Baking for dummies....

I'm going to be the first to say that I don't enjoy baking, but every once in a while I'll pull out one of my husband's many recipes or cookbooks and give it a try. I am one of those people who follows the recipe or baking instructions completely, of which, my husband constantly teases me about. No getting crazy for me. The end result usually turns out pretty yummy, though it doesn't always look appetizing and I am encouraged to try baking again in the future when I feel the urge, which doesn't happen very often, to be honest. I felt the need to share one of my most recent forays into the baking world in comraderie with VB"s most recent post. It's super simple and delicious! :)

Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
4 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup sweet butter, melted
2 lightly beaten eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 small apples, peeled, cored, and finely diced

Baking Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan

In medium bowl, combine the flour,sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, beat the oi, butter, eggs, and buttermilk with an electric mixer (or large wooden spoon which I did) until wel combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until nearly combined. Stir in apples. Do not overmix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the muffins and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Makes 1/2 dozen.
End recipe...

I was able to get 10 muffins from the mixture and they were pretty good size. I'm going to add a picture of the final result. Again, they might not look too appetizing in the picture, but they were delicious! :) Happy Baking all! :)

RECIPE SHARING TIME: Blueberry Pudding Cake

I mentioned in my last post that I have a surplus of wild blueberries. In an effort to find new ways to use them I posted a petition on facebook (you should do the same when you are looking for new recipes) for blueberry recipe ideas. How's this for the most roundabout provenance of a recipe...my college friend Sarah, who now lives in Italy, found this recipe in the Boston Globe, submitted by a gal living in Florida, who has had this recipe for years. It's THAT good! It came to me looking like this: a cell phone photo of the newspaper article. Below you will find a typed up version of it. You can substitute Partridge Berries (aka Lingonberries) or other similar small, soft, tart shrub berries if cooking for people like Nan that HATE blueberries (they are "fast" on her stomach).


Speaking of my husband's Nan, I brought her some of this dessert one week and she loved it so much she wanted a batch made for the Senior Center gathering. Felt good to have achieved a simple accomplishment and to have purpose in enriching other people's lives; this sensation is hard to come by right now. It was a hit and her friends begged her for my recipe!

I will give you the same tip that Sarah gave me, it's a lot like a science experiment; don't let the boiling water scare you, it works! The result is a delicate crispy top, moist cakey middle and syrupy fruit filled bottom. YUMMY! I made it for a potluck at my mom's church today! (and clearly I love it as can be noted by the excessive use of exclamation points...!)

















Blueberry Pudding-Cake (or Partridge Berry)
Makes one 8 inch square

CAKE
Butter (for the pan)
1 pint (2 cups) fresh blueberries (or Partridge berries)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or orange juice)
2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more to taste)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup whole milk

1. Set the oven at 375 degrees F (about 190 C). Butter a deep 8-inch round or square baking dish (or another dish with a 2-quart capacity).
2. In the baking dish, combine the blueberries (or Partridge berries), lemon juice (or orange juice), water, and cinnamon. Shake the dish until the berries are well coated.
3. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt until blended; set aside.
4. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour.
5. Drop the batter evenly by spoonfuls over the berry mixture. With an off-set spatula or back of a spoon, spread the batter evenly over the berries.

TOPPING
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of Salt
¾ cup boiling water

1. Set the water on stove to boil. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Sprinkle this evenly over the batter.
2. Pour the boiling water over the entire surface. Do not stir.
3. Bake the pudding for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top is golden and crackly.
Serve with a big spoon in shallow bowls. Tastiest warm!

VB's Hunt for Silver Linings

To piggy back off of Megan's idea of seeking the silver linings, I thought it would be a healthy and inspiring activity for me to try to see my own silver linings. Today I am home at my family's house trying to purge belongings I love and became very upset upon shattering an antique mirror I was going to sell today. Still really rotted about it...so trying to focus on good things might help heal this cutting experience.

I can see the ocean from my front door. It's interesting to watch the change of the sea depending on the weather. I also like to watch the sunset over the ocean. Very vivid colors. I have taken many photos of the sunset here (so does my husband, here's one of me).

I have been learning about wild harvest - foods that grow in nature that one can pick and eat. We picked wild blueberries and the freezer is filled with them. We also picked chanterelle mushrooms and made amazing cream of mushroom soup. Here is the recipe on a blog I like, "Hunter Angler Gardener Cook" We actually made this a couple of times while we had fresh mushrooms. We tried to dry the surplus but they got moldy almost right away. Suckfest. 

Along with this theme, I learned to fish for the first time ever. Here, the regulatory agencies open the fishing season to everyone for 2 weeks to fish without a license. It's called the food fishery. You can catch 5 cod fish per person per day with a max of 15 fish per boat. We took advantage as many times as we could find a willing boat owner. Our freezer is still stocked with ocean to table fish! Here I am with one of my larger catches. Pretty impressed with myself that day. 

