Adam is obsessed with bread! Any kind of bread! One year he got a bread cookbook, but only recently has started to make the things in it. One day a few weeks ago he decided to make English muffins with the kids. They turned out fantastic!!! They were way better than the store bought kind, but looked just like them. Here is the recipe he uses:
4 cups white bread flour (we have been using all purpose and they turn out fine!)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2-1 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 Tsp. yeast
1 tbsp. melted butter or olive oil
rice flour or semolina for dusting (again, we have just been using flour)
1. Generously flour a non-stick baking sheet. Very lightly grease a griddle. Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Blend 2/3 cup of the milk, sugar, and yeast together. Stir in the remaining milk and butter or oil.
2. Add the yeast mixture to the center of the flour and beat for 4-5 min., until smooth and elastic. The dough will be soft but just hold its shape. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise, in a warm place, for 45-60 min. or until doubled in bulk.
3. Turn out the dough onto a well floured surface and knock back. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Using a floured 3" plain cutter, cut out 9 rounds. (We have gotten 2 dozen out of this recipe!)
4. Dust with rice flour or semolina and place on the prepared baking sheet. Cover and let to rise, in a warm place, for about 20-30 min.
5. Warm the griddle over medium heat. Carefully transfer the muffins in batches to the griddle. Cook slowly for about 7 min. on each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Homemade English Muffins
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Silly Faces
One day last week the kids were building towers with blocks. L was so proud of his, he asked me to take a picture. The photo happy mom that I am was very happy to oblige. So I got a shot of the kids with the towers, and then thought it would be fun to get a close face shot of both of them. L did great with his, he loves getting is photo taken. D on the other hand.....
until at the end she was laughing so hysterically that she couldn't make anymore faces for me. And when she was done she insisted in seeing them all on the camera. Which then prompted another laughing fit from all. Good times!
Table Project
So after moving into our new cute little house, we realized that there isn't enough room for a dinning room table and chairs. What to do? We had many "discussions" about this. And finally we came up with a solution. We had an old table that I bought years ago for my apartment. It is the height of a coffeetable, and only has 3 legs. We would paint a fun design on it, and attach folding legs on the bottom. This way we can store it folded up behind the couch, and only bring it out when needed. We do have a small closed in back porch that we can stack the chairs up in for more room. Adam got to work sketching out a design. The inspiration was a peacock feather, since those are a reaccuring theme throughout our relationship. I was my turn to scope out some colors and get to work painting. I have gotten a ton done, but have slowed down these last few weeks. I am looking forward to finishing it, and putting it to good use!
Blueberry Picking
The kids and I went blueberry picking at a great local organic farm here in town with my mom's group. My mom was able to come along too! What a blast!!! My kids have never been big blueberry eaters, but give them the ability to pull them off the tree to eat, and watch out! D was just shoveling handfuls into her mouth the entire time we were there. One of the other kids gave L a bucket, then he was so into picking and putting them into his bucket. I froze tons of them, so we have fresh berries all year. But I have made a few things with them too. I made blueberry yogurt Popsicles, muffins, and pancakes. D LOVED the pancakes. The pictures will show just how much she did!
We Moved!
Our old landlords told us that they were selling the house we were living in. They would have given us 2 months rent free to find someplace once they sold it, but I was worried about them selling in the winter. I had been looking on Craigslist and driving around looking for places for 2 months, and nothing was working out. They didn't sell the place, but with 2 small kids, it is too much to worry about when and where you will be moving! On an off chance I drove past this house and the one directly across the street from it. Both were for rent, so I called. D and I went to check this one out because the other didn't allow pets (we have an 8 year old cat). I fell in love at first sight. It is an adorable cottage bungalow just 9 blocks north of our old house. So we were happy to stay in the same neighborhood. It is only 2 small bedrooms, but it has a finished basement. The backyard is perfect for the kids, and it has a garage. The street the house is on is not a very busy street, and it is very quiet here. We had to act fast, the landlord was starting to get 9 calls a day on it. So in the middle of planning a birthday party, 2 birthdays and Father's day, we got a house. We gave 2 weeks notice of our moving and starting packing like crazy. The week we moved it was the hottest so far this year. We have been here a month now, and still love it like crazy! We don't plan on moving for a few years now. And I finally have a good size kitchen to do all my baking and cooking in. All of my stuff fits in with plenty of work space! I'm in heaven!!!
The Birthday's
The first 5 photos were taken at the kids birthday party by my great friend Janine of Studio 16 portraits! She does an amazing job, and I love everything that she does. She is an wonderful friend, photographer, mom, and an all around fantastic person!
Let me see if I can catch up here! Both kids had a fantastic party. All their friends and family were there, and they got some really fun presents. On D's actual birthday, Adam took the day off. Good thing since we had found a house and came to hand in the application for it. We had pizza for dinner and then I made Blues Clues cup cakes. I got her a Melissa and Doug Birthday cake wooden play set. She thought it was the best thing in the world. L was jealous the entire day, but we just kept explaining to him that his birthday was Saturday and then it would be his turn. I always knew it was fun to have the kids birthday's so close, but this was the first year that I realized that there will be jealousy that week!
L's birthday we headed as a family over to a art fair in a park and then headed over to an environment fair in a different park. He had a great time exploring with daddy at all the parks. We headed home that night for a special dinner and had Nemo cup cakes. We got him a Cars fishing pole. Daddy was more excited about it then he was I think!
The very next day was Father's Day! Talk about a very busy week!!! We got Daddy a fishing pole too, and I took pictures of the kids as part of a annual tradition! We went to the in-laws house for a nice little cookout.
Boy we packed a ton in that week!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I'm still alive!
I swear that I am still here and alive. In the last 2 weeks we had the kids family birthday party, each kid had their own birthday, we packed our entire house, moved to a smaller house, cleaned the bigger old house, and held a garage sale at a friend's house. I am tired!! But I promise over the next few weeks I will post about all these things!
