If you have 11 min. to waste...

Monday Musings

Miss Responsibility.  Came down early this mornng
thinking she would be late.  Then conked out
by the fire

Big sister trying to warm up and not liking
mornings one bit

Frantically getting homework done that could
have been worked on last night

Enjoying Mr.  Grinch who we got off a clearance rack for
under $2.  Cheap dog toy that she is loving
to death.  I think Lisi is trying to bite some
happiness into him

Here we go again!  Tis a snowy morning here in dairyland.  I took four random shots of everyone but the Chairman this morning.  I didn't think he'd appreciate me taking a photo of him in the shower or eating the Chairman's granola this morning.

So we wait for Mr. Garage Door Repairman to come.  One door refuses to talk to our remotes.  Sigh.

Anyone familiar with Flylady?  I signed up, but not sure I want extra e-mails every day.  I try to run a tight ship around here anyway.  And I see the most important thing is a shiny sink.  Maybe I'll go do that now.  Not to mention the four loads of laundry and some vacuuming and... and...

A very nice past weekend.  We were without our son for all of it but about four hours.  He wanted to go out to the Chicken Farm to see his friend and gladly do chores for the Chicken Lady.  He had great fun.  And learned lots of things.  And loved to get close again last night before bed.  I like it when he is still likes to plop on my lap (even though he's only about 14 lbs. lighter than me now).  And I'm glad the "girls" out at the Chicken Farm are starting to earn their keep.  I like 4 doz. brown eggs just waiting to be used...

So we switched a vehicle on Saturday.  And while at the car place waiting for them to finish up what they do, the girls and I headed back to the restrooms.  We walked in and it was just us.  After I did my business I unlocked my stall and said very brightly as I walked out, "Wow!  Mom really had to go potty!"  Just as I finished the last word I was face to face with a middle-aged lady who looked at me in surprise.  I think she was thinking I was a bit loopy.  So I said quickly "I'm sure you really didn't need to know that!".  Then giggled quietly with the girls and skittered out of there hoping we didn't run into each other again (which we didn't).

Don't let the Chairman's low-key ways fool you.  As I was driving out of our driveway with the aforementioned vehicle, he yells 'watch it!'.  I hit the brakes.  Then he says, 'there's a car over there'.  Now mind you the car was one block away on a completely different road.  He is the back seat drivers of all back seat drivers.  That's why he drives 99.94% of the time when we're together.

If you know my Much Older Sister, you might want to get a card in the mail.  She's turning the big (well I won't say it here) on Wednesday.  And she doesn't look a day over 49!

I think there is no more musings...

Sick and sleepy

Miss Polly had a dolly who was sick, sick, sick...  

Yep.  The bug hit here yesterday.  I almost feel bad.  R. was acting just crabby yesterday before school.  I gave her a good tongue-lashing and sent her on her way.  Nearly forget about the incident and head to the local mall.  Some replacement plastic thingys for our blinds were in.  Picked them up.  Then decided since I'm at the mall and because I love shopping so much I might as well take a look-see.  Went to R's favorite store and found another sweatshirt on a good clearance.  Then started to mosey around like normal people do.  My cell rings.  Hi, this is the health room calling...  no fever, but she won't move off the little bed in here.  I talk to her.  Tell her in no uncertain terms that if she isn't losing breakfast or has a fever, she must stay at school and 'be tough'.  Ok she says meekly.  Continue looking around realizing how much I really don't like shopping.  But there should be good deals, right?  About 20 minutes later the phone rings again while I stand amidst a bunch of clearance racks.  "Hi Linda, this is Linda (confusing isn't it?) from the health room.  I just took Rayna's temperature and now it is 99.5 and she's looking worse."  Ok.  It's the real thing.  I'll be there in 20 minutes and turn on my heels and leave the mall.  And that was that! My shopping for yesterday!  Darling daughter came home to sleep.  Read.  Sip a few sips of water.  And sleep some more.  This morning there is no fever.  But no energy and she keeps sleeping under a throw next to the wood stove.

I forgot about taking blackstrap molasses until I saw it rolling around the cupboard yesterday.  I'm intending to give blood in another week, so better get some iron in me.  I keep getting rejected.  Kinda like my dating years.  tee-hee.

How often do you wash your hotpads?  This is riveting stuff ain't it?  I don't nearly often enough.  They hit the ga-ross factor, so last night I threw them all in.  And cleaned out the fridge.  And washed under the garbage can area.  And the oven.  So it feels cleaner again.

Just got a blog hit this morning from Romania.  Why you ask?  Because the person was searching for 'killing my first chicken' and my blog popped up for him/her!  Yowser.  I think it was from the story when Lisi about killed a friend's chicken.  Silly Google.

Wish I could meet more of you readers (well maybe not the chicken killer from Romania).

