Lavender Lemon Shortbread

As we find ourselves swinging open the windows and drinking in wonderful summer smells, I want to share with you a wonderful recipe that reminds me of the fragrance of summertime.....

I was coming in the other day from working in the garden, and was greeted by two daughters in aprons and the house gently perfumed of Lavender & Lemon Shortbread.  Delicious!

Lavender Lemon Shortbread

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
3 Tablespoons sugar

1.  In a medium bowl, and using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon extract until creamy.
2.  In a seperate medium bowl, sift together flour and salt.  Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined.  Fold in lavender and lemon zest.
3.  Shape dough into a ball or disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight.
4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5.  On a lightly-floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Using a 2-inch round fluted cutter, cut cookies, rerolling remaining dough only once.  Place cookies on prepared sheet and evenly sprinkle each with granulated sugar.
6.  Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until edges of cookies are slightly browned.  Cool  on pan 1 minute; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Blessings! 

Malinda 

Weeding our "Gardens"

These past few weeks have found me in the garden with my children.  We have been preparing the soil with a good mix of organic compost, builder's sand and clay (not a problem here in Colorado).  We then carefully planted seeds; green beans, broccoli, carrots, pumpkins, onions, potatoes, peas and sunflowers.  Ever try planting seeds with a four year old?  Everyone should do it at least once in their lifetime (I have done it four times....smile.)  Their raw enthusiasm and short-lived attention makes it quite an adventure!

After a couple of weeks, we have begun to see little leaves making their debut....horray!...or is that a weed?!

Several years ago, I worked hard laying landscape fabric in our now garden area.  I made European-inspired pebble paths and raised stone planters- for asthetics and practicality, to keep weeds from making our garden their home.

As the kids and I have spent time "weeding" between the planters on the pebble paths and in the raised planters, I have really thought about the "weeds" in our personal lives.  I have coached my children through weeding, telling them to get the roots of the weeds or they will just grow back, probably stronger because the roots are bigger.

The "weeds" of our lives, emotionally and mentally (even spritually) can seem harmless when they are freshly rooted and quite small.  The weeds of bitterness, jealousy, selfishness and people-pleasing are just a couple weeds I have found in my own life.

Weeding can be put off with an over-crowded life or ineffectively done by temporarily pulling the top , yet the root remains....growing and slowly choking.

Three years ago, I called an organic law-care service and inquired about the bindweed issues I was encountering everywhere in our yard.  I would pull the weed, but not the roots-they were too long.  The lawn company told me that bindweed was the worst weed (great!) because it has an extensive root system connecting plants underground and can lie dormant for up to 50 years!  Treatment has been a several-year process.

As I think about my life, I have looked for any dormant or freshly-sewn weeds .  With the Lord's help, I have been rooting out weeds that if matured, will steal and destroy the good, God-ordained things in my life.
Just this year, I have encounted others whom I love dearly in my life, revealed that they had for years  dormant-lying weeds and now, they were destroying their lives and marriages.  The weeds have taken over and choked future dreams and future generations.

We must all be vigilant in our fight with weeds in our gardens and personal lives. We cannot battle it alone. "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" Isaiah 41:10   

I have been on my knees in my garden and with my Lord.  I know that I cannot "weed" my own life without the One who created and designed it.  I have cried and been humbled as His spirit has shown my own ugly weeds.  But, it has also been life-giving freedom to bloom as I was designed to do.

   " Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap a harvest if we do not give up." 
                                                                       Galatians 6:9

Blessings!
Malinda

A Yummy, Wholesome Breakfast...

I thought I would share a wonderful recipe that our family

enjoys for breakfast. It has been alot of fun to make and

customize to our family's tastes and the current season.

In the spirit of vintage-inspired things I just love, I can

imagine (do I sound like Anne of Green Gables??) an old

relative of mine from long ago assembling a breakfast

cereal like this (with similar ingredients more or less).

Our family hopes you will enjoy it as much as we have!

Homemade Granola Cereal:

10 c. oats

2 c. wheat germ (or coconut flour for wheat-free option)

2 c. shredded coconut

1 c. brown sugar (I usually use less)

1 c. chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts, etc.)

1 c. dried fruit (dates, raisens, etc.)

1/2 - 1 c. coconut oil (or other healthy oil, if Olive, go "extra light"

1/2 - 1 c. raw, unfiltered honey or real Maple syrup

2 tsp. real vanilla extract

1 tsp. sea salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together all the ingredients except dried fruit. Use

hands to mix well, pressing clumps together. Pour mixture

into shallow pans (I usually use 2: 13x9 & 2: 8x8 glass dishes)

Toast at 275 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Turn oven off, stir in dried fruit, and let sit in oven for 30 min.

