Sourdough!

Check out this beautiful sourdough start!  

I'm so happy to have a good, active sourdough start in the house again.  I keep one going for over a year a while back, but eventually killed it due to neglect.  Colin and I have since attempted to get a new one going, but I keep killing them with my side-tracked nature.  Happily, Randy's brother has more focus and got a good one going.  Uncle Ron shared some of his this past weekend while we were visiting and it is alive and well. 

We've used it to make two of my favorite sourdough recipes: pancakes and pizza.  YUM!

Sourdough Pancakes

1 Tablespoon oil

1 Egg

1 Tablespoon White Powder*

Mix together well, then add:

1 Cup sourdough starter

Cook on hot griddle. 

We had them with fresh blackberries and whipped cream.  Too bad we ate them before I thought of getting a picture - they sure didn't last long! 

*The White Powder is:
1 part Salt
1 part Baking Soda
3 parts Baking Powder
5 parts Sugar

Sourdough Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cups Sourdough Starter

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups Flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix ingredients, working in the flour until you have a soft dough. 

Let dough rest for 1/2 hour so it will relax and forming the pizza will be easier.  

Roll out the dough in a circle, however big you like.

I pre-bake my pizza dough for 5 minutes on my pizza stone, then top it and bake 5 or 10 minutes more.  If you prefer, you can just top it and bake for 15ish minutes.  

We topped our pizza with BBQ sauce, bacon, and cheese because that's what we had on hand.  Again, this got gobbled up before I could snap a picture.  I'll try to remember better next time. 

Happiness

I've been reading David Bednar's book, Increase in Learning.  Fabulous book!  I love it!

Chapter Four is called "Doctrines, Principles, and Applications: A Framework for Gospel Learning.

Here's my attempt to apply that framework to my study of Happiness this morning.

Doctrine = Why
Principles = What
Application = How

The doctrine is the plan of happiness.

A few of the principles of happiness are:

• We are happiest when we have the Holy Ghost with us.
• "Wickedness never was happiness." (Alma 41:10)
• Knowing what you need to do is not enough, to be happy you actually have to DO what you need to do.
• "Happy is he that condemneth not himself." (Romans 14:22)  Don't beat yourself up for not being perfect.

FLYlady is a great example of the application of these principles.

David Bednar explains that "Doctrines and principles do not change,  applications appropriately can vary according to needs and circumstances" (p.156).

Only studying applications without seeking true principles and doctrines will not lead to success.  For example, many people say "FLYlady just doesn't work for me."  This is an example of only studying the applications without understanding the doctrine and/or the principles.  When Marla Ciley started doing her routines, the principle she had in mind was to Finally Love Yourself (FLY).  Her routines help her to DO what she needs to do to be happy.  They keep her from beating up herself for not being perfect.  And they help her create an atmosphere in her home and in her heart where she can get what she calls "God Breezes."  Understanding the principles that she was following help me to create my own applications that work for my family.  A person who only studies the application sees the huge list of everything Flylady does in her daily routines and will likely give up before they even get a chance to understand the blessings that following the principles will bring.

Sunday Quote

"The companionship of the spirit of the Lord is an antidote for weariness,..... for fear and all those things that sometimes overtake us in life."   George Albert Smith

I needed this quote from our Relief Society lesson today.  When I am feeling weary or fearful, I find that it's usually because I am out of line with the spirit.  Those feelings go away and are replaced by peace when I get my life back in line.  This quote was just the call to repentance I needed today and I will head the call.  Summer is too wonderful for weariness or fear. 

The Speed of Trust

I am listening to Stephen M. R. Covey's book, The Speed of Trust. Two CDs into it, I am hooked. It's good stuff! The basic idea is that trust is something you can measure and a skill that can be learned and that when trust goes up, speed also goes up while costs go down. It's been fun to recognize this truth in many areas of my life. I am excited to keep listening to the rest of the book!

A Psalm of Life

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow circa 1850

I have in my collection a book called The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (comprising his poems from 1839 to 1847).  It has an inscription in the front that says:

Mary L. Cassin 

From Aunt Emily 

Christmas 1896

Its in pretty darn good shape for a 116 year old book, it looks like only the first 20 pages have been read.   I'm guessing Mary used it like I do, as a decoration.  I took it down and actually read some of it the other day.   Mary and I have been missing out!   

 I fell in love with one of the poems, A Psalm of Life.  It's awesome!  The kids and I are now working on memorizing it.  It's got an amazing message and cool words like "bivouac" in it.  What's not to love?!!

A Psalm of Life 

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real!  Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead past bury its dead!

Act, -act, in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lifes of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;-

Footprints, that, perhaps another, 

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.  

PS: bivouac means a temporary dwelling place, like a campsite.  Now I'm off to be a hero and leave some footprints on the sands of time, with deep gratitude for the footprints of others that have given me heart today and everyday!

Kim (June 22, 2012)