The coolest lighthouse

Seriously, it was the coolest (it was freezing that day!). In Maine we were about 35 minutes from Canada, and right by the eastern-most point in the US (Quoddy Head State Park – that will be another post). At Quoddy Head State Park there is the West Quoddy lighthouse, that is absolutely beautiful in it’s own right, see below…

However, I just couldn’t see the West Quoddy Light without seeing the East Quoddy Light – right? Well, that would require a short trip to Canada, which meant I would actually have to find my passport and have it on my person, as well as a birth certificate for Madeleine. I don’t know why it took me until my last week in Maine to finally cross the border. (On a short tangent, this was my first time driving across a border – okay, this was my first time crossing a border while not on a cruise – so I was kind of excited for this new adventure. The Canadian border patrol were so very nice and “bien venue-ed” me into Canada. My favorite was them asking what the purpose of my visit was – “well, I’ve never been to Canada before so I thought I would try it out”, somehow the U.S. border patrol did not think this to be a reasonable answer as if no one would have the desire to check out another country, I could feel myself sweating as I was trying to ‘pass the test’ to get back into my country. He (U.S. border patrol) even wanted to check my vehicle – okay, come on, I was on Campobello Island, it barely counts as Canada and it is just about as remote as northern Maine is so I would really have to search hard for trouble, luckily I satisfied whatever lofty requirements they had and made it back – phew!!!, okay so off my tangent) While on Campobello I first stopped at Roosevelt’s former summer cottage. Somehow, his version of a cottage and my version of a cottage are not the same thing…

Did I mention it was cold? It was, but thankfully the scenery made up for the chill.

Next, we wound to the opposite end of the island to the lighthouse. I had to get used to following speed limits in kilometers and having a solid line down the street, instead of two stripes – they only had two stripes if it was a passing zone. Even the stop signs were different, and I had no idea what the yellow checkered sign meant, hope I didn’t break that rule.

In my glimpse of Canada (the short glimpse it was) I was surprised by the roadside cliffs with hardly a guard rail. The cliffs were amazing, and the water was crystal clear .

I soon made it to the East Quoddy Light, having no idea what to expect, I didn’t really research it before hand. I got out of the car and squealed with glee because this is what I saw…

My favorite part of this lighthouse is it’s access.

You could go down these stairs, cross the seaweed beach floor and up stairs on the other side of the cliff to make it to the light (another liability I thought the U.S. would never take – there was hardly anything for you to keep from making a wrong step and plummeting off the cliff – shocking!). I obviously got there at non-low tide so no crossing for me (if only I had done my research!), but the views were breath-taking. A cool geographical note: this area in between Maine and Canada is known as the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal change of anywhere in the world, and it’s really quite incredible – it’s somewhere around 55 feet of tidal difference.

So beautiful – I only wish I had seen it sooner.

Mindy’s Bread Recipe

I have loved reading everyone’s comments – thank you soooo much! I’m working on my next batch of bread now and had a moment to get this posted.

Mindy’s Yummy Everyday Bread

	2 big loaves	5-6 loaves	Ingredients
	(½ cup)	1 cup – 1 ½	potatoes (Instant) enough water to reconstitute
	(1/3 cup)	1 cup	Sugar
	(1/3 cup)	1 cup	vegetable oil
	(2 t)	2 T	yeast
	(2 t)	2 T	salt
	(6 cups)	18 cups	flour – or up to half whole wheat
	(1 ½ cup)	4 ½ cups	warm water (115–130 degrees) hot to touch - not smoking hot

Instructions:

· In the mixing bowl add instant potatoes (I used the pearls), water to reconstitute potatoes, sugar, vegetable oil, yeast, salt, and 1/3 of the flour (for 2 loaves add 2 cups of flour now – for 5-6 loaves add 6 cups of flour) and mix 6-10 minutes at medium speed (use a dough hook), this will help start the dough.

· To develop the gluten, add the flour ½ cup at a time until it cleans the side of the bowl, knead 8-10 minutes on medium speed.

**A note, since I had so many problematic issues with dough I’ve learned it should feel like an ear lobe, not too sticky – if it’s really sticking to your fingers use more flour. When I made this, I thought I had added enough flour, it was cleaning the sides of the bowl and after 10 minutes of kneading I realized it was too sticky – I quickly freaked and called Mindy who told me it was okay to add more flour and continue to mix to incorporate the flour, it just helps with the elasticity of the bread to continue to knead.**

· Once it’s done mixing put it in a large greased bowl to rise, use plastic wrap or a lid to cover the bowl and allow to rise for an hour to an hour and a half until doubled in size (too long of rising uses all the sugar and makes sour dough).

· *Optional – Second rising, punch down the dough and do a 2^nd rising for 45 minutes (Mindy usually skips for time sake and she hasn’t had problems with skipping the 2^nd rising – I did do a 2^nd rising when I made it).*

· Once allowed to rise, break it down into loaves into your greased loaf pans and cover with towels for 45 minutes to an hour until ready to bake (allows another rising).

· Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees and then 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I have a secret...

I am a terrible baker. So sorry for anyone who has had to partake in my past creations - I tried, really I did.

Well, Mindy (of the family Andrew's building the house for in Maine) is a fabulous baker. She is my bread-making idol. Yes, she's even one of those who makes their own sandwich bread and never buys store-bought and her bread is incredible. You could only be so lucky to be in her home for pizza night. I gained weight in Maine and I know why!

So I set on my quest to correct my Achilles Heel of baking. It really started about a year ago when we completed our long-term food supply with wheat, wheat, and more wheat (okay there was beans, flour, spaghetti, oats, macaroni, pancake mix, and all sorts of miscellaneous items in that mix) and I had no idea what to do with it! I tried recipe after recipe and failed (I almost blew up my Kitchenaid motor in the process) and convinced Andrew I needed the right tools for the job so I got a state of the art wheat grinder and a Bosch mixer (like it was going to help me!).

