Cleaned up Lime pound cake

Cleaned up Lime pound cake 

Oh my goodness. I love cake. I love a lot of things really but pound cake is one of my favorites.  I saw on a social media post a recipe for  lime pound cake and thought I should really try to convert this recipe. Make it "cleaner" a little less gluten filled and perhaps, a little less hard on the old digestive tract.
Pound cake is delicious . It's dense, moist, sweet and chewy. Add some citrus and I am in heaven . Here's my " there will be CAKE face"

I used butter in this recipe but you could switch that out with coconut oil if you need.  You really want to be sure all your ingredients are room temperature , makes the mixing a whole lot easier.  Except the coconut milk used for the icing, that needs to go in the fridge for a few hours so it whips up thick. 

Alright, first thing is to zest your limes. A tiny grater works nice for this. Just make sure you don't get too much of the white pith that is just under the lime skin.

 Now we have to whip the butter until its fluffy. A stand mixer works really nice for this part but sadly mine is no longer with us so a hand mixer it is for today . After that we add the honey and whip some more. Then one egg at a time mix mix mix.....
In a separate bowl stir juice, milk, zest and vanilla. Add flour alternating with juice mixture until well combined.

Pour into greased Bundt pan . The only Bundt pan I have is a springform one and when I put the cake in the oven the butter started melting and running out and smoking in the bottom of my oven......smoked cake anyone? So I added a regular cake pan with a little water to catch the melting butter.

And clean my oven is not but this is real life and I guess doing laundry and posting on this here blog is much more interesting than wiping out ovens. Anyways......you bake this loveliness for what I think is a crazy long time and then let it cool and pour over your icing.

The only thing that could have made this better was a sprinkling of coconut flakes . I will be doing that next time! Happy spring, enjoy some cake! Here's the recipe,  see you next time-joy

Lime pound cake 

2 cups butter, room temp

1 cup raw honey

6 large eggs

2 cups coconut flour 

1/2 cup lime juice

1/4 cup room temp coconut milk ( or almond or dairy or whatever)

4 teaspoons lime zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

 Preheat oven to 300° 

Beat butter until fluffy , add honey and beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time until mixed in. 

In a small bowl stir juice,milk,zest and vanilla together. Alternating with flour, mix juice mixture into butter. Pour into greased Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean . I started checking at the one hour 15 minute mark. Let cool completely and then pour icing over the top. 

Icing

1/2 can full fat coconut milk , chilled. 

3 tablespoons Raw honey

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp vanilla 

Whip all icing ingredients until light and fluffy, pour over cake. Sprinkle a little lime zest over top. Store in fridge......yum!

Healing my brokenness at the DMV

I went to the DMV yesterday. I had one last thing to do for my Dads passing. He had an old 1989 New Yorker and I inherited it. A perfect car for my teenagers to drive! I really feel that in order for my kids to appreciate a nice car and the blessing it is to have your own wheels, they need to drive a junker.  So this car is perfect.
Dad was a mechanic and quite gifted at making things work. He kept this old girl running for who knows how long....it runs like a top and doesn't have a single hiccup in the engine. However, the gas gauge doesn't work,  the undercarriage is rusted badly and sometimes the doors won't open. Sounds like every car I or my friends drove in the 90's!!
So I took all my paperwork and got in line to switch the title and register this gem of a vehicle. One of the papers is dads death certificate . If you have ever read one of these, it is extremely grounding and humbling. Your life and death stats are printed out like you are a inanimate object. I have an emotional reaction every time I look at his.
His says...cause of death...myocardial infarction  (heart attack)
As a result of...lifetime smoker, alcoholic
These words stab my heart every time. Oh dad, why were you trying to destroy yourself?
So I hand my paperwork to the teller and explain, my dad passed away, this was his car, i need to change the title to my name and renew the registration. The first words put of her mouth are " the first thing you need to do is feel"  she then says " I mean you need to fill out this paper and that paper, why did I say feel? I'm sorry.
I continue on with the paper and paying ridiculous amounts of money that is probably more than the old car is worth and leave the DMV.
When I get back to the road her words come back to me. You need to FEEL. Yes  I do need to feel. I have not, as I expressed in my last post, dealt completely with dads death. Instead, I have been cleaning, scrubbing, making lists, cooking, walking in circles, reading, listening to music, having anxiety attacks, anything to keep from feeling.  I am afraid if I feel the sadness and the loss, it will swallow me. So I numb, I push it down, I work and work until I don't have time to feel. So a 25 minute drive home and I have no escape from my broken heart. I cry, not the heart broken sobbing I need to do, but just tears running down my face and my heart being squeezed. My dad would have so enjoyed my children, if he had been able to beat his addictions and rejoin life. I am broken over his absence in their life. What a great papa he would have been.
It's funny how God will use a stranger, who doesn't even know what she is saying and why to touch my heart. Healing up another broken piece. Thank you random lady at the DMV for your simple words. Thank you Papa for the car. I hope to pass the love of nature and fishing and adventure and the importance of fixing old things to my children, your grandbabies. My youngest looks like you and he thinks like you too. I wish we could have fought your addictions and your were here with us to untangle lines and hook bait. Love you Dad. I am forever with a hole in my heart where you are missing.

