Monday, January 31, 2011

What We Learned This Week

~coming Saturday, a linky party for sharing the fun of learning

 

What I love most about teaching are those fun moments when learning happens in very real ways.  You know, that lesson that really worked or the lesson that just happened.  The lesson that made the kids want to know more (or the teacher for that matter).  The lessons where their eyes light up and they want to keep on working right through snack time. 

So, I am wondering if any of my home school or teacher friends might like to join the fun this Saturday and share those wonderful teachable moments.  You can link up a post from your blog (past or present) or you may leave a comment to share your fun teaching experience.

So, this is your official invitation. 

 

You are invited!

It’s going to be fun,

Sharing what we’ve done!

So save the date, and don’t be late!

Saturday is the Linky Party,

come show why you are such a smarty!

p.s.  Hope to see you there….

~Don’t forget the handy little tool on the right side of my silly little blog.  Hope you’ll take time to link up FLTS on facebook or twitter today!

 

One Hundred

What an accomplishment, 100 days of school!

This calls for fun.  This calls for celebrating.  This calls for fun projects done while still wearing our jammies.

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This calls for the kind of cereal this “mean momma” never buys. 

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Sorted by color and strung on some floss in groups of ten…

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Before you know it, there are one hundred pretty little “beads” on each necklace.

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Count them by ones, count them by tens.  Count them all the way to 100!

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Wear your necklace with a smile and eat 100 pretty “beads” while celebrating the One Hundredth Day of School!

Friday, January 28, 2011

The Humming Sewing Machine

My sewing machine has been busy.  My dear sweet friend, Chris, it’s all your fault.  Darn you and the cute sewing projects you post on facebook.  You inspired me to get back behind the machine.

A little show and tell for you to enjoy!

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This is Prickles.  We made her from a great pattern from Wee Wonderfuls.  Mary and I worked together on this cute little kitty.  We had such fun!

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*And don’t even mention the dirty windows…  Apparently, I don’t do windows.  Hey, something has to give.  Quick, someone take pity on my dirty windows…  Send help, quick!

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This is my nifty, reversible apron.  I made it last night and didn’t even need to use my seam ripper.

And…  Enough show and tell for me.  What are you working on?  Wanna share?  Hope you’ll leave a comment and tell about your latest projects.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Thankful Thursday

Today, I’m thankful for…

Giggles and smiles and practical jokes.

Chasing and tickles and silliness.

Peek-a-boo and This Little Piggy.

Hide and seek and playing in the snow.

Somersaults and cartwheels and roller-skates.

 

What makes you happy today?  Hope you’ll take time to share.  :)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Garden Planning, 101

~Planning a garden with help from the little ones

 

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It may be hard to imagine planting a garden when there is snow on the ground and a chill in the air.  As my desire for spring is nearing it’s peak, I can’t help but think this is the perfect time for curling up by the fire and dreaming up my grand garden.  Truth be told, it won’t be long before those first seeds can be sown.  Now is the perfect time for ordering seeds and finishing the spring cleaning (so you don’t miss a single moment outside once the weather warms).

Gardening with littles is hard, unless…

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You get them involved in the planning.

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Gather up those seed catalogs and a piece of brown paper. 

~Oh, Seed Savers, how I adore you…  Such beautiful pictures and rare varieties… 

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Let them make lists of their favorite varieties.

Sarah is particularly taken with the pink variety of blueberries that are so popular this year…

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It just seems wrong, doesn’t it?  Cutting up catalogs that are so pretty.  Give ‘em the scissors.  You know you are going to order online anyway!

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Now, let them plant the crops in neat little rows.

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Oh, what a pretty little garden!  Look how it’s coming together!

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Will it all fit?  Looks like we’ll be tilling up a bit more ground this year. 

Now, if I could just get them so excited about cleaning their rooms….

 

 

*Know anyone who might enjoy reading stuff here at FLTS?  Don’t forget the cool little tool over on the right side of my blog…  You can share my silly little blog with your friends on facebook or on twitter.  Thanks for sharing!  :)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Boxes and Cobwebs

There is a room in my basement that I’m glad no one can see.  It’s tucked away, past my craft room and laundry, through a small passageway under the stairs, just out of sight.  There are spider webs.  And spiders.  And boxes.  Lots of boxes. 

