WORD OF THE DAY 

THE WORD OF THE DAY IS... 

BROUHAHA

A NOISY AND OVEREXCITED REACTION OR RESPONSE TO SOMETHING. 

LAVINIA WANTED TO APOLOGIZE TO SUZIE AFTER THE BROUHAHA OF YESTERDAY'S ACCIDENT.  

 SUNDAY THOUGHTS 

Gelato is what comes to mind this time. Of course, I could tell you about several zillion other things but gelato seems like the perfect topic for this particular day. 

I love gelato. Apparently the difference between gelato and regular ice cream is this: more milk, less cream, no egg yolks (generally). So, apparently that's why I like it better. It's creamy, sweet, cold, delicious. 

Sweet Darlings is the place to get Gelato and it's sooooo good. I've been many times in all my years :-). I've gotten many flavors as well, but the ones I remember the most are: 

1. Salted Caramel 

2. Lemon Cookie

3. Midnight Mint

4. Coconut

5. Strawberry

6. Lemon 

7. Fruits of the Forest

Which is your favorite ice cream? Soft serve? Regular? Gelato? 

 WEIRDEST ICE CREAM FLAVORS 

If you are easily grossed out don't read this. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51703/12-strange-real-ice-cream-flavors

1. Horse Flesh

yes this is a real ice cream flavor 

2. Fig and Turkey

The perfectThanksgiving treat, right? 

3. Corn on the Cob

perfect for BBQs

4. Cheetos 

Only for people who like Cheetos of course

5. Lobster 

for both the seafood and the ice cream lovers

I have never tried any of these. And I don't think I want to ever try any of these. You? 

What is the weirdest ice cream flavor you've ever tried? 

WORD OF THE DAY

 THE WORD OF THE DAY IS... 

BLATHER. 

 VOLUBLE NONSENSICAL OR INCONSEQUENTIAL TALK OR WRITING 

HE JUST BLATHERS ON AND ON ABOUT MEDIEVAL HISTORY.  

 

 Chicken Story pt 3 

We are down to between four to six days, give or take. When I gave the chickens their kitchen scraps Rio got off the nest to eat some. (That is normal for broody hens to leave every once in a while) I took that opportunity to see how many eggs she really has... 

Nine. But one was slightly crushed. As in the shell was bet in a little but the inner sac wasn't damaged and it wasn't oozy. I don't know how many will survive but at least we know the number to expect!

 I gave her an old chick waterer-the mason jars that screw to the lid thingies-at the beginning of her broodiness and give her new water and food every day. 

When she was off the nest she stood on the roost and I saw her picking feathers off her chest. They do this so more body heat can be directly transferred from hen to eggs. She is very protective of her space but she no longer tries to fend us off and cluck angrily at us when we give her food and water. I guess she realizes we are not predators and are here to help her. 

One of the down sides of having a broody chicken versus incubator is broody poop. Yep, you heard it here first, folks ;-) That's actually what it is called. 

No, broody poop is gross. It sounds gross, it looks gross, it feels gross, but most of all it smells gross. Like cover your nose and run out of the barn kind of gross. I'm not kidding. That's what I did. It smelled worse than any other barn animal excrement. 

You guys, I'm sorry. Blatantly talking about broody poop is unacceptable. I better stop now. Be ready for chick pics soon (if they survive)!

 BEST Egg White Cookies/Meringues 

 I love meringues. They're sweet, light, airy, elegant, soft on the inside, crispy on the outside. They're easy to make and require few ingredients. You can put sprinkles on them, swirl colors, swirl flavors, they're a versatile dessert! The best! This recipe is for egg white cookies. Which are basically meringues...I've made this recipe multiple times-without a fail. 
The recipe is from kosher.com which is a really great baking/cooking website. Here's the link: https://www.kosher.com/recipe/egg-white-cookies-macaroons-4979. 

INGREDIENTS: 

serves 10

3 large egg whites (room temp)

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vinegar 

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup chopped, roasted slivered almonds (I don't usually put these in) 

3 1/2 oz. grated or chopped chocolate (or mini chocolate chips) 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp almond extract

Melted chocolate (optional) for dipping cookies

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Place egg whites, salt, and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Beat for one minute until "snowy".  Add sugar slowly and beat for four minutes until shiny. 

