Practically Perfect Pancakes

Pancakes are one of those foods that I can never quite get to my liking. I try new recipes. I use old recipes. I make up recipes. No matter what I do they are never the deliciousness that I grew up with, courtesy of my mom and my grandma. 

Until two days ago.

Two days ago I threw together a recipe that was surprisingly wonderful. It sounds silly as I write because it's just pancakes. Good heavens, how simple can it be to replicate something like that, especially considering my mother is most certainly alive and kicking and more than willing to share her skills. I just haven't ever written the recipe down. I don't know if my mom even has it written down. It's just one of those things that she throws together as easily as someone else might pull out a box of cereal. 

Back to two days ago. 

My winning combination of ingredients that almost made pancakes as good as my moms. Let's face it, they'll never be exactly like hers. It's just one of those things. 

Practically Perfect Pancakes

2 cups flour

2 cups sour milk 

     2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar plus enough milk to make 2 cups of liquid

2 heaping teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 egg whites, whipped to stiff peaks

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients. Add milk, vanilla, and oil. Stir. Fold in egg whites. Tada!

November

I remember two things about November. First, we hosted Thanksgiving and second, we had family pictures the day after. Enough said, right? I did manage to take some pictures of Thanksgiving day even though I was in the kitchen for the good majority of the day, but can't seem to locate them on the computer at the moment. Weird. I'm generally very organized in my picture storage-ing and my November 2012 folder is completely MIA. Again, weird. Thankfully, these wonderful pictures have their own folder and were, therefore,  locate-able. Without further ado, I present to you the Struthers Family of November 2012.
(We did take a bout a gazillion more of the whole gang in different poses and locations, but this first one will do just fine. It must be said that the picture of our kids is one of only two shots the photographer took of them. How is that for a miracle?)

Photos courtesy of Alonzo Howe Photography

October Recap

ConFeRenCe WEekEnd

We spent Sunday of conference weekend with Grandma, Cory, Rachel, Jocelyn, and brand new baby Calli.

Some Skyping with Grandpa was necessary, of course.

Samuel sits on meets his cousin.

The girls were definitely smitten with the newest addition.

The whole gang. 

Our munchkins.

INTUSUSSCEPTION

Intussusception 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The Support

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Marie's Birthday (link coming soon)

MaRie'S VIP DaY at ScHoOl

PuMpkIn PaTCh

LoGan GetAwAy

Sunday Pictures

Family Home Evening Sketches

FaLL WalK

GraPeS

CaRViNg PuMpKinS

HaLLoWeEn

 Marie wore a dress-up costume to school because I didn't want her to ruin her costume for the evening festivities. She was happy to oblige, both in wearing the costume and posing in it.

Marie's little carpool buddy in her preschool class. These two will both be in kindergarten next year. I am always amazed at their difference in size and maturity. They both sure are cute though!

The theme for this year's costumes was 1)cheap and easy and 2) Halloween classics. I look back at these pictures and can't believe how together it seems we were at this point in our lives. Dressed up for Halloween? I don't even know how I got out of bed every morning. 

Bat. I was disappointed that many people asked him what he was. Nonetheless, he loved his costume and I thought he looked terrific!

The crew, hardly able to contain their excitement. We were just about to leave for trick or treating.

The "real" costume, a pretty witch.

And the cutest jack o' lantern this side of the full moon.

The Natives

taken October 21, 2012

"Smile" or "Cheese" generally gets ignored around here these days. "Make a silly face" on the other hand, works every time.

Grapes Galore

I should have taken at least one picture of the boxes of grapes Jill and I worked through the weekend before Halloween. Was it two, Jill? Or three? Or ten? All I know is that she and I were both new to grapes and canning. We opted to can most of them as juice. 1 cup grapes. 1/2 cup sugar. Fill jar with water. Process. Do not open before Thanksgiving.

Note: Thanksgiving has come and gone. We've opened the jars. Straight up they are a little watered down. Mixed with some Country Time or Crystal Light lemonade? Divine. 

We spent a good portion of Saturday preparing grapes and processing. We had to stop when we ran out of quart jars. We hadn't finished the grapes yet. Our next adventure was jelly which turned out to be slightly easier than we had feared. Plus, the taste was worth every minute. Homemade grape jelly. Oh my, deliciousness. By the time I took my play worn children home we had filled all the pint jars we could find with jelly. And we still had more grapes. I came home with quarts and quarts of juice and the rest of the grapes to make some jelly of my own.

We used cheesecloth at Jill's house to strain the cooked down grapes, which worked fine. When I went to buy some, I came across this contraption. It is perfect, save the fact that the little stand is taller than I see the need for, but I'm hardly an expert.

By the time Monday was over I had rows of heavenly homemade goodness. This stuff is candy in a jar, for sure. (And I even used the pectin that requires half the amount of sugar!)

Now to see about planting grapevines in our backyard ...

William-ese and Marie-esque: Artists

I have the hardest time getting rid of any pictures my kids draw. It says so much about who they are, what they are thinking about, and their stage of development. I find myself snapping pictures often. These particular pictures are on the back of some packets we worked on for a few consecutive FHE lessons. The packets taught about The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

William drew a picture of our family driving to the hospital when Samuel first got sick. He is always sure to make his pictures very clear by labeling the people and objects in them. I love the details he includes, all the way from the lines on the road, to the headlights shining, to the exact places that we were in the car. 

Marie will always, always, always draw crowns on some, if not all, of the people in her pictures. This is a picture of our family. I am holding Anne. Brandon is holding Samuel. Marie is the "fairest one of all" with the long curly hair. William doesn't even get a shirt or pants, but he does have a crown, naturally. Her whimsical style makes me smile every time I see one of her pictures. I might just have to hire her to do some art work in our home. Other than the "proud wall" that is all ready covered with their work, of course.

Instagram October: Post Intusussception

It was a day when I needed to feel accomplished, so I made my to do list achievable. We reach for the stars around here.   

Our first of many, many, many snow storms to come. October snow is always my favorite though. Probably because I know it won't take long to melt.

I was able to piece together a super cute outfit for church one Sunday, so naturally Anne had to be a little stinker and not pose for the camera.

Halloween costume finished. I think it was nearly a week before Halloween.  Miracle.

The girls inside the costumes are what make them so stinking cute. 

Turkey Florentine Meatball Subs. A dinner in which I always hoard the leftovers.  Yum!

A hand me down shirt from his big brother. It has now officially been worn twice. Gotta love silly holiday shirts.

The cutest boys bat and pumpkin I know.