I just got home and I really should be putting the groceries away, doing laundry, wrapping birthday presents and making dinner. So why am I shirking my responsibilities and blogging instead? Because I'm having a tryst with wrath and I need to vent!
Today is Nathan's birthday and on the way home I stopped at the store to pick up some dairy-free margarine so that I can make Matthew friendly frosting for the birthday cakes. When I couldn't find what I was looking for, I asked and was informed that the Nucoa margarine has been discontinued. My first thought: "Are you kidding me??!! It took me months just to find this stuff!!" My second thought: "Crap. Now what?"
I have only found one other stick margarine that will work for us and it is $5 a box. Five dollars! For one pound of margarine!! So I'm on a bit of a rampage about margarine. Some of you might be wondering why this is a problem. Isn't margarine by definition not butter? You would think that, but most margarine still has milk in it. Even the ones labeled as real margarine have milk in them. I try really hard to make almost everything that comes out of my kitchen Matthew friendly. Since he can't eat hardly anything anywhere else, I want my home to be a food haven for him. This is not an easy task and today's events have put me in a bit of a funk because all of a sudden I'm back to square one as far as my baking is concerned.
I suppose that if we were independently wealthy I wouldn't be so worked up, but we can't afford $5 for a box of margarine. And so I vent. And then tomorrow I will be hitting the natural food stores searching for an alternative.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
North To Alaska
I recently saw a bumper sticker that stated the following:
For any of my siblings who happen to be reading this, the previous statement is pretty darn hilarious. For all the rest of you, let me explain.
When I was twelve years old, my dad piled all of us into the car and drove us to Alaska. Yup. That’s right. Nine people and a dog trapped in a Suburban for twenty-three days. Over three very long weeks we drove all the way to Alaska and we did indeed drive the entire length of the Alaska Highway. I’m pretty sure the road is all paved and nice nowadays, but back then there were patches of pavement scattered amidst sections of dirt and gravel and dust and pure torture. Every time we crammed back into the car, we counted off to make sure we didn’t leave anyone behind at the Middle-Of-Nowhere Road Stop (Dad: “One.” Mom: “Two.” Jon: “Three.” Patti: “Four.” Me: “Five.” Adam: “Six.” Seth: “Seven.” Rachael: “Eight.” Esther: “Nine.” Bandit: “Woof.”) Our theme song for the trip was “North To Alaska” by Johnny Horton and for those of you who are not familiar with this little ditty, go ahead and push the play button. I dare you.
But in spite of all that, and in spite of the fact that I never would have admitted it at the time, there were some pretty good times to be had as well. We were tickled pink by the crayons we bought in Canada that were hexagonal instead of round. We got to experience Whitehorse, an iconic Yukon town where we first heard the Ballad of Sam McGee. And the scenery was so amazing that even we citified younguns couldn’t help but be impressed. I mean, what isn’t cool about walking on a glacier? And my parents handled the many long hours of driving by letting us choose to stop anywhere we wanted once every other day (one day was girls, the next boys).
So yes, we drove the Alaska Highway and survived, although I can’t say as much for our sanity. Even now, we have a million and one inside jokes that were born the minute my dad backed out of the driveway and popped in the Johnny Horton cassette.
“I traveled the Alaska Highway and survived.”
For any of my siblings who happen to be reading this, the previous statement is pretty darn hilarious. For all the rest of you, let me explain.
When I was twelve years old, my dad piled all of us into the car and drove us to Alaska. Yup. That’s right. Nine people and a dog trapped in a Suburban for twenty-three days. Over three very long weeks we drove all the way to Alaska and we did indeed drive the entire length of the Alaska Highway. I’m pretty sure the road is all paved and nice nowadays, but back then there were patches of pavement scattered amidst sections of dirt and gravel and dust and pure torture. Every time we crammed back into the car, we counted off to make sure we didn’t leave anyone behind at the Middle-Of-Nowhere Road Stop (Dad: “One.” Mom: “Two.” Jon: “Three.” Patti: “Four.” Me: “Five.” Adam: “Six.” Seth: “Seven.” Rachael: “Eight.” Esther: “Nine.” Bandit: “Woof.”) Our theme song for the trip was “North To Alaska” by Johnny Horton and for those of you who are not familiar with this little ditty, go ahead and push the play button. I dare you.
