Custard Creams and our new Teatime

 

As most of you know, tea is a regular occurrence in our home.  For over 30 years, Sir Knight and I have had tea in the morning before starting our day and come together again in the evening for another cuppa.  

Our lifestyle has changed so drastically in the last few years that we've had to come up with a new rhythm for our daily lives.  We still begin our day with tea (now in the snug) and come together for tea in the evening, however, our evening tea has now taken the place of "dinner".  When the children were small, Sir Knight and I needed a few moments of quiet, without kids, to reconnect at the end of the day.  Now, as our lives have changed so have our needs.  Our quiet start to the day, teacups in hand, has become our cherished time together, and our evening tea has become a family affair.

Our evening "tea" has truly become tea in the best sense of the word.  Our teatime now includes a full dinner, followed by cups of tea, conversation and a sweet end to a savory meal.  Every evening, after a full day at the butcher shop, we gather around a gracefully set kitchen table,  and enjoy a family meal together.  While we eat, the kettle boils away with water to heat the pot and then again with freshly boiled water for our evening tea.  As soon as our meal is finished, we whisk the dishes away and replace them with teacups, a full teapot and our evening nibble - the best part of the day!

Although three of our children are grown, tea time seems to call them home.  More often than not our table is full and the kitchen is alive with good food and better conversation.  Although changed, the ritual of teatime has grown with our family and remains ingrained in our very fabric.

One lightly perfect tea time treat that often graces our after-dinner tea table is Custard Creams.  Custard Creams are a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread sandwich cookie that comes together quickly and is a delightful tea accompaniment.  These cookies do require an ingredient not commonly found in American kitchens, however it is readily available online - custard powder.  My favorite is Bird's, which can be ordered from a number of online sources, it's fairly inexpensive and worth keeping on the kitchen shelf.

Custard Creams

Cookies

2 2/3 C Flour

1 C Custard Flour

1 1/2 C Butter

1 C Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

Filling

1/2 C Butter

1 C Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Directions

For the cookie:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Sift the flour, custard powder and baking soda into a bowl.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes in a stand mixer.

Add the sifted flour, custard powder and baking soda to the butter mixture and mix well.

Roll the dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/4" thick.  Cut with round or square cookie cutter.

Bake in center of oven for 8 - 11 minutes or until just starting to brown on the edges.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:

Mix the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until creamy (it will be very stiff).  Sandwich the buttercream between two cookies.  Repeat until all of the cookies have been used.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week (if they last that long).

Our best life is lived around the table, with cups of tea in our hands and laughter on our lips.  May you too, live your best life.....

Update: Family

There have been so many changes over the last number of years in our family that I'll do by best to bring you up to date.  Here goes......

Sir Knight.....Sir Knight is now a full-fledged butcher, processing more animals in a day than he used to be able to process in a week.  He and Master Hand Grenade work together every day, side by side, processing hogs and beef and the occasional goat or lamb.  Business has grown steadily in the 3+ years we've been in business.  We have struggled and learned and improved....and we march steadily forward.  Last June, Sir Knight had an accident (potentially life changing) that left him in an eye patch.  I'm thinking he totally rocks the pirate look!!!

Rockin' the eye patch

Maid Elizabeth.....As I've mentioned, Maid Elizabeth sold her home where we used to live and bought a home directly across the creek from our butcher shop.  Our town is very small, and finding a job was a major challenge - a faith building challenge!  After a couple of false starts, Maid Elizabeth interviewed, tested and was offered a job as a 911 dispatcher for our county.  It has been the perfect position for her.  She is particularly good in emergencies and her medical training is a real bonus.  She has become an indispensable member of the emergency services team.

Dispatching....

Master Hand Grenade......Master Hand Grenade is working, working, working.  Not only does he work at the butcher shop 5 days a week, he also works at our local grocery store another 2 days a week.  He's working steadily toward a number of long-range goals and has already achieved a few.  One great joy has been watching him mature and grow - what joy it brings!

The guys

Master Hand Grenade on a walk

Miss Serenity.....Miss Serenity also moved here with us.  She worked as a Wildland Fire Fighter, moving up the ranks quickly - first becoming the crew boss and then Forman.  Last summer, one of her crew members lost his life in a local river.  The effect was profound in Miss Serenity's life and it left her wondering how she could make a real impact on young lives.  With this in mind Miss Serenity applied to work as a cadre at a residential military academy for troubled youth, and was immediately hired.  She is now working with her second round of cadets and seems to have been custom designed for this job.  She speaks into the lives of broken "children" (they range in age from 15-18) every day, with characteristic Miss Serenity wisdom.

