It's finally here...

Fall is here, everyone! We are loving this cooler weather. This week is full of adventures and festivities. It's the annual Potato Bowl at UND this week AND Homecoming! It's busy, but fun.

So tomorrow will be spent at the world's largest french fry feed. Friday will be a little relaxing. Saturday we will see the parade! And Kyle and I have an opportunity to get out a little bit and see Mary Poppins in Fargo with my sister and her husband.

And then we're gearing up to celebrate my birthday next week.

Here's the cake I'm making for myself. 2 layers of this with a few modifications. And 1 layer of this.

Yum!

Hopefully I'm back for a little while now. We'll see. If not, it's good to see you around here again. :)

It's a party...that we're a few years late to.

A few years ago, I got Kyle The Bread Baker's Apprentice for Christmas...or his birthday, I can't really remember which. And we had the best intentions of baking bread from it. There were so many that looked SO good. Annnnddd....it never happened.

Fast forward a year or two or three. My dad sent me a few "no fail" bread recipes and we've loved making them. Then I started getting an itch to make some sourdough bread. I can't justify spending $4-$6 on a tiny, mediocre loaf of sourdough at the grocery store that isn't even baked locally.

Soooo....I pulled out The Bread Baker's Apprentice again earlier this week. After reading through the introduction a few times and perusing the extensive list of breads found between the covers, we decided that we'd bake through the entire cookbook.

What an ingenious idea! How original! See here, here, here, and here. Oh...and here too.

Original. HAH. What I've come to find out, is that we're more than a day half decade late and a dollar short. BUT, power on we shall.

We started at the very beginning. Kyle had last Wednesday off and I prepped the starter on Tuesday night for two loaves of Anadama Bread. The first formula in the book. I even received a snap during the day of the dough raising.

Unfortunately, I don't have a snap of the final product, but let me tell you...it was mighty fine.

A short little interjection before I continue with our story... When we were first married and living in our first apartment together (think fall 2013 to spring 2014), we had a desire to become fabulous bread bakers. We tried a few recipes and they never turned out. So we set out to make scrumptious bagels...and those were successful...once.

With the re-introduction and the new resolve to work our way through Bread Baker's Apprentice has come a sigh of relief with each loaf that's been successful.

That being said, we had a half day of school yesterday due to Blizzard Axl (think Josh Duhamel's son) so I started making the next formula in the book!

Greek Celebration Bread.

First I had to make a poolish. Yeah, I had no idea what it was either. And while that sat for a few hours, I relaxed.

Here are a few low high quality pictures of the process.

 secondary rising

 ready to go in the oven

 fresh out of the oven at 190 deg. internal

ready to eat

I'm excited to taste it. With cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, almond, and lemon in it--this bread has all of the ingredients to cozy up with during a blizzard.

I'll be here all winter long with pictures of our loaves and hopefully those of you with experience will give some input!

Happy Tuesday!

What to do: By the Numbers

Daylight Savings officially ended this weekend. I'm sure most of you already know that. If you don't know that, then I'm assuming you've been early for the last day and a half. Hah!

Since we "fell back" this weekend, I'm trying to scheme all of the things that need to get done. Winter is just around the corner *I know, don't shoot the messenger* and the Entzels have a lot of things to do. Some tasks are fun and others, not so much.

Here's a short installation in our By the Numbers series. As always, if you care to join in, go to my "Buttons" page and grab the button for this series and link back here!

Between now and the end of the month there are...

...at least fifteen cabinets to prime and paint.

...at least eight school meetings.

...five exercise classes for me to attend.

...four Bible Study meetings to attend.

...four gifts to hand make.

...three meals hosted by us.

...three batches of cupcakes to bake. 

...two days of deer hunting to celebrate.

...two dressers to sand, prime, and paint.

...one friends-giving to partake in.

...one GFEA social.

...one wedding.

...one teacher date.

...one tattoo to get.

...one front door to install.

...and one house to ready for Christmas.

I know it's a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but by the time the end of the month rolls around, we're going to be ready to start decorating for Christmas.

