Another family picture:
Another One:
Remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season!
Take care,
Southern Belle and family
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
What a difference a recipie makes!
It has fallen and it won’t get up, lol!
Well, this phrase refers to my frustration when I was baking my bread today. I did everything I usually do. I ground the right amount of wheat. I made it it with a recipe that I have been using from the grain of truth. It makes a big batch and that is one of the reasons that I like it. I let it rise for the 30 minutes and it did. I had already preheated the oven to 350. I let the gluten activate. I put the loaves in the oven and then they seemed to fall a little, well okay more than I wanted. There was NO roundness on my bread at all. Ya know I go into these Grain stores where they bake their own bread and their loaves are so tall and rounded. I am trying to bake some loaves for a family in need (see my previous post) and make a goodie basket for them. Anyone who knows me that there are a few things that irritate me and I am a complete perfectionist at. One of those things is cooking and baking. I love it but today it got to me. Well, I thought okay, I am going to do a different recipe. I tried this one:
2 c hot water
1/3 c honey
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c vital wheat gluten
1 tbsp yeast
2 t salt
5-7 c whole wheat flour
This one makes only 2 loaves and I let it rise the same amount of time. I did the sponging technique and mixed for 8 mins to activate the gluten. They didn’t rise as much as the first ones. I put it in a warm (off) oven and turned the temp to 350, then baked it for 350. I did get a rounded top, although not as much as I have seen other have. I was okay with the bread.
Enough to send it out to others. Anyone of my readers/friends have any suggestions. Btw I have 2 new NORPRO pans for my birthday last week. Two of the medium ones and I love them. The bread seems to pop out.
UPDATE:
As much as I try to use ALL whole wheat flour, I decided to add in for each loaf of bread, ½ c of regular bread flour. I also have been allowing my bread to rise on top of the oven then putting it inside, this time I turned the oven on to 200 degrees and let it preheat. I then turned it off. I put the bread inside and allowed it to rise for 45 min instead of 30. I then turned the oven to 350 and baked for 30 minutes (as usual). I got much better results this time.
Let me know your suggestions.
Southern Belle
It has fallen and it won’t get up, lol!
Well, this phrase refers to my frustration when I was baking my bread today. I did everything I usually do. I ground the right amount of wheat. I made it it with a recipe that I have been using from the grain of truth. It makes a big batch and that is one of the reasons that I like it. I let it rise for the 30 minutes and it did. I had already preheated the oven to 350. I let the gluten activate. I put the loaves in the oven and then they seemed to fall a little, well okay more than I wanted. There was NO roundness on my bread at all. Ya know I go into these Grain stores where they bake their own bread and their loaves are so tall and rounded. I am trying to bake some loaves for a family in need (see my previous post) and make a goodie basket for them. Anyone who knows me that there are a few things that irritate me and I am a complete perfectionist at. One of those things is cooking and baking. I love it but today it got to me. Well, I thought okay, I am going to do a different recipe. I tried this one:
2 c hot water
1/3 c honey
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c vital wheat gluten
1 tbsp yeast
2 t salt
5-7 c whole wheat flour
This one makes only 2 loaves and I let it rise the same amount of time. I did the sponging technique and mixed for 8 mins to activate the gluten. They didn’t rise as much as the first ones. I put it in a warm (off) oven and turned the temp to 350, then baked it for 350. I did get a rounded top, although not as much as I have seen other have. I was okay with the bread.
Enough to send it out to others. Anyone of my readers/friends have any suggestions. Btw I have 2 new NORPRO pans for my birthday last week. Two of the medium ones and I love them. The bread seems to pop out.
UPDATE:
As much as I try to use ALL whole wheat flour, I decided to add in for each loaf of bread, ½ c of regular bread flour. I also have been allowing my bread to rise on top of the oven then putting it inside, this time I turned the oven on to 200 degrees and let it preheat. I then turned it off. I put the bread inside and allowed it to rise for 45 min instead of 30. I then turned the oven to 350 and baked for 30 minutes (as usual). I got much better results this time.
Let me know your suggestions.