The parsnips grew back

The parsnips grew back!

And I cried....

After the snow melted and the weeds started coming up in my vegetable garden, I swear they are waiting for me under the snow, I realized something! I forgot to dig up my parsnips in the fall. What a shame, I love parsnips. They look like white carrots, but have a much milder and nuttier flavor. 

They can be eaten in many forms, raw, boiled, baked, sauteed, mashed and buttered, or cut into fries. 

Parsnips are a forgotten veggie but they are so good for you and taste amazing. Did you know???? 

Parsnips have a high vitamin C content.

They help improve digestive function and prevent constipation thanks to a high fiber load.

They contain folate, good for all but especially important for pregnant mamas.

Help aid heart health.

Also these roots support enzyme production and bone health. The manganese on parsnips helps produce enzymes needed for production of cartilage and bone. 

WOW. 

these humble, tasty little roots do so much.

Anyways,  back to my garden, the parsnips decided to come back! I did a little research and left in the ground, they will regrow the second year and produce flowers and seeds.

I decided to weed around them and let them stay, just to see what they look like in bloom. As I was working a wave of grief came over me....the hand rake I was using had been my dad's , and I remembered why I forgot the parsnips in fall.

You see, at the end of August last year, my dad lost his lifelong battle with alcohol. I was sent into a grieving process that I was not prepared for. He died suddenly at age 59. My brother and I had no warning. When I was a child, he was wonderful, happy, fun, nature loving and adventure finding. I have his eyes, hair and sense of humor. In my adult life, I did not have him, as he started drinking and living in a way I couldn't handle watching. I removed myself from his life. He didn't chase me. Now he's gone and there is no tomorrow or maybe next time for us. 

I didn't allow myself to feel all of the pain I needed to at the time so now it comes in odd ways. So there I sat, in the dirt, with dads rake, and my weeds. And I cried. It hurts my heart, it will always. I can take this kind of mourning, a little at a time. Little reminders tugging at my heart. Thanks for the rake Dad, mine was broken.

I moved a few of the parsnips to different parts of the yard because I found out a few other things..

Parsnip blooms look like yellow dill and are beneficial in the garden to attract pollinators. 

Hoverflies and lace wing also like them. Guess what hoverflies eat??? APHIDS!!!

Praise Jesus my roses are saved. And poison free too! 

Try growing or maybe just eating some parsnips, you will not be sorry! My fave is sliced and roasted in butter with pink salt.

See you next time-joy 

Beautiful things this week

I have a fierce love for nature, and flowers. I find peace and hear God best when I am outside and bare foot. Here are a few things that touched my heart this week on my morning rounds

Something I try to fit in every day is a walk outside around my yard in my bare feet. It is good to be connected to the earth this way. I like to take in the little beautiful things that are around me. It is 5 minutes but it is so good for my soul. Winter makes this habit impossible so I try to soak in as much as I can in our short Wisconsin summers. Life is hard, love the simple things! See you next time, Joy

Gluten free,naturally sweetened  granola 

I love granola. Granola bars, granola with milk, granola and yogurt, granola straight from the bag to my mouth .....i can honestly say that I could eat this stuff every day of my life and not be sad.

