MMMM Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

Soooo....I know that it has been a very long time since I have updated my blog. I have been so busy...I will try to catch up a little later. Lately I have been making my own wheat bread. I have had whole grain wheat in my emergency food storage for over fifteen years and really had no means to do anything with it. I have been wanting to buy my own mill so that I could grind it into flour and use it. Wheat can store for over 40 years but I didn't want to wait that long to try it out. So at Easter time I talked to Kirsten and she told me that she makes her own bread for her family out of her wheat storage and she got me started on purchasing the things that I needed to get going. She even gave me her recipe that is just...outa-this-world!!
Here is what I start with, hard white wheat, I mix it half and half with hard red wheat.

This is my new mill. It is amazing how fast it mills the wheat into fine flour.

Here is the flour. I also use it to make these outa-this-world cookies.

This is my Bosch mixer. This is a must-have for bread making. This is also what I use to make my famous rolls. I have had it for about 25 years and it is a work horse.

The recipe makes four loaves. Here they are rising. They need to rise for at least an hour.

Now it is time to put them into the oven. Oh ... the aroma!

Now they are cooling on the rack and now the whole house smell just wonderful.

The only thing better than homemade bread is homemade bread with homemade jam! I had some strawberries starting to get old in the fridge so I made a small batch of strawberry jam...mmmm

Here is Ada my quality control tester....she says "Yummy"
Peanut butter & jelly.

Calvin agrees!

It also is good with lunch meat. (dig that plate)

MMMMMM

Madeline Angel

Happy Saint Patricks Day a Little Late

Don't send a lame St. Patrick's Day eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

My New Hairstyle

This pile of hair is mine. Sorry Carol...I just couldn't stand it any longer and had Rebecca cut it off. Unfortunately, the memory on my camera filled up and I haven't taken a picture of my new style. Rebecca did a great job...I love my new bob, just about at my shoulders.

Aunt Maddy Sheds More Light on the Photo Below

Sherri Lynn,
I love checking out your email. It is always uplifting and beautiful.

FYI: You mentioned your Great Grandfather Joe (bride's father) on the far right of the back row ----- your other Great Grandfather (Morris) is the man on the left of your Grandfather Sepe (the groom). The men you did not I.D. are cousins of the groom, except for Grandpa Sepe's best friend, the one standing next to GG Joe.

Oh, all the women you did not identify ---- they are cousins of the bride.....

This is a magnificent photo. Thanks for sharing.


xoxoxox

Thank you Auntie Maddy

Blast to the Past Photo of the Week

(Click on photo to enlarge)

The beautiful bride pictured here in this photo is my lovely Grandma Virginia. I believe that the year was 1937 but that is just a guess. Just above the bride is the handsome groom...my Grandpa Sepe. I recognize a few of the attendants...Just to the left of the bride is her sister, Aunt Esther...two to the right is my lovely Aunt Vicky. Just to the right of the groom is my Grandma's brother, Uncle Mike...the second and third to the left of the groom are his brothers, Uncle Jack and Uncle Joe...and to the very right is my Grandma's father, Grandpa Joe.

I love this picture. I remember when I was in my late teens or early twenties I was able to try on my Grandma's wedding dress. It had a satin under dress and a lace over dress and the veil was in very delicate condition.

This Was Our Fun Day at the River

Here Michael is getting ready to launch the boat in the Colorado River.

On our way to the ramp.
Here we are backing down the ramp.

Now Michael un-hitches the boat...
...and pushes us (me and the boat) into the water...

...now he drives back up the ramp and parks...
Here he comes running down the dock to jump into the boat as I slowly move toward the dock...

Now we're off...
This is in the gorge...one of my favorite places to be.

We decided to turn off the motor and just float down the river.
We just floated for about two hours...it was so fun...even though we didn't catch any fish, we had a wonderful time.

Now That's Clean

Rebecca and Kellie trade baby-sitting. This day Rebecca was watching Esther while Kellie went to school. We couldn't resist taking a shot of these two cutie pies taking a bath in Grandma's sink.

