Purging and Planning

Been going through a "purge" phase lately, cleaning out some old clothes from my closet and bringing them to the consignment shop, putting some items up for sale on eBay, and generally cleaning things out.  I have so much stuff that I don't use, and it's doing me no good sitting in my closet or in a drawer or in a craft bin.  So, out it goes, and hopefully I'll earn a little money through it as well.

The kids went back to school yesterday, and although I <3 my kids, I was happy for them to get back to school and all of us back into a regular routine.











September is going to be busy and fun!  Cub scouts will be starting up again soon, and Hayden will be a Tiger Cub.  I have six Tastefully Simple parties and a vendor fair already scheduled for the month, with a few open dates left.  I am elbow deep in tomatoes; have canned 8 pints of sauce and several jars of diced tomatoes, and it looks like the tomatoes will be going strong for a few more weeks.

Tastefully Simple Fall-Winter 2012 Catalog!

Today, August 27 is a wicked awesome day, because now you can order the brand new Fall-Winter products from the new Tastefully Simple Catalog!  I have been drooling since I received my preview catalog earlier in the month.  You'll see a few differences between the Spring-Summer and Fall-Winter catalogs.  First, the new Fall-Winter catalog is bigger!



The bigger size means bigger and clearer pictures of our delicious products.  Also, you'll find that the Fall-Winter catalog focuses more on meals: there are a ton of new soups, cooking sauces, and herb mixes.  Also, the catalog provides a TON of gift options for any price point.  You'll want to have some of these gifts on hand for fall and winter gatherings.  To check out all of these new items, visit my Tastefully Simple website and click on "Shop our Products".  Enjoy!

(Award Winning) Apricot Braided Kolache

 This year I entered my Apricot Braided Kolache into the Coffee Cakes, Breads and Rolls category at the Bolton Fair, and it not only took first place in that category, but also took Best in Class for the Home Cooked Foods category!

The basic dough I used for this bread is the same as what I used for the Poppy Seed Kolache that I entered last year (also won first place in it's category!).  I received the recipe and instructions from Eric's Aunt Judy, who in turn learned to make kolache from her mother Anna (Walek) Kristoff.  The base recipe is called "Swedish Coffee Bread", and is from an old "Emanuel Lutheran Church Cookbook".

Kolache had been a favorite of Eric (and his dad too), and Aunt Judy wrote out her instructions, tips, guidelines, and variations, which took up 12 handwritten pages.  For simplicity, I am only including the ingredients and instructions for the Apricot Braided Kolache.  I will create a separate post with the Poppy Seed Kolache because while the dough is the same, the construction is different. 

Apricot Braided Kolache 

Ingredients:

2 c. Milk	½ tsp. Salt
1 stick Margarine	1 Tbsp  Yeast (not “rapid rise”)
2 Eggs	6-7 c. Flour (I prefer King Arthur)
¾ c. Sugar	3 cans  Apricot filling (I use Solo brand)

Directions:

1. Heat the milk, sugar, margarine and salt in a small saucepan over low heat until margarine melts.  Using a thermometer, ensure that the mixture is heated to between 120°F and 130°F.  If the mixture is too hot, take off heat and let cool until the temperature is in range.  This is the most critical part of this whole process.  If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast, and your dough will not rise.
2. Add 3 c. of flour to stand mixer bowl.  Beat 1 egg in a small bowl.  Add yeast to a second bowl.
3. Pour a small amount (about 1/3 c.) of the heated milk mixture into the bowl containing the yeast.  Pour remaining milk mixture into the mixer bowl.
4. Stir the yeast into the milk mixture and then pour into mixer bowl.  Add beaten egg to mixer bowl and then mix on low speed with a dough hook attachment to incorporate.  Mixture will be smooth and thin like pancake batter.
5. Add flour to mixer 1 c. at a time until dough balls up around hook.  Transfer dough to oiled bowl, cover with a dishcloth and let rise for one hour in a warm place.
6. After one hour, punch down dough and let rest for 5 minutes.  After the dough has rested, divide into three equal sections.  Lightly flour a countertop and roll out one section of dough into a rectangle about ¼” thick.  Use a wooden spoon to mark the dough into thirds.
7. Spread one can of apricot filling over the center third of the dough.  Using a sharp knife, cut the outer thirds of the dough into strips. “Braid” the dough by pulling a strip from the right side over the apricot filling, then a strip from the left, repeating until the apricot filling is covered.  Tuck extra ends under.  Repeat for the other two dough pieces. 
8. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for one hour.  NOTE: While two braids can generally fit on one cookie sheet, they tend to expand into each other when baking and have to be cut apart.  While this does not affect taste, it does affect the look of the braid.
9. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl with ¼ c of water to create an egg wash.  After the braids have risen for one hour, brush the surface of the braid with the egg wash and place in the oven.  If you are staggering the baking, do not apply the egg wash until right before the braid goes into the oven.
10. Bake for up to 30 minutes on the center rack of the oven until the surface is a golden brown.  If your oven has uneven heating, you may want to turn the sheet after 15 minutes.
11. Let cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Optionally, mix a few drops of hot water into some confectioner's sugar to make a glaze.  Braids can be frozen and reheated for later serving.

