We've been studying the shorter catechism, the questions about the Ten Commandments, as I taught Sunday school for two of the kids this Spring.  It's a struggle to memorize them as Bruce Benedict, our favorite catechism singer, doesn't have songs for that section.  Thankfully, Holly Dutton, the girl with the guitar, does sing and her two albums, which include The Law, are free on YouTube.  

When considering how to raise funds to attend our Family Reunion at the end of August, as well as the desire for Simeon to learn some entrepreneurship, we did think of making a coloring book to go with the 10 commandments. We did select a big font that can be colored so one slows down and notices all of the words. Since that was so easy to make, Simeon made another, it's available today, though the 10 Commandments one is in the works.  Let us know your thoughts and if we can offer improvements in a second edition! Click on the link below so we can earn affiliate funds too.  Thanks!

catechism coloring

lesson two

So the dough should have warmed up, it doesn't feel warm, it just isn't as cold as the fridge anymore. You can see that I have odd things to rise them in. One is a clay bread pan with a cloth lining it, a random basket, and a glass bread pan. I sprinkled corn meal on the two, and greased the glass one with lots of butter.

Here I shaped the dough, one round boule, and two batard shapes. Google for videos of this if it seems harder than it looks. Do initial shaping, fold in sides, mush it, roll it, etc, and let them rest for 3 minutes. Then shape them again. Dump them upside down in baskets, and right side up in bread pans.

Now let them rise for 3 hours at room temperature and then it's time to preheat the oven. If you are not using stones, then just half an hour is long enough at 450 degrees, in this case wait until 3.5 hours to preheat.

When the loaves are fully proofed they will be poked and slowly bounce back rather than quickly.

As you see in the photos below I use an old pizza pan covered in corn meal as a peel. And I did use a razor to slash the tops, nothing fancy. I baked these for 10 minutes, then turned down the oven to 425 degrees for 5, and then turned the loaf for even browning for another 5.

I baked the bread pan loaf last. I turned the oven down to 350 degrees and baked it for 25 minutes, then turned it, and baked it for another 15. It registered 195 degrees on the meat thermometer, so I knew it was safely done, even though the crust was light. It was a pretty thin crust, which made it crumble a lot. Maybe it would have held together better with a coat of butter brushed on? I don't know. I was able to cut it regardless. The other loaves were much more thickly crusted and turned out like usual.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Happy baking!

sourdough bread lesson

For all those who have some of my sourdough starter, I am now giving directions for you to make bread the way that I've learned to.

I should mention that you should avoid using metal utensils or bowls with sourdough.

I'll list the ingredients here:

2.2 lbs water (including one cup or more of sourdough starter the consistency of muffin dough)

2.8lbs of flour (half whole wheat, half bread flour, I use more like 2.4 lbs if I am making it all with white flour)

4 teaspoons of salt

This makes 3 loaves.

1) Having fed your starter the morning of your mixing the dough (the day before you bake), a few spoons of water, and a few of flour every hour or so, with a good stir, and left it in a warm place.

Dump about a cup of starter, into a bowl that you have placed on your digital scale and tared out to zero. Simeon had turned mine off, and thus all of the numbers shown in the photos are wrong. It should say about half a pound. Then add water until you reach 2.2lbs

Here I show a jar with just the drippings left, I put this back in the fridge as it has just been fed. Sorry for the chicken defrosting in the background, it looks too close for comfort. I would have moved it, but didn't want to defile my hands.

After having just added water, tare out your scale again (be sure to add your spoon before you tare it) and begin adding flour. I use about half whole wheat and half white bread flour. I added 1.4lbs of white, and then added 1.4lbs of wheat. It was a tacky dough, though not sticky (coat your fingers), and quite heavy. You want to make sure that it forms into a ball and doesnt just lay flat. If it is sticky or flat you need to add more flour, hand fulls at a time, if it forms a ball and is just tacky before you've added all the flour, stop adding flour! You will have to knead it to mix the flour in. But you can stop once it's added, the gluten gets organized in it's stay in the fridge, you don't need to knead this like regular bread.

Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place for one hour (my oven has no light in it, so the top of the stove where the pilot lights are works well). After that point you will add 4 teaspoons of salt and mix it in well (this will count as one of the four times as described below). The delay in adding salt allows the wild yeast to grow unhindered.

Once ever hour, for the next four hours you will need to fold the bread four times (just over on it self, like folding a wash cloth into eights). I use chop sticks so I dont have to get my hands dirty.

This is what mine looked like at the end of the four hour period. Now you put it in the fridge over night.

This is what it looked like in the AM, yours should have lots of bubbles that you can see on the side. Let it warm up for two to three hours, there is no need to hurry it, just keep it at room temperature.

adventures in sourdough

so i recently became obsessed with making good sourdough bread. its supposed to be healthier and all that, so i set out to make it. dor got me on to no knead bread, which actually is what started this thing, then belinda gave me some sourdough starter. so here's the first semi success, after many, ok three, failures, all of which were still edible. i think the flavor is a bit mild, i'll have to work on it some more. i'm pretty sure i under proofed it a bit, thats why it cracked beyond is slashes.


also, here is my improvised equipment. the bowl is pampered chef stoneware. i got it from goodwill yesterday. the lid is from my crockpot with the handle taken off so it wont melt. the basket is for proofing. i dusted it heavily with corn flour. i even managed to find that we had some new straight razors for a scraper in the closet, i used this for slashing the top.

i read a lot of blogs, but this site was the most helpful. http://northwestsourdough.com/

more pics

.Simeon loves to play with his toys from Gramma and Grampa. He can almost sit up unassisted, but he loses his balance when he goes to put a toy in his mouth.

Simeon has been sleeping better these days. Here was a rare morning that I woke up earlier than he did. You can see his bear from Heather. He always sleeps with it, it gives him something to hold so he doesnt take out his paci while he falls asleep.

short video

new pics

Auntie Belinda held Simeon a lot while I was cooking. He is most fractious at about 5 pm.
Simeon in his ducky jammies from Gramma.
Simeon and Daddy reunited over Philippes french dip sandwhiches.

More of Simeon

simeon in a few videos. he goes nuts about water in a sippy cup. he borrowed a space ship from some friends. simeon had a facination with his tongue for a few days, and with shrieking.

simeon swims, sort of

Simeon Laughs at Daddy

simeon at 4 months

Our boy is growing up. Simeon is so much fun, I love mothering him.

Things are going well here. Shawn has been working on sermons lately. He preaches for the first time this Lord's day, both AM and PM services. I dont think that I blogged the fact that he's now able to work one day a week, and study the rest of the time. God blessed our plan and made it happen!

So we're on a pretty tight budget, especially since we want to go to Jody's wedding in May. I'm so excited to see my last sister married.

I hope to finish knitting a pair of socks this week. They were for me, but they fit Shawn, so that's nice that they are brown and non girlish. I plan to transfer my new skill to making some for Simeon, they should go faster right?

a couple pics

our friends lent us this bumbo. simeon doesnt really like it yet. he's still in love with the rocking chair that crystal gave him.
here is the beautiful crib that gramma and grampa stull gave to simeon. its convertible to a toddler bed. you can see that he uses it for a changing table at the moment (not sure what i'll do with the diapers after he's more mobile). also, take note of his own personal tv (thats what we call it). simeon watches it when he's super cranky, as a distraction.

simeon smiles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvxLrWn99TM