Add nuts, chopped chocolate, and extracts and mix by hand with a spatula. 

Drop by heaping tablespoon (or if you want to be fancy, pipe) onto a lined and greased cookie sheet or stone. Bake for 40 minutes. Do not open oven door during bake time. Cookies should be hard but not brown. (They'll kinda have a shell on the outside) 

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. For an extra elegant finish dip half the cookie halfway in the melted chocolate. These cookies freeze best in a container. 

Have fun with these and maybe try different add-ins. Enjoy!

 ROADTRIP! 

Who reading this has been on a road trip. Like a really long one. I have! Road trips are fun, yes, but they can also get tedious, boring, and kinda hard. Just yesterday I got back from a road trip with my parents and little sister. (my brother was working). We went to Fairbanks from our house which is about 500 miles (8 hrs one way). We left on Thursday late morning and got back at about 8:30 on Sunday. We drove for about 24 hrs altogether. Dad had work up there and my mom was leading a Practicum for Classical Conversations. So we drove up to Wasilla, had dinner with my oldest brother, in the morning we drove to Fairbanks and North Pole, on Saturday was practicum, and Sunday we spent the whole day driving back. 

Roadtrip Essentials: 

BLANKET, small enough to be manageable in a car but big enough to be comfortable

PILLOW, sleeping/resting is a large part of roadtrip life

BOOKS, if you aren't a carsick kind of person. (I didn't used to be but this time I was)☹️

COLORING/DRAWING MATERIALS this is a really awesome thing to do in the car. A coloring book, or blank paper, markers/colored pencils/pens make great entertainment. 

ENTERTAINMENT, whether it's toys, stuffed animals, etc. these are really important on a roadtrip

ELECTRONICS, okay these aren't essentials (I didn't use my dad's phone for a game till the last two hours;-) but they are helpful. 

AUDIOBOOKS/STORIES, my family is big on the audiobooks. We like always are listening to one. We listened to a 6 hr 27 min audiobook on this trip. (And I only fell asleep for about 20 mins of it)!!! We listened to Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George. It was a really interesting book. We also listened to Adventures in Odyssey, which is a family favorite. 

GAMES, we played: whiz kids, I spy, I went to the zoo and I saw, and our own variation of I went to the zoo and I saw: I went on a walk and I saw. Instead of animals in alphabetical order we did names of people we knew! It was really, really fun. (We even have a family member whose name starts with a U) For "X" we used a name with an "X" in it. 

FOOD, what would a roadtrip be without the food! We had trail mix, fig bars, z bars, clementines, gum, leftover candy from the practicum, and of course Subway!!! There was also some other assortments of snacks. 

Where we Went: 

North Pole 

Chena Hotsprings (so cool!) 

Chena Hostprings Restaurant (soooooo delicious) 

A park in North Pole (where we saw a moose, mallard, and squirrels) 

Denali Park (just checked out the dog kennels) 

We'd never been to Chena Hotsprings before in all our Fairbanks trips and on a 1 to 10 scale (one being worst, ten being best) the votes came back with a 3, 3, 4, 4. But the restaurant was definitely a 8 or 9. The food is *amazing!*. 

It had just snowed in Denali so we enjoyed a nice snowball fight! 

Anyway we had a really great time! Hope you enjoy! Sorry if this was long and boring!

 Chicken Story pt. 2 

Not much to write about yet. Rio has been getting more touchy about her space. A hen (Sunny, or Honey, I don't quite know) peeked in there and Rio yelled at her. It sounded like a very hoarse, angry cat. Harrowing. It happened again later. We do believe that she has been stealing the freshly laid eggs of other hens, though. So we might have any number up to 63 chicks:-) Unfortunately, since it'll be in stages that they're born, she'll abandon the other eggs to care for the already born chicks. We might have to borrow an incubator. 

Chicks anyone? I'll put you on the list! 😉 But we're in the homestretch, people! 12 or so days! 

