Renaissance Baking!

    In September 2021, Lucas joined a LARPing group for homeschoolers.  The overarching theme for the year was the Renaissance.   He has been loving the group & creating his own little immersive world for live-action-role-playing.  

His character's name is Toka and he has an entire, elaborate back story.  He is a rags to riches half-elf knight hero.  His origin country is known for the green hair all their native people have.  So, Lucas has had green hair for months now!  

As an end of semester celebration, there was to be a Christmas Feast!  Unfortunately, because of the windstorm that knocked out power across much of southern Colorado Springs for a week (5 days for our house!) it was postponed until January 8, 2022.  The meal was designed to be a potluck with each family providing a "renaissance style" dish.  We chose to bring dessert, so that it would be safe for Vinnie.  Ultimately, the fearless leader "Queen Amaterien" asked everyone to make sure their dishes were dairy, egg, and peanut free, so EVERYTHING at the feast was safe for Vinnie! 

Initially, I had volunteered to bring cupcakes, but then realized that the dishes were supposed to stay "on theme" and cupcakes wouldn't have existed during the Renaissance.  So, I set about doing some internet research.  

I came across Layers of Learning's post about Renaissance Small Cakes and knew that would be a good fit for our dessert!  I read through the entire post several times and the recipe quite a few more, then began preparing to bake the small cakes.  I had to adapt the recipe to fit our dietary needs and available ingredients but the cakes turned out DELICIOUS!  We called them "Currant Small Cakes" for the party.  

This is the recipe I used:

3 cups flour
¾ cups sugar
about 1.5 cups of raisins
¾ cups olive oil based margarine, room temperature
2 ½ Tbsp. Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk
1 Bob's Red Mill egg replacer egg

3/4 of an applesauce cup (each cup is 1/4 of a cup of applesauce & I just added some until the mixture had enough liquid)
¼ tsp. nutmeg
4 Tbsp. water

I did have to kind of "eyeball" how things were going as it was VERY dry to start with. I added the applesauce a little at a time as extra egg substitute.  I also added a tablespoon or so of water.  

When the dough was able to bind together I added in the raisins.  I added them 1/2 a cup at a time until the dough seemed like it had WAY too many raisins in it!  It turned out to be just enough but I don't think it would have hurt to have added the full 2.5 cups called for in the original recipe.  

Steps:

1. Mix flour, sugar and nutmeg in a bowl with a fork.  

2. Add in softened or room temperature margarine & stir with a fork.  It will be quite dry & lumpy.  

3. Prepare the Bob's Red Mill egg replacer egg and sit aside to rest.

4. Stir condensed coconut milk in a bowl to incorporate ingredients.  Then measure required amount into another bowl.  

5.  Add the water to the condensed coconut milk.  Start with what the recipe calls for, you can add more later. 

6.  Add in the egg replacer and blend the wet ingredients.  

7.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry & mix with blender.  In our case, it was still VERY dry and wouldn't fully incorporate.  

Optional:  Add applesauce in small amounts and even a small amount of water, until the dough comes together and is no longer dry.  

8.  Add in raisins a little at a time and stir with mixer.  

9. Shape dough into about 1" balls and place on baking tray.  I used ungreased/lined non-stick pans.  Gently flatten each ball with 3 fingers or a fork to make them slightly flatter than round.  (This will help them bake more evenly, quickly.)

10.  Preheat oven to 375*.  We are at 6500 ft. above sea level, so we ended up needing to bake them for 16 minutes per batch.  You may need to adjust the timing.  What I did was start with a small tray and after they looked done (lightly golden brown on the bottom & fully baked on top) I pulled them out & opened one with 2 forks.  The dough was slightly undone when I tried to make them as "balls" the way the original recipe states.  

11.  Optional-- glaze with frosting or royal icing.  I use this royal icing recipe from Lauren Kossack!  

Makes:  Slightly more than 3 dozen cookies, after some tester cookies were gobbled up!  These formed a dense cookie with a nice sweet taste.  The raisin flavor was not overpowering.  The spices were evident and delicious!  The finished cookies were about 3/4" tall and 1.5" wide.  

