Blacksmith's Chai

 Blacksmith's Chai Concentrate

        Every so often, I make a big batch of chai concentrate to give out for Christmas.  The sweet spiciness is so nostalgic on many levels.  And this super dark version lends a smokiness that really appeals to my palate now!  Feel free to adjust ingredients to your heart's content!

Ingredients:

-About 2" knob of ginger, sliced

-2 nutmeg nuts, crushed

-4 cinnamon sticks, crushed

-16 cardamom pods, crushed

- 1 tsp crushed peppercorns

-8c water

-1/4 c. black tea leaves

-1/2 c sugar (may substitute honey)

In the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven, toast spices for 1 minute, then add water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 min.  Return to a boil, then remove from heat and add the tea leaves (I wrapped mine in cheesecloth to steep, but this is not necessary). After 5 minutes, stir in sugar until dissolved.  Strain through cheesecloth covered mesh into jars.  Let cool at room temp before storing in the fridge.

To use, heat with equal parts milk and enjoy!

Tvare (Fir Whisk)

    Have you been following the findings in Lendbreen as the glacier is melting?  You can read up on it on the "Secrets of the Ice" website A little bittersweet, but archaeologists have been discovering all kinds of artifacts that are incredibly well preserved because they've stayed frozen for so long.  Most have to do with caribou hunting camps, but one find has really jumped out at me.  The archaeologist have determined that it was the remains of a Tvare, a Scandinavian whisk!  And the process is so elegantly simple!  The Saxon Forager also has a great video about these Here.

STEP ONE: Find a nice evergreen tree whose branches come out in an even whorl.  If you're going to be using it for food, make sure it's not a yew or other toxic wood.  A fun option is to use the top of your Christmas tree when you're done with it or need to trim the top!

STEP TWO: Cut the length you want your utensil to be below the whorl.

STEP THREE: Remove the needles and save for tea.  Trim center trunk/handle as desired.  You really have two options here.  Choose the side of the whorl that will make the right diameter handle for you: not too spindly and not too thick.

STEP FOUR: strip all bark.  I started to do this with a knife, but found it came off easier just peeling it by hand.  It was a little sticky, but smelled AMAZING!  I also whittled down the end I wanted to be flatter under the whorl of branches.

STEP FIVE: Drawing up the tines to the handle and pushing out a little bit to get them to the right angles, I held and wrapped with wire and allowed to dry completely for a week or two.  

I made a second Tvare out of the next whorl down on the tree, using the section of trunk above the branches for the handle as an especially large whisk with short, unbound tines for my big cauldron.  

It worked great!  I can't wait to make more of these in the future!  Maybe even make it a New Years tradition to make one from the top of our Christmas tree.

 

Mrs. Fogarty's Christmas Cake

Anyone else not a fan of the 20 Christmas songs that get played to death in December?  We're always on the hunt for unique Christmas songs, and last year, Mrs. Fogarty's Christmas Cake by the Irish Rovers! You can listen to it on You Tube Here

 

So we had to make a loaf for Christmas Day!  We started with a basic Amish Bread (great Amish Cinnamon Bread recipe) then added in all the extras heard in the song!

Batter:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups butter milk
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda

additions:
1/4 cup plums and prunes (we just used the dried prunes for both), diced

1/4 cup dried cherries, diced 

1 Tbsp citron (we used lemon) rind shavings

1/4 cup rasins

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped nuts (we used cashew)

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup dried berries (we used cranberries)

1/4 tsp caraway

"Glue" glaze

2-3 Tbsp milk (divided)

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

Batter:
Grease two bread pans. In mixing bowl cream butter, cups sugar, and eggs, then add remaining batter ingredients and mix well.

Additions:
Put 1/4 of batter in each greased loaf pan.  Combine all additions that you're going to use, then layer half in each pan.  Top with remaining batter.  Bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick tester comes clean.  Once cooled, spread glaze on top and enjoy!

This was so fun and way more edible than described in the song!  Haha!  Do you have any other unique Christmas songs for us to listen to this year?

Wild in the Rain: Gifts to GO!

There seems to be much more thought going into Christmas gifts lately and I love seeing it!  Do we really need or even want more toys?  I will always cherish my son's gift list the first Christmas he was really able to talk.  When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he said, "I just want everyone to have a home."  Oh, my Mama heart!  Me too, Sweetheart!

Wait, are those musk ox, Canadian geese, and an emu holding up traffic?