 EASIEST LEMONADE RECIPE

THE easiest lemonade recipe ever is from Elana's Pantry. https://elanaspantry.com/how-to-make-lemonade/ I've used this recipe tons of times. Sometimes lemonade is what you need, right? It's lemony, cold, refreshing etc... 

I LOVE LEMONADE. Strawberry Lemonade, regular lemonade, any lemonade really! 

All you need is 

Eight cups water

1 cup lemon juice 

1 tsp stevia (or sugar about seven cups???) (I actually don't know exact measurement) 

Ice 

Yep!!! That's all. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

 Chicken Story 

Alright, I know a chicken story doesn't seem the, you know, most exciting. But it's exciting for  our family, and it's exciting for a few of you chicken-loving folks out there.

Last year we purchased eight chicks. Two Australorp, two Buff Orpingtons, and four Columbian Wyandots, we ordered all hens but two turned out to be roosters. We also ordered Bantam Silkies but they all died en route, I know, sad right? 

Anyways, back to my story. On Monday last week, we realized we had....drumroll please....a BROODY HEN!!! 

Yes, we are so excited! In all our years of farming goodness we have never-I repeat, never-have had broody chickens. And I just happen to be on animal chores for six weeks. That means I am in charge of this particular story. I counted 21 days from when we first found her on the nest box and they're due Memorial Day. 

It's been a learning curve, and lots of online articles. Hopefully she isn't a homicidal hen, just saying. We don't know how many eggs she has under her. We are also hoping that she isn't, ya know, taking the eggs that have been freshly laid by our other hens. Cuz that would mean we'd have chicks forever. 

So yeah! Updates to follow. When they're born I will definitely post pics. 

you enjoyed that way more than you thought, right?

SUNDAY THOUGHTS 

Hey all! Today I am sharing some *amazing* pictures my dad and I took this evening! 

As some of you know we live right in front of a beautiful lake, the ice is melting finally, and we went down there this evening! Dad was throwing rocks onto the ice and some of the ice chunks broke off and floated down the lake (there was a tinkling sound that was so pretty!) my sister and I scooped up some of the "ice castles" at least that's what we call them. Dad took some really cool pics and then I took some! Anyway, they were really cool and beautiful. Enjoy! Post in the comments which pic is your favorite! 

Pic 1

Pic 2 

Pic 3 

Pic 4

Pic 5

Pic 6 

Pic 7 

Pic 8 

 Pic 9 

 The Best Colors for Rooms (my opinion) 

I really think a room painted with soft grey, or gentle white or colors like that are really the best. Those neutral colors not only keep your room looking cleaner and larger, you can also have several different colors in your room (accent wall, trim, bedspread, art etc.) and it won't clash. So I think light/soft/gentle grays for your walls. 

For trim any of your favorite colors would work. Lavender, blue, sage...anything!

 An accent wall (one wall painted a different color or shade) is an awesome albeit more expense way to go. It gives depth and extra beauty!

 I'd say go with a color (or colors) that you know you'll like for a while, at least. If you really think a neon pink would be super cool, think about the future. Will you still like that then? Go with what you love! 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading this! (sorry if you didn't ;-) That's all for now!  

 RECIPE TESTING: SMASHING SUCCESS!

Hey guys! Since I had so much fun with my last recipe testing I decided to do another! This one is from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. https://www.melskitchencafe.com/easy-frozen-hot-chocolate/ I've never used a recipe from her before. This was SUCH a simple recipe. It was also a simple dessert to make...Frozen Hot Chocolate. I don't know, I was feeling like something cold, easy, and refreshing! UNFORTUNATELY, we were out of milk so I made it with coconut milk. I will test it again later with real milk! I reduced the recipe for 1 1/2 c. ice, 1 1/2 c. milk (coconut, almond, or cow) 1/2 c. hot chocolate mix! 

Results: 

Prep was easy! Three ingredients hot chocolate mix, ice cubes, milk (I had to make hot chocolate mix). But it was simple, yay! ☺️ That's a win!!!  You just mix it up in a blender (vitamix) and serve! Whipped cream and chocolate sauce serve as a garnish! (I just did whipped cream and chocolate jimmies since that's what we had) 

I know it's a lot of pics! :-) Couldn't resist!!! The thing is: I LOVED IT!!!!! Please feel free to comment if you tried this recipe! Enjoy! 

