Modern Baking

I love homemade bread. I used to make bread by kneading it by hand, using two risings - Oi! It was an all-day affair. But after hearing about modern bread making techniques, the whole process is infinitely more simple. This has been especially advantageous in these troubled financial times; making one's own bread is not only more nutritious, it saves money, especially if the ingredients are bought in bulk.

I have finally gotten my breadmaking down to a system. I have made bread with this recipe long enough now that I have memorized the proportions. With the Bosch mixer and dough hook, I can whip up dough easily. The technique I use is identical each time too (There was an instructional DVD on using the dough hook that came with the mixer when I ordered it from Pleasant Hill Grain and I use their technique for the most part).

First, I take my 3/4 cup measuring cup and measure five scoops of wheat berries into the Nutrimill grain mill and grind them into flour. This results in about five 1 cup measures of flour. While that is grinding, I heat water in my electric tea kettle (I heat enough for my recipe plus enough for a cup of tea for me - I love to have a cup of tea to sip while I bake). I measure 10-12 ounces of cold water into a 20 oz (2 1/2 cup) measuring cup. Then I add the boiling water to the cool, and check the temperature with a candy thermometer so that it is somewhere between 110-120 degrees. I measure 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of honey and put it into the mixer, then I add the heated water to that and let the mixer stir it for a little bit. I then add two tbsp yeast and mix (I buy yeast in large packages from Sam's Club). Pleasant Hill Grain also recommended adding 2 tbsp gluten flour to help the bread rise, but I found out a few weeks ago, when I ran out, that the bread does fine without it.

Next is the flour adding technique. I add two cups of bread flour (also bought in huge bags from Sam's - tremendous savings if you bake bread a lot) and two cups of the freshly milled wheat flour. I mix it up for a bit until it looks like batter. Then I add one more cup of wheat flour and a heaping tbsp of salt. I let this mix for about a minute, and then it is time to gradually add the remaining flour. While the mixer is running, I add wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time until it is gone. (Pleasant Hill Grain has you not worry about exact proportions, just add the flour just until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the mixer. However, I found that the total of two cups bread flour/five cups of wheat flour used in my recipe is the exact right measurement for this recipe.) Then I set a timer and let the dough hook knead it for 10 minutes.

The next step is a real time saver. Because this dough hook does such a good job, there is no need to do two risings. Once kneaded, I just dump the dough onto an oiled surface, divide into two halves, shape the loaves (flatten out, fold over in half, fold in the ends, than fold in half once again, and tuck the seam into the dough), and place into bread pans that have been greased with Crisco, seam down. The bread only needs a half hour, maybe a bit more. Then, into a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. I have not yet had a failure using this system, and since it is memorized, it is not a stress at all, the mixing up can be done very quickly.

Here are the ingredients in traditional format:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

5 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose)
2 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsps yeast (or two packages)
1 heaping tbsp salt

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning began with a very dark day. We were all "snug in our beds", none of us heard Tyler open his door and go downstairs. What awoke me was a loud "ripppp", the sound of wrapping paper being torn off a gift. I quickly ran to the top of the stairs and looked down. There was Tyler, sitting on the couch with a present. He held it up and cried, "Look-it!" very excitedly. I woke Julie up, and she stumbled downstairs, barely awake to watch Tyler open the rest of the gifts. He was quick and efficient.

He had lots of fun playing, got into his stocking chocolate. By mid-morning he and Julie were exhausted, curled up in front of the fire on this dark yet cozy Christmas morn:

Bathroom Remodel, Part IV - Finished!

We actually finished the bathroom completely several months ago, but I only today got around to taking photos:

The new towel bar/shelf, and a view of one of two "Toilet Boys" we have in our bathrooms - cute craft items my mom made long ago.

A view of both the medicine chest and the towel bar/shelf.

Messiah!

Last night I had the awesome and totally fun experience of singing The Messiah with the combined choirs from my church (St. Joseph's) and another one in a suburb just north of us. The other church (Faith, Hope, and Charity Catholic Church) hosted the concert and arranged the orchestra (including a harpsichord!). With two church choirs combined we had a very large ensemble. We presented highlights from Handel's work (the whole work in its entirety is around 3 hours, so ours was trimmed *a bit*). I had sung the Hallelujah Chorus before, but nothing else, so needed to learn several more pieces.