I bet you have a room like this one, too.  Maybe it’s a closet.  The boxes that fill the room contain memories from the past, a few treasures, and lots of junk. 

My storage room was a mess.  I brought lots of boxes with me when we moved into this house 9 years ago.  We stuck them in the storage room and only went back in to add more boxes.  A year or two ago, Eric’s folks packed up boxes of his stuff and brought them to us.  Between the two of us, we have a combined 60+ years worth of boxes. 

I needed a place to store away our Christmas decorations and the kids’ hand me down clothes.  I didn’t want to do it, but I also didn’t want boxes of decorations and clothes in the kids’ play room.  Armed with a broom and dustpan, I was determined to rid the room of spiders and junk.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t know what I was getting in to.

The easiest boxes to get rid of were the ones that contained miscellaneous junk I had stowed away to sell at a yard sale.  The only thing I couldn’t figure out was how so much junk had made it into my life!  I loaded up the van for a trip to the donation center of our local thrift store.  Sadly, it wouldn’t all fit in the van.  How sad is that!

The boxes of memories were the hardest to go through.  Some of the boxes were a pure joy to explore.  There was a tote filled with the leftovers from our wedding, napkins and flowers, a frilly white garter, programs and guest books, and a sixpence I’m keeping for the girls.  I also found the books we used in our pre-marital class with the preacher.  I nearly fell on the floor laughing and crying reading through those workbooks!  Believe it or not, this was all Eric’s plan!  He answered questions in the book, saying that he wanted 3 to 5 kids and a wife to stay at home with them when they were little.  Apparently, our communication left a bit to be desired considering I spent the first few years of married life wondering if he would ever be ready for kids.  Guess he got just what he wanted!  ;)

Other boxes weren’t so easy to explore.  Opening them brought memories that hurt.  Memories of those we’ve lost.  The baby that didn’t get to be born and held by his momma.  The grandparents that have passed on.  A rush of memories, some bitter and some sweet, was found in those boxes. 

The hardest boxes and memories were the ones that reflected the girl I used to be.  Looking through those was like looking in one of those terrible magnifying mirrors some people use to put on makeup.  I leafed through her yearbooks.  I read her old diaries.  I saw her old pictures. 

She was a mess.  She was a hurt, scared, and confused mess.  She was born into some difficult circumstances.  A teenage mom raised her, doing the best she could (and a pretty good job, at that). 

She was abused when she was five, in ways that a girl never recovers from.  Her mom never knew because this stranger told her he would do terrible things if she told.  She lived with the confusion for years. 

She met her dad the same year that her beloved grandmother passed away.  Her world ripped apart.  It was set spinning, uncontrollably.  She couldn’t tell up or down.  She was angry.  She was sad.

She carried that confusion into her teen years.  She thought very little of herself.  The good things of life were just enough to keep her going through a dark world.  She blamed her mother.  She just couldn’t understand how her mother could possibly love her.  She felt like a mistake, unwanted and burdensome.  It took her years and a few kids of her own to fully understand the truth of her mother’s love.

The end of her high school years left her in some kind of alternate universe.  The rules had changed.  She thought the rules were gone.  She did some things that still break her heart.  She was not smart.  She was not good.  She was wild and out of control.  She broke the hearts of those who love her. 

God must have had angels looking out for her.  They were fighting for her heart.  Praise Him, they won.  They didn’t give up on the broken girl.  Her loved ones didn’t give up either.  Their prayers were heard.  She woke up.  The terrifying darkness began to lift.

She is not the same girl any longer.

Going through the boxes was much harder than I thought it would be.  Though I didn’t throw away much, I did burn the diaries.  Some memories are not worth keeping.  I burned the anger and frustration I felt.  I burned it with the diaries.  I let go. 

I wish I could change my past.  I wish I could tell that girl to treasure the good stuff more and help her to let go of the bad.  I wish I could change what she did.  I can’t.  I am who I am.  The ugly lines are part of me just as the beautiful lines are a part of me. 

I wonder what others see when they look at me.  Do they see the ugly, or is it forgiven?  How can I forgive myself for the sins in my life? 