 MAJOR TRANSFORMATION: 

Oil Box to Portable Nightstand! 

Hey, guys! Today I wanted to share with you something I find really cool. It started out with...a Doterra Oil box. Yep, just that! There's some pics for step by step (kinda). I had a time-lapse video but it didn't work to post it here. 

       

 Plain Oil Box!

Stain it! Or paint it! 

Use a hammer and a pair of pliers to pull out the wooden dividers! 

(For the upper level dividers (5 vertical rows) I pulled off the wood-the thin pieces dividing horizontal rows-for the first whole two rows (to fit a little storage/container thing).  On the fifth row I also pulled off the wood to fit a small lotion bottle.) 

PORTABLE NIGHTSTAND!!!! 

In the top story: lotion, hairbands, lotion, more hairbands, headbands, hair clips, clove oil, earring/chapstick case. In the middle story: candle, alarm clock, pompom (not really, it didn't work) In bottom story: glasses case, pens, notepad, paper flowers, wooden heart, and glasses cleaner (it's really cool). 

So, hopefully this will help or inspire you to do something like this! It's handy, clean, it looks nice, and is really easy! If my alarm clock wasn't as high I could close it and pack it in my suitcase for travel! (maybe) :-) More to come for MAJOR TRANSFORMATIONS! (the yellow headings are my arts+crafts btw) 

Hope you enjoy! 

 RECIPE TESTING: BIG FAT FAIL! 

So I decided it would be cool to post about recipes I will make that I've never tested before, and see how they turn out. I didn't use one of my favorite baking blogs, well known ones, or anything. A random recipe. 

For Chocolate Mug Cake. https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/espresso-chocolate-mug-cake/

Results:

Prep was easy. All the ingredients were simple-what I had. I did 2 servings and it was super easy like I said before. Then for the baking: not so good. It was a microwave recipe and 70-90 seconds took more like four minutes AND THEY WEREN'T TOTALLY DONE!!! They were gummy, tasted too much like baking powder, and were quite bitter. TOTAL FAIL! I followed the recipe so I don't think it was operator's error. Maybe better with whipped cream/ice cream??? 😉

Anyway just thought this would be a cool post. Fun for me to try, fun for you to read? Hopefully! 😉😊

My Favorite Cleaning Plan

I'm an organized, clean, tidy person. But sometimes (especially during the school year) my bedroom gets a little out of control. So just recently I've made a cleaning plan/schedule. I've separated the sections into Daily, Weekly, Monthly. I found that when you put off cleaning your bedroom till the end of the week it's usually pretty messy and it can be hard to know where to start. So with this schedule you can just go through the list. Every day you do the daily section. Every week you do both the daily and the weekly. Every month you do all three sections. See? Easy! For real, this is so helpful. I finished my room cleaning in record time! And it looked spectacular! I printed mine out and then customized it to fit my little sister's wants. This will be different for each of you but this is the foundation! I color coat each section, just for fun! 😉

If you would like a copy, please feel free to leave a note in the comments with your email! 

Infused Water

 Delicious Infused Water Recipes 

If water is delicious, infused water is even more so! I love to add fruit to my water because it makes it much more delicious. It's also especially summery, so that's an added bonus! 

Okay, so there's an endless number of combinations you can add to water, but here our my favorites! By the way, we use this amazing fruit infuser: https://www.amazon.com/Contigo-AUTOSEAL-Pitcher-Infuser-Stick/dp/B00IR77KVU/ref=asc_df_B00IR77KVU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216533278476&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7357619262570982933&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033946&hvtargid=pla-350812729831&psc=1The preparation method will be similar for all of them and how little or much you put in is all dependent on your tastes (or size of your container!) Also, these will all use 1/2 of a orange/lemon/lime. I'm not positive on all the measurements btw! 

1. Orange Lemon Water! 

Simply slice up half an orange and half a lemon into smallish pieces! Garnish with ice and voila!  

