We Moved Our Driveway...

2:03 pm - 68 degrees - watching thunder clouds roll in...

We finally did it! We moved our driveway over and made a parking area that is big enough to turn a trailer around. We have been wanting to do this for a while now, and I am so excited that it's almost done – all we have left is to finish planting out all the dirt areas.

From the main driveway, you were able to see down into our place, the house, the yard, the cars, everything. In the dry summer months, when someone drove by or it got windy, the dust would roll on down into our place. So with moving the driveway over, building a burm across the old driveway entrance and planting it out, it will give us that extra bit of privacy and hopefully keep the dust out.

Last fall, Tony roughed in the new driveway and was able to get some base rock down before winter.

Then in early April Tony started cutting down trees, this was originally to expand our wildfire defensible space around the house {click here}, but it evolved into a much larger project...

After a few of the trees came down and we picked up the mess, we walked around our driveway (new and old) and started tossing around ideas of how we wanted to get rid of the old driveway entrance, and just how everything would lay out and come together. Then Tony suggested that we could take some dirt from over here and put it over there and voila, we could have a really large parking area. I said let's do it!

A few weeks went by and then I came home to a big surprise! Tony was in the excavator and a friend was in a bulldozer and they were moving a TON of dirt! I was giddy with excitement that the driveway project was actually happening!

From the time Tony started moving dirt, it took 3 and a half days (over a week and a half time period) to complete the driveway and parking area project and since Tony was able to reuse the rock from the old driveway in the new parking area, we were able to save about $2500 because we didn't need to buy rock - I really loved that part!

I could not be happier with how this project has turned out, it's even better than I anticipated. Now we just have to finish planting out all of the dirt areas.

New Parking Area

We can park cars/trucks - 6 wide, 2 deep.

Just above the row of boulders on the middle terrace, we planted some Everybearing Strawberries. I know we're taking a bit of a chance having the strawberries out in the open like that, but hopefully the deer will leave the majority of them alone and they will spread and creep around and down the boulder wall.

Everbearing Strawberries

About 6 feet behind the strawberries, is a row of Cascara trees, and right behind those are two rows of Redstem Ceanothus.

Cascara
(Rhamnus purshiana)

Redstem Ceanothus
(Ceanothus sanguineus)

Going up the back wall of the burm that blocks off the entrance to our old driveway, we have several rows of Redstem Ceanothus, followed by several roes of Western White Pine, one row of Rocky Mountain Maples, and two more rows of Western White Pines. On the very top we have a row of Cascara trees and below that, on the main driveway side, is a row of American Cranberries. We will be adding some more mature Vine Maples and maybe a few Noble Firs on the top to help block the view a bit more until everything else starts to grow up.

Western White Pine
(Pinus monticola)

Rocky Mountain Maple
(Acer glabrum)

  

American Cranberry
(Vaccinium macrocarpon)

And finally back towards the house I built a stone retaining wall to make a flower bed where we planted some Kinnikinnick.

Kinnikinnick
(Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Current Plant Count:

15 American Cranberries

14 Cascaras

26 Ceanothus' 

50 Everbearing Strawberries

7 Kinnikinnick

15 Rocky Mountain Maples

43 Western White Pines

In addition to all of the baby plants we are putting in, we're also going to throw down more grass seed to help stabilize all of the dirt. I am so excited, I can't wait for everything to grow up. 

Still Need To Plant/Transplant:

Evergreen Huckleberry

Kinnikinnick

Noble Fir

Oregon Sunshine

Pacific Crabapple

Ponderosa Pine

Thimbleberry

Vine Maple

Wildfire Defensible Space...

8:29 am - 39 degrees out - clouds are moving in...

The last several days we have had sunshine! The nice weather was needed after several weeks of rain and snow. With this gorgeous weather, we have taken full advantage and have been busy outside working.

Tony cut down some more trees to help improve our defensible space around our home. A few years back we had a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Fire Forester guy come out to look at our place and let us know how we would fare if a wildfire came through. The outcome of that visit was the knowledge that we would be on our own. We were told that ground fire crews would not be sent out due to the steepness and inaccessibility of the mountain ridge we live on. They may send out an aircraft to drop some fire retardant on our house but that’s about it. On the positive side, the DNR guy did say that we had a great start on the defensible space around our home and had the right to stay and protect it. {Click Here} to read more about that visit.

Down came six small Alder trees and one large Douglas Fir tree, and it took us two days to get it all cleaned up... 

...well almost all cleaned up.  We still have the large rounds in the driveway that need to be cut up and split into firewood.

Even though we are tired and sore from working nonstop for the past several days to get the trees down and cleaned up... progress feels good!

Homemade Waffles...

9:20 am - 33 degrees outside - snowing...

This morning our kids asked for waffles, so homemade waffles it is. These waffles are so good, and very filling!

