Our Favorite Bread

I've always had a fascination with homemade bread. I love the way it tastes and the way it makes my home smell. I love places like Great Harvest that bake bread fresh daily. In Utah, you can buy good bread at the grocery store. (I classify good bread as bread that tastes homemade.) When we lived out of state, I was always so disappointed in the selection of bread at the grocery stores. Things like Sara Lee, Orowheat and Wonder just don't cut it! During law school, we had a bread-maker and I would make homemade bread with it, but it took up too much space in our small kitchen and I parted with it on one of our many moves. I stopped making bread because in my mind, making it on my own without a bread-maker was too long and hard. For the most part, I did without bread, because if it wasn't delicious, it wasn't worth eating. I bought my kids the cheapest whole wheat bread money could buy.

Right after we moved to Oceanside, our Relief Society had a bread-making night. I went. My main motivation for attending was for the free home-made bread samples, but my friend teaching the class used her Bosch to make the bread. I have a Bosch and I had NEVER used it to make bread. I watched her do it and was amazed at how easy it was. She also used a few ingredients that I have never used to make the bread even better. I swear by whole grain white spring wheat, dough enhancer, a little bread flour or some vital wheat gluten. After realizing how yummy the bread was, I started making my own bread every week. I would make 4 loaves a week and my family LOVED it. Well, my Bosch broke last Christmas and I kept searching for a place to get it fixed. The only places I could find were in Utah. I didn't want to have to ship my heavy Bosch and I always forgot to take it when we were visiting and so we stopped making bread. After we moved into our home, one of the first things we did was get the Bosch repaired. Now we're back to our bread-making and everyone is soooooo happy. (Except for my jeans, lots of homemade bread isn't great for the derrier ;) ) It feels so good to have my family asking for homemade bread rather than treats or junk food when they want a snack.

From start to finish I would say it takes about 2 hours. 1 hour 35 minutes is for of that time is for the rising and baking, so really it's rather quick! I am now very comfortable making bread, so now it's time to hone another skill that scares me.... perhaps baking a turkey? Improving my sewing skills? Gardening? Editing home videos? Turning my blog into a book? Bring it on! The recipe is included below. I found it easier to make the bread having watched her. I learn more by doing, it really helped to be alongside her as she made the bread.
Whole Wheat Bread

6 c. warm water (115 degrees)

2 Tbsp. salt

½ C. canola oil

2/3 to 1c. honey

3 Tbsp dough enhancer (I get this from Emergency Essentials, you can order it online)

2 c. high gluten bread flour or 2/3 c. vital wheat gluten

3 Tbsp. instant yeast

6-8 c. freshly ground wheat flour.

(The recipe uses altogether 14-16c. fresh ground flour, or store bought whole grain white wheat flour, but the rest of the flour is added after the original mixing.)

Mix together in mixer on high speed to mix well. Turn mixer down to kneading speed and keep adding wheat flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer. Don’t add too much flour, the dough should still be slightly sticky at this point. (I usually tap my finger on it and if it's sticky but doesn't stick to my finger, then it's good.)

Knead for 10 min till dough is smooth and elastic. (By kneading, I stick it in my Bosch, put the lid on and turn it on low for 10 minutes and clean-up the kitchen while it kneads.) If it still is too sticky, add a little bread flour until it’s easy to handle.

Turn dough onto oiled counter (I spray my counters with Pam), I have my kids wash their hands and help me punch it down as I prepare it for the loaf pans. They love this part. Shape into loaves. This will make about 4-5 loaves. Place into well greased pans and let rise till dough is 2” above top of pan. (About an hour or so.) Bake at 350 for 35 min. Take our of pans and cool on racks. Enjoy!!!

*I really like using white wheat. If I'm not using freshly ground wheat, when I buy the flour at the store, I look for the words white wheat or spring wheat and try to stay away from using hard red wheat. I'll use a little heard red wheat for a little stronger flavor, but not exclusively because I feel it makes my bread too heavy. The white wheat is a whole grain, but it has a lighter texture so I've found it makes my bread lighter. If you buy the wheat flour, instead of grinding your own wheat, you have to look on the package, because many of the whole wheat flours are used with hard red wheat (you'll find the hard red wheat is usually less expensive so sometimes I'll mix it with the white wheat).

Family Home Evening with the Vests

Every 2nd Sunday of each month we get together with my family for a Family Home Evening Lesson. (*See below to find out what Family Home Evening is all about.) We switch off meeting at different family member's homes, taking turns with the lesson and the refreshments. We all really look forward to these nights. Our kids love being with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This past month we met at Stephen and Emily's. Chad and Jenn gave a great lesson on tithing, complete with a fun fishing activity to reinforce the principles they taught.

The highlight of our last FHE was when Stephen brought Shadow, the dog, to come in and play.