Miss Serenity ready for work

Talking a cadet through a water challenge

Princess Dragon Snack......Is almost 16!!!!  Can you believe that??  I know I can't!  Dragon Snack is still in school, of course, and on top of that, she works at the butcher shop with me.  In addition to school and work, she has another job - she is a barista in a local coffee shop!  She is full of fun and whimsy......with Dragon Snack, there is never a dull moment!  Her short term goal is getting her drivers license and her long term goal is to have horses and live somewhere that doesn't resemble Narnia in the winter!!!

Princess Dragon Snack and her love

At one of her two jobs!

Master Calvin.....I no longer have littles.....Master Calvin is a teenager!  Yes, really!  He, too, is doing school and he has become his Grandfather's right hand.  Right at the moment he is doing little but shoveling snow.  Lots and lots of snow!  He is keeping us shoveled out, as well as shoveling out the neighbors.  He's not complaining, however.  He is steadily adding to his dirt bike fund!

Master Calvin thinks it's time to move up!!

And me.....I am working, and learning - constantly.  I am learning there is no such thing as "menial labor" - that every job is worthy as long as you are working for your Father.  I am learning that my only job is obedience.  I need to obey Jesus in whatever He brings for me to do today - and that is enough. 

The girls and I

And that, my friends, is a quick family update!!

Artisan Pizza Crust

Yep....all these years and we're still indulging in Friday Night Pizza and a Movie!  Certain family traditions become so ingrained that they become the stuff of legends...and Friday Night Pizza is one such tradition.

I have made the same pizza crust recipe since my children were little.  It is light and fluffy, flavorful and bready.  It makes wonderful bread sticks as well as both thin and thick crust pizza.  It's tried and true.  However, I was itching to make something a little different.  I wanted to try my hand at a chewy, Neapolitan style crust.  I'd read numerous recipes and they all looked a little fussy.....pulling the dough together the day before, allowing it to raise overnight, stretching instead of rolling....It seemed much more labor intensive than my simple Light Pizza Dough.

Finally the time came to spread my wings and try something new and Artisan Pizza Crust was born.  I found a recipe I could finally get my head around and changed it into something manageable for me.  Most recipes I found weighed ingredients rather than measured them, something that I'm sure all good cooks do, but I'm not one of their number.  I changed grams to cups, teaspoons and tablespoons (to the best of my ability) and then, quite frankly, I added things until I thought it looked right.  The dough does rise overnight but comes together quickly and is wonderfully workable.  The stretching is easy, as well as the shaping of the dough.  And the crust....oh, the crust.....chewy, flavorful, chewy....perfect!

I quadrupled the original recipe, however, you can just as easily adjust it back down.  I found this recipe makes about five 12 to 14 inch pizzas.  I make all different sizes based on the pizza stones I have.

The recipe seems complicated, but isn't...it's definitely worth the effort.

Artisan Pizza Crust

DAY BEFORE

8 C. + 4 T flour
1/2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1 T + 2 tsp. salt
3 C. + 3 T warm water (I always add more after I've mixed dough together if the dough is dry and shaggy)

-  Mix the dry ingredients then add the water.  Stir until just combined.  If the dough looks dry, add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.  Dough should be well hydrated but not soupy.

-  Cover the dough and allow to rise for 24 hours (leave on the counter).

PIZZA TIME

-  Pour dough onto well floured surface.  Divide into 4 or 5 sections (I made 5 pizzas).  Using one piece of dough at a time (and making sure the surface and your hands are well floured) stretch the dough into a long piece.  Fold 1/2 the dough back into the middle, then fold the other 1/2 of the dough back on top of the first fold.  Turn the dough and stretch the other direction and fold back over itself.  Form the dough into a ball with the gathered side down and place on a floured cookie sheet or a floured bowl.  Repeat with the other sections of dough.  Cover dough with plastic wrap and allow to rise 45 minutes.

-  Preheat oven to 550 degrees (or as high as your oven will go).

-  Please pizza stones into the oven while it heats up.

-  Place ball of dough in the middle of a floured surface.  With finger-tips push dough down to form a circle (make sure not to touch the edges of the dough....that will become your crust).  Once the dough is large enough, place it over your fist and pull and stretch (making sure not to touch the edge), until you've reached your desired size (I did 12 to 14 inch pies).

-  Place your crust on a piece of parchment and continue with the other balls of dough.

-  Put on toppings, making sure not to put any on the edge.

-  Trim the parchment to the size of your pizza.

-  Use a peel to slide each pizza onto a hot pizza stone in the preheated oven.  Bake for 7 to 14 minutes.  I bake 4 pizzas at once, changing racks at 7 minutes so the pizza's are even - done both on bottom and top.

