A Little Christmas Note

I am realizing something, we have do it yourself projects with our family ALL THE TIME. The difficulty comes in documentation. We have quite the backlog to get caught up on here! There are honey, kimchi, apple pie filling, applesauce, and plenty of other articles in the works; hopefully we'll be able to get those up over Christmas break. As always, the projects just keep coming. 

This week we have been working on one of our favorite Christmas traditions. Rather than purchasing gifts for our immediate family, we have a family rule that all presents have to be hand made. As our kids are still young, we work with them to make creative gifts to share. We may not have an elf on our shelf, or a daily activity advent, but we sure love the thought and effort that goes into each of these gifts, as well as the memories that we make as we work on them. 

As we all enjoy our favorite Christmas and holiday traditions, we would love for you to share some of your own here. We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season, and a Merry Christmas!

A fresh coat of paint: part 1 kitchen

Though most of our projects are food related (what can I say, we love food), self sufficiency is more than being able to make our own food. In fact, anything we learn to do for ourselves helps us to become more self sufficient. 

For the last few months I have been getting itchy for a change. Our eventual goal is to purchase farmland, and in so doing have more resources for the lifestyle we choose to live. But for now we are where we are, a family of seven in a cute little three bedroom house. It's what we can afford, and though it is small, and in the suburbs, we love our home. 

Over the years, as is the norm with small children, our home has been exposed to a lot of wear and tear. Having small children is basically a guarantee of floods, stained carpets, and writing on the walls. My current project has been to beautify our home with a fresh coat of paint. 

Painting a home is something I've never done before. I grew up in military housing, (my dad worked on the base as a civilian) and we were not permitted to paint the homes we rented. I got so bored with the off-white walls, but it wasn't my place to paint.  In my adult life we rented as well, until we were blessed with this house. Even here it has been difficult to convince Henry that we needed some color on our walls. 

Finally I decided that I was going to take the work on myself, as I could see that I was on my own. I picked out a color, and got a reluctant agreement from Henry as he prefers the white.  Over the next few months I have spent what little free time I could find prepping and painting. Yesterday with the help of a friend the last of the work was completed, at least in my kitchen. 

I am so happy with the results, I feel like I'm in a whole new kitchen!  I'm looking forward to my next color, and moving forward with improving my home!

(Note: the brownish stain on the cealing above the sink is the remnants of an apple beer experiment explosion a few years ago.  Not everything is the kids fault...  I still have more painting to do, but my wasabi green is done!)

Homemade Bread

 

How many of you love fresh homemade bread?  The aroma that fills your home as it bakes, the warm crunch of the crust, the soft chewy center; slathered in melted butter or with jam it's just delicious!

Bread is a staple for many of us. It can be incorporated into any meal of the day. There are isles devoted to it in the grocery store. Why is it that homemade bread has become only an occasional treat?  Has convenience truly taken over so completely?

It's true, making bread takes time; something that most of us lack. It also takes some skill, and a lot of practice. Despite these constraints, making your own bread can be very rewarding. The best part is knowing exactly what is going into it. 

Did you know that there are 31 ingredients in a loaf of regular white wonder bread, including high fructose corn syrup. Many other grocery store brands also have similar ingredient lists.  In fact, it is quite difficult to find without corn syrup; especially one that tastes good. 

Over the years, as part of my current career path of 'stay at home mommy,' I have had the opportunity to learn how to phase out the middle man and perfect my own bread. In order to make efficient use of time it has required purchase of equipment and scheduling, but it works for us. I don't even have to be home all day. 

Over time I have worked out a recipe, based on my great grandmothers, that I am quite happy with. I use natural ingredients, and have worked out a system that saves a lot of time. (Though without my Bosh mixer it would take considerably longer.)  The batch usually lasts about 10 days, and produces 11 small loaves. ( big family)

I have discovered that when using fresh, natural ingredients it improves the flavor and texture. The bread also stays moist longer. 

So, here's what's in it. 

4 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 Tablespoons yeast

4 tablespoons white sugar

4-5 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons salt

1 1/2 cup butter

4 eggs

15-18 cups bread flour

And here is the recipe. 

Krista's Bread

4 Cups Whole Milk

Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until a thin layer of skin can be seen on top of the milk. At this point milk is scalded. Let it cool slightly before adding to other ingredients. While waiting for the milk combine dry ingredients in large bowl. 

1 1/2 Cup lukewarm water

2 Generous Tablespoons yeast

2-4 Tablespoons sugar

Sprinkle yeast and sugar over water, and let sit. 

4-5 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 Cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons salt

1 1/2 Cup butter

Once dry ingredients are mixed slice butter into chunks and add to dry ingredients than add scalded milk to melt butter.

4 eggs

10-12 Cups bread flour

Once butter is melted and add bread flour (I like a mixture of white and wheat flour, and bread flour has a great consistency)  a cup at a time until a hospitable temperature for yeast mixture has been reached. Add yeast mix, and than eggs, and once combined continue to add flour a cup at a time kneading until mixture is tacky to the touch. 

Once dough is mixed I always coat it in a thin layer of Olive oil, or vegetable oil, to trap in the moisture.  You can also cover it with a damp cloth to further lock in the moisture.  At this point it will need time to rise until at least doubled in bulk, usually a few hours depending on how warm your house is.

Once it is risen you can prepare your pans and form your loaves.

 At this Point, since you will not be working the dough again it is best to cover with a dry cloth, if you choose to cover the loaves as they rise.  In my opinion, the crust tastes better, and has a better consistency, if the top is a little dry before baking.

 Once the dough has again at least doubled in bulk it is time to bake!  The bread bakes in a 350* oven for 30 minutes.  Once pulled from the oven it must be removed from the pans, as it will sweat.  I like to place it on it's side to cool for optimal airflow; this helps to insure a crisp crust.

The bread can be stored in plastic bread bags, or gallon sized ziplock bags.  If this batch is a bit to large for your family it is not difficult to half the batch.  It can be frozen to preserve freshness, that is if it lasts that long!  

Our Family

My husband and I have five young children (so far).  We have always been interested in finding ways to create things ourselves that we enjoy. We figure if someone else can make it for us, then we can make it for ourselves.   

Up until now we have had many experiments. Early on in our marriage a friend taught me how to make, and jar, apricot jam.  Since then we have had the opportunity to fill our pantry with many different home canning products; jams, fruits, salsa, pickled beets, pinto beans, and even pork loin and roast turkey. We spent a summer learning the process to ferment cabbage into sauerkraut and kimchi. We set up a beehive, and learned just how strange bees are. We find recipes for things like hummus, using the most basic ingredients. And most recently we are learning how to make cheese in our own kitchen. 

There are so many great experiences we have had learning how to do things ourselves, that we've decided that it is time to share some of these with you. We hope you enjoy learning with us!