Getting fancy...

Always felt a bit frustrated with myself as I never have taken the time to figure out how to be creative with pictures.  Creativity and me don't belong in the same sentence.  Will see what happens from here on out.  This was done on Picasa.  Any great tips you have will be warmly appreciated.

Monday Musings

I'll admit it.  I look forward to our one-way conversations on Mondays.  It helps wrap my very small brain around life somehow.  Not sure what will be 'mused' today.  Will just have to sit back and see what words come forth.

Since the youngest at our house is now 8 1/2, we don't hear misspoken words or comments as much as we used to.  I miss that.  But I did hear a couple things.  This morning one child seriously asked, 'Who invented school?  And why do we have to go?'.  Another one was 'How did dad's computer crash?  Did it fall off his desk?'  Sometimes I like to play mind games and say an obvious wrong answer.  But they are getting smart on me.

So yes, the Chairman's computer crashed.  It was a big deal.  Files lost.  Productivity came to a screeching halt. It is his livelihood.  He writes big fat important looking reports full of charts and numbers and pictures for people.   Now he's got a new computer with new software and sundries to work through and you know what?  It's going pretty good!  I expected a high degree of frustration when the phone would ring.  But it hasn't been.  Good news!

We've been playing a lot of "Spoons" these days.  We play until one child (the loser) is just about to whack another child (the winner) on the head with a spoon and then we call it quits.

Lisi is getting all "purdy' right now.  A coupon came to my inbox for a cheaper grooming appointment.  So she'll be back with a nice trim and smell like peaches and cream.  That is until she finds some very rank thing to roll in while we're out on a walk.

I live in the Dairyland.  There's a real culture here.  If you are going anywhere for a weekend or vacation, most frequently you'll hear that they are going 'up north'.  Or if they are from 'up north', they are going 'up nort'.  We live at the far southern end of the state so no matter where you go it's 'up north'.  Then there's deer season.  Life stops for deer opener.  Bow season.  Gun season.  Doe season.  And so it goes.  Guys go to cabins to get away from the ball and chain.  Shoot the breeze.  And shoot their guns.  I realize it's all necessary.  Maybe not so much for the venison but to thin the over population.  And I'm ok with that.  And then there is Packer season.  You must know how the Packers are doing.  It's splashed all over the front two pages of the paper and in the very thick sports section.  Packer-backers.  Cheeseheads.  Tail-gaters.  It's a culture.  To the point of nauseating.  But they won yesterday.  So it's going stronger than ever right now.

Most of you know that I'm a tightwad frugal.  And I don't like to shop.  A shout-out to DC who posted today about her not-so-much love for shopping like me!  I wish we weren't so far away so we could go and "not shop" together.  Anyway, I needed to drop off four - count them!  four bags of 'stuff' for Goodwill.  Went into the joint since the girls love to go try on high heels that look ridiculous.  And you know what?  I found a beautiful skirt for $3.99!  It's an Anne Klein.  Pretty colors.  Lovely drape.  Fits like a glove (or a touch looser).  A couple months ago I found another for the same price.  Wore it to our special gathering last Sunday.  Got several compliments.  Do I tell them it is from Goodwill?  Well some I did.  And some received a smile and 'thanks'.

I do like saving money if at all possible. You see the Chairman is the only one in this house that brings home the bacon (well I do if we need more stuff for breakfast and it's on sale).  He works hard and supports us right-well.  But waste-not, want-not.  So I plan my grocery visits around sales.  I am frequenting the store with the put-a-quarter-in-the-slot for your shopping cart.  I love that place.  Their canned goods are exactly the same and about 30 cents a can cheaper.  Their milk is a $1 less/gallon.  Their bagged baby spinach is super-cheap.  Avocados, grapefruit, peppers.  Yum.  Laundry soap was $3 cheaper than the brand name (Tide).   But you have to bag it all and schlep it out to the car and take your cart back to the cart area to get your quarter back.  Great savings!  Light bulbs.  Have replaced some with those savings kind.  I like the lower wattage idea.  Still struggle with the wait until it warms up so you can finally see what you need to idea though.  I do shop on-line.  If I see something in a store I like, I google it.  Check out lots of sites and if there's free shipping.  Well voila!  Here comes UPS!  And I like hand me downs for the kids.  Or me for that matter.  As long as they don't look thread bare. We're in business.

This is Amanda the Panda.  She is from school and
the Chairman had to take her around with him
for work one day.  Here she's relaxing after
a busy day.

Happy Girl on New Year's Eve

Happy Girl #2 on New Year's Eve

Kids playing games 

So back to the business at hand.  Loads of laundry.  Another dirty kitchen floor.  Stoking the fire.  And on it goes.  Thanks for the chat you dear friends!

