Welcome friends,

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Warmest Wishes!

Having the opportunity to spend some time at home baking brings me immense joy. In a world full of convenience there's something really special about homemade. I hope the videos relax you, and inspire you to make time for the things that light up your heart.

Hi there,

We have two adoarble Persian cats and thought it was time for you to meet them! Our black cat is a female. She's somewhat shy, quiet and sweet as can be. Our flame point cat is a male. He's rambunctious, very lovie, and always making us laugh.

For some pretty funny cat shorts visit my YouTube channel.

Have a beautiful day!

Hi there!

This week I used the sourdough starter I made at the beginning of March to try making sourdough hamburger buns. I am really happy with how they came out. I'll share the ingredients I used, and the recipe link I followed for inspiration.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup active sourdough starter
3/4 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup earth balance (vegan butter substitute), melted
3 Tablespoons honey (use local to help with allergy season)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 egg 
Egg Wash:
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon of water

As you can see from my ingredient list I didn't make these buns vegan because I used local honey and organic eggs, but you could easily replace the honey with sugar and omit the egg, making the dough a little less rich but I think it should still work. 

For recipe inspiration -
Farmhouse on Boone: Sourdough Hamburger Buns https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-buns

Last week, I attempted making sourdough bagels. They came out a little flat. I didn't let the dough rise nearly as long as I probably needed to for making a sourdough bagel without added yeast. 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup active sourdough starter
1 1/3 cups water
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt

Wishing you a beautiful day!

"The sight and scent of a newly baked loaf has a romantic appeal that transcends all other culinary achievements." ~ Elizabeth Luard

With love,
Wendy Irene

Welcome Spring!

Who's excited for the beautiful spring blossoms to start opening everywhere?! We've got tulips and all sorts of gorgeous plants starting to push through the ground. So far, we've planted onion and garlic starts, and there's little pepper plants for the garden starting to sprout under grow lights in the basement. 

Wishing you sunshine and blessings!
​
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"If baking is any labor at all, it's a labor of love. A love that gets passed down from generation to generation."
​~  Regina Brett

Baking brings me so much joy! There is something so deeply rewarding about creating with your hands and heart. This year I really want to fit more baking back into my life. The past several years I've been so busy with work I haven't made enough time for the things that create a lot of happiness in my life.

I recently decided I wanted to learn something new and try making my own sourdough.

​On March 3rd I began my first sourdough starter.

Many days later I had my first loaf of sourdough bread. It took patience and daily care to go from a new starter to a loaf of bread, but it lit me up inside and I'm so excited about it I had to share!

"God gives us the ingredients for our daily bread, but he expects us to do the baking!" ~ Chip Ingram
​

In case you're wanting to try something new and baking appeals to you, these are the two links that helped me the most in creating my first sourdough bread.

How To Make Sourdough Starter - Good Housekeeping 
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/cooking/a32416409/how-to-make-a-sourdough-starter/

​Beginner’s Sourdough Recipe - Farmhouse on Boone
https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/beginners-sourdough-bread-recipe

There's so many sourdough recipes to try, and much more to learn! 

"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight." ~ M. F. K. Fisher

Warmest Wishes,
Wendy Irene

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Happy New Year!
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Sending you so much love and warm wishes. Please enjoy these tarot readings!

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups pecans, large pieces or halves
½ cup water
1 cup cane sugar
½ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ginger
1 Tbsp. vegan butter substitute (I used Earth Balance Organic Whipped Buttery Spread)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
You Will Also Need:
Candy thermometer
Silpat Silicone Cookie Sheet Liner (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line baking sheet with a silpat (optional).

Spread pecans out evenly on the baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes (set your timer!).

Turn the oven heat down to 250 degrees F and place pecan pieces aside on a plate or in a bowl. Allow baking sheet to cool down. Once cooled, wipe off the remaining crumbs so it is ready to use again. Reline the baking sheet with the silpat if using. Grease the baking sheet or silpat with 1 Tbsp. vegan butter substitute.

In a large non-stick saucepan, or in a regular saucepan greased with vegan butter substitute, clip a candy thermometer to the side.  Add water, cane sugar, sea salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Turn heat to medium high and stir frequently until sugar comes to a boil, use caution as it becomes very hot. Once the sugar is boiling stop stirring and cook over medium heat until the candy thermometer reads 235 degrees F. On my thermometer this is just about at soft ball stage.

Using caution, remove the hot caramel from the heat, and quickly stir in vanilla, followed by the pecan pieces. Poor the candied pecans onto the greased baking sheet.

Bake at 250 degrees F for 30 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes and 20 minutes.

Allow to cool completely on the silpat if you lined your baking sheet, or if not cool pecans on waxed paper.

Store in an airtight jar or container.