2.  Lemon Lime Water! 

This is a personal favorite, extra summery and refreshing!  

3. Orange Cranberry Water! 

This is definitely a winter time water, perfect for Christmas parties! Half some of the cranberries but leave some whole for aesthetic's sake. (1/4-1/2 cup cranberries depending on your specific likes. I just eyeball it.) 

4. Lemon Strawberry or Raspberry or Blackberry Water! 

With lemon there is an abundance of flavors to experiment with. These taste like a healthy lemonade! (I'd say 5 large strawberries cut in half, or 10 medium size raspberry/blackberries) 

5. Cucumber Orange Water! 

 Leave the cucumbers whole or half them if desired. Experiment with other fruits to combine with the cucumber. This is one of the most refreshing infused water recipes. (8 cucumber halves) 

6. Lemon Mint Water! 

Just add a few fresh mint sprigs to the lemon water for some extra piquancy! 

Like I said before, there are countless flavor combinations for water so have fun trying out these recipes and making your own! If you find a successful combination not listed here, please feel free to post it in the comments! Thanks and enjoy! 🍍🍋🍊☀️

Bedroom Refresh

 The Top 5 Ways to Change Your Bedroom for                                                   ☀️Summer!☀️

1. REARRANGE! This might seem hard; but if you plan it properly it can be really easy! I had rearranged my bedroom for winter and adjusted it to fit my needs for the school year. My room is L shaped and I had put my bed in the part that makes an L shape. My desk was at the foot of the bed and my dresser was by the door. Come summer, I have different needs than in winter. I need easy access for climbing out my window, space for crafts etc, and a summery feel. So with the help of my little sister I completely and utterly transformed my room! (More on how to rearrange your bedroom on: The Best Process for Rearranging your Room ;)  

2. COLOR! Some color will brighten up your room. It doesn't need to be drastic! Not painting or buying a new bedspread or anything but finding new pillowcases or adding some colorful paintings will definitely show summer! 

3. LIFE! Potted succulents, herbs, flowers or whatever will make your room so much more summery! 

4. LIGHT! Tie back your curtains and let the sunshine in! This seems so very easy but it is a drastically changing feature. 

5. TIDY/CLEAN/ORGANIZE! I have to say a clean room is summer to me. For me, decorating for winter means candles, blankets, knickknacks, stuff like that. But in summer, when most of my time is spent outside, those things are tucked away. 

With these tips you'll hopefully be able to see summer in your room! Good luck! 

Critter Pics Pt. 1

 CRITTER PICS   

(This is the section where I share pictures of animals that I see at home, on hikes, or somewhere else! 😉😆) 

 I thought everyone would benefit from a little Boone "pick me up." Otherwise known as a photo of Boone!  Isn't he just adorable? 😊

Delicious Brownie Recipe

My Favorite Brownie Recipe 

Brownies are one of my favorite desserts-to make and eat! They're chocolatey, gooey, satisfying, decadent, and delicious. Everything you would want in a dessert, right? I have tried many, many brownie recipes. And my favorite is (drumroll please): Chewy Fudge Homemade Brownies by Sallys Baking Addiction! https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/chewy-fudgy-homemade-brownies/#tasty-recipes-72034-jump-target I've added a few minor tweaks and might test again to make some more adjustments. 😉 And I'll include a pic! 

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup Salted Butter 

1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar 

3 Eggs 

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract 

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour

2 tbsp. Cocoa Powder

1/4 tsp. Salt

3/4 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips 

Preparation: 

Melt the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and butter together in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. (or you can melt in a microwave safe bowl in 10 second increments). Cool for about 10 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 8 by 8 pan with greased parchment paper. Make sure there's an overhang on the sides (you will use the overhang to pull brownies out of the pan).   

Whisk both sugars with the cooled chocolate mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. Gently mix in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. After that is combined, fold in the 1 c. chocolate chips. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until the edges start to pull away from the pan. A toothpick should come out with only a few crumbs.

 Allow brownies to cool completely then lift the brownies out by the parchment paper. Brownies stay fresh in an airtight container for about a week, or in the freezer for about three months.

Enjoy!!! 💕