Southern Belle
Monday, December 11, 2006
GIFT IDEAS
In our church, we have family of families that has been through devastating illnesses. The husband had a cyst on his liver and other issues. He is self-employed, and has been out of work and has no health insurance. Our church is gathering a suprise shower for them at Christmas and we were asked to give them gifts to lighten their spirits. You know I wonder how many of us, could be in a similar situation within no-time. Well as we try to be the "church" and minister to them I was trying to figure out what to do. My mother-in-law and I went Christmas shopping this last Friday. While at Target, I saw these plastic Popcorn holders, for $1, to put popcorn in. After that, we were in Linens and Things. They had the same containers, with Fiddle Faddle, a box of microwave popcorn, and two box
es of movie candy for, get this $14.99. That gave me an idea. I went to "Deals" one of the BEST dollar stores. There I found, a oblong basket, the microwave popcorn, the straw to go into the popcorn boxes, the movie candy and the plastic for the bag. I will assemble this with a $5 GC to Blockbuster. Also I did chocolate and mint flavored plastic spoons. I bought a box of hot chocolate, two ceramic cups and some of the spoons and put it in a basket. I will add a GC to Starbucks. I am doing a third basket. The third one has a pot holder, Christmas hand towel and bread warmer (tile) all from the $1 Deals store. I am going to bake a loaf of homemade bread and some Christmas goodies and put those in that basket too. I thought I would pass along these great ideas, that wont break your budget. OHH they also have great tissue paper (plastic) with Christmas printed on it at Deals to line the baskets.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas,
Southern Belle
In our church, we have family of families that has been through devastating illnesses. The husband had a cyst on his liver and other issues. He is self-employed, and has been out of work and has no health insurance. Our church is gathering a suprise shower for them at Christmas and we were asked to give them gifts to lighten their spirits. You know I wonder how many of us, could be in a similar situation within no-time. Well as we try to be the "church" and minister to them I was trying to figure out what to do. My mother-in-law and I went Christmas shopping this last Friday. While at Target, I saw these plastic Popcorn holders, for $1, to put popcorn in. After that, we were in Linens and Things. They had the same containers, with Fiddle Faddle, a box of microwave popcorn, and two box
es of movie candy for, get this $14.99. That gave me an idea. I went to "Deals" one of the BEST dollar stores. There I found, a oblong basket, the microwave popcorn, the straw to go into the popcorn boxes, the movie candy and the plastic for the bag. I will assemble this with a $5 GC to Blockbuster. Also I did chocolate and mint flavored plastic spoons. I bought a box of hot chocolate, two ceramic cups and some of the spoons and put it in a basket. I will add a GC to Starbucks. I am doing a third basket. The third one has a pot holder, Christmas hand towel and bread warmer (tile) all from the $1 Deals store. I am going to bake a loaf of homemade bread and some Christmas goodies and put those in that basket too. I thought I would pass along these great ideas, that wont break your budget. OHH they also have great tissue paper (plastic) with Christmas printed on it at Deals to line the baskets.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas,
Southern Belle
Monday, December 04, 2006
I do have a weak spot for chocolate and mint. Also I have many friends and family that don't read my emails so I thought I would post this here. Enjoy!
Mint Truffle Cookies
1 ¼ c sucanat
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c coconut oil
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 ½ c whole wheat pastry flour
¼ c unsweetened cocoa
1 t baking powder
¼ t salt
1 pkg (4.67 oz) Andes mints (or half pkg Andes chips)
Glaze:
2 squares white bark
green baking/melting chips
wintergreen/cream de menthe flavoring
Combine sucanat, butter, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat at low speed of electric mixer until soft dough forms. Stir in mints. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill 2 to 3 hours or until firm. Heat oven to 375°. Shape dough into 1" balls. Place balls 2" apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until set. Cool completely. Glaze: melt candy coating, mint flavoring and green baking chips in microwave according to directions. Pip or drizzle glaze (I used a squirt bottle from Wilton but either way is YUMMY!) over cookies to form stripes.
You could use white chocolate chips for the glaze, works just fine.
Happy baking!
Mint Truffle Cookies
1 ¼ c sucanat
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c coconut oil
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 ½ c whole wheat pastry flour
¼ c unsweetened cocoa
1 t baking powder
¼ t salt
1 pkg (4.67 oz) Andes mints (or half pkg Andes chips)
Glaze:
2 squares white bark
green baking/melting chips
wintergreen/cream de menthe flavoring
Combine sucanat, butter, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat at low speed of electric mixer until soft dough forms. Stir in mints. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill 2 to 3 hours or until firm. Heat oven to 375°. Shape dough into 1" balls. Place balls 2" apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until set. Cool completely. Glaze: melt candy coating, mint flavoring and green baking chips in microwave according to directions. Pip or drizzle glaze (I used a squirt bottle from Wilton but either way is YUMMY!) over cookies to form stripes.
You could use white chocolate chips for the glaze, works just fine.
Happy baking!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
New Favorite Christmas Decorating Idea!
I cannot take all of the credit for this. I watched a show, one late night on HGTV on Decorating. One of the things they had done was this one. Since I am a Picture NUT, I fell in love with the idea! I am going to pass it along in case you haven't seen it.
Here it is:
Supplies Needed:
Large Artifical wreath
wired wide ribbon 2.5-3" wide
thin red ribbon 1" wide
holiday picks (.99 and 30% off)
4x6 inexpensive picture frames ($1.99 each)
I found a LARGE artifical wreath on sale at Old Time Pottery (others at Hobby Lobby were 8 times the cost). I made a bow out of ribbon and wrapped it on my wreath. I planned it out and I was able to get 7 frames on my wreath. I found 7 pictures from 1993-2005 of our family at Christmas. I spray painted the frames (took out the glass and backing) gold. I cut 7 pieces of thin (1" wide) and folded it and glued it with hot glue and then glued it to the back of the frame (as a loop). I arranged the pictures, oldest to newest and put the picks in. That is it. Here is the finished product! Enjoy! It looks great!
View of our Living Room with Tree, Fireplace with the wreath
The Wreath!
Enjoy and let me know what you think
Southern Belle
HOME SWEET HOME!!!
Well 16 months ago, my family and I saw my cousin, Steve leave from Fairbanks, AK for what we thought was a 12 month tour to Iraq. He was there and located in Mosul and ready to come home last July/Aug, when he was told that not only was he NOT going home but he was staying and his unit would be transferred to Bagdhad, and dealing with some of the toughest Secretarian violence around. Well, with tears in my eyes, my sweet cousin, is HOME! He just landed back at his base, after a 16 month tour, serving our country. He is SAFE and has all fingers and all toes. Welcome Home, Steve, Welcome Home! We love you very much and are all thankful for your safe return!
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