Oh baby! It's cold outside!

Up here in the Great North, it is finally turning into more of a winter atmosphere. Yesterday was miserable and cold compared the winter we have been having this year. It began with a gross rain early yesterday morning and by noon it had turned into sleet. For those of you from warmer climates, sleet is just a gross freezing rain, not quite snow (but really almost), falling when it is getting colder. Eww... It eventually turned into snow but it didn't stick.

So what does this mean for my homesteading efforts? Well, my little celery plant is gonna have to stay inside and I'm going to have to keep the heater running in my room to keep the poor little guy happy. That's all that I have growing right now.

However, the chickens that I get my eggs from, (a great neighbor) are going to slow down in production and I may not get many eggs this winter. I will still make bread, and use farm grown potatoes for cooking. I may have to make some more World War II era ration recipes.

The cold weather will, however, give me the chance to work on winter activities like planning the garden for next year and getting some more knitting done. As for gardening plans, I am working on tilling up half of the Mister's yard and planting a big old garden. This will be the first year that I plant the yard more than a few test plants. I do know that the soil has a well balanced PH level, however it also has a very dense root layer from the grass. The grass will and does choke out the plants if they are even close to the grass. I plan on planting corn, green beans, just one half row of onions, a few pumpkin plants for Halloween, some pepper plants (both bell and spicy), and of course lots of potatoes. It isn't a very diverse garden, however, it is what we eat. I don't want to plant something we are not going to eat so it doesn't go to waste. I do know that I could sell the more "exotic" plants like egg plants and okra, I just don't feel like I have the energy to do that this gardening year. I am looking for a little house to rent that will allow me to plant a decent sized garden, but I'm not going to push my luck.

As for knitting, I plan to knit a few more adult sized hats, some simple wrap baby booties, and a few wash clothes. I do not yet have natural wool yarn, and I still get it from Walmart. I know that I am awful and I will deal with that criticism later. My plan is to find someone that sells the yarn as to the fact that we do not have room for goats or sheep or lamas or alpacas or anything that produces trimmings for spinning into yarn. I also plan on making the Mister's little sister a few more dresses for her to play dress up in. It isn't going to be a lot this winter, however I will still keep the Homestead trucking.

Twice Baked Potatoes

While I was spending time up with the Mister, his mom taught me how to make twice baked potatoes. They are absolutely amazing and delicious. I wanted to eat a bunch of them (and I did). I ended up being super full because I ate the equivalent of 2 potatoes in addition to three chicken legs. I am a poor college student, so I eat when I can. The recipe is super easy, and yes my wonderful people, I am going to share it. I need to make them again so I can add pictures.

Ingredients
6 bakers potatoes (the bigger the better)
Sour Cream
2 cups Shredded cheddar cheese
2 meal Shake and Bake box (any flavor, we used Parmesan)


Directions
1) Wash the potatoes to remove any dirt that came with them. Don't scrub, just get them clean.
2) Cook the potatoes until they are soft on the inside. If you use the microwave like we did, pierce each potato multiple times and place on a plate. Cook for about 20 minutes or until soft. The softer these are, the easier it is to complete later steps.
3) Once the taters are cooked lay them out and figure out what side is the "flat side". This will be the side that will be on the pan when you bake them. Stand them up on the "round edge" and cut them in half.
4) Scoop out the insides into a large mixing bowl leaving just a little bit to allow the potato skin to keep its shape. Mix in a big scoop of sour cream (1-ish cup), 1-ish cups of shredded cheddar cheese, and 1 packet of shake and bake. Stir all of this together really well.
5) Using the second packet of shake and bake and the remainder of the cheese, mix together in the shaker bag that comes with it.
6) Take the potato mixture and fill the potatoes back up and place on a baking sheet. They will over fill a little, that's the point of these delicious things. Sprinkle the shake and bake/cheese mix over top of the potatoes. Use all of it.
7) Bake at 350 degrees until they are warmed all the way through and the cheese is melted. Serve topped with a little more sour cream or use butter.

