Das Haus Dec. 2017/Jan. 2018

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DasHaus Dec. 2017/Jan. 2018

Living small Tiny house is all they need.

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CONTENTS

Get to baking.....4 Tips to save time for your holiday baking

At home6 Tiny house provides comfortable living.

Das Haus is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601. Find it online at www.HDNews.net/DasHaus.

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‘Cool’ find.......10

Garage sale piece provides a nifty project.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT Linda Beech is a family and consumer science agent with K-State Research and Extension in Ellis County.

Bake ahead, save time

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he holidays might mean lots of extra baking for gifts or serving to guests.

But rather than staying up until dawn to finish the last batch of cookies at the last minute, do some of your baking now and freeze for the festivities later.

Freezing baked goods is a great way to spread out the baking duties of the holidays and minimize the “kitchen stress� that can build during the holiday season.

Many baked goods freeze and thaw beautifully. But the key to doing it successfully is following recommended procedures. The first rule is to cool baked goods completely before wrapping for the freezer. This will prevent moisture condensation from the warm food making it soggy after thawing.

When cool, package the baked goods carefully to maintain the quality or freshness of the food. Use heavy-duty foil, airtight freezer bags, freezer paper or air-tight containers.

Cakes and cupcakes should be cooled, wrapped and frozen without fillings which make the cake soggy. Some frostings will not freeze well either, but confectioner’s sugar and fudge frostings may be frozen satisfactorily. Place the frosted cake in the freezer to harden the frosting before covering. Thaw frosted cakes overnight in the refrigerator, unfrosted cakes may be thawed at room temperature.

Cookies seem to have the edge over cakes or cupcakes when it come to freezing ease. Cookies can be frozen either baked or unbaked. You can shape dough in a roll, wrap and freeze, or chill dough in the refrigerator, then slice and freeze.

Drop-cookie dough may be frozen in freezer containers. Before baking, thaw dough in the refrigerator until it is soft enough to drop with a spoon. Another option is to drop cookie dough in mounds onto a tray covered with wax paper and freeze solid. Pack into a container or freezer bag when firm. Bake cookie mounds without thawing at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Baked cookies may be cooled, packaged in rigid container to prevent breakage and frozen.

Yeast bread and rolls should be cooled completely, then wrapped in tightly sealed packaging. Bread baked at a temperature of 400 degrees for approximately 45 to 50 minutes is less crumbly and more desirable for freezing than bread baked at a lower temperature.

Most baked quick breads freeze well, too. Follow the basic guidelines for cooling and packaging tightly.

You might also freeze baked pecan pies and baked or unbaked fruit pies. The crust of an unbaked fruit pie may absorb juices from the filling and become soggy.

However, unbaked pies retain a fresher fruit flavor.

Baked pies also should be completely cooled. Place them unwrapped in the freezer and freeze until firm. Pies are easier to wrap and there is less breakage of the crust after they are frozen.

To bake unbaked frozen pies, unwrap, cut slits in the top pastry and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for 45 to 60 minutes or until the

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center becomes bubbly.

If your pie is already baked, allow it to stand at room temperature for a short time, then pop it in a 325 degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until just warm.

Custard pies, cream pies and pies with meringue topping do not freeze well.

There is some disagreement on the success of freezing pumpkin pies. One of my references suggests freezing baked pumpkin pies but not unbaked ones, another says either will work. Another reference says that pumpkin pies should not be frozen at all. Based on the conflicting recommendations, I think it might be safer to freeze the fruit and pecan pies ahead and bake the pumpkin pies fresh to avoid problems.

For specific advice on freezing other baked goods, ask for the Extension fact sheet on “freezing baked goods” at the Cottonwood Extension District Hays Office, 601 Main, Hays, (785) 628-9430, or find it on our website at www.cottonwood.ksu.edu. Select “Ellis County Office” and then look under health and nutrition — cooking tips and tricks.

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AT HOME

Tiny House has couple living large in rural area.

Living

small

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ORCATUR -- When thinking about her future home, Halley Roberson had one goal in mind.

“Just the desire to not be possessed by your possessions,” she said.

“And the freedom and the flexibility that alternative housing like this gives you.”

She was drawn to the tiny house movement, and decided to leave her Dallas townhouse to return to her native Kansas prairie. Her mother and stepfather live in Norcatur — a Decatur County town with a population of less than 150 — and her grandparents originally homesteaded in the area.

Her stepfather, a longtime contractor, helped her build her dream “tinyish” house, a custom-made, mobile home with less than 650 square feet of livable space. The home was constructed with as many reclaimed

materials as possible, starting with the base.