What did “family unity” mean to the pioneer family who made their way by ox cart across the plains? Or to the hardy people who settled your country? For many of these people, family unity was both a necessity and a natural result of their way of life. Their families lived and worked together. They relied heavily on each other for companionship, safety, and survival.

But in our fast-paced world, many of us change jobs and homes several times in a lifetime. As a result, we have learned to depend less on family. In many of our homes, where television and outside activities compete for our attention, family members may actually feel isolated from one another.

Today, like families in the past, your family has a strong need for unity. Your family came to this earth from a loving home with our Father in Heaven. We lived in a family with Heavenly Father. We live in a family now, and we may live with our family eternally if we are worthy. ("Lesson Twenty-one: Family Unity," Family Home Evening Resource Book (1997), 92)

*Family Home Evening, also known as FHE, is an activity that we have in our church that is carried out in the home. It's time set aside each week (typcially Monday nights, but can be any night) where we consciously take time out of our busy schedules to strenghten relationships within our immediate (and sometimes extended) family. FHE might look like a lesson about a principle of the Gospel and making correct choices, it might look like a service project, or attending a play or concert or museum, or pulling weeds in our backyard. The sky's the limit. It's basically just spending time to become more unified as a family.

Hard to Say Good-bye!

In September I received a letter from the California DMV telling me that my drivers license was to expire on my birthday this year. I had the option to pay $31 for a renewal. I pondered on it. I didn't want to give up my CA license! I can't exactly pinpoint why, but I do have such fond memories of our time there. I also think surrendering my license made our relocation to Utah seem even more real. I would be lying if I didn't say it probably had to do something with the ability to get discounted annual passes at Disneyland. And as embarrassing as it is to admit, I also felt a little California pride when I had to show my license when making a purchases here in Utah. There are many great things about California that I love. (There's also alot of not-so-great, but I'm looking through my rosy glasses talking about the best of California right now).

Anyway, I debated back and forth about what to do. I held on to the letter. It would be so much easier to send it in and renew my license rather than making a trip to the Utah DMV to fill our paperwork and to take a test, not to mention finding someone to watch my boys and making it there and back in time to get everyone to and from school. I filled it out to renew, dreaming about maybe getting Disney passes for another year, but on the part where you sign it says something like....I promise that all of the above is true....blah, blah, blah...I couldn't bring myself to sign it. It felt dishonest, so I made an appointment to the DMV to give up another piece of our time in California. :( They actually let me keep my license as a souvenir, YAY! (They did punch two big holes in it, but I have it for sentimental value, is that silly or what?)

I aced the test, but I would be worried if I hadn't because Utah offers an open-book test. Thanks goes to Emily for watching my boys so I didn't have to have them running around while I took the test. It was hard enough sitting next to the man who read each question out-loud, breathing heavily. At the end, when he didn't pass, he said loudly, "Oh come on! That's ridiculous!"

Santa Paws

I feel like such a bad mom when I see this picture. Everyone desperately wants a dog, except for me. I can't even remember to take the clothes out of the dryer, there's no way I would remember to feed a dog, take it out to go to the bathroom, brush it's teeth, keep it up on its shots, etc.

We went to visit Adam and Karen a few weeks ago and Isaac loved all over Santa Paws. She is very cute, but we'd have to hire a dog nanny.

Let it Snow!

This was the view from our bedroom a couple of weeks ago. I'll admit, the first snowfall I wasn't thrilled about, but I think I'm learning to like it (as long as the roads are clear). To the kids? Well it's just about as exciting as Christmas morning!

Our Little Scientist

A few days after Halloween, Aaron told me he needed some paper to eat his Halloween treats. A few minutes later I looked over and found that he had graphed all of his Skittles. Clever! I must say that takes patience!

Halloween 2011

Halloween was a whirl this year. I think it is every year. It follows a couple of birthdays in our family and this October was exceptionally busy. We had Fall Break in the middle of the month and spent most of the week at Disneyland and then we came home to celebrate Brynn's birthday. Five days later, we headed to a cabin near Zion National Park with my parents and some of our mutual friends. We came home to celebrate Isaac's birthday and then the next day was Halloween. Whew!

We have a closet full of costumes (not kidding) but every year the kids want to be something other than what we have in the closet. Usually I cave and grant their requests, adding to that closet, but this year I decided to put my foot down and declare that we were using things we had. I am tired of the frantic run trying to find all the perfect things for them to wear one night and then be done with. The kids obliged and except for the fireman costume I bought for Aaron at Costco (yes, the one he wore for a week straight, but wouldn't wear on Halloween), everything came from things we already owned.

Brynn wanted to be a mime, but driving home from Zion on Sunday night I said, "Brynn we've got to come up with something else. We are in no way prepared to make you a mime." I suggested she be a marathon runner. She was excited to do that and she looked really cute.

Abby decided to be a good witch, using a skirt that she borrowed from Grandma's costume bin, her hat from last year, and some of her own clothes. She was a very cute good witch.

