Monday

Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

This year has been my Sourdough year.  I began the year learning how to create a starter, how to bake a simple loaf and now we are nearing the end of the year with my favorite of all bread, the Pumpkin Sourdough.  After months of testing this recipe I am ready to share this recipe with you.  It's everyone's favorite sourdough and so many friends have asked for the recipe after sharing it with them so here it is.  


The basics are needed, such as a healthy sourdough starter, spring water and high quality unbleached flour.  If you bake sourdough bread, you know how important these items are.  Without them, it just doesn't work.  So, let's get started.  


Ingredients

300 Grams Room Temp Spring Water
110 Grams Sourdough Starter
12 Grams Grey or Pink Himalayan Salt
110 Grams of Pumpkin Puree
12 Grams Pumpkin Pie Spice
500 Grams Unbleached Flour




1.  In a large bowl, add water, salt, starter and lightly mix with dough whisk.  Add pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Mix with the dough whisk.  

2.  Add flour and with dough whisk, incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients.  use fingers to lightly knead together.

3.  Cover with a towel and place in a warm place and let rest for 30 minutes.  I like to place my dough in an oven with the light on to keep it slightly warm because of the cool temps in our home.  

4. After 30 minutes, remove towel and with wet hands, stretch and pull dough four or five times. 

5.  Return to warm place and let rest another 30 minutes and repeat the stretch and pull for three more times.  


6.  After the two hours of 4-30 minute rests and pulls, let the dough rest in a covered bowl and rise 75%.  

7.  After the rise, lightly flour a counter and pour dough out onto the counter.  Let rest 15 minutes.


8.  After it is rested for 15 minutes,  stretch the dough into a softly shaped rectangle and then roll up into a ball by folding long sides over and then one end to the next.  Push and roll the dough towards you multiple times to form an ball using the counter for friction.  

9.  Tap the dough on the counter to release dough and then place in a bantam basket, place inside a plastic bag and seal.  Let is slow rise in a fridge for 12 to 14 hours.

10.  After the slow proof, it is time to bake.  Preheat over to 450 degrees and preheat the Dutch oven pan and lid in the oven too. 



11.  Place dough on parchment paper and score the dough with a razor blade to make a deep release line and any decorative cuts you desire.  You can also form the dough in to pumpkin loaf by using baker's twine and tying the twine together to form the shape of a pumpkin.  (See pictures above.)

12.  Place the parchment paper and dough into a covered Dutch oven and bake in a covered Dutch oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.  

13.  Remove the lid of the Dutch oven and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Remove from oven and let cool.

This is the prettiest bread with a rich amber color and a light spiced pumpkin flavor.  It is so good for French Toast or grilled cheese, that is if it isn't eaten entirely on the spot by your family.  Just saying!



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Thursday

Christmas Candy Barn Quilt

It's beginning to look a little like the holidays around here with grey skies and sleet coming down, and lots of new barn quilts waiting to be released.  We have four gorgeous and darling barn quilt designs coming out over the next week for you!  



Christmas Candy Barn Quilt

When choosing which of the four to share first, we all agreed that Christmas Candy was the one.  One of our shared memories off past holidays is the glass candy dish that was filled with the colorful ribbons of vintage hard candy.  When designing this quilt, we wanted the vintage inspired colors from our Prairie Paints to come together to look like Christmas Candy on a barn quilt.


We have added this darling barn quilt to The Shop as a pre-painted barn quilt in four sizes, in a Original Barn Quilt Kit for you to paint one of your own, and as a PDF full color pattern.  We hope you will love this Christmas Candy Barn Quilt as much as we do.  I can't wait to hang mine up along side our tree!  

We have a Holiday Sale going now through Thanksgiving with 20% off everything on our website with code Holiday20.  




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Wednesday

Amish Apple Butter

One of the best aromas ever is a slow cooker full of apples and spice...there is nothing like it.  Even in the winter, the aroma of simmering Amish Apple Butter is such a crisp fragrance,  It brings back all the warmth of a sunny fall day, even if there is two feet of snow out your window.   My family loves to eat it on crisp toast, pancakes and even on ice cream.  


All you need to make this simple apple butter is a slow cooker and about 10 to 12 large apples.   My favorite kind to use are Jonathon's...they are perfect mixture of firm, sweet, tart and Granny Smiths are my second favorite.   Wash your apples and peel them.  I like to use my old fashioned apple peeler...it does the job in a matter of seconds.  You can find the apple peeler I use on my Amazon shopping page.    


Once the apples are peeled, you can use an apple slicer to slice them into large wedges. Place them in a slow cooker and turn it on to the low setting.