I know that God has forgiven my ugliness, though it’s so hard to imagine He could.  God is using the ugliness of my life to bring about beautiful things, kind of like manure on a garden.  He is healing me and making me something worthwhile.  He is using me to help others who hurt.  He lets the scars remain in my life so that I can feel the hurt of others who are wounded. 

Looking around, I see lots of faces.  Behind the faces, I know there are hearts.  Those hearts are filled with boxes of memories and junk.  Some of those hearts have been healed.  Some are writhing in pain.  My scars help me feel the pain in their lives.  Finally, I can look at my scars and see a bit of beauty.

Those scars allow me to love those broken people.  Those scars prompt me to hug them.  My scars make me care.  They remind me to pray.  My scars keep me from forgetting. 

I bet everyone has a room they would rather not have anyone see.  A room that is filled with cobwebs and memories, pain and sorrow.  We can all bring a little light and love to those who hurt, just by remembering our own scars.  Some memories are worth remembering, even if it hurts.

 

 

*A little disclaimer…

This post looks back at the hard stuff of my life.  It is helpful to me to do so and hopefully helpful to others who read it.  We all have hard stuff in our lives.  We all have hurts.  We all have sins that have impacted us. 
Just to be fair, I want to be sure everyone knows that I was also very lucky to be loved by a great family.  My childhood had it's sadness, but it also had it's magical moments and great fun.  Thanks so much for sharing your lives with me.  Thanks for letting me share mine...  Even the more difficult parts.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Educational Opportunities

~Exploring an egg without a shell.

 

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Our chickens left us an oddity.  An interesting, amazing oddity.  It made us curious.

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An egg without a shell.

How did that happen? 

We decided to investigate.

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The egg felt rubbery, like a water balloon.  It was soft and surprisingly hard to break.

What could be inside?

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We carefully opened the membrane.

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Our egg was perfectly formed inside the membrane.  Why did this happen?

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The membrane was fun to play with.  It felt like rubbery paper, tough but very slippery.

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Now for some research!

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We found some really cool stuff!

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We found the above picture on a great website that explained how eggs are formed.  They are eggs from a hen they butchered.  I love how the different stages are represented so well.  Click on the picture to be taken to the website for more.

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We finished our lesson by drawing and labeling the different parts of an egg.

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to explore with the kids.  Obviously, this was not the lesson I had planned for today.  I’m thankful that my state allows such freedom and flexibility for homeschoolers.  We learned so much today, thanks to our little mistaken egg.

 

~Many thanks to Mary for helping put this post together.  She chose, edited, and watermarked all the pictures in this post.  She also helped me with the descriptions of the eggs.  She’s had a very full school day and we haven’t even sat in a desk!  :)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Trapped by Fear

There is so much to fear.  Snakes and spiders.  Tornadoes and hurricanes.  Hunger and war. 

Sometimes, I think we fear other people more than anything else.

Sometimes, we feel trapped by our fear.  Shackled. 

Nothing in the world has the potential to hurt us the way other people do. 

Loving someone means putting yourself at risk.  Loving the people around you means giving them a piece of your heart.  They may be kind and loving to your heart.  They may be cruel and insensitive. 

Loving people means caring about them, too.  Caring about them means shouldering their hurts.  Their sickness.  Their faults.

Caring means that you begin to see the sad eyes of others you don’t know personally.  Caring means that the plight of folks in countries far away pulls on your heart and sometimes brings you to your knees. 

Pushing past the fear of others means that you care about the lady in the next dressing room who is crying because nothing in the store fits.

Loving others is a pretty scary place to find yourself.  Loving others means baring your heart and bearing burdens.

It’s easier to hide.  It’s safer to pretend that you didn’t hear the crying.  Avoid eye contact.

But, fearing others leaves you in a sad, lonely place. 

Love and courage may very well be risky, but it is a better way.

I smile at strangers, knowing my smile might be the only one that is shared.

I talk to sales clerks at the local store and learn their stories, the young girl fighting morning sickness while ringing up my purchase.  I take home my groceries and a bit of her burden.

I find myself loving the folks in my life as if they were family, the friends of old and new as well as the folks from church.  I rejoice at the births, I share the burdens and joys of everyday life, and I mourn with the losses we all face.

Loving all of these people helps me love my family better.  Loving my family better helps me love my husband better. 

All this love stuff, well, it’s been said before.  Much more eloquently.  By Someone much more important.  I’m just passing the message on.