And while there are things we do to give back to those in need in our community, and as much as I wish I could grant that request, we do want to get something special for our children.  I've really enjoyed this rhyme I hear popping up; "Something they want, something they need, something they wear, something they read."  What a practical and pleasantly limiting guide!  The one thing I might add, or blend into the "something they want" is somewhere to go, but I suppose that really throws off the rhythm of it!  

Last Christmas, my brother and his wife got our whole family tickets to Wildlife Safari, a game park about an hour south of us.  And it was SO much fun!  I felt like it was a gift, a mini-vacation, and a home school field trip all blended together!  The kids are all ready asking to go back again!  This was such a welcome gift!

Despite the rain, we saw such a variety of creatures from all over the world.  There was even a petting farm where the kids were able to pet and feed.  On the weekends, a train will take you through the park and it looked like there are always special animal encounters you can sign up for.  The little ones asked so many questions and I feel like we all learned a lot.  I highly recommend a visit if you get the opportunity!  

The joy of this trip and the memories made caused me to start brainstorming other potential non-stuff gifts we might consider in the future.  What would you add?

1. Zoo
2. Music lessons
3. Sports fees
4. Swimming lessons
5. Horseback ride
6. County/State park pass
7. Library card (for out-of-town dwellers)
8. Theme park
9. Art lessons
10. Museum admission

December Dreams + Children's Votive Craft

Good morning, all!  I know I haven’t been posting much lately, but I really haven’t forgotten about you!  Making this blog sure is fun, and I love that it doesn’t have to be something that’s set in stone.  Because the painful truth is that I am not one who does well with rigorous scheduling.  Which is why most of this month has been dedicated to finishing up Christmas presents at the last minute.  You might go so far as to call it procrastination.  Or over-ambition at some point thinking I could make all these gifts for everyone!  I do love to make gifts for people if I can though, but only if it’s something I really think they would want or need.  I love being able to tailor it to their interests and pray for them as I create.  It’s like being able to send a blessing along with a gift! 

This is as close as we get to a nice photo in front of the tree!

How has your holiday season been so far?  Since my daughter’s birthday is in the first weeks of the month, we’ve decided to try to hold back the majority of the Christmas shenanigans until after we have had a chance to celebrate her life.  Although it may seem like an even later start, I kind of like reigning in the chaos even a little more.  I don’t know about you, but I feel like there is a ton of really good, fun stuff going on this year and I just feel like I need to cram it all in!  I love our advent calendar, but I know I could get really carried away with it, too. 

I glimpsed over an article last week that I haven’t been able to find again, but now I can’t get it out of my  mind.  The idea was basically “things you do NOT have to do this Christmas.”  In essence, it was releasing Moms from the pressure to “do stuff” to fill up the month of December with Christmas-ness.  Please don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and I love a lot of the activities that go with it, but I know for me it’s just so easy to get swept away and lose priorities.  And on top of it being so draining for me, I think it can get overwhelming and exhausting for the little ones as well!  I really appreciated the reminder that it’s okay.  It’s okay if we don’t make an elaborate gingerbread house, or see the Nutcracker, or get the perfect Christmas tree or do ALL the Christmas stuff!

I see all of you, my friends, and I am so inspired!  So many of you are working, be it part-time or full-time, have lost a loved one, or have medical issues you’re dealing with, especially with little ones.  Some of you are grandparents or parents of older children and you’ve taught me how the concern and worry for them doesn’t go away, it just changes.  It can be really hard!  And you do so much!  I see you always wrestling with issues concerning your families and fighting for what’s best for them.  I can see how your children adore you, they do (or will) know the effort you put forth, your Christmastime isn’t any less special, and the love is just so evident in your families.  And I feel like, that’s it!  Maybe it’s better to keep life more balanced this month while still putting the emphasis where it ought to be.  I believe traditions are important and wonderful, but I’m realizing for myself that I don’t have to do ALL the traditions, as delightful as they may be.  And even if one of our special ones has to be skipped one year, it’s okay.  It doesn’t mean I’ve ruined all their Christmases forever or even this year. 

THIS is the important stuff: gingerbread with friends

And THIS: exploring with family

 

So much out there is telling us we need to be a certain way (love-hate relationship with Pinterest) but it's just not true. I love how our family is right now, but I just really want this blog to be a place of encouragement. We all have different situations and I guess I just want to reiterate that it's okay.  I know the Christmas holiday's origins were not all about Jesus, but that is what we choose to celebrate now. And He knows our paths, struggles and joys. He loves us right where we are. Sometimes I think He must find it silly the lengths we go to, the unrelated things we do, in the name of His birth. 

