Pulling Their Weight...

It used to be that when Michael was out of town, I always found myself perched on our ATV plow (it always seems to snow when he is gone).  But, now that I have two teenage boys in the house, I can relax with a cup of hot tea at the window and watch THEM take care of it!  Life is good...

Mason has been trained to do the plowing, so that means Morgan gets to do the shoveling so the UPS man can get to our door.

...and where does that leave little Maddox?  Well, see for yourself... 

Don't worry... his time will come.  ;)

Pumpkin Bread

Last night was MY dessert night... and I chose Pumpkin Bread!  Yum, yum!  (Everyone else in the house heartily approved of my choice).

It was another opportunity to use a new gadget that I love... my nutmeg grinder!  I have seen these at state fairs for a few years now, and I finally purchased one while we were at the stock show a couple months ago.  It's great for grinding nutmeg (as shown below), ginger root, and Parmesan cheese.

Pumpkin Bread

-->

6 Tbsp. butter                                  ¼ tsp. salt

1 cup sugar                                     ½ tsp. baking soda

1 egg                                               ½ tsp. nutmeg (freshly ground!)

1 cup canned pumpkin                    ½ tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. cinnamon                              1 cup flour

¼ tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 325.  Mix butter and sugar together until well blended.  Add egg.  Mix until light and fluffy.  Beat in pumpkin.  Stir in spices, then add flour.  Spoon into greased pan.  

I actually double this recipe and put it in a pan that makes 4 small loaves, and I cook it for about 20-30 minutes - until a toothpick comes out clean.

Earning the Orange Belt

Morgan is moving right along in his Taekwondo!  He has just earned his orange belt.  We are very proud of him!

Making Soap

We're getting low on our soap supply, so it's time to make some more!  Wanna watch?  This will be a BRIEF description of how it is done... if you are serious about wanting to try this yourself, feel free to contact me and I would be happy to give you more information and even some tricks of the trade.

Step 1:
Line the mold with freezer paper.  My wonderful dad built this mold for me and it has served me very well.  You can use other things for molds - like plastic bins and such - but in my personal experience, those don't work as well as this.

Step 2:
Measure out the oils.   Start with 1 lb. 8 oz. of coconut oil and then 2 lb. 6 oz. of Crisco. 

 Put both of these in a big metal pot on the stove and turn the heat to low for the oils to melt.  Below, you will see that these oils are almost all melted.

Step 3:
While waiting for the oils to melt, measure out 2 lbs. (just over 3 cups) of cold water into a large glass bowl. 

At this point, rubber gloves are necessary because this next step is caustic.  CAREFULLY measure out 12 oz. of powdered lye into a separate glass container.

Take the water and the lye OUTSIDE.  Stirring constantly, and keeping your face out of the way of the fumes, slowly pour the lye into the water. 

Continue stirring until all the lye is dissolved.  Hang a thermometer on the side of the bowl in order to continually monitor the temperature... it gets very hot.

Step 4:
Back at the stove, when the oils in the pot have melted, turn off the heat and add 1 lb. 8 oz. of olive oil (sorry, no picture).

Step 5: 
Wait.  ...and wait.  This is the boring part, but you have to wait until both liquids (the lye/water outside and the oils in the pot) are each at about 98 degrees.  This may require turning the heat back on low if the oils have cooled too quickly, or a cold water bath if they aren't cooling fast enough.  The temperature of the lye/water is what drives this process - hard to heat that back up. 

Step 6:
When both of the liquids have reached between 98 and 100 degrees, slowly pour the lye/water into the oils.

Stir constantly for while the saponification process takes place.  This only takes a few minutes.  You are watching for the "trace point"... this is where you can see the lines on the surface of the soap when you dribble it off of the spoon (or whatever you're mixing with). 

Notice that I switched my immersion whisk with an immersion blade... I do this because the blade makes my soap reach trace way too fast... I like to be sure things are mixed up well with the whisk before I switch to the blade.  Also notice how the mixture got lighter in color.  The consistency becomes similar to pudding.  (Note:  just before trace occurs is when essential oils or colorants would be added, but I never add anything.  I prefer my soap as natural as possible.)

Step 7:
When trace occurs, immediately pour the soap into the prepared mold.

Below, you can see what I mean by trace... the dribbles stay on the surface.
 