But in spite of all that, and in spite of the fact that I never would have admitted it at the time, there were some pretty good times to be had as well. We were tickled pink by the crayons we bought in Canada that were hexagonal instead of round. We got to experience Whitehorse, an iconic Yukon town where we first heard the Ballad of Sam McGee. And the scenery was so amazing that even we citified younguns couldn’t help but be impressed. I mean, what isn’t cool about walking on a glacier? And my parents handled the many long hours of driving by letting us choose to stop anywhere we wanted once every other day (one day was girls, the next boys).
So yes, we drove the Alaska Highway and survived, although I can’t say as much for our sanity. Even now, we have a million and one inside jokes that were born the minute my dad backed out of the driveway and popped in the Johnny Horton cassette.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Smell Of Home
I've had several requests to share my bread recipe, so for those of you who associate the smell of bread with home, here it is. Enjoy!
Half and Half Bread (This recipe makes four 2 pound loaves, so if you have smaller bread pans you may want to half it the first time to see how much you get.)
15 cups flour-half wheat flour and half white flour*
6 cups hot water
3/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar or honey
1 1/2 TBL. salt
2 1/2 TBL. yeast
Mix the hot water and vital wheat gluten. Add oil. Mix. Add sugar or honey. Mix. Add salt. Mix. Mix in half of the flour. Add yeast. Mix. Add the remaining flour. Knead until smooth and dough bounces back when lightly poked.**
Fast Rise Method
While kneading, preheat oven to 150 degrees and then turn off. Shape loaves and place in greased pans (unless you use silicone pans- no greasing necessary). Rise in the warmed oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven back on at 350 degrees and bake for 23 minutes. (In silicone pans, bake at 325 degrees for 28 minutes.) Remove from pans and cool on a cooling rack.***
Standard Rise Method
After kneading, cover dough with a clean dishtowel and let rise until double, about one hour. Shape loaves and place in greased pans (unless you use silicone pans- no greasing necessary). Cover and let rise until nearly double in size. Preheat oven to 35o degrees (325 degrees for silicone pans) and bake loaves for 30 minutes (35 minutes for silicone pans). Remove from pans and cool on a cooling rack.
*You can use any ratio of wheat to white flour as long as you have 15 cups. If you use all wheat, you may need a little less. If you use all white, eliminate the vital wheat gluten. You won't need it.
**If you prefer to just dump in everything but the flour all at once, use warm water instead of hot and make sure you mix really well so you don't end up with lumps of gluten in your bread.
***If you like a crunchy crust, let your loaves cool uncovered. If you prefer a soft crust, cover the loaves with a dishtowel while they cool. The steam will be reabsorbed into the loaf and you will end up with a nice soft crust.
On bread making day I usually do two batches, one using each rise method. I mix the fast rise batch first and then mix the second one while the fast rise loaves are rising. By the time the standard rise batch is ready to go into the pans, the fast rise loaves are finished. When the loaves are completely cool (don't put warm bread into plastic bags-it will get really soggy), I put them in Ziplock bags and freeze them until we are ready to use them.
Half and Half Bread (This recipe makes four 2 pound loaves, so if you have smaller bread pans you may want to half it the first time to see how much you get.)
15 cups flour-half wheat flour and half white flour*
6 cups hot water
3/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar or honey
1 1/2 TBL. salt
2 1/2 TBL. yeast
Mix the hot water and vital wheat gluten. Add oil. Mix. Add sugar or honey. Mix. Add salt. Mix. Mix in half of the flour. Add yeast. Mix. Add the remaining flour. Knead until smooth and dough bounces back when lightly poked.**
Fast Rise Method
While kneading, preheat oven to 150 degrees and then turn off. Shape loaves and place in greased pans (unless you use silicone pans- no greasing necessary). Rise in the warmed oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven back on at 350 degrees and bake for 23 minutes. (In silicone pans, bake at 325 degrees for 28 minutes.) Remove from pans and cool on a cooling rack.***
Standard Rise Method
After kneading, cover dough with a clean dishtowel and let rise until double, about one hour. Shape loaves and place in greased pans (unless you use silicone pans- no greasing necessary). Cover and let rise until nearly double in size. Preheat oven to 35o degrees (325 degrees for silicone pans) and bake loaves for 30 minutes (35 minutes for silicone pans). Remove from pans and cool on a cooling rack.
