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April 17, 2008

I Couldn't Wait

This week I had the urge to order a fetal Doppler so we could listen to our baby's heartbeat from home... frequently if we wanted to. It turned out that the cost was really low, so I got one sent to us from Babybeat.com and it arrived this afternoon! It was very exciting to come home for lunch and be able to hear our baby's heartbeat for the second time. I heard it can be hard to use, and that sometimes you don't find the heartbeat. IMG_4954.JPG On my first pass I couldn't find it... they say you need to try again later and that the baby can block easy reception of the sound depending on what position they are in. So I tried again 30 minutes later and presto... there it was. It is such a wonderful feeling, and it always sparks an ear to ear grin. The heart rate was about 140 bpm and it was definitely reassuring. My next appointment this Tuesday is routine, nothing exciting except peeing in a cup and asking questions. May 12th is the big one when we get to confirm that its a boy find out the sex of our kid! I'm feeling energized and excited and confident that everything is progressing smoothly. I feel so lucky.

Posted by jenredstar at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

April 7, 2008

I'm Cookin'

In the kitchen, that is. So, nesting has taken hold of me over the past month. It started with an irritation with the level of cleanliness in our home and once that got mostly taken care of I started cooking. I've been inspired within the past week to create a few new things, from scratch. I first focused on buttermilk biscuits after watching Paula Dean make them on the food network. All I have to do to get inspired to cook is to watch something I like being made on TV. It is instant. I will go out and buy the stuff to make it within the hour.

I got the recipe from the internets and made my first batch, along with some fried chicken & garlic green beans. Ryan was over the moon, but I knew those biscuits could be improved. With some minor adjustments in mind, I modified the recipe from Paula and yesterday created my own "perfected" recipe. I am really pleased with how they turned out. I brought the batch over to my parents home for our usual Sunday dinner, along with a homemade lemon meringue pie.

Making biscuits is so easy and satisfying, and cheap too. Plus if you bring these over to a friends house for no good reason you'll earn some major brownie points (biscuit points?!). Enjoy.


Buttermilk Biscuits:
1 package yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup solid shortening chilled (recommended: Crisco)
2 tablespoons butter chilled
2 cups buttermilk

Honey Butter:
1 stick butter
1/3 cup honey
Melt butter slightly, or start with soft butter
Mix together, chill... and serve with warm biscuits

Biscuits: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Dissolve yeast in warm water; set aside. Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening & butter. Add yeast and buttermilk and mix well. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with small biscuit cutter and place on greased baking sheet. Let biscuits settle for awhile, about 15 minutes before baking. Brush tops with melted butter (I add a dash of salt too). Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. I check to see if they are golden in some areas and then I broil the tops to make them golden. The bottoms are usually done after 12 minutes.

Posted by jenredstar at 2:49 PM | Comments (0)