I’ve chosen to live with love and courage.  It’s pretty great. 

Smile at someone today.  Go on.  Push past the fear and choose love. 

Got a Minute?

I have a favor to ask.  It’s not a big favor, but it sure is important.

For the past ten months or so, I’ve been following along and praying for a sweet, tough little boy.  He’s a cool little guy, about 14 months old now, and he’s fighting a terrible enemy.  Cancer.  His mom is a friend of a friend.  I feel like she’s a sister ‘cause I love her little guy (who I’ve never actually met) so much. 

They are in a battle right now.  They could sure use all the prayers they can get.

Will you take a couple of minutes to hop over to Cassie’s blog.  Read just a little about her special little man.  Say a prayer.  Maybe two.  They need all of us fighting this battle with them.  Hope you’ll join in.

The Sartins

 

Thanks so much. 

Sunday, January 16, 2011

A Lil’ Bit of Organization for Littles

Things have gotten quite sideways here at the FLTS house.  December was hard on us.  Very hard!  So, we are getting back on track.  All of us.

I stayed up a bit late the other night creating this.

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The kids were struggling to take care of their own responsibilities.  I was getting aggravated with reminding them of the what to do at what time of the day. 

We’ve tried more detailed charts, but they just don’t provide for much flexibility.  We  need flexibility.

This one really works for us.  It is simple.  It has pictures for my non-readers.  It isn’t altogether done, but it’s a great start. 

I’d like to add pockets or pegs to the chores part and make up picture cards for often done chores.  A girl only has so much time, so for right now we are using yellow post-its.  It works.

 

 

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The first part of our chart contains our regular morning routine.  I took pictures of the kids so that even my 3 year old could “read” the chart.

 

 

 

 

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It’s been a big help to me, at the cost of a few pictures, some scrapbook paper, and a bit of my time. 

The kids are learning to be more independent and I am not losing my voice reminding them of the jobs they need to finish. 

How do you keep things running in your house, day to day?

 

 

Do you have some great ideas to share?  A blast from the past from your blog, perhaps?  I’m going to try to let you link up (my first linky party ever!) your great “Little Organization Ideas.”

Keep it family friendly and on topic, of course.  Have fun!

Mean Momma

One of my dear sweet children, who shall remain nameless, called me a mean momma the other day. 

I was heartbroken, for about 5 seconds.

Then I said to that sweet (though rather sour at the moment) child, “Good.  Then I’m doing my job.  It’s my job to be mean, and you better believe I’m gonna do a great job at being a momma.  I’m going to teach you good things.  I’m going to help you learn and grow and love and live in the very best way I can.  As long as you are making bad choices, I’m going to be mean.  I’ll be the meanest mom in the world if I have to.  I’ll do whatever it takes to help you learn good things and grow up to be an amazing person.”

Being a mom isn’t all sunshine and trips to the park, baking cookies and pouring milk.  Sometimes, being a mom is just plain hard work.  We have a responsibility to our children.  They trust us to love them like no other, protect them from harm, kiss their boo-boos, set boundaries, and teach them good things. 

I love being the fun momma.  The momma that does cartwheels (and yes, I can still do them) in the yard, jumps on trampolines, and takes them on hikes in the woods.  I want to be the momma that plans bonfire nights and big, fun birthday parties.  I want to read to them, paint the girls’ fingernails, and help the boys get dirty!  I love this fun stuff of motherhood.

I have a bigger, more important job to do, too.  I have been entrusted with these sweet little ones.  I am to teach them good things like manners and caring, loving and sharing.  It’s my job.  It’s my job to help prepare them for the “big bad world.”  They are counting on me to be a good momma.  I don’t take this lightly. 

Discipline is not easy.  I don’t want to be a mom that yells at her kids and looks like she survived a war zone at the end of each day.  For the past week or two, I’ve been struggling against that very thing.

December was very hard on us.  Besides the stress and rush of the holidays, we had two trips to the emergency room for stitches, one of the kids had a fever that lasted five days and one had strep throat.  Is it any wonder that the kids have been out of sorts?!

So for the past week, we have been getting back on track.  No more picking and teasing.  I explained to the kids that mom was back in the game and ready to deal with this little issue.  I’ve done more sitting the kids by the wall (our form of time-out, because there are walls everywhere) in the past week than I did in all of December. 

