Homemaking Class- Cooking 3

Lesson #3 was more cookie baking and an experiment with our chocolate cookie recipe.  I figured we could just use a tried and true recipe of someone else's or we could experiment and really learn what different things do to the consistency of our cookies.  So, for lesson 3 we kept our Betty Crocker recipe the same, only we chilled the dough for an hour or so.  Here is our results, and what else we discussed during this lesson.

Our new and improved "chilled dough" cookie.



Our first attempt at chocolate chip cookies, following the recipe to a T.


Well, we did figure out that the recipe says to bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes.  We found that our oven works best by doing these for 9 minutes and taking them out to sit on the tray for a bit.  Our experiment round #1 made softer cookies but still lacked the thickness that the girls were hoping for.  But they were glad for the less crispy edges.  But we figured that was because of the baking time.  So, really, this recipe turned out the same even with chilling the dough. 

We also discussed butter:
~1 stick DOES NOT equal 1 cup
~The better qualities of butter in flavor and health
~In order to cream with sugar, it should be at room temperature, that means taking it out of the refrigerator and letting it sit on the counter for awhile.

So, we are still out to perfect this Betty Crocker recipe just the way my girls want them.  Next experiment will be adding 1/2 cup more flour and seeing what that does to our dough.  They are certainly learning more by experimenting than just trying new recipes.  And they are having so much fun doing it!  That's the important part, aside from growing in knowledge in the kitchen. 

Homemaking Class- Cooking 2

For today's lesson, we simply went over some of the suggestions that others gave us on our cookie making improvements.  I don't want to overwhelm the girls with too much, and it's just not doable to have them in the kitchen everyday making something along with detailed insructions by me.  So, for today we discussed cookie suggestions and that we would try one suggestion tomorrow with another round of cookie making, and we discussed and they wrote the cooking tips below in their binders.  I love having a chalkboard in the kitchen/dining room!

If you can't read the above tips, here they are:

~Read the directions in a recipe all the way through before you start cooking.

~Anything that touches raw meat should be washed.  Including counters, utensils, serving dishes and towels.

~Wash hands often.

~Wash towels often.

~Check to make sure you have all ingredients and the correct amounts for your recipe before beginning.

Homemaking Class- Cooking 1

Just to break into the class with ease and some fun, the girls worked at making some cookies.  They used the recipe from Betty Crocker and boy were they delicious.  They tasted wonderful, but just weren't as soft and chewy as the girls were hoping for.  We set out to figure out what they needed to do differently to make them just how they wanted them.

 One thing I noticed and pointed out to them was that they handled the dough too much causing it to be really soft.  After reading other's suggestions, we learned that it's best to have the dough chilled.  That will be day 3's experiment without changing our recipe at all
. 

And we had to include the little Miss in our cookie making time.  She was so cute sitting in the chair, with her apron on, watching all the commotion.  : ) 

So for lesson 1, we worked together in the cookie making process.  I pointed out different things such as:

~Fractions in measurements and what if we were doubling the batch or cutting the batch in half. 
~They learned how to use the mixer and get the mixer attachments out of the machine, safely. 
~They learned how far apart the dough should be placed on the cookie sheet and why.
~When to take the cookies out of the oven and how they'll keep baking a little after being left on the cookie sheet.
~Not to leave the oven door open too long.
~How to use the oven.
~Set the timer.
~Eat one when it's warm and with ice cream.  Delicious!

Introduction to Homemaking 101

This year I decided that after we moved and got settled in here at the farm, I needed to start a homemaking class for the girls.  They are super excited about it!  Probably the excitement will disappear when they have to start the cleaning portion of the class, so I started with a fun section, "Cooking".  I know cooking and baking are totally different, but I've lumped them into the same category.  And who wouldn't be excited when we started by making chocolate chip cookies.  I pray that by the end of this class the girls will know how to do everything they need to know for going out on their own.  At least the basics will be covered, and they can learn the other stuff as they need to. 

We will be covering lots of fun and not so fun things. : )  The sections of their Homemaking Binders will be Cleaning, Cooking, Dinner Time, Menu Planning, Hospitality, Sewing, Laundry, Crafts, Frugality, Entrepreneurship, and a special section that I am labeling as "Wailing" taken from the portion in Jeremiah 9:17-19 (we will talk about attitudes and our hearts for others).  I'm so excited to see where my girls will be when this class is over with.  I foresee some big changes and much growth. 