What do you have to get done by the end of the month?

22 | Creativity is a jerk

When you think of creativity, what do you think of? Like today's prompt, most people think of things like drawing, painting, dancing, playing/performing music, etc. Now, I feel that I'm a pretty creative person. Oddly enough, I don't draw, paint, dance, or play/perform music particularly well.

Here's about how good my drawings are:

The most unfortunate part about this "drawing"....I created it on Google Drawings. Which means the head and eyes and shoes are way better than I can actually make.

But, just because I can't do these things doesn't mean I'm not creative, right?

This is what I consider myself creative at:

You tell me. Is this considered creativity?

 

 

4 | My passions.

Today's prompt is to explain what I'm passionate about. And I don't know about you, but that's really tough for me. My passions are extremely varied and sometimes I have a difficult time deciphering between things I love to do and others that I would call a passion.

How do I decide where my passions lie and what I simply love?

To me, passion and love vary. They vary in that if I'm passionate about something, I do love it. I long to make time for this passion each and every day.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines passion (v.):

         a. To excite or imbue with passion; to excite

What truly excites me?

 I am truly excited to spend time with my husband. I'm excited about spending time with my family. I long to show them how much I love them.  

 But what really is my passion?

 I think it's investing in others. What do I do when we've had multiple nights at home, just the two of us? I ask Kyle if we can invite someone over for supper. 

 I love to cook, but I don't invite people over because I think I'm a wonderful cook and that they'll love my food. I invite people over because I long to know them and their hearts. I long to invest in their lives. If I can put a meal in their belly and hopefully warm their hearts, I feel like I'm doing my job. If others can know that I care about them, I've fulfilled my calling.

 I believe that my calling is to invest in others. God knows what He's doing and He put that desire in my heart for a reason. 

 I also believe that He called me into teaching to invest in the lives of my students. I work at an alternative school where many students long to have someone invest in them. If I can show them that I care about them instead of only my curriculum, I've done my job. I don't desire to just teach English. I desire to teach students. 

 Who knows, my passions might change and God's calling on my life might change. But until that happens, I'll live in peace knowing that I'm called to invest in those around me.

 

Check out Brave Love Blog for more updates on the 2nd Annual Blog-tember Challenge.  

 

 

Blogtember Challenge 2015. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. 

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies [per request]

Many moons ago (close to 4 years to be exact), I made some tasty cookies for a friend of mine. I'm pretty sure we demolished them in one sitting. Bethany, correct me if I'm wrong!

Here are the Chocolate Peppermint Cookies I brought to Bethany's house!

Ingredients:

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
1/4 c oil

peppermint extract

powdered sugar
milk
crushed candy canes

Mix the cake mix, 2 eggs, & 1/4 c oil. Add in peppermint extract to preference. Roll the dough into small balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes (or until done).

For the frosting, use approx 2 cups powdered sugar, 1-2 T milk, a splash of peppermint extract, and crushed candy canes (to taste). If you want the frosting to set better, use 1-2 T melted butter instead of milk. The thicker the frosting, the easier it will be to frost the cookies.


My goal is to make these cookies again soon. When I do, I'll make sure to take photos and upload them here! Let me know how you liked them!

Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting--for any occasion!

Okay, so I know I gave you a little tease on the media for socials last night. And I'm okay with that.

I was baking for a coworker's baby shower and I thought, "Why not share this recipe with your readers?" So, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

**confession...I'm not so good at taking photos of the ingredients and process. Sorry!**

So although I do have a sparse amount of photos, they'll have to suffice.

And without further delay, I present to you:

Grandma Sharon's Delicious Carrot Cake Cupcakes
(She usually makes a giant pan of cake/bars...but I like frosting cupcakes more.)

