Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Bread Making


What does a Mom do when there's no bread for lunch?  Make it, of course! That's what we did.  I have loaf pans that I bought several years back from King Arthur Flour Company, and they are the length of a loaf of bread that you would find in the grocery stores.  I own four of them, and use them on a regular basis.  Here's the recipe.....90 minutes, start to finish!

First, heat 3 cups of milk and 1 stick (that's 1/2 a cup) of butter in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes.  The butter needs to be melted completely, and you want the mixture nice and warm.





While the milk and butter are warming up in the microwave, measure 8 cups flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 4 tsp. salt, and 4 tsp. yeast in your mixer bowl.  With the dough hook, mix together the dry ingredients.  With the milk and butter warmed, slowly add it to the mixer bowl, with the mixer set on stir.  Once all of the milk/butter mixture has been added, increase the speed to 2.  Continue mixing until dough is nice and smooth (in my mixer, this only takes about 3 minutes).

Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes, and gather your other items to get your bread ready for the pans!  You will need a cutting board, additional flour for dusting the board, a bench scaper, loaf pans (2 regular pans will equal one of my larger pans), shortening or butter (for greasing the pans), cinnamon and sugar (for making cinnamon bread).


 Lightly dust your board with flour, and dump out the dough.  Divide it into two pieces.  Set one piece aside.
  

Flatten out one piece of dough, roughly about the length of your loaf pan, with your hands.  For regular bread, roll up, pinch seam and ends, and place in greased pan.  For cinnamon bread, once dough is flattened out, sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon to taste.  Roll up, pinch seams, and place in greased pan.




Using a serrated knife, make 3 to 5 diagonal slits in the top of each loaf.  Allow loaves to rise for 30 minutes (at the 20 minute mark, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.)


Place the loaves on the lowest rack of the oven, and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove immediately from the loaf pans, placing loaves on their side to cool.  ENJOY!  This recipe yields 4 regular loaves of bread, and can be cut in half if need be. I have also used this recipe to make dinner and cinnamon rolls.

Regular Bread

Cinnamon Bread

 May God bless you and your abundantly!

Monday, March 26, 2012



So many things happened over the weekend....we tried our hand at making homemade laundry soap.  And even though it may not have turned out like it was supposed to, the laundry we've washed with it smells wonderful....and the recipe is a definite keeper! All of the boys (except for Matthew) got a haircut.  They certainly needed it....thanks to Michael for the funny pictures!





Those are befores....and here are a couple afters....John Paul and Michael...

The new haircuts helped out yesterday after taking a hike in the woods.  Tim pulled 6 ticks off of Michael thanks to the haircuts by Laura!

David and Michael went fishing and they each caught a brook trout.  Michael caught the bigger fish, and posed for a pic (and so did the fish!)


Tim & David cooked them, and some potatoes in bacon fat...what else!  And from what I heard, they were sweet and delicious!





It sure is great to have several streams, ponds, and the forests surrounding us....thanks be to God!!
David has also continued working on his knot tying.  On Sunday, he presented me with a Cross that he made.  What do you think?

Tim is out tilling the garden.  Today he'll be sowing in some spinach and broccoli seeds.  The bell and hot pepper and broccoli seeds are beginning to peek through the potting soil starts inside on the warming mat.




Before we know it, canning season will be here, and so will the weeds.







As the growth of small seeds are happening, I'm reminded by my own children of the growth of each of them.  Another Catholic homeschooling mom's blog reminds me how her own children enjoy the blessings of each other, as my own children do.  God has placed each of them in each of our lives for a purpose.  Yes, there are times when we are impatient and lack understanding....but the times when they are watching an old video taken on an iPhone and laughing hysterically at their baby brother, taking the time to lovingly write a letter to their oldest sister, or simply sittimg together and reading the comics to one another....those are so precious.....truly....what a gift.  While we are waiting!

May God bless you and yours abundantly!


Saturday, March 24, 2012

Notes to self regarding homemade soap...


