Magic Mud Body Scrub

I've never really used body scrub and to be honest I always thought it sounded like a waste of time and money, but I was bored the other day and thought I'd try to make one. I'd read how coffee body scrubs are extra great because the caffeine helps with skin elasticity and cellulite and such (supposedly) so I figured I'd start there.

After trying my concoction I dubbed it Magic Mud because it was SO amazing. I have some dry skin issues but after using this just once it was a drastic change, all smooth and soft! It certainly converted me into a body scrub believer. So here's the recipe, I strongly encourage you to try it out! It is really easy to switch up too so mix however you feel works best!

4 T used coffee (you can use dry coffee, but why waste good coffee?)

1/2 c white or brown sugar

1 T olive oil

1.5 T water (optional - less water will equal a courser scrub)

Lavender (you can also use essential oils, other herbs or any spices)

Mix the coffee and sugar. Mix in the olive oil and water. Cut up the lavender and mix in.

For use, it's recommended to soak or stand in a hot shower before applying, rub on in circles, rinse, and embrace your new soft skin! Store in a jar and use once a month or as often as you like. And enjoy! It will settle after sitting for a bit, so stir before each use.

Stay Lovely,

Katelin

Homemade Graham Crackers Recipe

As you may know from reading my bread-making post, I am trying to make more homemade stuff. I have a growing list of things I want to make, but most recently I tackled graham crackers. I looked through two recipes and used a bit from both. From Smitten Kitchen I took the topping for the graham crackers and from Chocolate & Carrots I took most of the recipe. I did use regular flour and sugar though. I figure I will just rewrite the recipe as I did it. So please consider it an adaptation from the two blogs.

Homemade Graham Crackers 
Ingredients

Crackers
2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, mostly melted
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey

 Topping
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Make the Dough
In a bowl stir the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
In another bowl mix the remaining ingredients together. Your butter should be mostly melted, but not fully. You can hand mix or use a mixer to beat the ingredients until combined.*
Add in the flour mixture in two shifts, mixing until well combined.

Chill the Dough
Try to make your dough look rectangular, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to harden. (the rectangle isn't that important, it just may help with cutting the dough later)
Wait 30 minutes or longer, until dough is chilled and firm.

Cut Out the Crackers
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it’s 1/8 thick. The dough will be sticky so use more flour as necessary and roll out the dough slowly to prevent tearing.
Cut the dough out into  squares of whatever size your prefer with whichever tool you prefer (I used a pizza cutter).

Bake the Crackers 
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the crackers, about 1 inch apart, on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Score the squares down the middle and poke some holes in the top with a fork, or decorate however you prefer.
Sprinkle the topping over the crackers.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to harden the cookies a little before baking.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Allow to cool before removing from the baking sheet(s).

Enjoy!
S'mores, cheesecake, an afternoon snack...whatever you want to use these crackers for go for it! They are certifiably delicious! Though don't expect them to taste like store-bought ones (aka junk). These are a little more like cinnamon shortbread cookies. They'd be great with tea and maybe jam!

If you do make these let me know how they turn out and what you have with them!
Stay Lovely,
Katelin 

Bread Making - An Attempt and Partial Success

I'm so tired of all the extra, unnecessary ingredients in store-bought food. A simple loaf of bread has a magnitude of "fake" ingredients including such bizarre things asazodicarbonamide (found, in the UK, to be a respiratory sensitizer and can increase the risk of allergic reactions to other ingredients in the food such as dyes) , calcium propionate (a preservative, which is slightly toxic and, strangely, can be and is used to give rats a model of human autism), and, of course, high fructose corn syrup. It's too much. And bread isn't even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to random crap in our food, but it is a good starting point. 

For years I've been planning to start making my own food and/or buying fresh made local food. Putting for the effort it takes is so worth the reward I think. Now that I've moved into my apartment I can finally get started on my plan! And so I have. First stop: bread.

Recipe and tools all ready to go

I used this recipe from Get Up Off Your Butt And Bake (a fantastic blog you should all check out). I got all ready and set off for my first attempt at bread, hoping for the best and wearing my cutest apron for confidence.

 

It took no time at all to start twirling my little kitchen into an absolute mess. And it was only going to get worse.

Check out that yeast! Look at it rise! That started at about 2/3 cups! Beautiful!

I just got my dough hooks in the mail Friday. But as soon as I started mixing I feared my little hand mixer wasn't up to the task of this recipe. My bowl was a little small for recipe as well. The recipe, halved, makes two loaves of bread and 20 scones (or three loaves of bread but I wanted to try out the scones - bad choice as you will see later). Well, the dough didn't cooperate with my mixer, that's for sure. At one point my little dough hook fell out, unable to support the weight of the dough climbing up on it. The dough also took victim my spatula, pulling the spatula off of the handle.

Finally I just sighed, put down the mixer, and went to work the good old-fashioned way: kneading by hand. I would have done that anyway but was worried I would over-knead it.

I didn't have a bowl big enough to let the dough rise in, so I went ahead an pulled out my great big sauce pan. It worked pretty darn well too!

Look at that! Beautiful!

I tried to shape mine nicely like she does on her site, but it didn't go so well. I may have also abused the left one too much trying to get it to look "right."

One of my loaves rose faster than the other, so I baked them separate. The one that didn't raise at the right speed was the one I fear I handled too much trying to shape it. During this I attempted scones...I won't go into the details but they died a painful death. Afterwards my mom (happy mothers day mom!) informed me I should have never attempted to cook them in oil like she said to. Lesson learned.

My first loaf looked great, despite a piece of crust falling off when I turned it onto the rack. My second loaf...struggled. It sort of deflated in the oven. Not sure why. If you happen to know, please share!

Though my bread doesn't quite look perfect, it tastes great! Thankfully! And I hear it only get's easier. It will be easier too once I understand my oven a little better. I think it may bake a little quicker than most recipes call for, but haven't made enough to yet be sure.

So I have my first bread! I'm looking forward to taking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to work tomorrow with my fresh bread, homemade jam from the farmers market, and peanut butter (still not homemade but I'm taking small steps).

Stay Lovely,

Katelin