon is in my fridge for drinking and for on homemade buckwheat granola and other breakfast cereals.






But that is not all. I had a lot of fun souring other things yesterday as well. I made a beautiful batch of sauerkraut AND a jar of pineapple chutney, souring on my counter for two days and then put in the fridge for about 3 weeks or till gone which will probably be the later. Use a few tablespoons as a garnish to be eaten with meat to improve digestibility.

AND I made a quadruple batch of raw brownies, in my dehydrator right now (I can hear the hum of the dehydrator in the next room)


Lastly, I made a batch of kombucha tea, a fermented sour and sweet bubbly drink made from black tea.

And to finish it all off (or rather start off the day) I had Chocolate Mousse for breakfast. Yum. I pulled it over again on another unsuspecting victim. This time I asked Jonathan (17) if he would like some Chocolate Mousse and he cautiously took a taste. "OK, thanks Mom." He downed the whole thing!

Sorry, I must find humor in tricking my family into eating what they say they detest-frog. See my previous post on Chocolate Mousse to find out what frog is at my house!.

All of these recipes, except the mousse, are in the great kitchen book (not exactly a cookbook alone) Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats Get it from your library if you have to but you will quickly see the need to have your own copy.

Government as our New Religion?

I love homeschooling. One of the many reasons I love it and believe in it so much is that I have gotten a truly renewed mind and firt time education from teaching my own children.

Yesterday we were reading in one of my favorite book series, The Uncle Eric books by Richard Maybury, specifically, Whatever Happened to Justice? from Bluestocking Press. Today, since our laws are such a tangled mess and are based on political law (contrived - made up based on someone's ideas at the time, instead on common law (discovered law based on logic and moral sense) we as a society have created a new religion. Chapter 18 brings out an interesting point. He says,

"A major requirement for successful investing is the constant awareness that there is a new religion in the world. The god of this new religion is government and the ritual the worshipers perform is legislation. Faith in this new religion is deep and profound. The worshippers are convinced their god can solve almost any problem, if only the right legislation can be performed.

Legislators have become priests, and capital buildings have become temples. I remember visiting the capitol building in Sacramento. The interior resembles a cathedral. I had the strangest compulsion to keep my head bowed, to speak in whispers, and kneel!"

This new religion is so popular you could probably make a strong case that it is replacing the old religions.

Having just come from Washington, DC and toured what was described as the most important building in the world, The Capitol Building I fully understand his compulsion. I have never seen such magnificence, splendor and holy meaning in the statues and art work in the capitol. Certainly no church or temple of today is built with such respect and magnificence. The grand honors to God in buildings are of the past, the middle ages at least. Today, the new temples? Government buildings.

Hmmm,a thought worth contemplating and mulling over some more.

We're back!

What a tornado of a vacation! After a week away from home we are now back and all snug in our beds with vision of DC dancing in our heads. (Washington, DC, that is!) Most of the time I can say it is nice to be home again but this time I really enjoyed the break from routine and had an unusually wonderful rest and inspirational vacation. Our first stop was in Pittsburgh for my husband's nephews wedding. It was held in a bird sanctuary/refuge and was small but very quaint! It was nice to see family that we have not seen in 15 years!


After the wedding and all the goodbyes, we headed out to Washington DC for what we thought was a day or two touring the sights. We had no idea the extent to which you could visit museums, historical homes, and magnificent buildings. We were quite overwhelmed.
Half jokingly Jonathan said, "Too bad we didn't think to check if there was an "Unofficial Guide to Washington DC." At that moment we happened to be walking the streets in the bitter cold and spotted a Barnes and Noble Book store. What providence. We warmed up inside and did find that there is indeed An Unofficial Guide to Washington DC and we bought it. It saved us so much time! If you ever go to a popular tourist spot always check to see if there is one of these invaluable guides printed. They usually save you way more that the full purchase price and loads of time as well.




My husbands first GOT to SEE spot was Lincoln Memorial. The morning and early afternoon was actually quite warm. It poured in the afternoon and the rest of the week was bitterly cold and windy.




Graydon's choice was the museum of flight. They actually had the original Wright Brothers plane inside! Also was the Spirit of Saint Louis-Charles Lindburgh's first solo flight across the Atlantic)

The Capital Building was phenomenal-inside and out!.


Jonathan's favorite place was Mount Vernon, home of America's first president. The house itself was beautiful but the visitor center was like none we had seen anywhere else. After 4 1/2 hours we rushed out trying to avoid the rush hour in Downtown DC in the snow! We made it but we really wish we could have spent another hour or two.




In case you cannot figure this out, this is a model of George Washington's house-and my son's "huge" face in the back door!

We're Leavin' on a Jet Plane!

Songs seem to ring in my ears. I usually cannot remember who sang them or what most of the words are except for a key phrase like...

I'm leavin,
On a jet plane,
Don't know when I'll be back again.

Tonight we are all leavin' on a jet plane to fly thought the night from Seattle to arrive on the other side of the country in Pittsbourgh early tomorrow morning. We will be attending a family wedding/reunion this weekend and then will be doing some sight seeing for the rest of the week.

I may try to post throughtout the week if I can get some time at a hotel computer but you know what it is like with a lot of long-time-no-see family visits. I may try to post some of the pictures that we will be taking on our trip as we do plan on visiting the Capital and a few major historical spots along the way as we travel after the wedding.

And guess what! I bought a new camera!....8 mega pixels, compact and with a 7X optical zoom, video features, "the works" (I guess all these things are standard on cameras these days). My sons were all over it and I have not had much of a chance to see how it works yet but I'm sure they will have it all down in a few minutres flat, then they can show me. (What am I going to do once they leave home. I will be hopelessly technically handicapped)

I'll be thinking of all my faithful American readers sleeping their your cosy beds as I fly across the entire US tonight from Seattle to Pittsburgh sitting upright in airline seats. Oh well. The flights were available at least and were a very good price. We can always sleep another day.

Happy Valentines Day!

My Son is Coming Home!

There is a song that some famous singer of my long ago past used to sing about the prodigal son who came home after an long, hard and wild life. The song must be quite memorable because it was ringing in my ears today as I went up north to Canada to pick up my 17 year old son, Jonathan. He was staying at his brothers (my oldest son, Ryan and Stephanie- Keeper of the Home.com) for two and a half weeks assisting Ryan in a new business set up. It may have been more of a mentoring situation for Jonathan than assistance to Ryan but I so appreciate the opportunity my wonderful son and his wife afforded their brother. It was an excellent chance to see first hand what goes into planning a business start up. Jonathan assisted with some market research, business projections, and participated in potential client meetings and plans for the recruiting of qualified employees as well.

But oh, how I missed him. He certainly isn't a prodigal coming home (as in a repentant wayward son) but he is a different boy, really almost a man. He is confident, and talks positively about "our business" and "we are planning" and "projections seem to indicate." Girls are sweet and they provide you with a lot of joy, but boys as they grow up,.....well, a mom can be overcome with pride. I am proud of my son becoming a man. With it comes the understanding that I will one day have to give him up to a young lady who will fill his heart to the fullest. I will be replaced.... and that is ok because that is how it is supposed to be. But, I missed him. He went away a boy and came back a little more mature. Thank you God for your opportunities that I see daily that shows your provision for my children. I know I can trust You with their future.