Since I knew raisins weren't going to go over well, I kept looking and found another recipe for regular sugar style cookies.  I also learned that during the Medieval/Renaissance time, cookies (as we know them) would have possibly been called jumbals.  

I found this recipe from Anachronists Cookbook on Instructables Cooking for sugar cookies!  

With our dietary adaptations, this is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb of flour (yes I used a kitchen scale for all measurements)

1/2 tsp. of ground cloves (and man are they expensive!!)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. marjoram (I wasn't splurging on saffron & this is a spice I bought at thanksgiving time that was suggested as a replacement in a recipe that also called for saffron)

1/4 lb of sugar

6 oz of olive oil based margarine

1 Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer egg

1 TBSP apple cider vinegar mixed with white sugar--I added sugar so that it dissolved into a thick liquid but didn't smell as vinegary anymore (as replacement for sweet sherry)

1 TBSP sweetened condensed coconut milk

Sugar in the Raw (for dusting the cookie dough balls)

Steps:

1. Combine flour, sugar, nutmeg, marjoram, and cloves and stir with a fork. 

2. Stir in softened margarine.  

3. Prepare the Bob's Red Mill egg replacer egg and sit aside to rest.

4. Prepare apple cider vinegar with sugar OR use sweet sherry.  

5. Stir condensed coconut milk in a bowl to incorporate ingredients.  Then measure required amount into another bowl.  (Because I made both recipes this was already done, also I had a TON left over, so maybe find another recipe to use this ingredient in so it doesn't go to waste!). 

6.  Combine "egg", "sherry" and "cream" in a bowl and blend. 

7.  Combine wet and dry ingredients and blend.  I added a little extra applesauce (the last 1/4 of a the cup from the earlier recipe so 1/16 of a cup) but it made the end result a little more wet than it probably should have been.  

8.  Preheat oven to 350*.  

9.  Roll dough into small balls about 3/4" and then roll in a bowl of raw sugar.  Then place on tray.  Then gently press down on each one so it is flatter than it is round.  

10.  Bake for 8 minutes.  Again, we are at 6500 ft above sea level and I used a trial and error process to determine my baking time.  

Makes:  About 4 dozen small cookies, the end cookies were about 1.5" wide. These cookies turned out soft and moist. They were chewy.  They were the clear favorite and are all gone the next day.  When I make them again I will definitely double the recipe!  

Many thanks to the original authors of the recipes for their research & sharing their recipes!  Let me know if you try either of these or my adaptations!  

2021 Speedy Recap

This first full year in Colorado has been amazing for our family! We have had so many adventures and made new friends!  

                  We started the year out with lots of exploring and new activities! We visited the Garden of the Gods for the first time. We went to the Penny Arcade at Manitou Springs. There was also plenty of snow and we got to go sledding with our neighbors and new friends. We also celebrated Sulley’s 4^th birthday with a Hot Wheels themed mini-party. We didn’t let the cold weather keep us home and we spent a lot of time checking out new parks and playgrounds!

  

                  In February, we spent a day in Trinidad, CO and Tim and I got our official Colorado driver’s licenses. Sulley, Percy and I flew back to Virginia to visit friends and family for a week. Tim took the time off work in between his old position and his new one beginning and had fun with Lucas & Vinnie. The most exciting thing that happened in February though, was us becoming a martial arts family! By March, Lucas, Vinnie, Sulley, and I were all doing karate twice a week! My Mom came out for her 2^nd visit in time to celebrate Percy turning two! He had a Thomas the train themed mini-party. He & Sulley still love all things that have wheels! In April, Vinnie passed his banana & penicillin food challenges at National Jewish Health. We wrapped up our spring doing lots of karate classes, going to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and hiking all around Colorado Springs. We even took a trip to Buena Vista and did some hiking there too!  

