Our Life On The Hill

Rhubarb pie

I made my first rhubarb pie in May.  I made one for Ashton's teacher's birthday and then decided I wanted to try it too so I made one for our family.  It was really yummy.  I had never had anything with rhubarb before and I really liked it.  I also made my Grandma Sherwood's rhubarb cake recipe and loved it! 

 

 

My first pies

I can't believe I had never made a pie before.  I'm not really a pie person, so I just never had the thought to make one.  I make a lot of cakes, cupcakes, and cookies, but never pie.   I decided to make 2 pies for Easter.  I made a pumpkin pie because Ashton loves pumpkin pie and I also made an apple.  I think Cheryle Sackett would be proud of my first attempts at these pies.  I used her crust recipe and everyone thought it was really good.  It was easy and quick too. 

 

I forgot I was using a deep dish pie plate, so I should have added 2 more apples.  It was still delicious. 

My first batch of bread

I made my first batch of bread and cinnamon rolls a few weeks ago.  They were delicious!  I made white bread, because my mill and mixer weren't here yet.  My mill actually arrived today and I can't wait to use it!  My wheat berries are here and ready to be milled.   I've made a few more batches of white bread for our family and other family members.  It tastes heavenly! 

 

Here are the photos of my bread and cinnamon rolls from my first attempt.  The one loaf of bread had a perfect heart on it.  I have no idea how that happened, but I think it's pretty cool, and a sign that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. 

 

 

 

My last class with Chery Sackett

The last class was last Thursday night.  It was on pies.  We made a lemon meringue, apple, cherry, and pumpkin.  It was a lot of fun, and very interesting.  I'm going to miss Cheryle and her classes.  She'll be back in the fall with some classes when she's not so busy with the Farmer's Market. 

I did order my Bosch Universal Plus Mixer for making wheat bread, and the Nutrimill for grinding wheat berries into flour as I need it.  I'm SO excited and can't wait to receive them so I can start using them.  I ordered my wheat berries and they are on their way here.

I will take pictures of them as soon as they arrive. 

Bread class

Last Thursday, I took the bread making class.  It was so much fun.  I was so surprised to run into Noel, a friend from school.  She was there with her sister and daughter.  I don't think I've seen her since we graduated in 1993.  It was so nice to catch up with her. 

Chery was awesome!  She taught us so much.  I can't believe how fast of a  process it can be.  I really thought it took a long time to make bread.  The few times I have made it, it was pretty time consuming.  Chery taught us about flour and how milling your own is the healthiest way to go.  It really is easy too.  I'm definitely going to start doing that, and I can't wait to get a mill.  I have the suppliers figured out and just need a mill now.  In the 3 hours of class, we made white bread, wheat bread, dinner rolls, and cinnamon rolls.  We were able to bring all of it home.  It was delicious and the kids were very surprised to wake up on Friday morning to homemade cinnamon rolls. 

Tonight I have Chery's pizza making class.  She's going to show us how she grinds her own cornmeal for the crust, and how she makes her sauce.  I can't wait! 

I'm so happy for tonight

I'm taking a bread making class through the park district.  Yes, I could make bread on my own, but I think it will be fun to learn different techniques.  I've heard that the lady teaching our class mills her own flour.  How cool!  I can't wait to come home with new recipes. 

Yummy, buttercream frosting

I am having Sawyer's birthday party on Friday night, which is new to me.  I'm so used to having parties on Saturday and having that day to get ready.  So, I'm trying to get ahead of the game here.  I'm making his cake again, and decided to get the frosting out of the way.  My kids love my frosting and don't care for bakery frosting, which makes me feel good, but sometimes ordering a cake is just so much easier.  lol 

The process of making the frosting is so calming.

 

 

 

The finished product!  YUMMY! 

well, here I go

My first post on my new blog.  I decided to try my hand at blogging since I love to read blogs.  I think I will love looking back to see what we do in our day to day. 

 

Today was pretty uneventful.  Sawyer and I went to my WW meeting and then came home.  It's been a nasty, rainy and stormy day.  Today was Nathan's last day of getting off the bus at our house, so I decided to make peanut butter cookies.