It was so much fun, and so moving.
Best parts:

• Singing newer music with only a few mistakes.
• Working with our two fabulous choir directors: Christian from FHC, who conducted, and Jill from St. Joe's, who played the organ.
• Realizing that people actually do stand up, in the manner of King George II, when the Hallelujah Chorus is performed (If I had known, I would have warned Paul and Kristin, who came to see us and were a little confused when everyone stood up!).
• Singing as a gathering of Christians, as one voice in praise of God.
• The end, when all was done, and I was trembling from effort and holding back tears of joy at being a part of this.

What a wonderful way to experience Advent.

Resuscitating A Wooly Blankie

This is a tale about my grandson's blanket:

It is a well-loved blanket that he has been devoted to since he was a baby. We tried to replace it with a similar one, but he still prefers "Old Ooo-Ooo" (his name for the blanket - he used to make this ooo-ooo-ooo monkey noise while hugging it, so we began calling it Ooo-Ooo, which is now its rightful name!).

However, Ooo-Ooo was in a pitiful state, near death really. His (and Ooo-Ooo is a he, according to Tyler) backing had completely separated from the seam joining it to the soft wooly top. The edges were ravelled, so the backing was now smaller than the top. Julie had safety pinned it back together, which wasn't working too well and caused some holes to form. So as a nurse, I decided to do some emergency surgery and resuscitation to see if I could bring poor Ooo-Ooo back from the brink. After scrubbing in (a gentle washing of the two parts of him in the Delicate cycle), I began.

First, in Ooo-Ooo's first of several surgical procedures, I excised (trimed off) the ravelled edges and sutured (patched) the holes. I didn't want the patches to be on the outside, because Tyler loves the soft backing. So I patched from the back, and then zig-zagged the openings of the holes so they would no longer ravel, leaving as much of the backing intact as possible in spite of the odd shapes this produced:



Next, I surgically removed (cut with scissors) the old seam off, in order to make the top and bottom the same size and not be bulky at the edges:

I basted the top to the backing, then sewed white satin blanket binding to the edges to finish them off nicely (plus Julie, his mommy, loved the the satin edging on her blankets when she was his age).

Ooo-Ooo had a quick recovery from the trauma his surgeries inflicted. Here he is, resting on the couch, regaining his strength (and it is impossible in this house to recover from anything without a cat):

Of course, it wasn't long before he was pressed into service again with the blessing of his surgeon. No rest for the weary. But I think Ooo-Ooo is happy to have not been given up on. His owner is surely happy!

London Final Day - Going Home

To sum it all up, this was one of the nicest trips ever. I am so glad I could share this experience with Kristin. We both had a marvelous time, saw amazing sights, met new friends, and enjoyed each other's company. I would love to go to London again, and this time with my whole family. I know Paul would simply love it, the gardens the palaces and the museums - he would be in heaven. My dream now is for our family to save up enough so that we can all go together, including little Tyler of course! I am so grateful to Jennie Chancey of Sense & Sensibility Patterns for making this trip possible for Kristin and me.

The View From The Plane - Homeward We Go

London Wednesday - Greenwich

Wednesday, our last full day in London, found us traveling to Greenwich. There we toured the tiny but beautiful Fan Museum, home to some of the most gorgeous historic fans you will ever see:

Here is a little cat that we made friends with after the tour (he and his buddy, the big, orange cat, tried to sneak into our tea later on):

Here is a view of Greenwich, taken from the top of the hill where the Royal Astronomical Observatory and the zero degree longitude mark is:

Here is Kristin, with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one foot in the western hemisphere:

After touring the Observatory, we ambled down the huge hill to The Queen's House, which once was a royal residence but now houses nautical paintings. To be honest, we found this to be a little ho-hum, but the view back up the hill was very nice from the veranda:

After a few hours of touring Greenwich, we returned to the Fan Museum to have tea in their Orangery. This was one of the most beautiful tea houses I have ever had the privilege to be in. The walls were covered in trompe l'oeil paintings, so it was as if we were out on an open veranda:

I am over to the far left, wearing my Romantic Gown

The ceiling - breathtaking

The view to the outside


The garden