Thursday, November 6, 2014

Life on the Prairie: Fall mornings and a brief country commute.

I recently went from living in town and 5 minutes from work, to living out in the country 27 minutes from work. Luckily the majority of my commute is country roads and the in town journey  is on quiet secondary streets with one school zone and a couple of lights. Commuting is not my favorite thing. My time in the country should be limited to just a year, and by then I hope the commute will return to a few walkable blocks. 
Most mornings my husband and I carpool, he drives. Some days I fill the ride with crocheting, reading, playing games on my phone, but I also am learning to enjoy the moment. This morning as we left the house and started down the dirt road hill the fog was rolling into the pockets of valleys. As we turned onto low speed country road I soaked in the orange glow from the sun rise flooding the horizon. I remind my husband that the speed limit is only 45, and that he needs to watch for four legged creatures dashing across the road. We pass the farm house where mom and daughter are awaiting the country school bus. The daughter is amused by the warmth of her breath in the crisp morning air. The flock of turkeys are out in the field, we commonly see them morning and night. We approach the main road connecting the bedroom community to town it seems as if there is always a long line of traffic headed to town, different people headed different places, the pickup in front turns into the landscaping business, headed to work. As we make our way into town we follow traffic around the roundabouts almost like an amusement park ride, eventually descending down though the hustle and bustle of the main thorough fare. Work begins to fill my mind as we start making our way through the lights. I start to lose track of the events of the outside and begin to center my mind on upcoming meetings and tasks to be completed. Before I totally lose myself in future events, I notice three children making their way to school, running, jumping, and laughing. Teachers collecting and sorting kids by the morning bus. My ride is almost over, just a few blocks. My day is awaiting me. 
I am aware country living has a lot to offer, mostly time, quiet moments, and a different perspective on life. I am looking forward to sharing them over the next year, and including more posts about life on the prairie. 

Monday, October 20, 2014

From Mothers Recipe Box: Cowboy Coffee Cake

This was a Sunday morning favorite for church fellowship hour. 
Preheat oven to 375, grease an 9x9 baking pan.

Ingredients

Cake:
1/4 c canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c milk (not skim)

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
3/4 c sugar
2 t baking powder 
Dash salt

Topping:
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T Flour
1 t cinnamon 
1 T melted butter (unsalted)
1/2 c ground mixed nuts (optional)

Combine oil, egg, milk and mix well. 
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and whisk to mix. 
Stir in your wet ingredients to your dry, mix well.
Spread into greased 9x9 pan.

Mix together topping ingredients and sprinkle of top of cake mixture.
Bake at 375 for 25m.
Serve warm or cool, also topped with powdered sugar glaze drizzled over the top.