Something New

So, this weekend my husband cooked a wonderful meal from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and we had some dear friends over to share in the bounty. I have had a desire for a while to try making homemade bread, but I had not purued this interest until recently. Why, you ask? I wasn't sure I wanted to buy a breadmaking machine mostly due to cost and space concerns in our kitchen. But, a friend from our homeschooling group shared her story about these 2 books: Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day & Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day. I got them from Amazon along with the platic container(s) you see in the fridge. It really is simple. You mix up the ingredients- no kneading involved, tear off a portion of the dough, let it rise and bake it when you want fresh bread. I have only made a couple of the recipes, but it is tasty. My contribution to the weekend meal was a freshly baked French Boule of bread. Doing it this way is also economical- costing a fraction of what healthy bread costs in the store. I have made whole wheat sandwich bread as well.

The Tulips are included in the blog just because they are pretty in the dining room. The other pic is of my dear friends, Kristy and Debby. It's the only picture we took that night. I had intended to take more of the actual meal, but my camera batteries went dead.

So, what else is going on around here? Ed leaves for 16 days in Kenya on Friday. Please pray for the medical team as they travel and minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the children and their families in Kijabe. I am back to sewing smaller things for the girls, and I've just purchased some adorable new patterns from the Handmade Dress and landed some clearance boutique fabric from Chez Ami (some for only $3 per yard). I just couldn't resist. I hope to sew a lot while Ed is gone, and we plan to make a trip to Kentucky to see all our relatives there- which is including a trip to Louisville to see my brother and sister who live there. I have not been to Louisville in at least 10 years- maybe I've been once since finishing grad school at U of L. Anywho, Jenna is up now and ready to be "breakfast helper" so I need to go.