Dutch Baby

I'm told that this format works better for recipes so here goes! Here is another delicious way to use up seasonal apples!

I'm not sure the history of the name but I assume is has to do with using a Dutch oven though you can use any kind of oven safe pan. I've made some modifications since my childhood for my own personal tastes so I will note them but also give you the original.

6 large apples (or 7-8 Chehalis apples) cored and thinly sliced
6 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
(I also like a dash of cloves)
1/4 cup sugar or equivalent (I prefer brown sugar)
1 cup flour
4 eggs (if they are my eggs which are slightly smaller then I use 5)
1 cup milk.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Farenheit. Saute the apples in the oven safe pan along with the butter and cinnamon. (I also prefer to put half the sugar in the pan and saute in order to get a bit of caramelization.) Saute until soft. Pour batter mixture over the apples and place the whole pan in the oven for 25 minutes or until set.

Voila! I like to make a double batch so we can have leftovers because it's just as good cold as it is hot!

Apple prep:

Sauteed and half poured:

Finished! So yummy!

Spring Has Sprung!

Baby goats are born, surprise flowers are peeking out of the ground at our new house, planting seeds, tax season. Sound familiar? I keep thinking one of these days I will learn to stop scheduling new stuff for myself in the Spring. It just keeps happening that once the fruit and veggies are safely stored away in jars or freezer and I've had a few weeks of breathing room that I want to start over already! But we still have the dreary winter to go through. So this winter I was feeling antsy enough that I signed up to be in a community production of Beauty and the Beast. Now that it's time to make new products, build and plant an entirely new garden, raise goats by hand (unfortunately), I also have every Saturday and Tuesday scheduled with rehearsal and set building! Any wonder why we haven't completed fencing in the back portion of our property?!

So, to sum up:
We moved into our new place in Maple Valley last July.

My dad helped us convert the workshop downstairs into a bedroom for our girls.

He built a joint goat barn and chicken coop to my specifications.

I completely refinished the wraparound deck including adding screws to the entire flooring.

We felled several large trees and chopped down more stifling rhodedendron and azalea bushes than I can count.

We thoroughly enjoyed our double wood stoves upstairs over the winter which required many hours of chopping wood. Hours which I was happy to provide considering I'm trying to loose some of the leftover baby reminders on my hips/tummy/thighs/etc!

I learned more about different kinds of nut and seed oils and have updated my recipes accordingly.

I registered both the family farm and the herbal company with the state of Washington.

I applied for Healthy Horizons Herbals to be part of the Maple Valley Farmer's Market all summer (dates to be posted soon)!!

That's all that should be crammed into one blog post, I think. More coming soon!