I received a phone call yesterday morning letting me know that the supplies I needed to make homemade laundry soap were in.  Of course, I spaced and totally forgot.  So, I went down this morning to get the goods.  I could not wait to get home, and try my hand at making homemade laundry soap that I had read on a friend's blog a week prior.  If you know me, know what a tightwad I can be, you'll know what's coming next.  Yes, I figured I'd use what I had in my house and see how that faired.  This calls for....NOTES TO SELF....notice the additional S at the end of the word that is normally just phrased, "NOTE".  Here's how it went.....as I said, I picked up the supplies from our local hardware store

and started gathering the equipment I'd need to make my first double batch (first note, is that when trying something for the very first time, only make a single batch! Yes, I understand that the words "single batch" are not regularly in my vocabulary, but we're talking about soap here, not homemade bread or pudding.  The only thing I'll be feeding when I'm done with this is the front loader.)

I pulled the Saladmaster grater from the cabinet.  Put it together, and grabbed the 8 cup stainless steel Pampered Chef bowl with the rubber bottom, and started grating the bars of Fels-Naptha soap. (Second note, do this near an open window...not because the fumes are that bad, but when you are already suffering from the early allergies, sneezing will commence almost immediately!)

 

So, both bars have been grated into the bowl.  I'm so thrilled, because I'm so very close to finishing.  Or at least that's what I thought at the time.  I grab the 1 quart container for the Vitamix, after Michael (8) states that we'll no longer be able to use this carafe again because I'm putting soap into it, which I in turn, told him that we would simply wash it out when I was finished, and put in a handful of the grated soap.  It looks like it's going well, so I put in some more.  Then I look closer at the carafe and it hits me....the grated soap is not turning into a powder.  Instead it's turning it into lumps and chunks that are getting stuck in the container under the blades.  Do I give up?!  No, not me!!  I use a butter knife to loosen the clumps and give it a whirl again.  In no time, I'm right back to where I was before I loosened it.  So, my husband decides to use a spinning chopper (similar to a mini chopper, but this one is powered by good 'ole muscle!) and it does a much better job than the Vitamix did for me. (Third note to self, take the money that you saved buying your supplies at the local hardware store to get that immersion blender that will do the job that you want...the way it's supposed to be done!)










Am I going to call it a day, and go out and buy that immersion blender?? No, not today.  Laura and I have a bridal shower to go to this afternoon, and I'm just admitting to myself that I should have followed the directions exactly, and vow to do so the next time around.  I decided to keep the grated soap just as it is, and use the soap this way.  I wonder how it will work!  Because the bars of soap are not a nice powder consistency, we'll have to shake the container a bit before measuring it into the front loader.

Thanks to a recently emptied plastic 4 pound jar of peanut butter, we have a nice container to keep the soap in.  I also opted and bought a special set of measuring spoons for dispensing the soap into the front loader.  The 2 bars of grated Fels-Naptha, the 2 cups of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, and 1 cup of Borax are in there too.

 

1 Tbsp. of soap for a light load, and 2 Tbsp. of soap for a regular load.  The smell of the new soap smells really good, and I cannot wait to see how these bumps in the road make a difference in our laundry.

May God bless you and yours abundantly......

Friday, March 23, 2012

What a difference a day makes!


 

With all of the beautiful weather we have had this past week, it's no wonder that all of the flowers, bushes, and trees are bursting with color....be it beautiful flowers, or buds on the lilacs or rhododendrons that will be adding more beautiful colors to the world in the near future!

 

Yesterday I posted a picture of our forsythia at the end of the driveway.  What a difference a day makes!



Flower and herb beds are getting cleared of last falls leaves, dead grass, and anything the snow blower threw closer to the house in the winter months.



The several brown paper bags of day lilies from last year, were planted last fall along the north side of the driveway and are beginning to appear.  The very special lily bulbs that were once planted by my Grandfather, and sent to me several years back by my Mom, are starting to push themselves through the grassy soil.


On this fifth Friday of Lent on tonight's dinner menu is fish sticks for the kids, while Tim and I will be having blacked pollock loins.  I'm not sure if we'll be having brown rice or homemade oven fries to accompany our entree, most of the children are going to want macaroni and cheese to go with those fish sticks.

May God bless you and yours abundantly.......and remember.....