Our trip to the library on Friday went awry before we even got out of the car.  Seeing that a lesson must be learned, I did the hard, mean mom thing.  I told the offender to sit back down and buckle in.  I let my oldest child take our movies back in (our little local library is a teeny tiny place with only a few parking spaces…  gotta love a small town…  all the ladies who work there know us….  don’t do this in the big city, okay?!).  She picked out a movie for our Friday Pizza/Movie Night, and I stood by the door watching the children in the car (10 feet away, again… small town) so I could hand the librarian my library card.  I asked the offending child what was learned by missing out on library time, and was rewarded with an very good answer. 

I’m no fool.  I know this lesson will need to be reinforced, but I don’t think it will be quickly forgotten.

I want to do a good job now, while my kids are little.  I hope to teach them as much as I can, equipping them to learn even greater lessons as they get older and wiser.  I want good things for them.

So, the “mean momma” is not giving up.  I’m going to love my kids with all I have.  I’m going to teach them good things.  I’m going to hug them and encourage them.  I’m also going to tell them to go sit by the wall until the timer beeps.  It all comes down to loving them, really.  I’m going to love them enough to be the “mean momma,” and that is that.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bread Making Basics

~cooking without a recipe…

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There’s nothing like fresh, warm bread.  It is soft, fragrant, and delicious in a way that store bought bread will never be.  If you’ve never attempted bread making, you are missing out on an art and joy that is a true pleasure to share.

Whether you are new to bread making or have made lots of bread following a recipe, this tutorial on basic bread making is something I think you will enjoy.  In either case, I hope you will keep learning and keep baking.

The variations on bread are endless, but the basic bread recipes share many similar ingredients.  In fact, once you know these basic ingredients it becomes easy to make your own recipes or create delicious bread without even measuring.  Today’s recipe is a very basic whole wheat and white flour recipe that anyone can enjoy.

What makes bread rise?  The yeast, of course.  Yeast can be found in a variety of ways.  The simplest and probably oldest ways is through a sour dough starter.  In this method, a mix of flour, water (often the water left from boiling potatoes), and a few other ingredients is left out on the counter to be exposed to the natural yeast that flourish in the area.  This is, quite honestly, a method I haven’t yet tried, but it’s on my list of things to learn!  I’ve heard that starters from different parts of the country taste different.  As I understand it, there are starters that date bake decades and even centuries.

Most of us who cook bread a little less often, find that keeping up with a starter is a bit tedious.  We use a store bought yeast.  I buy my yeast in bulk, as it is something I use a lot of.  If you are new to bread making, you can buy your yeast in nifty individual packets.  Most yeasts require nothing more than adding a bit of warm water and a dab of sugar to get the action started. 

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These frothy, fragrant bubbles are what you want to see.  I used about a tablespoon of yeast, a cup or so of warm water (Not too hot!  If the water is too hot to comfortably keep your hand in, then it is too hot and will kill the yeast), and a teaspoon of sugar.  Let this concoction sit for about 5 or 10 minutes until it looks like the picture above.

Now for the fun part!  This is where we can get creative!

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You need liquid.  Water or milk will work fine, but buttermilk is almost magical in breads.  If you are making a whole wheat recipe (and you have found the texture to be less than wonderful in the past), I would wholeheartedly recommend using buttermilk.  It has some kind of special way of breaking down the complexity of the whole wheat into something that is very pleasant to eat and much easier to digest.  I don’t know why this is, but I know it works.  I added about 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk.

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Oh, sweet!  It’s time for some sugar.  Really, any sweetener will work.  I like white sugar, brown sugar, or honey.  You can add what you like, but if you are used to eating bread from the store I would suggest starting out with about 2/3 cups of some kind of sugar.  You don’t have to keep using so much sugar, either!  I’ve found that my family is still quite happy with bread made from 1/3 cup of sugar and I’m reducing it a bit at a time.

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Molasses is my secret ingredient.  It’s not necessary for bread making, but it does add something wonderful to your bread.  I used about a tablespoon of this beautiful stuff!

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A bit of fat is a good addition to bread.  Melted butter, vegetable oil, or olive oil work well.  When you are deciding which to use, think about the taste each will give your bread.  Or, just go with whatever you have in your kitchen!  I used about 1/3 cup of olive oil. 