                  June began with Lucas having surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids. Unfortunately, the surgery did not improve his sleep apnea.  He did however start to lose weight and have a major growth spurt! He’s as tall as I am now! (5 foot 2”). He will start using CPAP soon. We did a lot more karate, hiking, and explored Cripple Creek and some of the mountain roads nearby.  July was spent outdoors trying to stay cool! Both boys finished their school year, with Lucas moving on to 6^th grade and Vinnie moving up to 5^th grade!  We checked out all the local splash pads and spent a lot of time hiking and visiting the zoo!  We rolled into August with an amazing staycation, with my sister, niece and mom! We did the Alpine Slides and gondola rides in Winter Park, went 1000 feet underground in a mine and rode the train in Cripple Creek, and visited the zoo and Penny Arcade too! Vinnie turned 10 in August, and we celebrated at the dojo with a Jurassic Park themed party! He still loves dinosaurs as much as ever! Sulley and Tim went to Monster Jam in Denver and Sulley is STILL talking about all the trucks!  Finally, we wrapped up our summer by creating and starting a homeschool co-op here in Colorado Springs!  

                  Fall has been going so well! We kicked it off by spending Labor Day weekend in OK visiting with Tim’s family. Sulley had exploratory surgery and was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia, he was diagnosed with dysphagia in July, and requires thickeners for all liquids now. Lucas began LARPing (live-action-roleplay) with a homeschool group and we have continued weekly meetups with our co-op. We went to Leadville and hiked Turquoise Lake. Sulley learned to ride a 2-wheeled bike! In October, Lucas celebrated his 12^th birthday at Dart Wars with a roomful of friends!  A year ago, he couldn’t imagine all the great friends he’d find here in Colorado.  

                  All of us have settled in and are happy in Colorado.  Lucas and Vinnie have earned their orange belts, Sulley has his Tiny Tiger’s green belt, and I have my orange belt as well.  We have friends at the dojo, our co-op, LARPing, and from the homeschool community nearby.  We even found a great babysitter so Tim and I can have date nights!  We certainly do miss our extended family and all our friends too, though!

Feb-March 2021 Trip to VA & SC

 Life's flying by.  

At the end of February, I took Percy & Sulley & flew back to Virginia for a week.  We landed in DC, drove to Mom's and spent the night there.  

Then the next day, we went to Hampton Roads to get a new bank card for me (I misplaced mine) and drop Mom off at Amanda's.  

Thursday morning I got on the road headed south.  I met Frankie for lunch near his work & then arrived at Leslie's house around 6.  We celebrated her birthday with a charcuterie tray & crab cakes.  We spent the next two days soaking up the sun & playing outside.  

On Saturday night, we decided to head back to VA to avoid a crazy day-time trip in the rain.  It was a good choice, the ride couldn't have been more peaceful.  We got to Mom's around 3:30 in the morning & went straight to bed.  

Sunday we relaxed and did laundry and just hung out at Mom's (even though she was in HR with Mandy).  

Monday we got up & drove in early to get Mom.  We had brunch at IHOP, had a brief meeting with our lovely realtor, and then got the little boys' hair cut.  After that, we headed to Amanda's to babysit Lia & spend the night.  

Tuesday we got up & headed to VB, we saw Reesha and co. and got lunch at Chic Fil A and then headed to Chrissy's house.  We got a nice visit in with Chrissy, Caro and Cody.  Then it was time to head home, we forgot something at Mandy's, so we ended up meeting her in Suffolk for dinner.  When we got back to Emporia, I had to quickly gather our stuff and get it packed & tidy up Mom's house some from the mess the boys made.  

Wow....just came back to the blog, Jan. 2, 2022, I'm not sure how the end of our trip wrapped up.  I know the babies both got a cold on the flights home & we spent the next couple weeks getting rid of that!

New Computer: New Posts!

Tim got me a fancy new computer!!  Technically, we have to share it for the time being, until he decides what he wants in a computer for himself, but still.  I can get it on it while he's working, which is HUGE! 

About 2 weeks ago, we started Lucas on Acellus Power Homeschool.  So far, we like the stability it is giving us & him.  I started him out with the Kindergarten lessons and he is testing his way through them to make sure we don't have any gaps in his knowledge. As soon as Tim sets the old computer up for the kids to use downstairs, Vinnie will start on it as well.  