If you want to follow along and teach your girls the same things we are going over, feel free to follow our blog.  I think it's going to be a lot of fun!  Also, if you want to make it a curriculum for other years, I am hoping to put all of the lessons together in one section of this blog, so that they will be easy to find and refer back to.  Let me know if you are joining us with your daughters.  I'm sure my girls would love knowing who is following their journey of learning how to care for their home and family.  And if you live close by, maybe at the end we can do a party with all the girls who have joined in the fun.  It would be a great time to show some of the crafts you've done, sewing projects, recipes you love, and how this helped your family and daughters.  I hope many will join us and take the step to teach their daughters what the schools don't and what it seems like we just don't have time to teach.  It's important, so we're doing it!  Please join us at raising up daughters with hearts to serve their families and those surrounding them.

Finally some remodel pics!



Alegra's photography skills at work during a gorgeous sunset on the farm.

 It's been so busy around here with getting settled in to the farmhouse, getting areas ready for animals, unpacking, unpacking and unpacking, hosting a Celebration here, homeschooling and just every day life.  I'm a true mother.  My days go by quickly, and it doesn't look like I've done much of anything, but if I were to write a list of everything I've done, well, the list would be long with unnoticeable things, but things that definitely need done.   I decided today that I needed to do some blogging and do some house reveals for you all.  I don't know how to make the pictures any bigger than this without losing them off my page, so hopefully you can get the idea of the changes we made to the kitchen, dining, living and foyer rooms. 



Walking into the front door.



The new and updated kitchen.



Standing in the dining room, looking into the living room.



Standing at the front door looking into the living room.



Looking from the end of the living room towards the foyer are.

And now just some pictures to show you all of the angles.  We are so blessed to have all of this space to have family and friends over for meals and fun. We are still getting used to all the space and learning that there are definitely pros and cons to having a big house.  We are just trying to take full advantage of the pros...by having people over often.  



Would like to add some pictures on each side of the chalkboard. 



This area is not complete yet, but this will do for now until the garage is cleaned out.

That is our home on the main level.  The school room is back the hallway to the right in the picture above and just looks like a well used space.  :)  Nothing fancy.  And the mudroom bathroom I already posted before and after pictures of, but tomorrow it will be completed with the addition of a new washer and dryer.  Yay!!!

Onto our backyard.  This is the view that I see from the kitchen window.  The dog is Jonathon's sister's but he resides here still.  He is usually laying down by the swing set and the steer, Oreo loves to graze in that area.  I think it's because it's on the other side of the clothes line and I've been spending a lot of time out there lately with hanging laundry up to dry.  He usually stands right there and eats while I'm out there and prefers that area also for laying down.  He  is so happy to be over here, back with his family.

 Since I haven't blogged for awhile, I have to get caught up a bit.  The below picture is of Benaiah and Saphira asleep on the cough.  She woke up crying one afternoon and he climbed up there to calm her and they both fell back asleep.  So sweet!

Our little peek a boo baby!  She is becoming so much fun every day!

And her cutest outfit so far!  It says "Pretty like mommy" and even has a hat too but she isn't too fond of hats.  : )  I also have to mention that she sleeps just like me too.  Arms above head.  It's funny how children have these traits of their parent's when they haven't even been around very long. 

  So, there you have it, just a little update on our little family.  I have a couple Celebrations I'm working on with my friend, still trying to get all situated in everybody's room with dressers, etc, and trying to gear up for the cold months ahead.  Although I don't talk about them too much or my hubby will be all ready to head south-NOW.  : ) 

Alegra's Photo Shoots

 Alegra loves to take pictures.  Most often there ends up being pictures on the camera that I never knew were there of pictures she's taken.  She's not a bad photographer though, so I like to let her experiment and see what she can come up with.  She started out taking pictures of Saphira, but she was uncooperative, so she moved on to Benaiah.  I should have told her that all good photographers makes sure that the person getting their picture taken doesn't have a messy face or runny nose.  So, since she wasn't informed of that, her subject had a not so lovely face.  Thankfully, all colds are out of the house now, except for the after coughs for the papa.  Here are Alegra's photos of Benaiah.  They worked together at picking props and background colors and poses.  It's funny what children come up with. 