Give us this day...

... our daily bread.  We eat bread here.  For toast.  And school lunches.  After school snack with homemade strawberry jam.  Or Nutella.  Not to mention french toast, cinnamon rolls, and pizza crust.  The Chairman and I both have mothers that made bread.  My own mom made it from the time she was married up until now.  When I was about 9, I remember asking if we could buy bread like my friends did.  We did have purchased bread on occasion, but it was a rare thing.  My mom-in-law always makes a dark, whole-grain bread or dinner rolls.  It is healthy and good.  After we had been married a bit, I decided once I wasn't working full-time I better get my act together.  I used a 2-lb bread machine for about 14 years.  Never baked with it.  But made 2-1 lb. loaves about every other day.  Then it decided that it had done enough and now I have a Bosch Universal Mixer.  I was nervous about using it at first, but now I love it.  It took some getting used to.  New things scare me you know.  I never knew how much to actually knead the bread in it.  But now when 6 loaves come out of the oven in great form, I'm sold.

Yeast breads are fickle.  And addicting.  It's kind of like gambling really.  You never know if you'll score big or not.  Since it is a living thing, it doesn't always turn out exactly the same.  It is dependent on humidity, air temperatures, temperature of the liquid you put in, the mood of the baker, or what-not.  Some days it rises beautifully and is ready to hit the oven after 30 minutes.  Some days it needs lots of encouragement and talking to and some extra time and it slowly rises.  But it all gets eaten nonetheless.

I hesitate to write down tips as there are a great number of you that read this silly blog.  And there are a great number of you that are far-better cooks and bakers than I am.  But I'll share what has worked for me.  If it helps, great!  If you think I need to take lessons from you, well give me a call!

- Fresh ingredients are key - especially the flour and yeast.  My chicken farmer friend has just lately done some wheat grinding for me.  Yum.  Not only is there eggs and honey coming out of that joint.  Now there's flour!  I'm still waiting for an orange tree and a pig for bacon.

- I almost always add one or two eggs to every bread recipe.  Why you ask?  Well for some reason (and maybe a figment of my imagination), the bread seems to rise better.  It adds protein.  And it makes the crust less hard (making the school lunches more palatable).

- If a recipe asks for only water, I use half or all milk.  Lately, it's been only half.  Again, a bit more nutrition.

- I always add 'stuff'.  Flax seed.  Ground flax.  Cracked wheat.  Oat germ.  You name it.  I have lots of bags of 'stuff' sitting around.  I'll toss in a handful of whatever is close.  Also, if there's leftover oatmeal from breakfast, just dump it in!  As long as someone didn't actually eat on it.

- I made the mistake of allowing the Bosch to over-knead at first.  It made the loaves too dense (kinda like me). Now I add all the remaining flour gradually and then let it knead it for only a minute or so.  And voila!  Nice dough.

- It doesn't matter what you use for sweetener.  Some are passionate about not using sugar.  Honey is good.  But the loaves will be a bit darker.  I tend to use some honey or molasses in each recipe so if I add 1/3 cup honey, just use 1/3 cup brown sugar.

- Don't let it rise too long.  I like it to rise a bit while baking.  Helps keep the loaves a bit lighter.

- Don't wash bread pans.  Just wipe them out with a paper towel or something and put away.  They will 'season' and the bread will slip out better that way.

- For sweet breads, I just tweak either recipe.  I use mainly butter for the oil.  Add a touch more sweetener.  And leave out all the extra grains if you want a smoother texture.  For the filling, use softened butter, brown sugar, and good-quality cinnamon (I prefer our local Penzey's brand).

- And the best tip of all is share it.  Share it with your immediate family.  With your friends.  With a shut-in.  Bread is something that is very simple.  Yet satisfying.  It's no accident that it is used as an example many times in the bible.  It feeds and nurtures and shows that effort was put forth in love.  And that's what makes life worthwhile.  

Anyway, here's a couple recipes.  The first one is my old stand-by that I used with my breadmaker.  The second one is the one I've been using lately with the Bosch.  Both recipes give me a consistent result.  And that's important when the three young people come bursting in the door at 3:35 looking to fill their bellies.

getting started

dough ready to pull out of mixer

raised and ready for pans

into the oven it goes

yum!  want to come over?

The "Chef's" Bread" 

1 1/3 cups milk - warm in microwave about 2 minutes

1 egg

1/4 cup canola oil (you can use butter instead)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons sweetener (white or brown sugar, molasses, or honey) * I use a touch of molasses and the rest brown sugar

4 cups unbleached bread flour

3 teaspoons of yeast

2-3 tablespoons ground flax   \

2 tablespoons of wheat germ - none of these three are necessary, but it's what I do

a sprinkling of flax seed          /

Put in bread machine and set on dough setting. When dough beeps (often mine is ready before the dough cycle is over) take out of bread machine pan and let sit a couple minutes. Then knead it down and separate into two loaves and put in pan. Raise for 30-40 minutes (until it is over the pan rim). Bake at 350 for 24-25 minutes. Immediately remove from pans.

