Iced Chai Tea Latte

16 oz. boiling water

1 chai tea bag

2 T. honey

Brew for one hour. Cool.

Place a couple of ice cubes in a cup. 

Pour 1/4 c. of milk into the cup.

Add 8 oz of steeped tea.

Voila!

Madey came across this recipe for Pita. Thank you, Madey! We love it so so so so much. We've made it 3 times in the last week. :)

• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 cups white flour
• 1 1/2 cups wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  

1. Combine yeast, 1/2 cup water, honey, cover and let set for 10 minutes in a warm place until mixture is frothy.
   
2. Place all ingredients and the yeast mixture into a bow of a mixer and mix for 10 minutes for a soft dough.
   
3. Divide dough into 12 pieces and make into a ball. Cover and let rest until doubled, about a hour.
4. Pre-heat oven to 550 (my oven only goes to 500 but that worked just fine)
5. Roll into 16cm rounds.
6. Place right on to the oven racks (if the bread falls though the rack then place on a cooling rack in the oven), back for about 2 minutes, or until the bubbles are lightly browned.
   
7. Pull the bread out of the oven and poke with a knife and deflate the bubbles. 
   

(Original recipe: http://arabicbites.blogspot.com/2007/09/pita-bread.html)

Father's Day meal

EDIT: We actually didn't get around to our picnic until 3pm, and were SO HUNGRY that I forgot to take pictures. The favorite part of the meal was Kimi's Simple Lentil Salad . So much for my hour preparation of the cherry compote. ;) No, really, it was good. I'll be posting pictures of our hike instead of our food. :)

I will be posting pictures of OUR meal tomorrow celebrating Michael, but I had to give a sneak peak because it is going to be awesome.

Find the recipe at MarthaStewart.com for our main course: turkey sandwhiches with brie and a cherry compote. YUM.

I'm going to be pairing Kimi's Simple Lentil Salad with it, refreshing our senses with iced peppermint tea, and finishing it all off with Itsy Bitsy Chocolate Chip Cookies from 101 cookbooks.

Lemonade Cubes

I am so brilliant. With the warm days here I just CRAVE lemonade. I pour myself a glass, I add the ice cubes to make it nice and cold. Follow up on the boys playing outside. Clean them up from from the mess they just made, get them the snack they need, get them their drink, come back to my drink....and it is still cold, but the cubes have melted and I'm stuck with WATERY LEMONADE. yuck. 

The other day I had just a little bit of lemonade leftover in the pitcher and didn't want to stick the pitcher back in the frig so I looked over and there was an empty cube tray. I poured in the lemonade and froze it. Voila! Lemonade cubes! Now, I can have non watery lemonade and still have the fresh coolness from the "ice". Love it.

EDIT: Friend Lee Ann had an even more brilliant idea: "Also yummy/pretty with frozen strawberries/fruit in the cubes!"

Soap Nuts

I just bought some SOAPNUTS! I'm using them currently for laundry soap (and I'm loving it) but I'm going to be exploring ways to use them for shampoo, dishwashing soap, all purpose cleaner, etc! Lindsay turned me on to these by comparing the price of regular laundry detergent to them. They are AT LEAST 1/3 of the price of normal detergents! Woot! I'm all about going natural and saving the money. The BIGGEST thing I love about it is that it is hypo sensitive. The boys and I have such sensitive skin that I was looking into all the different ways I could make my own soap...but now here is something that is WAY cheaper and basically no work! The clothes come out really soft so you can stop buying softner, too! Crazy huh? Here's some info on them.

Did you know that there’s a FRUIT that will get your laundry clean?
It’s TRUE! Soapnuts are the fruit of a tree (Sapindus Mukorossi), found primarily in India, Indonesia, and Nepal, and they are an EXCELLENT alternative to traditional laundry detergents. How are soapnuts prepared for use in your wash? They are simply harvested, de-seeded, and then dried in the sun. And they WORK — they really, really work!

There are a ton of amazing things about soap nuts.
They are 100%, totally natural. They are organically grown and are free of harsh chemicals, so they are incredibly gentle on clothes AND skin. They are especially great for those with sensitive skin — including babies and those that suffer from allergies, eczema, and psoriasis! They’re totally biodegradeable, so they’re better for the environment than regular detergent, and they’re antimicrobial, so they’re even good for septic and greywater systems!

How do soapnuts work?
The outer shell of the soapnut contains saponin, a natural substance known for its ability to cleanse and wash. (That’s what makes them so GREAT for cleaning your laundry!) And here’s a cool fact: soapnuts aren’t a new concept! They have been used to clean all kinds of fabric for centuries, and are only now gaining popularity in the Americas and Europe as a powerful, yet natural alternative to modern detergents.

Read more: http://www.laundrytree.com/#ixzz0HxqoWqdK&C

2 years ago Michael wrote this:

We are pleased to introduce to the world,

LIAM JAMES GARVEY

May he always love the Lord with all his heart,
Be righteous in all he does,
God exalting in all his thoughts,
And passionate about his pursuit of all-satisfying joy in Christ!

LIAM: From the Irish, short form of Uilliam, Gaelic form of William. The name William is derived from the Germanic "wil", which means "will,"or "desire," and is added to the Germanic "helm," which means "helmet" or "protection." May he be an unwavering protector.

JAMES: "A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations." James 1:1, ESV James is also the name of my Grandpa. May Liam James serve Christ faithfully, calling His called around the world.


Here are the details:

Stephanie went into labor last night around 5pm. We called our midwives. They came. With David, Stephanie was in labor for about 120 minutes from the time her water broke until he was out. Accordingly, we expected Liam to come quickly. She became dialated to 5cm, but the contractions slowed as the evening went on. At about 9pm the power went out! Yes, complete outage. We lit candles and taught our midwives Settlers of Catan, which they had heard much about. Steph was able to keep up quite well, and nearly won! Her contractions tapered off to being infrequent, but since she was still dialated to 5cm, the midwives camped out on our couch and we went to bed to get rest before the contractions started up again. The night was uneventful. (By the way, the power did come back on at some point.) In the morning we decided that we would do what we could to get the contractions going again. She was still dialated to 5cm and 50% effaced. The midwives would return in the afternoon to break her water if she was still so ready. So we went to the chiropractor, ran a few errands, walked a lot, and waited. At 3:30pm today, the midwives returned and broke her water. Heavy, back-to-back contractions started immediately! Within 10 minutes they were right on top of each other and very strong and painful. After about 40 minutes her body began pushing. Only 10 minutes later, Liam was born at 4:20pm! Stephanie was strong and beautiful through it all!

He is 19 in. long and weighs 8.7 lbs, and his head is 36cm around (!).

And has arrived just in time for the last 3 days of finals for my Spring term.

David's sayings

Liam to David: Daaaaaaadiiiiiiiiidddddd, Daaaaaaadiiiiiiiiiiiid!
David to Liam: No, Weeum, my name is Dadid Midal Darvey, cuz dats what Daddy talled me.