Splendid Salad

No recipe in this post, but I wanted to share a photo of my beautiful first course tonight. I admit to being a pickle-holic. This salad features pickled beets, pickled carrots, pickled cucumber and pickled red cabbage, as well as cheesy sprouted sunflower seed croutons and vinaigrette. YUM! 

Quilts-in-Progress Sacks

My wonderful Aunt Sarah is a fabulous quilter. She currently keeps her works-in-progress in grocery bags. I just put these in the mail to her, so her quilts-to-be may soon enjoy more upscale homes. Thank you for sharing your gift of creativity with me, Sarah! 

Incidentally, I found this iron-on-transfer at Goodwill for 59 cents. It was in its original packaging and still worked, though it had been printed in 1993! The instructions and illustrations were amusing (they recommended adding Puff Paint embellishments!). There was one flaw in the transfer, which is why I added the fabric frame. In this case, neccessity is the mother of cuteness! :)

It is such a life lesson that if you do what you can with what you have, things will turn out brilliantly. I spent a couple days being irked at the flaw, but it was all part of God's plan to make the bag even better! Note to self. Do not sit around waiting for perfect circumstances. Be patient in reflecting on how to use what you have, be open to a better way, and get busy when it is revealed to you. God will make it all turn out just right! :)

Kitchen Vlog: How to Maintain Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter

Exciting news, folks! :) Last night I recorded my first kitchen vlog! I'm so excited to share this with you, because sourdough has become such a delightful part of our meals, and it makes us feel just great. Without further ado (*deep breath*), here is my video for you! :)

p.s. For written directions on creating and maintaining a starter, look here: http://barcodefree.blogspot.com/2015/06/gluten-free-sourdough-starter.html

Upcycled Silk Sweater Scarf

I put a couple other projects on "pause" because our amazing friend Dana had a decade birthday today, and I wanted to make her a special present. An image of this scarf popped into my head in Meeting for Worship yesterday, and so I came home and made it directly. Like the blanket I am making, it is made of upcycled silk sweaters. The Valentines colors are appropriate, because Dana is one of the most loving people we know! She works as a physical therapy assistant, charming hospitalized people into getting out of bed and moving even if it hurts. We are lucky to know Dana! 

Gluten Free Sprouted Sourdough Bread

Dear Readers, I am SO happy to present you with this recipe today! It is such a winner and delicious every time. 

This recipe makes a miniloaf. I'm pretty sure you could double it to make a full-size loaf, but haven't tried it yet. Hopefully I will be able to do that tasty research tomorrow. :) 

1c sourdough starter (dipped out after any liquid has been poured off)

1c sprouted brown rice flour

1/2c filtered water

1t good-quality salt

Coconut oil for greasing the pan

Generously grease pan. Combine ingredents in a bowl and pour into pan. Allow to rise at least two hours, up to about four (longer than that it will still be yummy, but might have a flat appearance). For a crispy crust, place a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack of a 400-degree oven, and place bread on top rack. For a softer crust, simply bake at 350 degrees. Bread is done when the top is uniformly golden. :)

Bread will be easiest to remove from pan after it has cooled completely. 

This bread rose a little too long, so it fell a liitle while baking, however it was still incredibly delicious:

Happy baking!! :) Feel free to comment with questions.