- Homemade Waffle -

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

2 egg, separate whites and yolks

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

4 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat waffle iron.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk milk, yolks, vanilla, and lemon juice together in a second blow, then add to dry ingredients.  Blend just until moistened (batter will be slightly lumpy).  Stir in the melted butter.

Beat whites to medium peaks in a bowl with a hand mixer, and then gently fold into the batter.  To cook, pour batter into the waffle iron and cook according to waffle iron instructions.

Freeze extra waffles for up to two weeks, and then recrisp in a toaster on low heat.

Yields:  three 7” round waffles

Total time:  10 minutes plus cooking

Starter Dough Bake Off - Part 3...

8:06 pm - 34 degrees out - calm night...

10 days ago, my daughter challenged me to a bread bake off and here is the first one...

Using the Amish Friendship Bread started that I started 10 days ago, I divided it into 5 bags - 1 went to a friend, 3 went to the freezer, and 1 went to make this delicious Cinnamon Bread, which everyone loved!

Caitlyn's recipe is more complicated than mine, and she'll be baking her bread tomorrow.

Here is the recipe I used:

Amish Friendship Cinnamon Bread

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter

2 cups flour

3 eggs

1 cup oil

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

2 tablespoons brown sugar 

Preheat over to 350°. 

Mix everything together (minus the cinnamon and brown sugar). In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon and brown sugar. Grease 2 loaf pans. Pour about half an inch of batter into each loaf pan, then top with a light layer of the cinnamon mix. Pour another batter layer, followed by a light cinnamon mix layer. Continue to do this ending with cinnamon mix layer.

Bake for 1 hour or until done.

Enjoy!

Starter Dough Bake Off - Part 2 – Amish Friendship Bread Starter...

11:17 am - 33 degrees outside - blue sky, sunshine, 3-4" of snow on the ground...

Who can make the better bread starter...? That is the current question right now in our house.

I want to make sure that our kids know how to cook, so they pretty much have free reign to experiment in the kitchen – as long as they clean up after themselves! Our daughter has been on a sourdough bread kick lately, and that somehow got turned into a challenge of who could make the better bread starter. 

Caitlyn chose a sourdough starter that she found on the Homestead and Chill blog - recipe posted on Starter Dough Bake Off – Part 1 – Sourdough Starter {click here}. Caitlyn chose this starter recipe because it had good reviews.

I chose an Amish friendship bread starter that I found on The Benson Street blog – recipe posted below. I chose this starter recipe because I’ve made Amish friendship bread ages ago and once you have the starter you can add in different flavors to switch it up.

In 10 days, we will be turning our starter doughs into bread and have a blind taste test where the guys will decide which starter is the winner!

Caitlyn's starter is on the left, and my starter is on the right.

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD STARTER

by The Benson Street

Bread Batter Start: Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, and 1 cup sugar in a gallon sized plastic Ziploc bag.

Do not use a metal spoon or bowl for mixing. Do not refrigerate. If air gets into the bag, let it out. It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment.

Day 1:  This is the day you either make your bread starter (1 cup milk, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, mixed and stored in a gallon Ziploc bag) or you receive bread starter from someone in which case, you do nothing with it other plan place it on your counter.

Day 2:  Mush the bag.

Day 3:  Mush the bag.

Day 4:  Mush the bag.

Day 5:  Mush the bag.

Day 6:  Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, and 1 cup sugar to the bag and mush it thoroughly together.

Day 7:  Mush the bag.

Day 8:  Mush the bag.

Day 9:  Mush the bag.

Day 10:  Pour starter mix into a large bowl and add 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, and 1 cup sugar. Stir and put 1 cup of starter into four separate gallon sized Ziploc bags. Keep one for yourself and give the other starter bags to friends.  If you want to make Amish Friendship Bread once, you’re done. But if you want to be able to bake it whenever you’d like, save an extra bag for yourself and either toss it into the freezer until ready to use or start the process all over again, treating Day 10 as Day 1. The starter tastes better over time, so rather than making it fresh whenever you want some Amish Friendship Bread, consider keeping a bag on hand.

And now its time to bake it! There are so many uses for the starter, and here is just one of them:

Amish Friendship Monkey Bread

Dough:

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons sugar

1 egg

½ cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Gooey Cinnamon Mixture:

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Dry Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture:

1 cup white sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine starter, flour and milk. Mix well.

2. Set aside at room temperature overnight.

3. The next day, preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).

4. Stir the starter mixture and add the remaining dough ingredients.

5. Pour onto a well-floured surface.

6. Knead until dough is elastic but no longer sticky. Add flour as necessary but be careful not to over knead as it will make the dough tough.

7. Shape dough into a large ball and let it rest while making the gooey cinnamon mixture.

8. Add the gooey cinnamon mixture ingredients into a sauce pan and cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved.