*You can use any ratio of wheat to white flour as long as you have 15 cups. If you use all wheat, you may need a little less. If you use all white, eliminate the vital wheat gluten. You won't need it.
**If you prefer to just dump in everything but the flour all at once, use warm water instead of hot and make sure you mix really well so you don't end up with lumps of gluten in your bread.
***If you like a crunchy crust, let your loaves cool uncovered. If you prefer a soft crust, cover the loaves with a dishtowel while they cool. The steam will be reabsorbed into the loaf and you will end up with a nice soft crust.
On bread making day I usually do two batches, one using each rise method. I mix the fast rise batch first and then mix the second one while the fast rise loaves are rising. By the time the standard rise batch is ready to go into the pans, the fast rise loaves are finished. When the loaves are completely cool (don't put warm bread into plastic bags-it will get really soggy), I put them in Ziplock bags and freeze them until we are ready to use them.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Nathan's Opinion About The Whole Eye Thing
Please be sure to note the enormous exclamation point hanging out in the middle of everything.
There are similar notes hanging in various places around the house. He is really thrilled.
There are similar notes hanging in various places around the house. He is really thrilled.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
And The Number of the Day Is . . .
20/30.
20/30!!
In his weak eye!!!
With a new prescription, a little fasting and prayer, and a whole lot of faith, Nathan has experienced an enormous amount of improvement in the last five weeks. Five weeks ago we discovered that he had lost the little bit of progress he had shown at his previous eye appointment. We were told that there was nothing else to be done and to come back in five weeks so we could discuss whether or not it was worth it to even keep patching. At that point, his vision was not even good enough for him to be able to drive when he is older. We were all discouraged but Nathan, understanding way more than he should at age five, was terribly upset. So we had a family pow-wow and decided that we needed more help than the patching could give. Which gave us a really marvelous opportunity to teach our children about faith coupled with fasting and prayer. For all of our family members who joined us in this endeavor, you can see that the faith of many has indeed worked yet another mini-miracle in our lives. At the doctor's office today the staff had cheers and high fives and I had a few tears. Tonight we will celebrate, complete with prayers of thanksgiving.
20/30 is a beautiful number.
20/30!!
In his weak eye!!!
With a new prescription, a little fasting and prayer, and a whole lot of faith, Nathan has experienced an enormous amount of improvement in the last five weeks. Five weeks ago we discovered that he had lost the little bit of progress he had shown at his previous eye appointment. We were told that there was nothing else to be done and to come back in five weeks so we could discuss whether or not it was worth it to even keep patching. At that point, his vision was not even good enough for him to be able to drive when he is older. We were all discouraged but Nathan, understanding way more than he should at age five, was terribly upset. So we had a family pow-wow and decided that we needed more help than the patching could give. Which gave us a really marvelous opportunity to teach our children about faith coupled with fasting and prayer. For all of our family members who joined us in this endeavor, you can see that the faith of many has indeed worked yet another mini-miracle in our lives. At the doctor's office today the staff had cheers and high fives and I had a few tears. Tonight we will celebrate, complete with prayers of thanksgiving.
20/30 is a beautiful number.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Opera d'Arithmetique
Nathan loves music. He is one of the few five-year-olds I know that not only knows what opera is, but likes it. He sings all the time, very frequently serenading us with songs he has made up himself. So today's entertainment was not completely unprecedented, but it did contain a very different subject matter.
I never knew there was so much art to be found in addition flash cards. Once he noticed me recording him he got a touch of stage fright, but once the camera was off he was singing all over again.
I never knew there was so much art to be found in addition flash cards. Once he noticed me recording him he got a touch of stage fright, but once the camera was off he was singing all over again.
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