So all that to say, take a deep breath, consider letting go of a little bit of holiday fluff and choose to love well!

 

I want to give you one more thing before Christmas, but my printer is still on the fritz and I'm having trouble scanning so I'm going to have to take my own advice and let go of my plan to post printable gift tags. But I will share an idea for a quick craft we did in Sunday School this week.  

We are part of a small but growing church plant here, so we never have more than a dozen kids from ages 1-12.  They all seemed to enjoy this one (though some needed more help than others!)  In trying to keep the activities appropriate for that range, I again decided to revise my original idea of a more intricate votive craft to this rather quick and simple one. And it ended up going even better with our lesson of the three wise men!  

Instructions: Roll a golf ball sized lump of salt dough smooth.  Gently press a tea light almost all the way down from the top.  Smooth out the dough as needed.  Gently press strands or individual beads into the dough.  Allow to dry and enjoy the light!

The idea of light lends to a couple themes in the story: the wise men followed the star in the sky to find young Jesus, the Light of the World.  The jewels remind us of the treasures the wise men brought to Jesus, that they themselves were earthly kings, and that Jesus is the King of kings.  And finally the theme of a gift.  The wise men brought Jesus gifts and Jesus is God’s gift to US!  I’ll let you decide how you want to work those connections in as you direct the craft!

I wish I could give you more, but I do wish you the most blessed and peaceful of Christmases!

 

Frozen Pipes and Star Analogy

Making friends with the neighbors

Do you ever start looking back through old photos and sort of get lost in time.  Our Decembers have often been interesting months.  Most notably, of course, was two years ago when our daughter was born in the midst of an Alaskan snow storm. 

So Tiny!

But both the year before that and just last year, December was the month the temperatures finally dropped low enough and long enough for our pipes to freeze despite our pipes being wrapped with electric heat tape and in frequent use. 

The inside of our windows come December

It was a bother, but really, not that big of a deal.  Especially in the lower 48 here, we can become so used to having things a certain way, anything else becomes shocking and pitiful.  But so many people up there live in dry cabins anyway, our being without running water for those few weeks at a time was generally regarded as a minor inconvenience. 

 There were water stations in town where you simply hauled your tank (be it pickup bed sized or the 7 gallon blue ones like we had) and filled up whenever you were in town.  We were thankfully close enough to the Fox springs to be able to fill up with that pure water without having to drive into town.  Or, if we were really in a pinch, we had all the water we wanted right outside our door.  All we had to do was set pots of snow on the stove to melt and boil. 

He loved this job!  Good science experiment, too!

 Being careful to avoid the yellow or brown patches, of course.  An older, single nurse from the hospital I worked at up there said she felt much more prepared to survive in the winter than in the summer should something happen, because she had all that fresh water all around her and a stove to heat it on!

December 2012

 

December 2014

Tiny bits for washing dishes.  Showers were obviously out of the question, but washing up with a washcloth was usually sufficient.  We would give the babies shallow baths in the galvanized tub.  Then use that water to spot clean laundry.  An outhouse would have been nice.  And I really understand the relatively high density of outhouses in the area.  One flush takes a lot of water!  You just get used to thinking about things differently and learn not to waste something even so common as water. 

At the plumbing store...again.

And then the electricity would go out every so often, but every house out of town had a stove.  Maybe this sounds crazy, but looking back, I really appreciate how those times grew me and caused me to get creative and see things in a new way.  It’s so rewarding to be thrust into a potentially dangerous situation like that and come through with flying colors.  Like a victory.  I am very grateful for our new home here in Oregon and love that we get to settle here, but I hope I never lose the lessons I’ve learned nor forget the adventures we’ve had in Alaska.

Okay, enough reminiscing.  I guess what I was leading to is gratefulness.  I know Thanksgiving is over, but it really should be a mindset rather than a single holiday, anyway.  Choose to be content, to be grateful for the things you do have, especially during this crazy month of gifting.  Remember all we have been given, the best gift of the offer of Living Water with the birth of Jesus!  Yeah, that’s “Christianeese.”  I’ve got to stop that, but I like the analogy.  Jesus Spirit living with those who love Him is likened to Living Water that is vital for full life and quenches the thirsty soul.  !  I love Christmas as much as the next person, but it’s just the beginning of the story!  The climax will have to wait until Eastertime, though! =)

We haven’t really started celebrating yet, mostly waiting until after our upcoming birthday party, although Christmas tunes are finally playing regularly.  We did do one activity in preparation for Christmas that I thought I would share because I feel like it was a fun learning activity for my littles.  We had an apple that was starting to look like it was dehydrating from the outside after it had sat on the shelf for much too long.  I brought the littles over to watch for the hidden star as I sliced the apple around its girth.  What delight when they found the familiar shape in the middle. 

