I Live On a Farm KAL and First Communion

Our lovely First Communicant, Kierra... More on her in one minute...!
I've been away from blogging for awhile as family life has been b-u-s-y! Before I get too wordy, I just want to make a small post about the I Live On A Farm Knit-Along that I'm participating in. This way, the ladies on the KAL can see my progress without having to read through the rest of my post, if they don't want to! This is a Summer Blanket mystery kal. I'm knitting mine in a sunny yellow by Sugar N Cream. Two cones are needed to complete the blanket. We'd love to have you join us! Clue one is out and we're all awaiting clue two.
And now more on Kierra's Big Day!



Kierra made her First Communion last Wednesday! She was the only one as I prepare my children for their sacraments at home. She made her communion in the chapel with our family (Gary, me, the kiddoes and my mom) present (and Kyle's lovely girlfriend, Julia, too, -not in picture :(...) and some lovely ladies of our church present. Our wonderful priest, Fr. Tom, made it so very special for Kierra. She'll remember this special day, always.
After Mass we had a pastry buffet back at home. I was busy baking the few days before. I made a Cherry-go-round, which makes two so did another with pineapple filling, an Apricot Tart Sour Cream Coffee Cake, and Raspberry-filled Linzer Cookies. Everything was so good! We truly had a beautiful, loved-filled day!

Because the Box is Always More Fun...

than the actual toy that came in it, right?
Another couple of projects from my Homemaker's Mentor Course. This was chocolate dipped spoons to go along with a home made Mocha Mix. The mix is delicious and the chocolate dipped spoons are great fun for stirring. My little girls really enjoyed this project as once I showed them what to do they did it all!
This project was to encourage making a live centerpiece for the table. This is Montana Wheat that I normally ground for bread making. I just sprinkled grains in some very wet organic soil, covered them with more soil and squirted the top. I give them a good spray every day. This is about a week's worth of growth. Once it grows a bit more, I'll put it on the kitchen table and snip the greens to add to smoothies and salads. Nice idea, huh?

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Who can resist home-made dinner rolls straight from the oven? Not me! These are delicious. Would you like to try them? Here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
2-1/3 cups water
1 cup oats
3 TBS butter
2Tbs Yeast
2/3 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
3 cups wheat flour
2 cups unbleached flour

Boil water and add oats and butter. Cool to 110-120 degrees (very important). In mixer bowl combine water/oat mixture, yeast, brown sugar, salt and stir. Add whole wheat flour and mix. Add white flour until dough no longer sticks to the sides of the mixer. Do NOT add too much flour! Knead for 5-8 minutes. Place in oiled bowl, flipping over once. Let rest 30-45 minutes. Punch down and divide into 24 (I get about 18 nice size rolls) pieces. Place pieces in two
9" X 13" sprayed pans. Let rise until double in size, about 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, 'til nicely browned. Rub butter on top when fresh out of the oven.