With the slow cooker is full...

  • Add two cups of granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar,
  • Add four tablespoons of apple pie seasoning.  If you can not find apple pie seasoning, mix together cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves to a mixture you like. 
  • Add 3 Tablespoons of real Vanilla. (this year we made our own vanilla with Bourbon so it was extra dark and rich).


Put a lid on the slow cooker and cook for eight hours on the low setting.  Stir occasionally to mix the spices and sugars through the mixture. You will have a delicious amount to apple juice that cooks out of the apples over cooking time. When the time is skim off most of the juice and set aside.  Add two tablespoons of real vanilla extract and mix together.  I like to use an immersion blender to blend the chunks up into a half chunky sauce.  If your mixture is still too thin, cook a little longer in the pot.  (It will thicken ever more in the fridge.)


Once your apple butter is done, you can refrigerate it for up to six weeks or freeze it for up two months.  If you want it to last through the winter,  you can process them in a water bath for 20 minutes and they will keep for a year.  You can find the instructions for the water bath process at the Ball Fresh Preserving Site.


Just imagine a spice filled thick sweet and tart apple sauce in one bite...and you will know why we are crazy for this recipe!  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.  It sure makes the winter mornings smell divine and taste even better!



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Tuesday

New Autumn Prairie Paint Colors

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  Albert Camus  


The colors of Autumn have inspired us to add six new colors to the Prairie Paint Collection .  This fall has felt like a second spring and every leaf a flower with the go warm fall light shinning through the leaves in our mountains.  This season has been a dream that we wanted to remember, which led us to create these six gorgeous new colors.  


Old Wine Barrel


Aspen Grove


Acorn Squash


White Linen


Sundance


Sheepskin



Our Prairie Paints are a highly pigmented, thick gel based chalk paint that gives smooth one coat coverage to furniture, interiors, exteriors and of course our barn quilts.  The formula allows for a vintage look to the dried colors and optimal adhesion of our gorgeous Finishing Wax.  The combination of the paints and wax, seal the wood and make your projects so beautiful for years.  

We love these paints and thousands of these little jars have been shipped to our Tweetle Dee friends for the past four years.  We know they are loved because of your sweet messages and pictures of the projects you have used them on.  Thank you to all of you for your support in growing this arm of our business and loving these colors and paints as much as we do.

To thank you for your support we have activated the 10% Thank You code in Our Shop.  Use code ThankYou10 to receive a 10% savings on all your orders through November 11th.



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Wednesday

Farm and Hive Workshop

This past weekend we had the blessing of traveling up to Farm and Hive in Idaho for a two day Tweetle Dee Workshop.  Susie's farm is such magical piece of heaven. All the little animals greeted us and kept us entertained during our My Heart Belongs to the Wildflowers and our How to Paint a Barn Quilt Class.  
















We all had a wonderful weekend celebrating, dreaming and creating together.  Our next Farm and Hive Workshop will be sometime in the spring of '24, so watch for the announcement and get your registration in quickly! 

We have had a few spots open for our upcoming Holiday Workshop on November 4th in Woodland Hills, UT.  This will be our last paint any size barn quilt class.  If you are wanting to paint gifts, a big-beautiful barn quilt or lots of littles, this is the class for you.  Save 20% on your registration by going to Our Shop and use code Workshop20 when you checkout.  

We want to thank Susie and Tyler again for hosting us at their farm and hope to see you again soon at one of our workshops.





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Thursday

Wilde Bloem Morning Glory Barn Quilt

As the colors change from forest green to amber and crimson, we waited for the last of our Wilde Bloem flowers to bloom.  Late into the season Morning Glory climbed and began to show small buds, each waiting their turn to burst in blue.  Knowing this flower is the last to bloom, and each flower lives for just one day, we found ourselves going out every morning just to see if there was a new bloom.  


The Mo0rning Glory flower represents love, life and mortality.  Lots of symbolism in these beautiful blooms.  The first big blue bloom took my breath away.  All the symbolism made sense to me.  They bloom each morning and spread their petals so wide and always towards the sun, and then by evening, they turn inward and are gone.  Each day, a different one would live for one day.  

I thought so much about this pattern and the remarkable beauty that came and went in one day.  What beauty do I choose to soak in, and share in a day.  The questions in my mind were, what if I had just one day to shine and is one day enough?  I don't think a flower has made my think so much about my worth in a day.  Each morning, I would welcome the new, and go thank them each night.  


