Leaving for Ohio

Tomorrow we leave for Ohio. James never gets black friday off, but this year he has a wedding to go to so he was lucky enough to get the holiday off. I am definitely going to see Twilight on Thursday. We are bringing a friend of ours and Megan's with us. Her name is Monica. She is pictured below with my cat. Anyway, I can't wait to see family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

By the way, this Thanksgiving I am thankful for answered prayers. It is amazing how things work out when we put our faith in Heavenly Father.

First snow day

You probably can't tell, but I'm juggling snowballs.

How I make whole wheat bread.

After popular request, here is how I make whole wheat bread. But first let me say that it has taken me a while to master it. So, if it doesn't turn out great the first time, keep trying.

Ingredients:

1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees)
1/4 cup honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 to 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons oil

(This makes one small loaf. I have been doubling it. I have a PC stone loaf pan. When I double it it fills the pan and rises up over it to make a perfect loaf.)

In my mixer, I put the water, honey and salt. I stir the honey around a little to get it to dissolve. Then I sprinkle the yeast onto the mixture. I let it sit for about 2 minutes. Then I start my mixer and add the wheat. I put in 3 cups of flour and the oil. I always end up adding flour so that it isn't so sticky.

This is where I simplify the whole bread making process. I set my oven to warm. I spray some oil in my loaf pan. I dump the dough in my loaf pan, cover it with a cloth and put it in the oven to rise for an hour. (I don't keep my oven on the whole time, but if it feels like it is cooling down too much I'll turn it back to warm.) After an hour, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees with my bread dough in the oven. If I have NOT double the recipe I bake it for 12 minutes after the oven has heated up. If I have a double batch in one loaf pan it takes about 20 minutes. Don't forget to take the cloth off your dough before you preheat your oven.

So there it is. Even my mom is amazed that the bread turns out so well. It is really so easy after you get the hang of it.

Let me know if you try it and it works for you.

Kids and chores.

One of the kids' chores is to make their bed. I was so impressed with their work. I have to admit that I didn't start making my bed until about 2 years ago.

My silly cat

As a mom, I expect my kids to drink out of my water. In fact, it seems that every time I get a nice cold glass of water for myself, they inevitably want to drink it all. But the last thing I want is to share my water with my cat. However, she doesn't mind sharing with me.





She loves boxes...


and baskets.

My brother, the vampire.

My sister in law, Krista, isn't a fan of Twilight. Well, she thinks its a good story, but doesn't understand the hype. But she, herself, is secretly married to a vampire. My brother has been a vampire since an early age. I guess she's the lucky one, right.

Homemade Bread

Lately I've been making a lot of whole wheat bread. I've actually been making a loaf a day. I have finally perfected it so that it is just right. My mom convinced me that it's a waste to only make one loaf of bread. She said that its a lot of work and I should making more at a time. So now I'm making four. That just means that we eat one loaf straight out of the oven and have three left. It is so good.

But I told her it really wasn't that much work to make a loaf of bread. All I do is mix the ingredients. Put the dough in my stone loaf pan and let it rise in a warm oven for about an hour. Then I preheat the oven with my dough in it. After the oven is warm I let it cook for about 12 minutes. She was amazed because "that's not the way you make bread. You have to let it rise, then knead it, then shape it into loaves, then let it rise again, then bake it for 30 minutes or more." Well, that is a lot of work. She wondered where I learned to do it the wrong way. I really don't know. But here's the thing. My bread is perfect without doing all that work. She tried it for herself and agrees.

So I'm here to tell the world...You don't need to go through all that work to make bread. It's actually rather easy and just as yummy my way.

Who said cats don't like water?