I am also grateful for the freedom to work on creative projects and the leisure/desire to cook complex foods. I have been focusing my creative efforts on avant garde jewelry-making (my jewelry projects can be viewed here: facebook.com/yazberryfashion ) with found, vintage and new materials, painting and refinishing small wooden projects and have recently been exploring the local past time of rug hooking. I find it relaxing and satisfying to work on something that could be useful. Here is a jolly picture of my progress so far on my first hooked rug. I made up my own design. 

Right now, these are my silver linings. 

GOAL: Focus more on the silver linings and less on the loss of: belongings, social interaction and feelings of accomplishment. 

BREATHE....

More Silverlinings...

I've been thinking a lot about my first post for this blog and how depressing it was. Although, many of the things I wrote about are true for me, I have many things that are good too.

I've met many wonderful people through going to Montana ELCA Synod workshops and conferences with my husband Jason. I also have friends that live throughout Montana that I can go visit, when we both have time for me to do so. I've joined a MOPS group with my friend Melissa and get to see friends that I've met who are pastors or a pastor's spouse several times a year. I look forward to these visits and time together.

Yet, another silverlining that I must not forget.

Biggest Concerns of the Moment

Some of my biggest concerns of the moment are income and entertainment. Ideally both go hand in hand. Life is too short to be miserable. I have always enjoyed hobbies that earn some income. I am a cellist and have gotten paid as a studio musician on CD's of bands such as Glint and The Milling Gowns, and as a wedding and event musician. I haven't gotten involved in the (surprisingly) thriving music scene on the rock yet as my cello just arrived a few weeks ago. I need to get back into practicing and meet some musicians.

GOAL: practice cello, meet musicians, play music.

I also am an avid artisan. I have dabbled in many forms of arts and crafts over the years (since as far as my memory goes back) and have always sought ways to make a meager income from my creative efforts. In the past several years I have focused my creativity on textile arts and jewelry making. I have a small business, YazBerry Fashion which supports itself and that is about it. Nice to have a hobby that breaks even. Right now since I am between postal codes, my handmade purses and vintage purses are for sale on Etsy, and my handmade jewelry is available on facebook and in a few local craft and gift shops on the rock.  I am slowly starting to meet other artisans and I would love to host skill share gatherings at my home or another venue. I would also like to be able to more than break even with my artistic talents.

GOAL: meet more artists, host skill shares, maybe even teach classes for small fee, get my jewelry into more shops around the rock. One artist I have met has a simple goal of having his work in 100 stores. If he sells just $20 of product per store per day that is $2000 in a day! A simple thought but it could produce amazing results!

I am constantly seeking internet based opportunities to make some income. I just stumbled across this music review website on craigslist today, slicethepie and it seems you can earn on average $0.16 per song review. I haven't tried withdrawing yet but the website seems legit and since I listen to music almost constantly, and LOVE to hunt down new music, I figure might as well get paid to do something I enjoy!

Two month update: I never put in enough time to see if this actually pays out. Conclusion: not worth my time right now. 

GOAL: continue seeking online opportunities to earn income. I would like to seek editing and writing gigs specifically. Have an opportunity for me? Any tips? Anything you do or can recommend? Let us know!  

Other silverlining I need to share.

I need to clarify something from my previous post on Small Town Living. Not everyone my age has completely written me off. There is one person who I met through the country church that is a friend of mine and the same age as me. We don't get to see each other often because she is very busy with work and the farm and I am busy trying to get out of town as often as I can and raising my son. So there is yet another silverlining to my small town living.

Small Town Living

Hi, I am Megan or as my good friends call me Meg or Megs.

Before I tell you about my adventures in small town living, I should tell you that before I moved to small town Montana, the smallest town I lived in had a population of 10,000 or so people. So when I moved from Minnesota to Montana it was a complete culture shock, add to that moving to a town of 700 people and it's a miracle I haven't gone completely off my rocker.

My adventures in small town living began when my husband Jason and I moved to small town, Montana in June 2011. Jason and I had graduated from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and were eager to start on our ministry adventures. In May I found out I was pregnant with our first child and everything was looking up in the world. We had visited the small town we currently reside in, at the end of April and after much discerning and discussion, decided that Jason should take the call to be the pastor of the Parish there. The Parish consists of two churches, the church in town and a church about 8 miles NE of town in the country. I thought I knew what we were getting into moving to a town of 700 people, but it turned out I had no clue.