In addition to the unique life of the Morning Glory blooms, the leaves are a vibrant green in the shape of hearts.  Maybe that is where the symbol of love comes from.  I love this flower, and can't wait to grow them again next year.  


In the Wilde Bloem garden we celebrate each flower with a barn quilt. pattern, and kit each month.  The last one this year is the Wilde Bloem Morning Glory.  All of our patterns include full color instructions and a How to Paint a Barn Quilt Guide.  They are available as PDF downloads and a paper pattern that we ship.  You will love painting this simple and beautiful pattern. 


Our Wilde Bloem Moring Glory Kits are in The Shop.  Our kits for this collection come with a 12" Farmhouse Planked Wood Canvas, a pattern and the Prairie Paints needed to paint your own beautiful mini-barn quilt.  


In addition to our Wilde Bloem Morning Glory Barn Quilt Kits, we also have a framed large wood barn quilts that are hand painted, stained, sealed and available in four sizes.  These make beautiful additions to your outdoor spaces and your indoor spaces too.  


We hope you love this little Wilde Bloem Moring Glory quilt as much as we have.  If you haven't grown this flower before, I would recommend getting some seeds early spring and begin your starts early so that you have a longer blooming season.  They are late bloomers, but oh so worth it.  


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Saturday

Molly’s Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

This is the week that everyone returned to school, and I had the blessing of spending some time with our little Molly while her siblings were off for their first day of school.  We wanted to make them some cookies for them to celebrate and my idea was to make my Peanut Butter Honey Cookies, but Molly thought a Peanut Butter Nutella was what they would want.  She is the sweetest little sister to know just what everyone would love, so I had to get creative with my favorite Peanut Butter Cookie recipe. 


I used my basic recipe, divided the dough in half, added peanut better to one half of the dough and a big dose of the chocolate hazelnut goodness to the other half of the dough.  Then lightly swirled the two doughs together and baked.  Molly wanted to add a little extra chocolate with the colors of M & M's .  We had so much fun baking these special back to school cookies.  It only took an hour and they were gone in about that same amount of time!  

Here's the ingredients....

1/2 Cup Softened Butter
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1/4 Cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Teas. Real Vanilla
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Teas Baking Soda
1/4 Teas Salt
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter
1/3 Cup Nutella
M & M's


Step 1.  In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Step 2.  In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda and sift together. 

Step 3.  Add to wet ingredients and mix together.  

Step 4.  Divide the dough in half and place in two separate bowls.

Step 5.  Mix the peanut butter into one of the bowls of dough and mix the Nutella into the other bowl of dough.  

Step 6.  Place the two doughs back into the mixer bowl and with a wooden spoon or dough whisk,  lightly fold the two doughs together.

Step 7.  Chill in refrigerator for a half hour and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

Step 8.  After the dough has chilled for a half hour and the oven is heated, roll the dough into balls the size of a golf ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  

Step 9.  Bake for 7 to 9 minutes.  Remove from oven when they are light golden on the bottom.  Let cool on baking sheet.  

Step 10.  Press an M & M into the center of each while cooling.  


Molly was a super smart and creative baker to come up with a special cookie with peanut butter and Nutella.  They were so good!  The kids had a great first day, and she had a big smile on her face when they all came home.  It's tough being the only little one at home.   We hope you enjoy this recipe.  These are super simple cookies to make and freeze well too.  Enjoy!



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Thursday

Millie's Cardinal Barn Quilt

Every morning we would climb onto Grandma's couch that slide up to the table in front of the window to look out for the birds that visited the feeders she and my Grandpa tended to.  On the breakfast table was a pair of binoculars and a bird identification book.  Maybe they helped us look for birds to keep us little one's busy, but we loved the time looking for one very special bird, the Cardinal.  


She loved those bright red birds, especially against the white snow that drifted on the hills around the farm.  We could see them everywhere when snow fell.  Here is the west I don't see them in the wild, just the ones that have been gifted to me from her collection, and a few my sweetheart has given me to keep the tradition alive.  During the summer her ceramic Cardinal sits in my birdbath and it feels like she loved seeing it too.  


Inspired by my Grandma, I have designed Millie's Cardinal Barn Quilt in the style of our Little Pieces Collection of barn quilts.  We had so much fun adding the half-squares as pines and all the beautiful reds in the Prairie Collection to give each triangle dimension and life. 


This barn quilt has been added to Our Shop today.  We hope you love it as much as I do.  If my family in NY sees this post...one is coming your way.  Mille's Cardinal belongs there and on the barns of all who loved this most beautiful bird.  

Our Paint It sale is going on this week!  Use code PaintIt and save 25% on all orders.  




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