Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake

One of the first things I learned to bake was pound cake. Then, when we moved into a house with a massive lemon tree, I started looking for ways to use up our lemons. It was natural that I would combine my love of pound cake with a plethora of lemons. This is another recipe that has become a favorite because we're constantly looking for ways to use our lemons, and this also makes a great treat to share with coworkers.


Prep time - 30 minutes

Bake time - 1 hour

Yield - 1 loaf (one serving. Just kidding. Not really)

Ingredients:

- 1 stick of butter, room temperature* (set out the night before)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature*
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (3 large lemons)
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

A grater for zesting lemons

- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 6 Tablespoons sour cream, room temperature*
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Golden Milk: A Spicy, Healthy Beverage

I'm going to state something that is extremely obvious. The past three years have been extremely difficult. There have been numerous times when I have felt like Will Ferrell in Zoolander, shouting "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills." 

Anybody with me on this one? 

So recently when I went to the doctor, I was told that my system was shutting down from the stress of the past three years. 

Anybody with me on this one? 

I am working my way back to health. One of the things I was told to add to my diet was something called Golden Milk. My doctor gave me a look like she knew I was going to hate it. When I asked what was in it, I was told that it has ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric. I was told that I needed to drink Golden Milk regularly for at least one month, to which I responded, "Since I like all of those things, if I like it can I drink it regularly?" And the answer was yes! I was told that I would be superhuman if I consumed this daily. 

I was given a recipe, I tweaked it, I adjusted it, and I came up with something that is absolutely delicious! I have Golden Milk about five nights per week. I don't yet have the power of flight, but I think it's coming. Golden Milk is my evening beverage before going to bed, and I am a fan. It is known to boost your immunity, boost your antioxidants, reduce joint pain and inflammation, and turn you into a superhero (I'm not a doctor, and I may have made that last one up, but if you look up the health benefits of the three main ingredients you will not be lacking information). 

So here is the recipe that I came up with. It keeps it in powder form until you are ready to use it. Feel free to adjust the recipe to add more of the things you really like. 

- 4 T. turmeric
- 2+ T. powdered ginger
- 1+ T. cinnamon
- 1/4 t. ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. Add one Tablespoon of the combined powder to 1+ cup of warm milk or milk substitute (I really like coconut milk). For a little bit of sweetness, add a dribble of honey. If you have a milk frother, froth it up! 

Then just sit back and wait for the super powers to take root! 

Enjoy!

Chicken Coop - DIY or Premade Kit?

Have you been to the grocery store lately? Have you seen the price of eggs? Have you been able to find eggs? Just this week my local grocery store had only the "cheap", bottom shelf eggs, and they are now $8 per dozen. 

Thankfully the city in which I live just recently passed a chicken ordinance that now allows chickens. Unfortunately it takes some time to raise chickens from chicks to egg laying age. But fortunately I have been planning for this for some time, so my chicken farming days are already in the works. 

Let me back up a little bit. As my

DIY Tree Collar from Scrap

I love Christmas! I love decorating. I love putting up lights. I love the joy of the season. I often go over the top, but at this point in my life, that is just expected by the people around me. 

We recently got a puppy. After we decorated the inside of our house for Christmas, one of the last things that we did was put the tree skirt around our tree. Within minutes the tree skirt had a puppy pee spot on it. So we took the tree skirt off, washed it, dried it, and hung it outside to air it out. We put the tree skirt back around the tree, and, I kid you not, hadn't even gotten it around the tree before there was a new puppy pee spot. 

So we decided that this would be the year to put a tree collar around the tree instead of a tree skirt (note: I find it kind of ridiculous that we have so many names of things that go around the bottom of trees that we decorate our houses with, but apparently that's where we are. For those of you not familiar, a tree skirt is a cloth that goes around the base of a Christmas tree, while a tree collar is a rigid barrier.)

I wouldn't pee on 
the tree skirt...

How to Seed a Pomegranate in Under Two Minutes

One of the most prolific fruit trees in my yard is our pomegranate tree. We've had our tree for a few years, and this year, finally, we got a bumper crop. Once I got the first ripe fruit, though, I realized how much I hate pomegranates. Not because I dislike the fruit, but because I dislike getting the edible part out.

If you've never seeded a pomegranate, let me explain what it's like. Imagine 1,000 tiny grapes all superglued to tissue paper, tightly packed in a leather ball.

I spent years trying to find the best way to seed them, reading all the infinite wisdom that the internet has to offer on the subject.

"Break them up submersed in water and all of the inedible parts float, while the seeds sink." Nope. The inedible parts sink as well, and—45 minutes of seed-removal later—half of the seeds go down the drain with the water.

"Roll the pomegranate with the ends cut off, pulling out the seeds as they loosen." Insane. This creates a mess and most of the seeds end up bursting on your fingers. And 45 minutes later you're trying to scrub the red stains off your counter.