A Heavenly Smell (unless you have the stomach bug)

Well folks, we have had a success! As you may remember, I have had a healthy obsession with learning how to make bread. Lucky for me, and my bread making endeavors, I have a bread machine. (Quite frankly, I still have no clue how to knead bread by hand...that is my next task). So to all those who actually do make bread, by hand, please do not take offense at my claim to have made a successful loaf of bread. I am, for all intensive purposes, keenly aware that I still do not know how to "make bread". So, that aside, I have been successful at putting the correct amounts of varying ingredients into the Bread machine, and selecting the correct cycle, and pushing start. Hooray for modern conveniences!! (BTW...This is more than I could claim a week or two ago!)

Now that I have you on the edges of your seats, I will let you in on my secrets! First, a digression. You may know that the smell of walking into a bakery where delicious loaves of bread are being baked, is one of the most pleasing on earth...at least to me. A joy of baking bread at home is that very luxury...smelling it while it cooks. That warm yeasty fragrance wafting up the stairs as you go to sleep...leads you to thoughts of delicious slices of bread slathered with butter. Unless, of course, you are cursed with a stomach virus that your 8 year old son, so lovingly passed on several hours before...then, it may just be the last straw before you toss your cookies! I don't recommend making even the most heavenly smelling loaf, if your usually ravenous son, is suddenly not hungry for one of his favorite dinners. I recommend just skipping this day for bread making, altogether. I will end by saying, that normally lovely warm yeasty smell, is just. not. pleasant. AT. ALL!  This however does NOT change the fact that when I was able to peel myself out of bed, I found the most delicious fluffy loaf of bread waiting for me downstairs. And how lucky for me, that one of the suggested "post-stomach virus" foods is dry toast!

Now, onto the recipe!
The version I based my bread on was called AMISH FLUFFY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD. I made a few adjustments, so I will just put them into the recipe instead of original amounts.

First, something I have learned about bread machine "recipes" you find online: Not all bread machines bake bread the same way...and each bread machine yields different results. This may seem obvious, but if you are like me...you may rely on reviews of different things to choose recipes, but this is hit or miss. Anyway, I learned a lot from this post at the Hillbilly Housewife.  It tells you some basics about bread making in a bread machine vs. hand-making bread...this is important for amounts of ingredients, etc. Take a look if you feel so inclined!

Okay onto the recipe....really this time.

Ingredients:
Wet:
18 TBS. Warm water (This is 1 cup plus 2 TBS.)(think baby's bath water, you know test it on your wrist--too hot will kill the yeast, too low, wont activate it properly)
1 tsp. Salt (necessary for proper rising)
1/3 cup honey (you can use other sugars...necessary to activate yeast)
3 TBS. Olive Oil (any oil should work, canola, coconut, butter)
1 large, fresh egg, ROOM TEMPERATURE
Dry:

3 cups Whole Wheat Bread flour (I used Great River Organic Milling, Organic Whole Wheat Bread Flour)

1 pkg. active yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

In my bread machine(Breadman Ultimate Plus), this is how to assemble your ingredients(CHECK YOUR MANUALS---there are different ways to do this: it varies by machine)

1. Place all wet ingredients in bread machine "basket" This includes: water, Salt, Honey(or other sugar), Olive Oil, Egg slightly beaten.
2. Add flour on top of the wet, forming a "seal." You should not "see" the wet ingredients. You don't want the wet ingredients to hit the yeast in other words, before it's time.
3. Make a small "divot" on top of your flour(not too deep...don't break the seal!) Pour your yeast in your little hole. 

4. Now, select the "whole wheat" cycle on your machine. I chose "light crust." PRESS START

5....HERE IS THE TRICK... when the dough has RAISED ONECE and the 2nd kneading cycle has begun, turn the machine OFF. Then RESET at the "whole wheat cycle" Light Crust again. AND PRESS START. This is a very weird step...but trust me on this...this allows the dough two full rising cycles before the final raising prior to baking, which, in turn, makes the bread super duper fluffy and yummy. 