The original plan when we moved was that I would substitute teach at the school until our baby was born and then I would stay home with him or her for a year, then go back to work. Well, none of that worked out as planned. I miscarried our first child in July 2011 and then after substitute teaching 2 times, I called it quits. I rarely was called in and when I was it was awful. So then I decided to try building my Mary Kay business which I had started back in Minnesota. Epic fail. I no longer sell Mary Kay. And I no longer had any way of bringing in some extra income. I started selling AVON instead, but with similar results. I'm giving myself until the end of the year to see if I can't build my business. If it doesn't work out, then I'm done.

But miracle of all miracles, I found out I was pregnant again on Thankgiving Day 2011. Seriously, one of the best days ever! So the job search took a halt because I still was planning to stay home with our kid for the first year of his or her life and there were no jobs in the nearest "big city" that made it worth driving there and back because the job would have paid for the gas to get me there and back. So needless to say, I have been jobless since June 2011, over two years, which has made me feel pretty worthless at times.

Now after 2 years and 5 months of living in small town Montana, I have this to say about small town living. It is definitely not for me. When I go out on walks with Jason and our 14 month old son Preston, we walk by the same houses, see the same sights and barely run into anyone outside. I find myself wondering if this is it. Is this really all that life has to offer here? I'm going to go crazy if I don't find an outlet for myself and my son. We spend a lot of time at home because there are no places for us to go for activities in town.

The people are nice here. Wonderful people. When we do move on from here, it will be really hard to say goodbye to some of the amazing people we have gotten to know.

People my own age here want nothing to do with me, I don't know if it's because they don't know how to act around a pastor's wife (act like you would around anyone else, hello....) or if it because I'm not from here or from around the area. I can't even claim I'm from some other part of Montana, which may have given me an in. Not only did I not grow up in this small town, which makes me an outsider, but I didn't grow up in Montana, which makes me even worse. I'm expected to pay my dues here to be accepted at some point down the road but I've gotten to the point where I don't give a crap. Sadly, that means I'm alone, with no friends my age close by to say, "Hey let's go out for lunch. I need a break from the house and my kid."

On the plus side, my friend Melissa, who is in a very similar situation to myself and who only lives about 2 hours away, and I have started going to a MOPS (mother's of preschool kids) group in Great Falls, which is a such a blessing. So there are silverlinings in this craptastical mess.  Another silverlining is that it is beautiful here.  I love the mountains and the landscape is just gorgeous.  I think it would be hard for me to go back to living some place that didn't have mountains nearby.

We are a one income household. My husband makes enough for us to pay our student loans every month and for the essentials (food and other bills) but that's it. I've been told of a gym in Great Falls, the nearest "big city" to us, which is about 35 or so minutes away depending on where you need to get to. Sadly, we can't afford to join said gym or the extra gas it would take to drive there and back several times a week, where I would be able to work out and where they have daycare for kids while the parent works out. So we are basically stuck trying to figure out ways to not go crazy in our small town, except for the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, which is when MOPS group meets.

And I have discovered getting away from this small town as much as possible has helped. Because Montana is such a big state, it takes hours to get to some places. Even the drive to Great Falls means that we end up spending most of a day there doing errands, eating out and spending time together as a family. I've come to love our weekly Friday trips to Great Falls, even though I am not too impressed with Great Falls as a city itself. But nonetheless, it is an escape from my dull existence in the town we live in. We, as a family, also do a lot of driving to Montana ELCA Synod events, which gets us out of town. In fact, this weekend we are going up to Flathead Bible Camp for their annual meeting on Friday and Saturday. Next Friday, we are heading down to Helena for the Bishop's Conference, which will be an all day trip. So there are plenty of opportunities for us to go places as a family and get out of town. Even going to visit Jason's parents or his brother takes a few hours so we usually spend the night and have quality visiting time. :)

But Sunday-Thursday when my husband is working all day and most nights is when things get really tough with trying to keep a moving, easily bored kid occupied as well as myself. So I've come up with some ways to do that and some ways to keep myself occupied during nap times and once Preston has gone to sleep for the night.

I realize this post is pretty dismal, but after over two years of living like this and feeling alone a lot of the time, something's got to give. So I've started doing things I haven't done in a long time to keep busy while being cooped up in a town where there is nothing to do. Yes, much of my time is taken up with raising my loveable, amazing, sometimes pain in the ass son and being as supportive and good a wife as possible, despite being depressed about living where we live, but when I have alone time, which is when Preston is sleeping and Jason is working, I have found things to keep myself occupied.

One of these things is to participate in this blogging experiment with one of my best buds Virginia, where we plan to share with you some of our coping strategies and let all you out there in similar situations know that, you are not alone, and that we will survive, and be stronger for it in the end. Some of these strategies involve crafts, some involve nature, hiking and photography, some involve spending time in the kitchen and some involve hours wasted online pinning on pinterest (Don't judge. You do it too.) So here's to surviving small town living and the knowledge that this too shall pass, we just have to survive it first.