That's all it is! Super yummy and on the not super expensive end of things when it comes to food. Not healthy, but who's keeping track of that.

Warm, fresh bread

Here it is! This is what I promised last night. A simple bread recipe that can be made in a Kitchen Aid Mixer or my hand in a bowl. So while I am suppose to be paying attention to my General Psychology Class, I am going to instead be posting this amazing recipe. It is awesome because this makes one loaf of bread unlike many other bread recipes that make somewhere 7 and a billion loaves of bread. I only want one loaf of bread for me and my sweet Mister. First I will give you the recipe and then some ideas that you can do with it other than just plain old bread. Although that is yummy.

Simple Bread

Ingredients

2 1/2 - 3 cups of flour (for your first batch, I recommend using plain white flour)
1 packet of yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 Tablespoon of granulated white sugar
1 Teaspoon table salt
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons Oil

Directions

1) In your bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Make sure this is well mixed together or the bread turns out funky
2) Add in water and oil and allow to mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all of the flour is mixed in. Your dough will still be very wet.
3) This is the hard part. Every batch is different it seems. Add in flour slowly until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. Do not add in too much flour or the bread will be very dense and gross
4) Put the dough in a well greased bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let rise in a warm place until the dough has at least doubled in size. I let the dough rise until it is almost touching the cling wrap.
5) My favorite part. Punch down the dough. Try not to mess with the dough too much.
6) Roll the dough into a log and tuck under the ends. Place it into a greased bread pan and let it rise again. If you don't let it rise long enough it has issues and is dense. It won't rise up completely like store bought bread. I have tried different methods and cannot seem to get it to work. Maybe more yeast...
7) Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes. grease the loaf before baking it to increase the browning.
8) Let cool for a few minutes (it will still be warm, I promise) before cutting into it.

So now that we have this awesome recipe, what else can we do with it? Roll out the dough and cover in a spread. What kind of spread? Cinnamon, sugar, and butter makes for amazing toast or cinnamon rolls. Need a glaze for it? Mix together 2-4 Tablespoons with half a cup of powdered sugar. Add in a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla for flavor   Just roll it up and bake it! There is also garlic bread that you can make with it too. Yum! Let me know what you make with this in the comments below!

A hat! A hat!

Yeah! I officially made my first "big person" item that wasn't a head band! Yes, blog-o-sphere, I made a hat all by myself. It is grey and has a garter stitch band and a spiral cast off. What's that? You would like a simple hat pattern that anyone that knows basic knitting skills can make? Lucky for you I am in a generous mood and am posting the pattern! Hooray!

Anyway, onto the pattern.

Simple Grey Hat
Approximate Time: 2.5 hours
Size: Adult

Supplies
Size 6 US standard straight needles
Worsted Weight (4-ply) grey yarn
Darning Needle (the blue one from Walmart works well)

Pattern
Cast on 70 stitches
Garter stitch 10 rows
Slipping the first stitch of every row, Stockinette Stitch 24 row beginning with a knit row and ending with a purl.
 *Begin Decrease*
(Continue slipping the first stitch of every row except the last row)
Row 1: Knit 8, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit 7, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Knit 6, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: Knit 5, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 8: Purl
Row 9: Knit 4,Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 10: Purl
Row 11: Knit 3, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 12: Purl
Row 13: Knit 2, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 14: Purl
Row 15: Knit 1, Knit two together, repeat across row
Row 16: Purl
Row 17: Knit two together, repeat across row
Cut yarn about 12 inches long and run through remaining stitches. Stitch down the seam and make sure everything lines up evenly. You don't need to block it and it is super warm. It is super easy to make and is a good first "big project". I plan on making a bunch more of these for presents for the 2016 Christmas. Now I am off to bed. I'll post more tomorrow and share a yummy, simple bread recipe and some things you can do with it other than straight up bread.