Different Themes:

Tropical: macadamia nuts and dried pineapple

Autumn Harvest: pecans, dates & maple syrup (instead of

honey)

Other wonderful additions:

raisens, pumpkins seeds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, bannana

chips, carob chips, flax seeds.....

Blessings!!

Malinda B.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Sometime last year, I began to closely examine our grocery budget and narrow in one ways to trim it. With a large family, the "grocery" category in our finances is a handsome chunk.

I was ready to get creative and commit the time and sacrifices necessary to when I came across a newsletter I subscribe to that proposed....."MAKE YOUR OWN LAUNDRY SOAP".

What? Can a woman make her own laundry soap? Looking at my beloved Tide, it looked very complicated to me. I also imagined the women I saw on a missions trip to Guatemala. They scrubbed clothes with a bar of soap on a rock at the edge of a lake. I was a little (to say the least) intimidated. Leave it to the professionals at the Tide factory, and enjoy all my money.

Intrigued, however, I began researching recipes for laundry soap and discovered a wonderful recipe! This is the recipe that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar with their family. We have used it for almost 9 months now and will never go back to my once-beloved Tide again. Our grocery budget has been trimmed (more blogs to follow on other ideas!)

Our cost for every 5-gallon bucket (which lasts for 5 months with a family of six) that we make is about $2. We have saved $144 a year! Here's what the ingredients you'll need:

4 cups of hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 cup Arm and Hammer WASHING SODA

1/2 cup Borax

essential oils (opptional for added fragrance)

1. Grate bar of Fels-Naptha soap with 4 cups of hot tap water.

Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is

melted.

2. Fill fill 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted

soap, 1 cup Washing Soda, 1/2 cup Borax. Stir well until all powder

is dissolved. Fill rest of bucket to top with more hot water. Stir,

cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

3. Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser (old, used Tide

container, etc.). Shake before each use. (It will gel.)

4. Optional: you can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per two gallons.

Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: Lavender, Geranium, Rosemary,

Tea Tree Oil.

Top-load machine: 5/8 cup per load

Front-load machines: 1/2 cup per load

(We have a Front Load "HE"-the soap works beautifully!)

God bless your homemaking efforts!!

Malinda

The Genesis of it all......

Genesis of my ponderings here, began several months ago on a cold & snowy Colorado day. After lunch and reading "Johnny Tremain" with my children, we bundled up and headed to the library.We have discovered the library to be pretty quiet after lunch and a great time to go. The small children have gone home for lunch and to take a nap. The Public School children are not out of school yet. A perfect time to slowly graze through the aisles with the children and choose our "friends" to borrow for a of couple weeks.
There is a large variety of interests and ages of my children and their topics of choice in library books. My little Olivia wants pretty books with babies and ballerinas while my Isaac requests we find books on the R.M.S. Titanic, Tornados or the Civil War. I pray for the Lord's discernment for myself and each of my children.
My two eldest daughters are again, a mix of interests. Horse training manuals, Chicken Coop building, American Girl stories, Anne of Green Gables and biographies on Queen Victoria.
After all has found a number of "friends" to take home, we discover a corner of the library to quietly read. I leave my teenage daughter in charge and steal away upstairs. I quickly pass the long isles to the books for myself to bring home for awhile...
Later, as we warm up again with a cup of hot chocolate or English Tea at home, silence falls over our home. We become engaged in our treasured library books.
I usually choose a variety of books; gardening, interior design, cookbooks, fiction and theological books from a classic patriarch or martyr of the Christian faith.
This time, several of my treasures from the library affect me deeply; Dietrich Bonehoffer, Shonda Parker's "Mommy Diagnostic's" and a large encyclopedia-type book on Essential Oils.
The more I read the later, the more intrigued I become and I found myself
reading labels on everything from my shampoo, toothpaste, lotion and cleaners and thus the genesis of this began...A way to make beauty, body & cleaning products for my family and myself that I knew was natural and/or organic. The way my family of long ago would have done in their homes with their families.
Vintage Homestead Emporium
This blog is a collage of ponderings of my heart and the Lord's guidance....of mind, body and spirit for families, homes, marriage & children. Also the products I make.
I pray you enjoy the journey with me...

Blessings!
Malinda B.

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