Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 55

Homework Could Wait

Waiting for the girls to get off the bus.Afternoons are some of my favorite times of the day. Everyone's had their naps, the girls and Jack are almost home and I don't have to start dinner just yet. The problem is deciding what to do with that time. Usually, I clean or mow or work on some home improvement project while waiting for the girls to get off the bus, but after having watched a good chunk of the equestrian sports during the Olympics and taking a ride on the beach last week (and&...

Beach Riding

Preacher, Bug, Sassy, Star and CeCe.This past week, we disappeared from our normal routine and found ourselves living the dream in Florida for a much-needed vacation and incredible family reunion.
Getting fitted for helmets.One of the activities I'd been toying with doing is a ride on the beach. I'd taken Stoney to some lakes when we were younger and it's always been a dream to ride him next to the ocean. Of course, since we're still pretty far from the sea, a substitution for Stoney was neede...

20,000

After making it to half a million pageviews, I wondered if I could make it to 20,000+ pageviews in a month. Small peanuts to many but a big milestone to me. With some consistent writing (people really enjoyed reading about the kitchen) and some luck, another goal is crossed off the 2016 list!!

Oh, and I also published another book. Huzzah! Read about it here or purchase it here! Enjoy! :)

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

What are you to do when you have a crisis and find you've run out of chocolate chips when you need to have a cookie fix? Make white chocolate chip cookies, of course!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together butter and sugars. Stir in egg and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients and add to cre...

Nobody is Safe

Nova has grown out of the adorable, innocent kitten phase and is now on the adorable, conniving, secretly-plotting-to-take-over-the-world kitten phase. Since working on her stalking skills is a top priority (which will come in handy when she's promoted to a full-fledged farm cat), she loves hiding silently behind or under or on top of anything she can find and diving at babies or feet or stray garbage. Nobody is safe. Not even the dog.
Thank goodness for Nova that Raven is very, veeeerrrrry&nb...

Henry Wonders

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?Not only did Henry inherit Jack's love of hammocks, he's also already shown signs of becoming a great ponderer.

Henry wonders... Don't think too hard, Henry.If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
Whoa. That's deep.What color of hair do they put on the driver's license of a bald man? His brain hurts.When does it stop being partly cloudy and become partly sunny?
(Tee hee hee).

He Did, We Did

Standing in front of Cuatrocienegas.This past week, Jack had a back-to-back work trip. First, he went to Idaho where his oldest sister and her family lives (on her birthday--what are the odds?!), then down to Mexico in the same area he served his mission (what are the odds?!). Most people ask if I'm envious that he gets to go on trips but when I think about it, we really had the same adventure.
Here's what he did and what we did:
He visited some of nature's beauties... ...and Kate painted some o...

Featured Art Frame

In anticipation of the gobs of beautiful artwork the girls will be bringing home from school, we made a Featured Art Frame during the summer to save the poor fridge from being overrun with papers. Made of mostly recycled materials, it only cost us a few dollars. The great thing about it too is that you don't have to completely remove anything from the frame to attach it--use corkboard or a magnetic board and you can switch out art whenever you need. Want to make one of your own? Here's how:

Yo...

The Kitchen Is Done

Henry adds a touch of adorableness to our new kitchen.Waaaay back during spring break, my family visited for their annual trip. I didn't have any major projects planned but with some goading from my sister and mother and some deep pondering on my part (why wouldn't I tackle a home improvement project when I'd have so many helpers in the house?? It's tradition to do impossibly large projects like building stairs at our Iowa homestead or totally redoing master bathrooms!), I came to the co...

Vanilla Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes

Sometimes we like to change up our usual baking soda pancake recipe and try something new. This one is a keeper. It's light and fluffy and has hints of cinnamon and vanilla that make it delicious with or with or without add-ins like blueberries or chocolate chips and homemade maple syrup.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, substitute with a couple tea...