9. Grease or spray Bundt pan, then pour a thin layer of the gooey cinnamon mixture to the bottom.

10. The dough is ready if you press a finger into it and it springs back. Pull apart about 40 dough balls, approximately 1¼" in diameter. For an extra cinnamon-y hit, roll each ball in the dry cinnamon-sugar mixture.

11. Layer the dough balls to the pan and pour the remaining gooey cinnamon mixture on top.

12. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly on top.

13. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

14. Take a plate and place it upside down over Bundt pan. Flip right side up onto plate. If desired, use a vanilla drizzle on top before serving.

15. ENJOY!

Starter Dough Bake Off - Part 1 – Sourdough Starter...

10:25 am - 32 degrees outside - blue sky, sunshine, 3-4" of snow on the ground...

Who can make the better bread starter...? That is the current question right now in our house.

I want to make sure that our kids know how to cook, so they pretty much have free reign to experiment in the kitchen – as long as they clean up after themselves! Our daughter has been on a sourdough bread kick lately, and that somehow got turned into a challenge of who could make the better bread starter. 

Caitlyn chose a sourdough starter that she found on the Homestead and Chill blog - recipe posted below. Caitlyn chose this starter recipe because it had good reviews.

I chose an Amish friendship bread starter that I found on The Benson Street blog – recipe posted on Starter Dough Bake Off – Part 2 – Amish Friendship Bread {click here}. I chose this starter recipe because I’ve made Amish friendship bread ages ago and once you have the starter you can add in different flavors to switch it up.

Caitlyn's starter is on the left, and my starter is on the right.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

by Homestead and Chill

Ingredients:

500 grams of organic white bread flour

1 large apple, grated (keep skins, but avoid the core)

360 mL room temperature filtered water

Large glass air-tight container

Digital kitchen scale

Step 1:  In a large mixing bowl, weight out 500 grams of organic white bread flour. Different flours weigh varying amounts, so it must be weighed to be accurate.

Step 2:  Grate your large apple. Keep the skins, but avoid the core. Add the grated apple to the bowl of flour. Some homemade sourdough starter recipes do call for flour and water only, however, flour and water can be pretty sterile. With the addition of apple, it basically stacks the odds in your favor that your starter will get active!

Step 3:  Measure out 360 mL of room temperature filtered water. Add this to the bowl of apple and flour, and mix thoroughly. Avoiding chlorinated water is pretty important when it comes to any fermentation process, including making sourdough. You will likely need to get in there and use your hands to do so, so wash up really well first!

Step 4: Dump, pour, or otherwise scoop the flour, apple, water combo into an air-tight container. The container needs to be large enough to allow for at least doubling in size, if not more.

Step 5:  It’s time to close the container up and watch her rise! But first, using some kind of washable marker that writes on glass, draw a little line on the side of your container at the top level of the mixture – this is so you may monitor its growth.

The mixture will now sit for 3 days. Keeping it in a spot that is about 70° to 75° degrees is ideal.

DAY FOUR - (72 hours after Step 5) After 3 days, the mixture should be a bit bubbly. It most likely has risen, and should smell sweet and tangy, sort of like apple cider vinegar! It may have also darkened in color a bit.

Step 6:  It’s time to do the first discard. To discard, first stir the mixture to knock out any air to let it fall back down to a more condensed state. Then you want to discard half of that amount (you’ll find out what to do with the discarded portion towards the end of this post).

Step 7:  After you discard, now it’s time to “feed” your starter. With your 3-day old sourdough starter, mix in another 250 grams of bread flour and 170 mL of tepid filtered water. Mix thoroughly.

Step 8:  Re-mark the top of the mixture height on your container if needed. Now let it sit for another 2 days or 48 hours.

DAY SIX – (48 hours after Step 8) There should be a lot of activity and small bubbles now. It has most likely risen even higher than the first time.

Step 9:  Repeat Steps 6 and 7 – the discard and feed. After mixing and discarding, add the same 250 grams of flour and 170 mL of water, and then a few extra splashes of water – maybe about 30-40 mL more – until the desired consistency of a “wet, sloppy dough” is reached.

Step 10:  Cover the sourdough starter and let it sit out one final time. This time is only for 24 hours.

DAY SEVEN – If you starter is bubbly and active after those last 24 hours – congrats, you did it! You now have a sourdough starter that is ready to bake with.

Step 11:  You bake with it! Here is a Simple No-Knead Sourdough Bread Recipe {click here}.

What to do with discarded sourdough starter? So many options! If you have chickens, they really enjoy eating the discarded starter. It is full of healthy probiotics for them. Some people make pancakes, pizza dough, muffins or all sorts of things with it. Worst case scenario, throw it into your compost and bury it.