He needs to work on his photo smile.





And our little gem, Saphira is 1 month old!  She is growing so much and though I'm not a big fan of the baby stage, I am seeing that she is growing and changing way too fast.  But, bring on the smiles, the coos, the excitement when she sees me walk in the room.  I love that phase! 

Diella is little miss momma.  She's a great helper as all the children are, but she especially seems to be more attentive to Saphira's needs.  It sure helps having good helpers around here.

We are nearing move in day to the farm and are in the middle of celebrating the Feasts of the Lord that the Scriptures talk about.  This is a joyous time of year!  We celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles this week and rejoice before the Lord for a week!  Can't get better than that!  Hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather and enjoying the beauty of the change of colors all around us.

For Grandpa Murphy

Hi Grandpa!  So sorry we haven't made it your direction yet.  The older I get the longer it takes me to adjust and get back into the swing of things after baby arrives.  Seems we needed some extra adjusting time this time around.  : ) 

And now we all are getting over colds, so we certainly didn't want to bring them your way.  We'll wait til all are healthy.  Maybe we will just have to have you over to our new house.  It's almost finished.  We plan on moving in October 14th.  We'll have to arrange a dinner date of fish and a house tour. 

Since you haven't seen Saphira yet I wanted to make sure you at least got to see some pictures on here.  So, here are some of the pictures of our little gem.  And if you want to take time to read through more of the details, you are always welcome to read our blog posts that contain details of her life entering this world and the after events of siblings loving on her and visitors coming too.

So, here she is, Saphira Grace Bovee....

Hope we can get together with you soon!  Of course after sickness is gone.  Hope you are doing well and gearing up for cold weather.  Not sure we are ready for all the bundling that has to take place with cold weather, but oh well.  We'll have to be ready soon!   : )

Our Sweet Saphira

It just occurred to me that I never actually posted this picture on our blog and it is one of the sweetest pictures of her in her first week.  It was posted on the birth video, but not in a regular post.  So, this one is for her when she's old and looking back through her mom's blog posts of her.  And it's one of my favorite photos of her!

Saphira With Grandpa & Papa

Our wee one is growing.  Jonathon said she is getting chunky.  Hardly.  She is just right.  Every baby should have a sleeping picture with his/her daddy, so I had to capture a few of those for Saphira to cherish when she's older.  One is a classic daddy sleeping with baby position, the other, well, that's how he sleeps at night.  : )

 Then the girls finally got grandpa Dan to hold her.  He's not much of a little baby holder, but I think they just dropped her in his lap, so he didn't have a choice.  And then the scurry to quick take a picture before he passes her off, was, well, quick.  But they did get a nice picture of him with his newest grandbaby.

 This beautiful Sabbath morning, we are all getting over colds.  We've been so thankful that Saphira has stayed healthy while everybody has been coughing and sneezing all around her for almost a week now.  So thankful for her healthy little body, and that I'm able to nurse so she can have those extra nutrients that God so lovingly placed in women to nourish their young.  With the sun shining in on my bed this morning, it looked like perfect lighting for some pictures, so before she woke up, I tried getting a couple poses that I have been trying with no success or wanting to try.  They turned out great with this lighting and with a pleasantly sleeping baby. 

 These two show her long eyelashes so well.  I was laying in bed this morning just looking over her features and couldn't stop gazing at those lashes.  The lighting was perfect this morning for capturing their length and beauty.

 These two poses I have seen others capture and think it's so sweet.  How appropriate since the marriage of a man and woman is where it all started.  And I love the above picture where she is smiling, almost as if she knows that she has been placed in a family where her parents adore each other and will love her and teach her in the best ways that we can.

Our precious gem, Saphira growing and changing already.  She is 3 1/2 weeks old now.  She's been to the farmhouse to work, to church to see her church family, to the carpet store to pick out carpet for the farm (which by the way is installed and looks amazing- it's all coming together) and has been snuggled by so many loving people.  She is loved greatly!