6 eggs, beaten 

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 cups flour

1 cup coconut

6 cups carrots, shredded *Mine were frozen--I thawed them and they added more liquid to the batter*

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

Grandma's directions say to beat 6 eggs for a minute or so. I had them in the Kitchen Aid* for 2-3 minutes--I think the cupcakes ended up a little more fluffy that way. Then, add the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes (or until all mixed together). While your Kitchen Aid* is mixing the eggs and sugar together, mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl. (save your carrots for a little later) After your dry ingredients are all mixed together, alternate adding the oil and dry ingredients to your eggar (that's eggs and sugar mixed together) mixture. After everything is all mixed in, add your 6 cups of carrots. If you're using frozen, shredded carrots and your batter is too runny--don't panic! It's okay. Mine was that way too. It will set as it bakes.

"Bake at 350 degrees until done"

Honest, that's what the recipe says! But mine were done in about 25 minutes.

So I wasn't sure how many cupcakes I would end up with...I was hoping for 2 dozen.

*Sorry for the low quality photos...I'll work on that* 

3 dozen cupcakes later and this is the final product:

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package of cream cheese

1 stick of butter

powdered sugar

vanilla extract

I was doing some reading about cream cheese frosting yesterday. So when it was time to make the frosting for these cupcakes, I was prepared. Check out Joy the Baker's Cream Cheese Frosting 101. Love her.

So, per her instructions I let my cream cheese and butter sit out so it wouldn't curdle. Then, I pretty much did my own thing.

I whipped the cream cheese for a few minutes in my Kitchen Aid*. I then added the butter and whipped it real good. Anyone?

As for the vanilla, I probably only added 1/2 teaspoon. I'm too spacey to buy white vanilla when I'm prepping for a bake-a-thon, so normal Mexico vanilla was my weapon of choice.

And the powdered sugar...here's the thing. Look back to Grandma's directions for baking..."until done"... I'm kind of the same way. I just added powdered sugar until it was creamy and sweet enough, but not too sweet. Sorry for those of you who need a specific number!
PS. I doubled the frosting recipe for the cupcakes. I couldn't risk running out!

I then piped the frosting on top of the cupcakes and took a break from being a housewife. It's tough work, I tell ya! If you want to take the really fancy route, add a few edible pearls and all will be right with the world.

*A Kitchen Aid isn't necessary...a hand blender would work...so would your good old arm power.*

As always, if you try out a recipe, please let me know how it turns out. I love to hear variations on recipes. Enjoy!

Summer...is it too soon?

I know, I know, I know...it's only fall. But as we've been house hunting, I've been looking forward to next summer. I REALLY want a garden next summer. I also just REALLY want a house. So...this is my list of things I'm looking forward to about next summer. By the Numbers.

via

Hydrangeas are some of my favorites!

via

--a garden

via

--spending time at a lake

via

--going to Duluth

via

--seeing family in Denver

There are so many things I want to do next summer. I'm hoping that we'll be able to do all of these things. But more than anything, I'd love to make more salsa, jelly, and apple butter!

I'll add updates as necessary. Have a happy Monday tomorrow!

Christmas Baking Pt. I

My brother and I baked cookies last night! I usually bake with Mom and Grandma, but this year my brother came to stay with me while husband is gone. So.....we baked gingerbread cookies!

Here's the final product.

I was going to wait for him to start, but I realized that our dough needed to cool for 2 hours! Wowza. So...I went to the store after work and got the dough mixed up. My brother showed up about half way through mixing. So we "chilled" the dough and went out for supper. After a "short" stop at Wal-Mart for some last minute supplies, we made it home in time to start rolling out our cookies.

I ran out of molasses for the dough so it was a little crumbly. But, they turned out okay!

After cutting them all out, we started decorating while watching this movie. As we were baking and decorating we realized that one of the heads fell off. Soooo....what's better to do than make a decapitated gingerbread man! Hahaaaa.....okay...that's a little creepy. But he turned out kinda cool.  I was in charge of the rolling out and cutting and the outlining. And brother was in charge of the coloring in of the lines. Here they are!

Part II will be up after my baking adventure with mom this weekend!

And in case you're looking for a gingerbread cookie recipe, I found mine here.

Enjoy!