Since being diagnosed 10 years ago with celiac disease, granola, again a staple and love of my life, I have not had nearly enough to thrive.

Crunchy, chewy, sweet and yummy.

Most store bought granola is loaded with processed sugar and laced with gluten. So bad for me.....

The gluten free varieties are usually expensive and I am cheap, I mean frugal so that's out. 

So I make my own! 

You can pretty much use whatever grains and spices, nuts and seeds you would like. My ingredients vary depending on what i have on hand or my mood. 

You mix everything together, with the exception of dried fruits, those we set aside for later. Fruits tend to burn so I toss them in for the last 5 minutes of baking. It will bake for about 35-40 minutes, and you will stir it every 10 minutes or so to have uniform Browning and crisping . I used birch syrup this time but you can substitute that with raw honey or more maple syrup.  You can also use coconut oil instead of butter if you prefer. Since making this batch and had time to write out this post, I have eaten all my granola and need to make more! 

Here's my recipe....see you next time-joy 

Naturally sweetened gluten free granola

1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks 

4 cups oatmeal

1 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup sunflower kernel

2 tablespoons flax seeds

2 tablespoons chia seeds

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp vanilla 

1/4 c hemp seeds

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup birch syrup 

1/2 cup chopped dates, set aside

Preheat oven to 400°

Mix all ingredients except dates and spread into 9×13 pan

Bake uncovered, stirring every 10 minutes for 30 minutes, add dates, stir and bake 5-10 more minutes until oats are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool. Store in airtight container. 

Making Birch syrup.....and what to do with it

                Making Birch Syrup 

And what to do with it

I have been sugaring this month.....what is sugaring? Well it's collecting the sap from trees and boiling or evaporating the water out to make syrup or sugar. In the springtime the thawing process causes sap from the roots to go up the tree to feed the branches to make buds and leaves. You can tap those trees for the sap to make syrup. Most common would be maple syrup. 

This season's maple syrup harvest was dismal due to the cold spring/extended winter we had in northern Wisconsin. Sap was just not running. 

Birch tends to run right after maple stops so I moved my taps and it is flowing out!

 You tap a birch much like a maple, drill a hole , pop in a tap and add a bucket. One healthy tree will produce 1-2 gallons of sap per day. Each morning I collect sap. Processing the sap into syrup takes lots of time. You will want to start the process in a deep pot, like a large stock pot or boiler canner. Best case scenario is outside over a wood fire but sometimes I have to boil in the house due to weather or grass fire danger. I get the sap boiling and let it reduce down to about half. That's where you really need to watch it for burning. Birch sap has a different sugar than maple and it burns easily. After it starts to turn an amber color I keep it just below the boiling point and evaporate from there. Once it is down to a 1/4  I transfer it to a crockpot set on high and let it evaporate uncovered overnight.

In the morning I put the remaining Sap  (it's super dark brown by now) in a small pot on the stove and bring it to a boil to check the tempature. Once it reaches 220° I test it with a hydrometer. At about 65° brix it is ready to filter through a coffee filter and bottle.

Now what do I do with this stuff? It's thin, tastes like earthy molasses and spices and nothing close to pancake syrup! 

I have found the best use to be in marinades for meats. It's really good as a sugar substitute for savory dishes. Pork chops soaked in birch syrup are my favorite! Got a few birch trees? Try some syrup! I get about 2 cups of syrup out of 20 gallons of sap. It's a labor of love and a unique taste and experience .

See you next time- Joy

Introduction

hello! I will start my very first post with a bit of introduction.  My name is Joy and Joyous Prairies is a title given to my home and property by a sweet friend. On to getting to know me and my intent for this blog.

Who am I?
 I am a daughter of God, a Jesus lover, a wife, mama of 3, knitter, cook, nature lover, chicken keeper, nutrition enthusiast, hairstylist and celiac.

What do I do?
I create, dream, refinish, repurpose and research.

I am hoping this will be a space to inspire and share the knowledge i have.  Making things on your own is becoming a lost art. We are, as a people,forgetting how to live. My goal is to revive some of our nature loving and nature needing selves. It is spring here in Wisconsin and the dirt outside is calling to me. Bare feet in the grass is the best.