{Post #875} Bread is Finished...Granola, Too!

The braid is beautiful.  Now we are impatiently waiting for it to cool so we can eat some!

Fortunately, the granola cools much more quickly.  Here are my two youngest girls polishing off one of the two pans.  Have I mentioned that I make 14 cups of this stuff at one time?  I am happy if some of it goes into the pantry for another day.

The caption for this is their response to my saying "Don't eat it all!"  They are thinking, "Isn't that why you made it??"

~Joan

{Post #874} Risen Braid

Yea...the granola is back in the oven for a few minutes.  Here is the risen bread braid.  Notice how big it is on the pan.

Here it was before. 

It is reversed in direction.  Susie just put it in the oven, so baked pictures next.

~Joan

{Post #873} Braided Bread and Project for Today (and Possibly Tomorrow)

OK--so upon further inspection (coming to you via pictures in a minute), this is a bigger job than I had thought.  I am going to paint the inside of the cabinet white (which I did on my upper cabinets and what a world of difference it made).  The first picture looks innocent enough, eh?  I did wipe the doors off AFTER taking the picture when I noticed the stuck-on food and drips.

This next picture is not for the faint-hearted, newly-married, or new homeowner.  Brace yourself.  This is the result of ten people jamming things into a large space.  It's not pretty.  Ready??

Yes...hideous.  I will need to check to see what paints I have available.  This past summer I completely repainted the face of the upper cabinets.  I did not start out intending to.  I used a 1" wide brush to touch up a few areas, and before I knew it, I had painted all the face with said 1" brush.  I can see from the above picture that I need to touch up the cabinet face after I paint the inside walls a nice bright white.  Then I'll put in the floor tiles and replace what will go back in there.  I'm nearly out of dishwasher detergent, so I'll have to mix up another batch of that as well.  'Twould be a shame to actually run out and have to face dishwasher detergent crisis.

Here IS something pretty.  I goofed a couple times, but I finally mastered the 6-strand bread braid.  Doesn't that look wonderful?  It's rising in the oven now, so I'll just stir my baking granola again and head down to see what supplies I need for this little project.

Off again!  BTW, I'm piddling around doing these little things mainly because I already cleaned up the kitchen, have the dishwasher going, mixed bread dough (and braided it!), and have granola baking.  The granola takes at least 90 minutes, sometimes more, so I am here for the long haul.

~Joan

Bread Baking Fun

Our family had a friend stay for a week (last week) during his spring break from a local college. He was surprised to find out we make our own butter, bread, laundry detergent, and a plethora of other items.

One day he arrived back from an errand just as Emily had finished mixing up bread dough. Being the curious ever-seeking-learning-experiences college student that he is, he wanted to help finish making the bread. He was amazed that we mill our own wheat into flour, so we had to let him sample some wheat berries (the kernels before they are ground). Eating is believing.

Here he is after punching down the dough. Get ready to divide the large lump into thirds... "I do whaaaaaa?" Notice the three loaf pans below his right elbow.



Then the dough is pressed down into a rectangle, rolled up, sealed, and placed seam-side down into a bread pan. "Hey--I think I got the hang of this!" (Third loaf pictured).




Into the oven to rise (the second time), shaped into 3 lovely full-sized loaves. We let it rise in a slightly warmed oven...it speeds up the second rising. We just put the loaves in and turn the oven on to preheat. We turn the oven off after just one minute.


"Wow--making bread is a lot more fun than I thought it would be! Can't wait to make my very own PBJ using the bread 'we' made"...and that is the empirical 'we'...

~Joan

FRESH Bread ~ Baked Daily on the Premises

Here are some of the fruits (well, loaves) of Susanna's labor of yesterday. She is 13. S-n-i-f-f... can you smell the aroma of those fragrant loaves? We mill our own flour from fresh wheat, and this bread is scrumptious, plus packed with great nutrition and fiber.

The sign on my very red kitchen wall (are you catching on that I sometimes still can't believe I painted the walls that color?) is a score from a yard sale several years ago by daughter Elisabeth. Very fitting in a kitchen that bakes bread nearly daily.

~Joan