The dough having risen for 24 hours

Stretched, made into balls and on its 2nd rise

On parchment and ready to go into the oven

Fresh out of the oven and slid on a cookie sheet to slice

Oh, that crust!

That's it!!  It sounds more complicated than it is....and the few extra steps are worth the effort.  I'm thinking an outdoor pizza oven is sounding good!!

Life in the Highlands

I'm a little slow.  I think I may have mentioned that before.  I've noticed over the years that change affects me in a huge way.  After major life disruptions, it takes longer and longer to get my feet back under myself.

We're closing in on 3 years.  Three years since we sold "Little Shouse on the Prairie".  Three years since we've lived off-the-grid.  Three years since we began building a butcher shop.  Three years since we've had a stable, consistent income.  And now, just now, I'm beginning to feel like myself, not just someone treading water.  I'm beginning to be able to focus on things other than just surviving.  I am once again expanding my horizons and opening my home to new friends.  After nearly three years I'm finally able look beyond myself and again minister to those outside my immediate family.  After nearly three years, life begins anew.

The adjustments of our new life have been unexpectedly difficult.  Our relationships have changed and grown, as have our expectations.  Our challenges have been different, but no less "challenging".  We have been surprised by what we don't miss!

Master Calvin (He isn't actually smoking a pipe!)

Princess Dragon Snack getting a little reading in!

The weather in the Highlands has been a breath of fresh air.  Our Shouse was situated in the middle of a windswept prairie, where the harsh winters were only rivaled by the blistering summers.  Wind was our constant companion, creating untenable weather conditions and embracing us in a real-life "man against nature" reality. And summer, with its blistering heat (and constant wind, of course), did little to offer a soothing balm of relief.  Our new home in the Highlands is a constant source of joy.  The winters, although filled with snow and cold weather, offer almost no wind and crisp, clear days with skies so blue that the contrast against the Sub-apline Firs are positively breathtaking.  Summers are warm but not hot and the cool of the evening revives even the weariest of souls.  I traipse down tree -lined avenues, cross bubbling streams and wiggle my toes in sweet meadow grass.  Every walk ministers to my soul and every perfect winter day brings with it the joy of life.

Getting ready for our Thanksgiving feast (Miss Serenity and Sir Knight)

Our living room...in anticipation for a crowd

The newly remodeled scale shack/guest house!!

The new kitchen (with an extended counter and built-in refrigerator)
The oil lamp is a gift from a friend!!!

Serenity Cottage has a queen sized bed!

And a cozy wood stove!!

Our business has brought us the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.  We didn't fully understand what would be required to launch a butcher shop (something with which we had no experience).  The money and energy and effort threatened to overwhelm us.  We made many mistakes and learned many lessons.  We struggled and we triumphed.  And now, after nearly three years, we are gaining confidence and customers.  It is beautiful indeed.

Sir Knight with his helpers, Miss Serenity and Maid Elizabeth

An amazing prime rib, produced by Sir Knight and Master Hand Grenade

Sir Knight and Princess Dragon Snack

What an amazing life we lead.  God has walked us through this life, brought us through the wind and the fire and placed our feet on this good and fair land.  Life is hard and sweet, full of struggles and sunlight.  And God, in His infinite wisdom, has placed us in the middle of it.  This is life in the Highlands.

The Traditions Continue....

It has been three years since the last Highland Hunt!  Three years!!!!  A new home, a new business, a new group of people - and finally, Sir Knight and I mustered the gumption to host another Highland Hunt!  

Actually, our Highland Hunt was the second shoot we hosted this year.  Our first shoot was our church's Men's Retreat shoot.  And since we got the tent out of storage and gathered tables and chair, we thought we should take the opportunity to have friends and family over and host the Highland Hunt in the true Highlands!!  Although we didn't dress up as we usually do, we did cook up a feast and had an incredible afternoon of fun, fellowship and firearms!!  

And now we pick up where we left off!!

Getting ready for the men's retreat

Clays and shot stacked high

A thing of beauty!

Master Hand Grenade, Miss Serenity and Sir Knight, ready to roll

The dessert and drinks table

A few of the shotguns (and Dragon Snack in the background)

The calm before the store (it had been raining and we hadn't put the chairs up around the fire-pit yet)

Some of the vehicles

They even let us girls shoot!!!

Sir Knight and Master Hand Grenade at the Highland Hunt

Miss Serenity killing clays!

Master Hand Grenade

Master Calvin blasting clays (with Sir Knight manning the clay thrower)

Serenity and Calvin shooting together (we ran two clay throwers)

Hand Grenade, Calvin and Sir Knight at the pistol range

My boys!!