Kid Tested, Mother Approved

Last night Mike and I tended all four of our grand babies while their parents went out on a date. This was the first time that we were responsible for all of them at once. We turned off the lights throughout the whole house except for the room that we were in and shut the door so that they wouldn't want to roam around. We then put on Sprout TV and watched the Good Night Show and played with toys. This picture is of the three older ones sitting on the couch enjoying their little bowls of Kix.
They were so cute and good for us.

Happy Birthday Grandma Shirley!

Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Mark came over for Grandma's Birthday. We had a Wii bowling tournament. Mike was the official winner but Grandpa Mark played and awsome consulation playoff game with a score of 229 and six strike in a row...way to go Grandpa!!! We then sang Happy Birthday to Grandma...Rebecca looks like she is really into that cake.

Esther Can Walk

Esther has gotten the courage to walk on her own...oh happy day!

This is Great

This is very inspirational. You'll need about ten minutes to watch.

Blast to the Past Photo of the Week

This week's Blast to the Past photo is of my Mom and Dad holding their precious little bundle of joy (me). They are standing in front of my Dad's parent's home on 9th Ave. in Los Angeles.

Our Cabin Adventures

(Click on the pictures to enlarge) We just got back from a fun weekend in the mountains. There was a lot of snow surprisingly. We had to dig our way into the cabin. But once we got in we were able to light a fire and warm up. I hadn't been up when there was a lot of snow in a long time; and I forgot how fun it was.

This is the creek by our cabin that runs from the top of the mountains in Fawnskin and empties into Big Bear Lake. The weather was real warm and the snow was starting to melt.

This is our hidden little sledding area. This was a holiday weekend and yet we were the only ones there. It was sooooo fun. Aaron was having a blast riding that green disc down the hill. He just had to make sure that he stopped before he slid into the creek.


Here is Sam and Erika on the tobagan flying down the hill.

Let's do it again!

My husband is so wonderful...he walks on water....literally. He convinced us to do the same. At first I was afraid and my heart was pounding out of my chest...then I realized that we were okay and wouldn't fall through. Even if we did we would be in about at our waists.
The kids standing on the lake.

After our hike to the lake we stopped off at the park to have some fun. Janet and I are having a blast on the teeter totter.

Then it was Aaron, Erika and Nolan's turn.

Sam flying in the air...jumping off of the swing.

Here are a couple of shots inside the cabin. It is really old fashioned in there. Our refrigerater is older than I am and it still works really well.
Here is my wood burning/gas oven. We don't use it as an oven because the building inspector said that it was a fire hazard and we should disable it. I love it anyway.

This is what keeps us warm. The only source of heat...that is until Aunt Vicky gave us us this really awesome portable oven.

This not only bakes tasty cakes...it also warms up the kitchen. Aunt Vicky gave me her very old portable oven. It is in great shape and works very well. Janet and I thought that it would be fun to try it out and make Nolan a birthday cake.

Well...here it is...we made two layers out of loaf pans and frosted it with chocolate frosting....

MMM Good!
(Thanks Aunt Vicky!)

The kids decorated it with candles....

Seventeen to be exact.....

Happy birthday dear Nolan....

Happy birthday, to you...make a wish!

Home Schooling at the Library

Today was "Library Day". Zach comes with us on Wednesdays to do his math. Aaron likes the library too. Their favorite thing to do is to go downstairs to the food cart and eat lunch. Their "usual" is Nestle's Strawberry milk for Aaron and Nestle's Chocolate milk for Zach and creamy macaroni and cheese heated up in the microwave.

Where's Your Nose??

Where's Calvin's nose?

Where's Kirby's nose?

President Hinkley

For those of you who don't know, Gordon B. Hinkley, the president of the "Chrurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint" (the church that I belong to), passed away last week at the age of 97. One of my friends has challenged me and many others to Read the Book of Mormon in 97 days (for every year of President Hinkley's life). I am accepting this challenge and challenging all who would like to to do the same. I will be posting my progress (to the right of my blog under my profile picture) daily. If you click on it, it will take you to the challenge website. President Hinkley will surely be missed!