 

 As I continued to cut thin slices to (finish) dehydrating for our popcorn/cranberry garland, I told them about the star that shone when Jesus was born, that the shepherd’s saw in the fields and that the wise men followed for their long journey.  The star was there for everyone to see, but the wise men knew what to look for, sort of like how we knew how to look for the star in the apple.  I’m not sure if the analogy played out perfectly, but it was fun to talk about as we worked together.  I’m always up for new Christmas ideas and I know there are tons of amazing traditions and ways to celebrate Christmastime out there.  I’m curious, how do you start off the season? 

Sorry for the dark photos!  Sometimes life doesn't happen in perfect lighting! =)

 

Come In, We're Open!

Good morning, all!   I hope you all have had a good week despite the horrific news from Paris!  Continual prayers for all involved.  I hope you’ll forgive my inactivity on here lately, but I have been working to get my Etsy shop updated.  I hope you will get a chance to check it out here!  Right now I am focusing on hand painted ornaments in anticipation of Christmas.  Each one takes several hours to complete, in my case spread out over several days.  When little ones are awake, focused painting sessions are few!

I sold many of these the year before Fynn was born and ended up creating about a half dozen or so custom orders.  These were so much fun and I just admired the creative ideas each individual had, often customizing with name, event, and year.

 

  Anyway, all that to say if you or any one you know is interested in a special ornament this year, please let me know!  Here’s a sampling of some of my custom and past orders:

Enjoy this season of anticipation and celebration!

And to All a Goodnight

What fun starting Christmas traditions with our new baby!  Josh got Friday off and we packed up sweet little Fynn and drove to North Pole to see Santa at his home.  Since Fynn got croup on Wednesday night, car rides have been even more traumatic, but he held up like a trooper on the way there.  Santa Clause's house was all aflutter and smelling of the amazing fudge, sweets, cocoa and coffee brewing.












Santa was just getting ready to go check on the reindeer out back, so we walked over to the ice park to see this years sculptures and take Fynn down a slide or two.  We pulled him out in a little sled and Josh took him down the big ice slide and I took him in the ice spinning bowl.  He wasn't real thrilled, but tolerated our photographing.

Then we went to meet the big man himself after sampling their homemade fudge and sitting by the roaring fire.  I was worried that Fynn would be afraid (separation anxiety has begun to set in), but he was just cool as a cucumber!  He actually does seem to be more okay with guys with beards than anyone else, now that I think about it!  We read a couple of the letters to Santa posted about, saw the world’s largest Santa outside, and Josh and Fynn sat in Santa’s ice sleigh.

Christmas Eve was fun, too.  Mostly just hanging out around the house during the day, then a service at church that evening.  I kept Fynn back in the sound booth with Josh to avoid spreading any of his croupy germs.  The boys got their Christmas PJs and we hit the hay.

Then it was Christmas!   Josh got up early and got all the presents set up, a fire going and chai tea brewed (so nice!) and we began to go through all the generous gifts that were given.  Fynn made a haul with a bunch of books, a tractor, a train, some CAT trucks, hats, gloves, clothes, and a bookshelf for all his books!  The cats loved the boxes, the dog loved the wrapping paper rolls, and Fynn sure loved the paper!  Again, it’s often the free things…

Josh read Fynn The Story from his Bible book while Fynn intently listened.   Then we made some cinnamon rolls and watched A Christmas Carol while Fynn napped.  When he awoke, he had so much fun playing with all his new toys.  So fun to see the joy on his face!  We (I) decorated the gingerbread house I made with candy from our stockings and later that evening, had a 6 way video chat with my folks, brother, aunts, uncle, Grandpa, and cousins in Washington, North Dakota and South Dakota.  Slightly chaotic, but it made me appreciate technology just for the ability to see everyone, if nothing else.

Dinner was super simple, but yummy: ham, mashed potatoes, salad, sparkling pear and strawberry cider, and chocolate cream pie for desert.  Fynn played with some Cheerios and ate homemade yams and rice with pears for dessert.   Fynn was pretty wiped and fell asleep quickly after reading one of his new books.  And now I’m listening to Josh pick some carols on his guitar as I write.  What a fun season, but most importantly, what a reminder to be grateful for Jesus’ choice to come to give us hope!  A merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!