Toning down spicy dips

Tastefully Simple has a variety of dips, glazes and marinades that make meals and entertaining easy.  Tastefully Simple products are certainly flavorful, but if you're not into foods that are hot and spicy, what can you do with products like Fiesta Dip Mix and Let's Luau! Hawaiian Dip Mix?



The easiest thing to do is to prepare the dip normally, but only use half of the amount of dip mix.  This will cut the level of spiciness effectively in half.  You'll get the same flavor, but with less intensity.

But what if you've never had the product before, and you don't know if the level of spiciness is right for you?  Start by taking half of the dip mix, and mix it with half of the mayonnaise and sour cream called for in the instructions.  This will result in "full flavor" dip.  Taste test this mixture, and see what you think.  If it's too spicy, then add the remaining sour cream and mayonnaise, and save the remaining dip mix for another batch. This will give you "half flavor" dip, which will still taste great, but won't overpower.  If you think the spiciness is just right, then add the remaining dip mix, sour cream and mayonnaise, resulting in a full batch of "full flavor" dip.

To order any of Tastefully Simple's delicious dip mixes or other products, visit my Tastefully Simple website.

Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute...

The exhibit hall drop off for the Bolton Fair starts in a little over 48 hours.  Last year I entered three jams and poppy seed kolache.  This year....I don't know.  I've been planning to make apricot braid kolache for the coffee cake category, and made time to make that tomorrow.  But for canning....I've only made strawberry jam so far this year, and its quality is average.  Everything else we've brought in for produce so far I've frozen (blueberries, cherries, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, peas).  Its too early for our tomatoes and peppers.  I'm thinking I may stop at a local farm and see what they've got for produce, maybe pickling cukes, or peaches, or something else and can from that.

Work has essentially been keeping me from thinking about this.  I submitted two proposals for customers for the NIH SBIR solicitation this week, and working on my Tastefully Simple business too.  I just updated my Tastefully Simple blog page, and am booking parties for the remainder of August and September.  I have a white paper and a few articles to get done for clients this week too.

And holy crap we have kittens!  We adopted them up about three weeks ago, and they are freaking adorable.  Dexter on the left, and Deedee on the right.  Deedee was the runt of the litter, and they weren't sure she would make it, but she's doing great.  She's noticeably smaller than Dexter, but she doesn't back down to him.  We've missed having cats in our house, and so glad to have them!

Just a normal weekend....

Nothing out of the ordinary going on here.  Had a table at a local vendor fair yesterday, then went out to dinner with the family last night.  Went to church this morning, spending the afternoon working on proposals, and then I need to replace the thermal fuse in the dryer since the replacement fuse arrived yesterday.

I'm really surprised how few people fix their own appliances when things break.  I'm not sure why this is.  Maybe because I grew up in a house where we did our own maintenance because it saved money, I just assumed that's what you did.  I took the dryer apart, troubleshot the problem (YouTube is an AMAZING resource for troubleshooting nearly anything), ordered the part, and I'll put everything back together and test it.  Out of pocket expense is less than $20, which could have been less since I sprang for 2-day shipping (you try going a week without a dryer in a house with kids and no clothesline).  $20.  It probably would have cost me $50 to just have someone come to the house, never mind the labor and parts to fix it.

So my public service announcements for today are 1. Clean all the lint out of your dryer and ducts once a year.  This means taking the front panel off too and vacuuming the interior guts.  2. Learn to use basic tools.  All I needed to open up my dryer was a screwdriver and a socket set, and a multimeter to test the components.

It's about time that I get back to blogging; I just realized it's been over a month since I've created a new post, and I really feel like I need to get back on track.  A lot has been going on this month:

• Our garden is in full harvesting swing.  June had strawberries, which led into cherries, which led into raspberries and then blueberries.  I've been shelling peas for a few weeks now, and harvested about a half cup of currants (the bushes were just planted last year).  There are a LOT of green tomatoes and little peppers, so I'm betting I'll be very busy in the garden harvesting in August.
• The boys have been busy too with day camp, summer reading, and general playing.  We've been playing the board game Ticket to Ride on the table top as well as on the iPad.
• I've been working parties for my Tastefully Simple business and having a ton of fun showing people great food.
• Although we haven't been out in a few weeks, in early July we had two major geocaching expeditions: One Puzzling Day and the Berkshire Geobash.
• And of course the next NIH SBIR proposal submission date is August 6, and I have two proposals I'm working on, so I'll be crazy busy getting those polished and submitted for my customers.

 Oh, and we're planning a return trip to Disney!  Lots going on, that's for sure.