We also started the kids in karate at a local dojo.  These are pictures I took of Lucas & Vinnie before they left this morning.  It was their first time wearing the gi to class.  Vinnie's fit straight out of the package, but I imagine Sulley will inherit it soon.  Lucas needed an adult size 4, so I had to hem the legs and arms to fit him appropriately.  They are both quite thrilled with their new hobby.  We are excited about the discipline and self-respect aspects of the class.  Sulley is participating as well, but he can't go right now because we are shielding before we fly back to Virginia later this month. The dojo we joined is a family focused center, run by a husband and wife sensei team.  They allow parents to participate with kids in the classes, as part of the kids' tuition!  Tim and I are planning to join as well.  I am sure I will take forever to earn a belt because I certainly cannot do a full push-up right now, but I think the exercise and the kids' seeing us do something will be a big benefit.  

In other news, I bleached my hair  & Tim pierced my ears!  That was an experience.  

Welcome to Colorado Goetsch Family!!

 So, we have officially been in Colorado for 3 weeks now!  

Today the kids and I learned all about the shape of the state of CO, the border cities, and some key vocabulary.  There's so much neat stuff here to learn and since it is all new to me too, we are learning it together! 

Earlier this week we got to go to a Gameschooling Club run by another homeschool family & the boys made a friend!  

Tim's new job hasn't started yet & probably won't until well into the New Year.  He's still working remotely at his old position though. 

The boys all got new bedroom furniture & bed linens and such.  They are so thrilled.  The little boys have a Hot Wheels themed room upstairs, Vinnie went with a "Percy Jackson" theme, and Lucas went "big kid" and just asked for black linens and some anime posters!  He wanted a poster of Billie Eilish, but I just wasn't ready for my 11 year old to have a girl poster on his walls!  Tim and I got new dressers along with all the new beds everybody got.  

Within the first week we were here I managed to get Vinnie and Percy seen at National Jewish & both big kids had their eye exams.  I'm so thankful we are here and able to go to NJH for Vinnie.  

We have managed to get out and do some touristy stuff so that's fun.  

Blog? What blog? Here we go again!

So, we have been on quarantine at home since March 13, making today, 70 days at home.  It has been tough. It has been fun.  We have done a ton of home improvement and housework.  We’ve played games.  We’ve done a little bit of homeschooling.  We’ve done lots of tele-health doctor’s appointments.  We’ve played virtual games with our friends and had Zoom, Skype, and Messenger video chats with friends and family.

I’ve been having a hard time with my anxiety and just nerves in general.  My temper is short and the amount of “crap” I can deal with in a day is limited. So, if I have a long day of appointments like I did yesterday and Wednesday, I typically need a whole day “off” at home to recoup.  I want to try to get back into blogging at least a little bit, just so I have some outlet for my own thoughts and feelings.

Wednesday we drove for Meals on Wheels.  I had all the kids ride along this time & just made them stay in the car.  I had to wear an N95 mask and it was quite miserable.  Also I had 7 stops on my route, so I went through 14 gloves! Thank goodness we had a decent stash of gloves before all of this started.  Afterwards, the kids and I got lunch at Chic Fil A, which we ate parked at Regent University.    It was rainy and gloomy so the boys couldn’t get out and run around or anything.  Then we headed to Tom & Peggy’s house, so Peggy could watch the 3 littles while I took Lucas shoe shopping.  On our way back to her house we found Carolynn skateboard outside of where she should have been (too far from home) so we dropped her off & I had a visit with Chrissy & Cody.  Then we went back to Tom & Peggy’s for a bit before Lucas & Sulley had their physical therapy appointment.  Sulley went up first with Ms. Hayley & then she swapped him out in the van for Lucas, we all just hung out in the van during their two hours of therapy.  Then it was time to head home for dinner.

Yesterday, we had Vinnie’s speech appointment at 8:45 am, then Lucas’ splint fitting appointment at 11, Lucas and I went to Wal-Mart for some groceries, and then I had to go to the oral surgeon at 1:15!  It was a long day!  Tim stayed home with the kids throughout the day.   Lucas is getting a more supportive style of shoe insert to help with his feet not having any arch on the outside.  We had a yummy spaghetti dinner at an earlier than normal dinner time & then I went to bed with Percy.  I was pooped!