I began to be the brunt of some Bosch teasing (anyone know my dad? By the way, he's another AMAZING baker). So I called Mindy to salvage my baking reputation. I should mention, Mindy is also a chemist - quite handy with all those intricate yeast things that are so alluding to me. She helped me take a recipe and work on how to make it right. I now know exactly what the water should feel like when adding it, I know it's okay to add more flour after kneading if it's still sticky, and I've learned rising dough too long makes sour dough (who knew?). And... I DID IT!!! The best bread I have ever made, and it is beautiful - no crazy bubbles, no weird yeast flavor, no brick-like texture - just incredibly yummy bread. I used half of the dough for a loaf and half for some sticky buns, and I couldn't have been more excited with the outcome.

Anyone want some bread? Now, I'm off to master pizza-making (say a prayer!).

Soup for you!

Okay, so here's another recipe. I can only take credit for my modifications. My good friend, Kim made this for Bunco about a year ago, and I've been itching to make it since. There's nowhere close in Maine to get a rotisserie chicken, so I was craving to make this when I got home.

Santa Fe Soup

1 sweet onion, chopped
2 cans of corn with juice
1 can chili beans with juice (my mod)
1 can black beans with juice
1 can Rotelle tomatoes undrained (I used Aldi brand)
1 can diced tomatoes undrained (my mod)
1 pkg dry taco seasoning
1 rotisserie chicken deboned - no skin or fat
1/3 cup of honey (my mod)

I put the chicken in a big pot with the onions and cooked until the onions were soft and translucent and then literally dumped in all the other ingredients. The longer it can simmer the better. I like lots of toppings so I served with: sour cream, guacamole (Holy Guacamole from Costco), shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, diced onions, chopped cilantro, lime wedges and chips! You could also add jalapeno peppers and cornbread - yum!

This would be the perfect chili for my sister, Kimberly a non-red-meat-eater. I've tried to make vegetarian chili for her and YUCK!!! I need to get her back into town so I can make her some Santa Fe soup - enjoy!

You should make these this weekend...

So with Halloween it's been a crazy week home, and I'm still recouping!!! So I arrived home last Friday at 1 a.m. and that day I drove to my sister's house to attend her ward's Trunk or Treat and so Madeleine and Dylan could play together. I wasn't planning on it at the time, but we ended up spending the night (after a 45 minute trip took 2 hours with Halloween rush hour!). I'm so glad I did because the next morning, Kayleen treated me to the most delicious pumpkin pancakes. They were to die for good, so good in fact that I made them this week for the missionaries who helped me blow leaves and mow my neglected lawn, so good that I'm making them again tomorrow.

I doubled the recipe when I made them for the Elders, so to simplify your mathematics, here it is:

Pumpkin Pancakes

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch clove
• 2 cup 1% low-fat milk (can be any kind)
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 eggs

1. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together milk, pumpkin, melted butter, and egg.
3. Fold mixture into dry ingredients.
4. Spray or grease a skillet and heat over medium heat: pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
5. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side. Serve with butter and syrup.
6. Makes about six 6-inch pancakes.

A note - when I made them I omitted the clove (I didn't have any ground clove on hand). The batter can be super thick so I used the measuring cup to kind of spread the batter out.

I also made the recommended cinnamon syrup, I wasn't too sure about it at first, but ended up really liking it.

This post totally inspired me...

I've been here there and everywhere and have felt so discombobulated with Andrew's project and Maine and leaving my home behind. I read this blog post the other day, and it warmed my heart so much. She inspired me to try harder and be better in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is something I know I take for granted so much because it has made my life so much easier. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and Bible for it's testimony of Jesus Christ. I feel joy and happiness when I read the Book of Mormon. I love the idea of a working Book of Mormon and will definitely have to work on getting my own marked up copy. If you would like your own copy, I'd be happy to give one to you too.

By the way, I am home, my real home! I drove almost straight through with Andrew's worker, Juan. I left last Wednesday at 6 p.m., stopped for quick sleep, got up and drove until I reached my driveway at 1 a.m. Friday morning - that is one long, beautiful drive! It was so cute when we pulled into our neighborhood and Madeleine would say, "we're almost there!". It feels so good to be home - warmer temps (it's been in the low 70s - yippee!!!!!), and I get to experience Fall all over again with the trees in my yard. Now if Andrew could just finish that house in Maine we'll be able to be home together, and it will be wonderful!

Owen

So one of the purposes of coming home in August was to see my new nephew, Owen. Kayleen is such a fighter. I was there when she was in labor with Dylan (her first). I saw first hand how hard she labored and all she went through – pushing for three hours before finally having a c-section. I also know how not having a ‘normal’ delivery has weighed heavily on her since that time. She always knew she wanted to try a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean), but the doctors were much against her. She didn’t let that get her down. She read up on how to have the best outcome, she put herself in the best fighting form, and knew to have as much in her favor she needed to do it au naturale. Well long story short, she did it, and I am oh so proud. My only regret is that she couldn’t have waited one more day, my flight didn’t get in until the following day after he was born.

So his stats are:

weight 8 lb 8 oz
length 20 3/4 in

A big boy, but not as big as his older brother. Dylan was close to 10 lbs!!!

I was happy to get some shots of their family both at the hospital before they came home and some more formal shots of the new family. I love them!

     

And if you have followed me down this far, you are in for a treat! The best family picture I have EVER taken…

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Ta-da! Kayleen, don’t kill me for posting this :) This photo makes me smile every time!