Step 8:
Place the filled mold in a warm place and cover with towels or blankets.  This prevents the mixture from cooling down too quickly, which will ruin the soap.  It will stay like this for 18 hours. (Mine goes down in the utility room - the warmest room in the house - and I put a couple more towels on top of this one).

Step 9:
After 18 hours, remove the blankets and let the soap sit uncovered for another 8-10 hours.

Step 10:
Remove the soap from the mold and slice into bars.  My wonderful dad also built this slicer for me - isn't he the best?!

 

And here they are... 36 bars of wonderful, natural soap!  They will need to cure for at least 3 weeks before using, otherwise, they are too soft and won't last long in the shower.

That's it!  Not too hard, eh?

Vacation to Beaver Creek

Every year, we take an early spring break ski trip (to beat the crowds) at a resort we haven't been to before.  This year, we went to Beaver Creek.  Well, okay, so we've been there once or twice, but always with huge crowds.  This time, we essentially had the place to ourselves, and THAT is the ONLY way to ski.  ;)

I apologize for the quality of this first photo, although I was not the one behind the camera... it was taken by a Vail photographer.   And why are we in Vail if I just told you we went to Beaver Creek?  Well, after 3 days of skiing at Beaver Creek, the boys wanted to go try out Vail - only 15 minutes up the road. 

 Somewhere under all of this ski gear is an adorable little 5 year old skier!

Well, our vacation fell right over Valentine's Day, so I came prepared with little goodies for everybody.  One of the goodies was a Lego valentine box for each of the boys.  We thought it would be fun to have Mason & Morgan race to put it together...

Here's Maddox showing them what it's supposed to look like when they're finished... he did his earlier - proof that he wakes up long before big brothers.  :)

So, any guesses as to who won?   Look at Mason's hand here... going so fast it's blurry!

Morgan works quickly and methodically...

Yup, Mason won... and I know this shot of Morgan is blurry, but I am posting it just to prove that the kid DOES smile from time to time!

We did some shopping in the little village and came across this guy... the first thing Michael and I thought was, "Riiiiiiicola!"  He was a very cordial man, and even played a few tunes for us on his... whatever you call that thing!

Okay, so you've seen video of little Maddox toodling down the hill on skis before.  This time, I want to show you a clip of the big boys.  Michael mounted a camera on his helmet, so this clip is from his vantage point.  They got themselves on a run that was a little more challenging than they normally like to do.  You will see Michael approach a black diamond portion - and promptly sit down to plan his descent.  Then you will see Mason, also cautiously approaching.  And, if you watch (and listen) very closely, you will finally see Morgan's method of tackling the tough stuff...

Hilarious!  I laugh every time I watch it... but I'm sure this momma's reaction would've been quite different had I see it in person.  :)

PS:  No children (or fathers) were harmed in the making of this video.

Strawberry Ice Cream

I promise to show some "footage" from our ski vacation last week, but I'm still working on a video clip.  In the meantime, tonight was Mason's dessert night... he chose homemade strawberry ice cream.  This recipe is our absolute favorite - every bit as good as (if not better than) Blue Bell (which we DO finally have up here)... but since we can make it at home, who needs Blue Bell?!

I will say that there are certainly easier ice cream recipes out there - ones where you just dump ingredients in the ice cream maker and turn it on... where you don't have to cook anything.  But in our experience, those always leave a filmy aftertaste on the roof of our mouths.  Yuck.  This one takes a little longer but it is SOOOOOOO worth it!  I'm a firm believer that taking the shortcut on many recipes greatly sacrifices both the nutritional value and the taste... okay, so there's not much nutritional value in ice cream, but you get my point.  We like to keep things as natural as we can around here... as if you haven't noticed that already.  :) 

Strawberry Ice Cream
(Note:  our White Mountain electric ice-cream maker can handle 1-1/2 times this amount, but this was the original recipe.  You may want to start with these amounts until you know for sure whether yours can take more.)

1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup half-and-half
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1/2 cup whipping cream

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.  Stir in half-and-half.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture simmers.  Cook 1 minute longer.  Remove from heat.  Slowly stir half of this hot mixture into beaten eggs.  Stirring constantly, pour egg mixture into remaining hot mixture; return pan to heat.  Cook and stir over low heat about 2 minutes or until mixture thickens.  Stir in corn syrup;  cool.

