From the Gratitude Journal . . .

Today I am thankful for:

. . . for Hubby cooking me breakfast on the weekends

. . . for my washing machine and clothesline

. . . for soft pillows

. . . for our coffee maker that brews in 3 minutes

. . . phones

. . . for fragrant candles my Mom gave us

. . . good ol' fashioned, to-the-mailbox, mail

. . . the sun shining today and warmer weather

. . . God's availability, always there, always listening

. . . pens and pencils

. . . for my 19 year-old daughter getting a job yesterday.  She's officially employed.

. . . for locating an alpaca farm not too far from here.  You may hear more about this later.



Today, the weather is to be up in the 60's, so the washing machine is getting a workout.  So are my clotheslines.  The kids have not been counting eggs, so I may skip the egg count this year.  I have a few new tulips and hyacinths to plant today, and add yet a bit of more pink and purple to the gardens.  Bills need paid today too.  

The herb garden is looking nice already, and my green onions need divided out.  I am replanting a new rosemary plant, since I left mine out all winter (oops!).  The chives are looking great and my sage is doing good (lost them the previous winter).  Even parsley has popped up here and there, and the same with cilantro.  We may be planting peas tonight.

 



        

Stress Baking

I bake when I am stressed.  However, there is a level of stress, that I should remember to never attempt baking.  I baked a batch of Walnut Coconut Cookies, but accidently doubled the butter.
After I realized that, I realized I only had 3 eggs in the house.  I sent my 16 year-old out for one from the coop, and luckily she brought one it.

While she was out there, her youngest female goat (Prim) came up behind her.  Somehow she got out of the fence again.  Lucky for her she discovered it.

...back to the cookies.  I had preheated the oven at 400°F, but read over the recipe for the ump-teenth time, and realized that I needed the oven on 350°F.  

With my mistake of doubling, and by the way was only baking to use up some homemade goat's milk ricotta (in place of sour cream in this recipe), I was able to double the amount of ricotta too.

By the way, the last time I baked these cookies, I used sugar in place of honey.  The cookies were a delicate shortbread cookie flavor.  With this batch, I used honey, and they are a soft cookie texture.  We also used pecans again.  I do favor the texture and flavor of baking them with sugar.

Now, I have 10?  11?  Maybe 12 dozen of these cookies. 

But, I have one less cup of ricotta to worry about getting wasted.  Next time, any small amounts of ricotta are going in the freezer.