The mountain mice have invaded.

 Fathers day I went up to Powderhorn with my family and experienced many new, well, things. such as gracefull dear larking through the woods, wild Iris, and getting nibbled on by mountain mice (A.K.A. Chipmunks). here are some pics. 

yes, we fed them cheddar bunnies, and caramel corn, suffice to say they were hyper.
 here is one just before its about to pounce.
  
One actually nibbled on my toe, then my finger. I guess they smelled like cheddar bunnies. (interesting.) All in all, it was supper fun, I highly recommend going during the summer.
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Destination, Hospice.

I was downtown GJ at the hospice store (where all the proceeds go to help hospice, help others in their last days.) Me and my mom love going down their because the prices are great, their are so many nifty things to find, and the money goes to a good cause. So, I found some supper awesome vintage shirts and some old lady shoes. all for about $3 each.

Awesome things I made this week

1. Make bread.
Finally I made a delicious non brick like bread, It was simply,
 well beautiful. It was quite an achievement, I really must say.hehe.

2. Made a delicious and nutritious "orange Rachelioush". 

What it is, is basically an orange Julius done Rachel Style. I made it actually good for you. what you start off with is your handy dandy blender, (I use a Blendtec, they are cheaper and more powerful than vitamixes) put two fresh or frozen bananas (depends on what you have, when my bananas get really ripe I put them in ziplock baggies for later use) that are supper ripe, fill it up until a bit under the max fill line with fresh or frozen mangoes (I find the frozen much more convenient.) then fill with goat milk, rice milk, or nut milk until it covers the fruit. Now its time for the orange. Put for to five drops of orange essential oil in. put on the top and blend till you have a smooth consistency. 

Another variation is instead of using mangoes, use fresh or frozen bananas, two to four oranges depending on size and fill with some sort of milk and blend. This variation doesn't last as long. You must drink it within fifteen minutes because of the oranges. (after fifteen minutes of being pulverized they actually become harmful to you instead of incredibly beneficial. so drink up fast! I actually like the texture and added creaminess that the mangoes deliver.

3. A bike basket liner. 

I found this supper neat fabric at an estates sale, and it matched my bike perfectly! I was so happy. Thus, I decided that I must do something with it. Eventually I will make a shirt, but for now I simply put the fabric in the basket, cut out around it leaving room for stitching, sewed up the sides, and on the back made it so that I could pull some ribbon through it, and tied it around the front. I have a piece of fabric that I can button onto the back and front to keep the top closed for when I want to transport my chickies, and I also have a piece of fabric in the bottom that I can put wood chips in to catch any droppings (that makes it easy to take out and it wont let the rest of my liner get dirty). 

Fabulous patterns for the vintage life.

check out this site. it has so many nifty patterns for vintage patterns, such as, Retro 20's, frontier, 1700s dresses, Asian, and middle eastern patterns. http://www.folkwear.com

In other news, my baby girls are now at Jacobs, I am so excited that they are getting so big and grown up, but I'm also sad that I wont be able to hear their beautiful chirps every morning.  but here are some pictures of one of their first outings a couple of weeks ago. 

Lemon Cake With Mint Glaze

I tried this recipe yesterday, and everyone loved it, I got the recipe from Food Network, and made up my own glaze and modified the recipe a bit.

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 stick butter plus 1 tablespoon for greasing the pan
• 3/4 cup of honey to 1 cup of honey (do it according to your sweet tooth)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 2 tablespoons of fresh mint

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square cake pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter.

For the cake: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or an electric hand mixer, or by hand), cream the 1 stick of butter and granulated sugar together until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes. As you are creaming the butter and sugar, scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula so you are sure to be combining the butter and sugar as it mixes.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

When the butter and sugar are integrated, blend in the yogurt. Add the eggs, one by one. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dry ingredients. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan (I use a but pan, it works the best for the glaze) and bake, undisturbed, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before inverting it on to a plate and allowing it to cool for an additional 20 minutes.

For the glaze, melt the butter in a sauce pan on medium heat, and add the honey. Stir as you bring it to a boil on medium heat. Chop the mint into really small pieces then add to the butter/honey, continue to boil for two minutes. drizzle evenly over the cake. Add mint sprigs with a couple of lemon slices (like the mint is the flower and the lemon is the leaves) as garnish, or if you make it now during violet season, the violet violets will look beautiful and will be a great compliment to the lemon cake. (plus you can eat the violets too!)