“It actually sets on a mobile home frame. And we tore down a mobile home and we were able to reuse a lot of it, so that actually dictated the size of the house itself,” Roberson said. “I would not recommend tearing down a mobile home. … Oh my gosh, it was so much work.”

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Story by Kaley Conner • Photos by Jolie Green

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The tiny home also features reclaimed wooden posts, some of which were found in her stepfather’s backyard.

The house features an open entry and kitchen area, complete with new appliances. She was able to fit in a small dishwasher and the smallest refrigerator model available that still came with an ice maker. There is a rangetop with a few burners and a small convection oven to bake and roast.

While she wanted to live simply, she also wanted to live comfortably.

Roberson, the new city administrator in Oberlin, said she plans to live the rest of her life in the new house.

“I was like, I don’t have anything to prove,” she said. “I’m going to make a house that’s comfortable for me.”

The desire for comfortable accommodations also led to a unique feature called the “sky bridge,” a narrow wooden platform that connects two small lofts of the upper level.

One is Roberson’s bedroom, and the other serves as a home office/guest bedroom. And instead of a ladder, Roberson insisted on an actual staircase to walk up and down.

There’s also a living area with space for two recliners, a window seat and a 55-inch flatscreen TV. The house also features a washer and drier and a full -- albeit tiny -- bathroom.

Because the space is small, Roberson and her stepfather looked for creative ways to make every inch count. Hidden storage compartments were built underneath and on top of the sky bridge, while space racks are folded inside the bottom of her kitchen cabinets. Another custom-made closet includes room for hanging clothes and other storage under the stair case.

The project was years in the making, and Roberson turned to online sources and a popular FYI network television show for inspiration.

“If we didn’t watch 500 hours of

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‘Tiny House Nation,’ I’m a doggone liar,” she said with a laugh. “We filled the DVR up with recordings of that show and a lot of stuff online just to kind of get ideas.”

Roberson now is hoping to provide a resource for other northwest Kansas residents looking to go tiny, and even for local government officials. Decatur County as a whole, and specifically the city of Oberlin, are interested in working to attract more tiny house residents, she said.

But despite the rising popularity of tiny house dwellings, there still are a few obstacles that must be overcome.

She said she specifically was looking to settle in an area with zoning regulations that would allow her project, and noted insurance can be a challenge since the homes are too small for traditional duct work.

“Insuring tiny houses becomes another trick,” she said. “I ran into problems because I didn’t have any type of forced air. I had trouble getting it insured. So the industry is just going to have to kind of catch up with that market.”

But the negatives, at least in Roberson’s opinion, far outweigh the positives. Due in part to a discounted labor rate from working with family and her decision to use mostly salvaged materials, she has invested approximately $35,000 in the home -- which already has appraised for more than twice that amount.

It’s also extremely efficient, and can be heated with just one infrared space heater. Two window air conditioning units and a large ceiling fan help keep the home cool in summer months.

She also has a home she can take with her if she chooses to leave rural Kansas -- but that isn’t in her plans. She said she is enjoying a return to rural living after years in big cities.

“I have a garden for the first time in my life. I learned a valuable lesson about zucchini -- you don’t have to plant all the seeds in the pack,” she said with a laugh. “As it turns out, you will get overrun.

“If I was going to narrow it down, my two favorite things (about rural living) are no traffic, ever. … And you can see the stars every night. Every night.

That’s like my favorite time. It’s just awesome.”

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Berry Berry Quite Contrary Kayla Berry is a stay-at-home mom who enjoys creating, decorating and re-purposing old furniture and decor.

‘Cool’ find

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arage sales are just wonderful.

You never know what treasure you’re going to find. This year I haven’t gone to as many as I would like, but have managed to search a few random ones.

Our old neighbors are junk lovers like myself, and anytime they have a garage sale, you betcha I am there if I am in town. They were selling an old radio cabinet that I thought was pretty cool.

On a side note: I heard on the radio that “old” people only still use the word “cool”. Younger people don’t use this word as much I guess. I googled what millennials use for the word “cool” and these came up: savage, snatched, fleek… I stopped there… I think I’ll just keep using the word “cool.”

The hardest part of this transforma-

tion was just cleaning it up. After a lot of soap and water, it looked 10 times better.

I didn’t want to paint this whole piece because the wood was in pretty good condition, so I just painted the two side panels, the front panel and top with white chalk paint.

Chalk paint is so great to use because you don’t have to worry about priming your piece.

I love the legs and all the detail on this piece and found the perfect spot for it in our home.

Overall I think this piece turned out pretty “cool.” To see more pictures of how this piece turned out, go to my blog: berryberryquitecontrary.wordpress.com

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