This recipe can easily be done by hand. And it can be doubled if you want four loaves.

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The "Bosch Bread"

1/2 cup warm water

3 packages of yeast (or almost 3 tablespoons)

1/4 cup bread flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 egg

Put those ingredients in the Bosch mixing bowl.  Stir it up a little bit.  Let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble.

Add:  

2 cups quick cooking oats

2 cups whole wheat flour

4 1/2 cups warm water/milk mix  (I microwave it for 3 minutes and that's about perfect.  Make sure it is 110 degrees at least.)  

1 1/2 tablespoons salt 

2/3 cup brown sugar (or replace with molasses or honey)

2/3 cup canola oil (you can use some butter in place of the oil)

10 cups unbleached bread flour (you can add additional whole wheat here if you like)

Measure oats, water/milk, whole wheat flour, salt, 2/3 cup sugar, and 2/3 cup oil into mixing bowl.  Mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes.  Increase speed slightly and begin adding bread flour 1 cup at a time until the bread separates from the bowl edge.  It is normal for the dough to be sticky on the bottom yet.  

Place dough in big bowl and rise in a warm place.  I put it in an enclosed oven that is warm with a damp towel over it.  Let rise for one hour or until double in size.

Divide dough into six pieces and put in pans.  I usually bake a few bigger and smaller loaves.  Or make some round loaves on a cookie sheet.  Cover with a towel and let rise for almost an hour.  Start oven about 30-40 minutes after you put in the pans.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (or longer if necessary) until the tops are brown.  Transfer to the cooling racks to cool completely (unless your family is starving and want to slice it when it's hot).  

Morbid Monday Musings

This time it actually is on a Monday!  Just back from a gruesome walk with Lisi.  You see we have these woodchucks or ground squirrels or whatever they are called about a 1/4 mile from here.  They've made a fantastic tunnel system near one of the ponds.  They are usually out.  Or "He" is usually out when we go by.  Lisi has playfully tossed Mr. Woodchuck nearly each time we go by.  The Chairman was horrified on his walk the first time it happened.  He came back to report in on how Lisi had tossed this big rodent thing high in the air.  Oh.  She does that every day when we go during daylight hours.  Well today she wasn't in a good mood.  Or Mr. Woodchuck did something.  Or dog-nature kicked into high gear.  But she first did a playful toss.  Seemed innocent enough.  Then she grabbed Mr. Woodchuck and shook and bit (presumably very had).  He landed.  Lisi stood over him.  One little paw was just shaking in a seizure-like state.  Then all was quiet.  A couple sniffs later and Lisi was ready to move on.  Mission accomplished.  And I feel sick.  I love nature and realize that is a part of life.  But still.  He was ambling about doing what they do and wham.  Death by a dog.  Ick.  Which leads me to thoughts about teeth and jaw strength and so forth.  Really for the size of that thing and the apparent instant death through a chomp, Lisi's jaw strength is scary-strong.  I'm glad in her doggy brain she doesn't relate such intent to innocent people.  I guess that's why we have a 'soft-mouthed' golden.  And why we took her to endless hours of training.  Good dog, Lisi.  Sorta.

We had a wonderful ringing in of the New Year.  A smaller crowd.  At the usual cozy home.  With some of our favorite people.  Playing games.  Sharing our lives.  And eating tasty treats.

Yesterday was a 'special' day for us.  Lots of you know what I mean.  It was one of the better ones.  One thought mentioned was that you can't share something with others if you don't possess it yourself.  I love the thought that those that are sharing such riches are not telling us to do something they aren't willing to do themselves.  They do it and go so far beyond what is expected of us.  One thing about the location yesterday.  The HVAC system was on steroids.  In the morning it got to be about 98.7 in there (I'm exaggerating slightly).  In the afternoon, it was near-blizzard conditions until someone said something to the authorities and then the temperatures started to climb.  Was fascinating watching the coats go off and on and off.  I did listen though...

I feel a bit lonely today.  Two weeks ago I was feeling a bit anxious about the very long break that was upon us. The kids like things happening.  Places to go.  People to see.  All three are extroverts (wonder where they get that from?).  We kept plenty busy.  And the bus came and the Chairman drove away and it was ominously quiet.  An empty nest for 7 hours.  I'm glad they are coming home again.

This isn't really funny is it?  I like funny.  Oh well.  There's lots of time this year yet for funny...

I haven't posted any pictures lately.  Want me to bother?  Or not.