Mid-day

Productivity is messy. We grab gym shorts from the dryer before running out of the house for weight lifting. I prep dinner but have to take a phone call before I can clean up. I am reading Plato and posting assignments online. The girls are doing Latin, and Math, poetry... and the books and notebooks pile up by the end of the day. I'm thankful for the beautiful things we get to do here every day, but sometimes, mid-day is not so beautiful unless one has eyes to see. 

Sourdough

I made sourdough again. 

The recipe I use is from "Sourdough for Lazy People" on You Tube. 

It says to let the dough rise overnight, briefly shape the loaf on a floured surface, put it in the pan, then let it rise for 90 minutes before baking. 

But this time, when I checked it after 90 minutes, it hadn't risen that much. 

So I let it rise for 2-3 hours before baking. 

It had filled up the bottom of the pan when I put it in the oven, and of course, it ended up rising even more while baking. 

So the loaf came out larger than ever. 

I love the golden brown color, and it's delicious. 

Sourdough loaves cost around $8, so this is a wonderful thing to be able to make for myself with just a few cups of flour, some salt, and water.

Amazing! 

Frisian Sugar Loaf

I am working my way through Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Breads.

So I made the Frisian Sugar Loaf. 

This bread is pretty special. 

You take a cup of sugar cubes, cover them in cinnamon, and knead them into the bread dough. 

You can still see the sugar cubes in the photo above, popping out of the top of the hot bread. 

A day later, those sugar cubes "melted" and became sticky, sugary spots of deliciousness throughout the bread that taste exactly like the inside of a cinnamon roll. 

We ate one loaf in one day, so we gave the second loaf to friends.

Baking bread is amazing, but sharing bread is the only way to make sure we don't overdo it.   

Annie The Musical at Walnut Hill

Our church is putting on Annie The Musical. Our youngest daughter, Adele, is one of the orphans in the cast. You can see her in the picture above in the blue dress and orange coat.

Here she's dancing with other orphans. She's wearing the blue dress with a pink apron.

Our middle daughter, Avril, is in the stage crew. Here, you can see her on the right behind Annie when she and the other crew members came out to take a bow.

The Show Must Go On!

The zipper on Adele's Annie costume broke.  Tonight's dress rehearsal! 

So I gave myself a pep-talk, ripped out the old zipper, and put in a new one. 

It's not perfect, but the show must go on! 

Sewing achievement unlocked! 

 

Fundraising

This year I'm on the fundraising team for the youth at my church. We're raising money for the missions trips this coming summer, trips my teens will likely be involved in. 

Every year, the fundraising team asks for donations from businesses, artists, and people in our church to host a raffle of themed prize baskets and a silent auction that take place during the church play. 

In the photo above, you can see one of the "baskets" we will be raffling off. It's actually a handmade bag my friend donated. Another friend of mine made the handmade print inside. We added inspirational journals and pens that were also donated to the bag to make it complete. This is one of eighty "baskets" that will be raffled off throughout the weekend of the play.  

Yesterday, the team worked for several hours wrapping up these sorts of prize basket bundles and getting them ready for the raffle. 

It took hours, and I do not exaggerate when I say we could hardly walk out of church; We were so exhausted! 

The basket raffle and silent auction always add a lot of fun to the church play. It's always fun to win a prize at the end of the show. 

In fact, Dwayne has brought home a few, special Ergo Chef knives from this auction over the years. 

Last year, our daughter won the voice lesson with Justin Stoney, which was an awesome experience for her. 

I'm thankful to be a part of the team this year.

Hopefully, the raffle and auction raise a lot of money for the youth as it has in years past, making it possible for more kids to be involved in the missions trips. 

Sourdough Success

My sourdough adventures continue. 

My loaves have been delicious, but they have not been rising well, so something had to be done. 

I troubleshooted with the help of a friend. We guessed that my starter was too wet making my dough too sticky and my loaf incapable of rising well. 

So I had to rehab my starter to adjust its hydration and get it to 100%. (That's a sentence I never thought I'd say.)

I saved 2 ounces of my too-wet starter, discarded the rest, added 4 ounces or flour and 4 ounces of water, let it sit on the counter for one hour, then refrigerated it. 

Then I repeated this same steps again the next day. 

This "reset" my starter and got it back to the right hydration for the recipe and method I'm using. I follow "Sour Dough for Lazy People" on You Tube (if you want more details than I provide here.)

I finally tried out my rehabilitated starter and the results are in. 

The loaf was amazing! It rose beautifully and tasted delicious!