So, today, we haven’t left the house, we had Occupational therapy & speech for Sulley this morning, in person and tele-health (respectively) and then Amy stayed to do OT with Vinnie.  Afterwards, we ran over to the school to get school lunches.  We put all that food away & Lucas, Tim, and I ate.  Then it was nap time for both babies.  We checked on the garden, it seems less than half of the green bean plants survived the tropical storm that came through only one week after our last frost. Which is sad, but I can still plant more, so that’s what I’ll do.

Anyway, this post is just to get it out there that I’m doing this again! I’ll try to write specific updates for each kiddo and update pictures and such as I figure out how to blog from the tablet instead of a computer.

Anaphylaxis Sucks Take 2

I stayed up all night (literally until 3 am) on Thursday sewing myself a new bathing suit, so that we could go to Water Country USA with Reesha and her kids.  I had cut out the fabric 2 years ago but never gotten around to sewing it up, because my serger was broken.  Since Tim got it fixed this week, I've been sewing like crazy! Its a little on the small side but totally wearable (with a sports bra for modesty) and I love it! :)

We got up to Water Country around 11:40 am, Reesha ended up hitting mega traffic and didn't get there until closer to 1:00, so we had a long wait & a picnic in the van. 

After we got our passes from Reesha the kids & I headed in to the wave pool and then to the Kritter Korral, but before we could get in the KK, it started to storm.  So we had to hide from the rain under the pavilions. 

Reesha finished lunch with her kiddos and joined us there for a while, then we wandered back to Aquazoid, hoping to be in the line when it reopened.  We ended up waiting for over an hour, before they opened a few rides up.  We headed back to Hubba Hubba Highway because we heard that it was open.  The kids all enjoyed that for a while.  When we were done there we headed to Meltdown.  We waited in the queue for what seemed like forever, one of the kids had an accident, and Lucas FINALLY  started to board a raft, when they got the call to shut down the ride because of the rain. The kids were all quite frustrated.  (So were us grown ups.)  

So, we headed to the bathroom to get the kiddo cleaned up & then to Cowabunga play place.  All of the kids enjoyed playing there for a little while.  Around 6, Reesha was headed out and then they suddenly decided to close the park entirely because of the storm systems that were moving in. So we all hustled to get out of the park.  

We went to the candy shop and let the kids get some candy and then to guest services to get rain passes.  By the time we got settled in the van, Vinnie's legs were covered in hives.  It was around 6:30.  He had only eaten a few of his Sour Patch Kids (from the bulk bin) and some lunch meat.  

We hurried up and got on the road to home and I drove like a crazy person.  We kept an eye on Vin and he kept saying he felt okay, but before we got home he was pale and tired.  As soon as we pulled into the drive-way he utilized the emesis bag I'd given him.  I jumped out of the van, gave him the Auvi-Q epinephrine and called 911 while the kids ran in the tell Tim.

While the EMTs were coming and then doing their thing with Vinnie, I got changed and packed us up.  I also nursed Sulley.  Vinnie decided to ride in the ambulance by himself, and I drove Tim's car behind them. 

The ambulance drivers speed. :) I had to go 10-15 over to keep up with them.  

By the time we got to CHKD ER, Vinnie was still feeling better, but he started to hive and swell up again shortly after that.  

He had a pretty serious biphasic reaction with the second reaction happening around the 3 hour mark and continuing despite benadryl for about another hour and a half.  Then Saturday morning he had hives that came and went all day long, even though he was on steroids and benadryl. 

He also got hives on his face.

The hives did a number on his skin and his eczema is in full flare mode.  We are going to have to be extra careful for a while about food allergies and skin issues.  Throughout it all, Vinnie kept a smile on his face and was as sweet as could be.  One of the doctors literally did a double take when he came in the room, stopped, and said, "Wow, you're a cute kid!"  Ha ha.  Vinnie gets that a lot. (Tim and I cringe because nobody does that to Lucas & he notices.)  

Anyway, we are waiting to hear back from his doc today to find out if she wants to see him, and he is feeling much better.