In a blender or food processor, process strawberries until almost smooth.  Add strawberries and whipping cream to egg mixture.  Pour into an ice-cream canister and freeze in ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.  When it is completed, it is best to let it sit in the freezer for a few hours to firm up... if you can wait that long.  ;)

Downtown Denver

Sorry for the delay... we took a little family vacation (more on that later).  Last Thursday, the big boys and I went downtown again for our field trip.  We had gone the Thursday before, but didn't get to everything we wanted, so it called for another day.

This first photo is of the boys at the capital building.  We took a tour and enjoyed learning more about our beautiful state.  They are just beginning the process of redoing the gold plating on the dome.  It will take them 2-3 years to complete it... good thing it doesn't have to be done but every 20 years or so.

 As you know, Denver is called the Mile High City... and this is why:

This step of the capital building is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level... only it has changed a few times with the invention of more precise measuring devices.  The carved step below their feet is the original location, that gold dot between them is another try at it, and then I believe the final spot is a few steps further down, marked by another gold dot.  I may have those backwards, but in any case, SOMEwhere on these steps you will find yourself a mile above sea level.

On a different day, we did some walking around and happened upon this stone chap who had a very large nostril.

This last photo is of the boys in front of the Denver mint.  We toured it again even though we saw it a couple years ago.  They rush you through that thing so fast that you barely have time to read the placards.  They have guards in front of the group as well as guards in back who will scoot you along if you're taking too much time reading things.  You really need to schedule back-to-back tours so you can have a second shot at getting everything read!

Hey Mom, notice the vests?  They wear 'em all the time.  :)

Morgan's New Endeavor

As I mentioned earlier, Morgan has taken a keen interest in Taekwondo.  He had his first lesson on Thursday night, and he looked exceptionally well out there with his new crisp, white uniform!  He has learned the first 5 moves of the first form, and he is very anxious to go back and learn more.  Here are some photos I snapped of him working with his instructor.

Building a Quinzee

When we get this much snow, the boys love to build quinzees (snow houses).  They were taught how to do this in Boy Scouts, where they also had to SLEEP in them!  Here are a couple shots of a massive quinzee they have begun building.

That's Mason's foot sticking out - he has hollowed it out quite a bit already.  Below is Morgan working on another door at the top of the quinzee (it's being built on a small hill by our patio). 

 Later, it was back to seeing who could find the largest icicle.  Boys will be boys.  :)

Taekwondo

Yesterday, we went to a friend's Taekwondo demonstration... he was preparing to earn his black belt.  It was a lot of fun to watch and learn what Taekwondo is all about, and to make it really cool, they had all the kids get up and learn a couple of moves.  Open this post to see a short video of Maddox breaking a board!

The other cool thing is that Morgan has decided he'd like to give this a try!  So, starting tomorrow night, he will begin classes on a trial basis.  I'll keep you posted!

Echo Mountain

With all the snow we received, we were itching to get back on the slopes.  It's sad, really, but the big resorts got only a measly couple inches!  Echo Mountain, on the other hand, received quite a dumping.  We've never been to it, but Echo Mountain Ski Area is just a little place not far from our home... takes only 40 minutes to get there, and we don't have to deal with highway 70, which (as noted in a previous post) can get quite hairy with traffic.  So, yesterday we loaded up the truck and headed over. It really is a small place - only one chair lift, one magic carpet, and one tow rope.  But they have a bunch of terrain park stuff, which thrilled Morgan.  He, Mason, and Michael went off in search of tricks to perform... while Maddox and I puttered along together on the easy stuff.  Well, I take that back, we started on their green slope, but it was so narrow, that we found the blue to be much easier!  He could really do just about anything there - he proved it to himself on this trip, overcoming a little bit of fear and replacing it with encouraging self-confidence.  Here is another video of his skiing ability - pardon the shakiness of my camera... it's hard to take video when you're skiing - and I don't use poles when I ski with him.  While you're watching his controlled turns, notice, also, the GORGEOUS scenery!!

Quick note:  Last night was Maddox's dessert choice.  I didn't document it because it was simply strawberry shortcake.  I did make the shortcake from scratch (a sour cream pound cake), but I didn't feel it was interesting enough to document.  :)

Icicles

So what do you do on the day after a big snowstorm and the roads are still too bad to have friends over? 

You have icicle wars, of course!  Here they are choosing their weapons...

Michael needed two since he's outnumbered.

And if that isn't enough fun, you could always just have an ice popsicle!