Aaron woke up and put on his race car costume from last year. Total floods, but I have no pride anymore. I was really hoping he would wear his fireman costume. He looked so great in it, but no such luck. I'm choosing to let him exercise agency. :)

Isaac wore the pirate hat and cape in the morning for a few minutes and in the evening he became Peter Pan. I think this was the third year he was Peter Pan. Aaron used it for about two years and it was a dress-up that Abby wore before that. Annette gave it to us when Abby went through a 9 month phase where she wouldn't let us call her anything but Peter Pan. It's one of my favorite costumes. I wish it came in my size. I LOVE Peter Pan!

It was a crazy day! I got the kids off in the morning and then rushed to the school to make it there for the parade. Aaron joined the a.m. kinders and then got confused and lost at the end (neither of us realized he would be joining the parade until the teacher pulled him into the parade enroute through the school). After finding him with his friend's mom, he looked at me with a tear-stained face and said over and over, "I didn't know what I was supposed to do." He's all about following procedures and when he doesn't know a procedure or when we shake things up a bit without warning, he becomes undone. After we reunited and talked things over, we hurried home to get the musical activity ready that I had promised to do for his class party. While I prepared, he and Isaac made a HUGE mess putting cereal all over the counter and floor. I was in the same room, but couldn't stop things fast enough. By the time I finished and the preparations and fed my tiger cubs it was time to get Aaron to p.m. kinder. I had yet to shower, but there was no time for that. After the class party, school ended so we headed home to get ready for the kids to go to choir and then after choir it was time to go home to clean the house for Trick-or-Treating. Did we eat dinner? I'm not really sure? I vaguely remember purposely feeding them something sugarless, but who know's? I'm not even sure what the kids wore Trick-or-Treating, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't what they wore to school. I had a relaxing evening at home handing out candy while Joseph traipsed through the neighborhood with the kids. I was happy to say farewell to Halloween and hello to monitoring the kids sugar intake. Halloween is a love/hate for me. I love Fall and Halloween is part of Fall. I love seeing people use their creativity, get outside of themselves, dress-up and have fun. I am not creative and I hate having to think of costumes and spending the money on things they will wear for one night. I hate the fact that they are given a truck-load of stuff that might turn into a soft addiction, ruin their teeth and make them sick. 'Til next year...cheers to you Halloween!

Disneyland

We decided to join the Utah Exodus to Anaheim (also known as UEA). I pulled the kids out of school on Monday and we headed down with my parents to St. George to watch "The Little Mermaid" at Tuacahn. It was great! We woke up the next morning and headed for Anaheim. We spent a great 4 days at the park and had a great time. My parents came with us for the first half and then they drove to Arizona to see Wade, Sara, and Sami. Joseph flew in for the last couple of days and then drove home with us. I didn't get any pictures of my parents with the girls at Disneyland, I always forget details like that. :( That is a memory I wish to remember. My parents went with my girls on all the crazy rides that the boys are too scared or too small to ride on. It was great, but I think it wiped them out. I went around in between doing rides with the boys and got them fast passes so they didn't have to wait in any lines. It was lots of fun having them there with us. Here are my low quality pictures, but nonetheless, they are reminders of the memory.

Barnyard Boo

We had a great time celebrating Fall at Thanksgiving Point Farm Country's Barnyard Boo. My parents joined us with baby Stephen. We all loved it. Stephen especially enjoyed being pulled on the tractor trailer and riding a pony. They headed home and we enjoyed dinner at the deli.

Beauty Rest

Sweet Abby brought her sleeping mask to the hotel. She wanted to make sure she had a very restful nights sleep before we headed to Disneyland. I absolutely love this girl.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

The kids all received great reports from their teachers at parent-teacher conferences. I attended conferences in the order of oldest to youngest and it's funny how you pretty much know what will be brought up based on what you already know of each of their different personalities. Brynn's said she is very attentive, and a very hard worker, but also very quiet. Her goal is to speak up more in class. I told her teacher that I could bet him money that when I went to the next class I would be told that my child talks too much. Sure enough, Mrs. Black told me what an excellent student and reader Abby is, but that she talks NONSTOP! No surprise. She is our commentator. She has something to say about everything. We love it, but it also gets her in trouble sometimes. Aaron was the wild card. We were so uncertain about whether we should send him or not. She was surprised I even questioned sending him and told he is doing very well and that we should question no more. I felt relieved. I compare my kids to each other too much, so it was nice to have an outsider's perspective. Below are their handwriting samples. I love them all, but really got a kick out of Abby's. So funny the things kids hold onto in their memory.

First Snow!

Our first snow of the season. It came a little too early for my liking, but the excitement of the kids was great. As a child I loved the waking up to the surprise of snow blanketing the earth. I would prefer it in the mountains now, but I must admit, it's exciting to see my kids experience their dream of "living where it snows."

We panicked and headed to Cabelas to buy winter coats that night. Thankfully we've had few nice fall days since. :)