 

A bit of salt is needed, too.  About 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt is all you need for a pretty large quantity of bread.  This is a great time to add herbs, too.  Fresh basil is a beautiful thing in a loaf of fresh bread.  Rosemary is amazing.  Fresh dill is on my list of things to try, too!

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I like to add my whole wheat flour at this point.  Whole wheat flour does not store well.  If you buy more than you will quickly use, it is best to keep it in the freezer.  Most of us are not accustomed to eating bread made with a lot of whole wheat flour.  Even the “brown” bread you purchase in the grocery is made only in part with whole wheat flour.  In choosing recipes, this is a good thing to keep in mind.  A recipe that has 1/3 whole wheat and 2/3 white flour can be adjusted as you get used to using whole wheat.  I used about 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour, because that was all I had in the cabinet! 

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Some cooks will tell you that sifting is a waste of time.  I’m not sure where I stand on that debate.  I sift my white flour when making bread.  I think it helps keep the dough light, but I mostly sift because I purchase flour in 25 pound bags and it tends to get packed down pretty hard.  I sift a bowl full of flour and add it to my dough about 1/2 cup at a time.

 

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Once the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, it’s time to switch to the dough hook or flop the dough out onto a pile of flour on the counter for kneading.

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In either case, you want the dough to be stretchy (elastic) and very consistent.  Streaks of flour are not a good thing.  A soft dough will produce a very different bread than will a firmer dough. 

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Add a bit of oil to a large bowl and turn the dough over to coat it evenly with the oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a damp towel or a loose fitting plate to protect the dough.  Set the dough aside to rise.  If you find yourself in a hurry, a warm place will make the dough rise quickly.  If you have time, set the dough in a cool place and allow it to rise for several hours or even all day long.  I like to save back some of my dough and keep it in the refrigerator to use for meals later in the week.  The longer the dough rises, the more the yeast develops and the whole wheat breaks down.  Slow bread tastes the best.

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I like to form my bread on a clean countertop surface.  The oil from the bowl the dough was in is usually enough to allow me to work the dough into the shape I like.  Large, flattened balls are my favorite way to cook bread.  After you form the bread, a light coat of flour will make the outside a bit more crusty.

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Butter makes everything yummy.  If you are adding butter, it is best to do so before it rises.  Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.  The dough will be noticeably bigger, not quite twice as big as it was, but close.  Put the dough into the oven carefully.  Don’t be overly rough.  Bake the dough until well browned.  I like to start the bread in a fairly hot oven, around 400 degrees.  After about 5 minutes, turn the heat down to around 350 or even 325 degrees.  

If you have never made bread, start out with a good recipe.  Try several recipes and follow them well.  Once you have the feel for bread making, don’t be afraid to get adventurous.  It’s lots of fun to make up the recipe as you go.  Once you know the basic ingredients, it’s so easy to make up your own special bread recipe.  All it takes is yeast, liquid, salt, oil, and flour to make a good bread.  Anything extra just makes it that much better.

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Serrated knives are best for slicing bread.  Be sure to let the bread cool for 10 or 15 minutes before you try to slice it.  If you don’t like the way the bread is slicing, remember to let the knife do the work.  Try different knives if the one you have doesn’t work well for you.  I have found an old knife that I treasure for slicing bread because I have found no others that work so well. 

I store my bread in large, gallon sized plastic bags.  Homemade bread does not keep as long as the bread you find in the grocery.  You can store the bread for longer by freezing it.  Just be sure to set it out of the freezer in advance so it will have time to thaw. 

Basic Bread

1 cup water

1 T yeast

1 t sugar

Mix together in a large mixing bowl.

Add the following and mix:

1 1/2 c buttermilk

2/3 cup sugar

1 T molasses

1 1/2 t salt

1/3 cup oil

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

? sifted white flour…  enough to make a workable dough, not too soft and not too firm

Knead the dough until it is evenly mixed and elastic.

Let rise slowly.  Form into loaves, add a dusting of flour and some butter if you like.  Let the loaves rise.

Bake until very nicely browned at about 375 degrees.

 

Hope you’ll try making some bread or maybe even coming up with your very own recipe.  Have fun cooking!

 

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