Now, if you have made Whole Wheat bread before, you know that it can tend to be dense, this yields a beautifully fluffy loaf of bread, toasts nice, and has a nice yeasty quality to it. It can actually be used to make sandwiches. It is lovely. Give it a go!

Next time, maybe I will post pics of the making of the bread. If I can remember...let's be honest, that may be unlikely. :)

A Whole New Chapter

Many days Two years have gone by since I last took the opportunity to get my thoughts on paper, well screen. You know what I mean. As I read back on the post I last posted, I am transported back to that turmoil I was living. It was such a tumultuous and seemingly gargantuan decision. Alas, I came through it in one piece...and so did our little homeschool. :) 

To bring you up to speed, almost EXACTLY 2 years has passed since my last post. That is weird. I got the itch to start writing again. I don't know why, but here goes. Since that day 2 years ago, we have come a long way...in my humble opinion. Last year we tried out a hybrid homeschooling situation, and while it fit for that year, we are back home full time this year! We are happily(well, in the effort to be transparent, some of us may, on occasion, be described as...hmmm...less than happy, but, hey, we all have bad days, right;) homeschooling all FIVE (yes! Baby makes 5!!) of our little blessings. And boy were we blessed by our sweet baby! She joined us in August and we couldn't be happier. Now, of course, her homeschooling consists of cuddles and coos, but those are the best kind of life skills, right? Little lady, she's 4 and adds tons of trouble  joy to our day. The big kids, they are all working hard. But, heck, any homeschooler will tell you, late january brings the winter blues, big time! It's the season of second guessing choices and progress, of wondering if you are doing enough, if your kids are going to measure up. Well, I can honestly say, we are doing our best. And, quite frankly, am pleased with what I see. Sure, I beat myself up when I start the comparison game. But, I am proud of the progress we have made. What gets tough, is when I realize, that we need to add more. And God forbid, I hope it is NOT flashcards. But of course, you know it is flashcards! I mean, math facts are the bane of my existence! At least until the child learns them...which sometimes seems will NEVER happen. But I digress. Actually, if we are going to talk bane of my existence...we talk potty training. But I am not going to go there. period.

In other news...I have started making my own bread. (To be honest, that last statement is really just to help me feel better about my disorderedly large purchase...more on that later though.) That is...I am absolutely determined that I WILL bake the bread my family eats from now on. Don't ask me why. But I am a woman on a mission. i have made about 8 loaves of bread in the past week or so. Maybe 2 weeks. Of the 8, maybe 2 were edible. Seriously, two. I mean, how stinking hard can making bread be? I have scoured the internet looking for recipes. First, I was just getting well reviewed recipes, and trying to make them in my bread machine. Well, for those of you who know better, you can stop shaking your heads...I did NOT in fact know that there were different proportions for the Bread Machine. I do now. ANyway, finding 100% whole wheat bread recipes that you home-make, and want to turn out like light fluffy sandwich bread that doesn't taste like a cardboard box, is not as easy as you might think. I finally got my first loaf to at least "look" right. It tasted ok(a little dense and somewhat doughy). That's all. Ok. Well folks, if you know me at all, you know that telling me something tastes "ok" is about as equivalent as a kick in the teeth. I don't make things that taste "ok" and stand for it. Maybe that is why I am on a mission. I don't want to suck at making bread. And for all intensive purposes, I SUCK at making bread right now! Well, I think my next trick will be to try and knead by hand. I literally have NO IDEA what I am doing. Like instead of conversing with my human friends last week, I was looking up youtube videos on how to make bread. I have a problem. I "may" have ordered a 25lb. bag of organic whole wheat bread flour. And by "a 25 bag" I "MAY" mean TWO 25 lb. bags of flour. For those of you wondering if you read that right, yes, I did in fact, say that I ordered 50 lbs. of flour! 50 POUNDS OF FLOUR!!! I must think I am running a bakery. I don't even eat that much bread. See?! Crazy obsession. I have issues. 

Okay, my kids have a class we have to get to in the morning. And did I mention my baby doesn't sleep. No?  Oh well, there you have it...Mama is tired. Good night! Sweet dreams!