Is your daddy a baker?

No, but my grandpa was.

That's juC's favorite pickup line on me.  And it's true, my grandfather was a baker.  And although I would never consider myself even close to being a baker, I do have a love for baking.  Because who doesn't love to eat fresh baked goods?!  Ok, it's more than just that.  I really do enjoy baking.  And it can be very therapeutic.

Up until last year, I'd never ventured into bread baking.  But then I came across a recipe for hot bread that looked so simple, I figured even I could do it.  If there's anything about me you should know, it's that I only do things that are simple and doable, so if I could do it, you could do it.

I was nervous, but I tried it, and it was so tasty.  Fresh out of the oven with some honey on it...oh my word, people!  And the fact that the process is easy and not time consuming is a huge bonus.

Make dough and let it rest for a few.

 Let it rise for an hour, or until it reaches the top of the pan,

 Bake 20 minutes to perfection.

 I kid you not, this picture was taken 10 minutes after the bread was taken out of the oven.

 Because, I kid you not, putting some good honey on it is oh so heavenly.

Thank goodness I have this oven because on this particular day I made 3 full loaves and 4 mini loaves and it took no time at all.

Here is the story behind the recipe shared on the blog post I found and the recipe:

Kimmons, who grew up in West Virginia, learned to make bread by watching her grandmother and neighbor.

"Making homemade bread is more about experience than technique", Kimmons said.

“The people who taught me how to bake bread didn’t check the temperature of the water with a thermometer,” she said. If the water is warm on the wrist, it’s the right temperature for proofing the yeast, and that’s something you don’t learn from a book.

“They just knew what bread felt like,” Kimmons said.

“I just love to bake bread. It relaxes me. It reminds me of growing up, and the smell of hot bread smells like home, a cozy home,” she said.

Kimmons’ recipe is simply called “hot bread” and it has only six ingredients and a few lines of instructions.


Hot Bread
Recipe from the Providence Journal – Carla Kimmons.
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for kneading)
1 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons melted margarine
1 teaspoon salt

Oven to 375. Grease a loaf pan. 

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. (juC about freaked out when he was watching me make it and I didn't let the yeast rise in water first, but that's not necessary for this!)

Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface. It will be sticky. Knead extra flour into the dough until it is no longer sticky. Form into a ball and let rest 10 minutes. Place the dough in the pan. Let sit in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it rises to the top of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.

Try it people.  

Parents: Those Whose Purpose In Life Is To Torture Children

I remember when I was young thinking that my parents must truly enjoy torturing me since they seemed to do it so often.  Then I grew a little older and thought that I surely must have been wrong.  Parents must love their children too much to torture them.  And then I had children of my own and quickly learned that parents, indeed, have one purpose only--to torture their children.

I have countless examples of how my husband and I personally torture our own children.  This might be good for parents looking for some variety for their own children.

--First we trick our children into saying we are going somewhere fun.  Then we throw some torture in.  "Get your shoes."  Oh, the torture!!  The great part is, it never fails.  No matter how many times you go somewhere, and how many times they have to get their shoes on, it never fails to torture them.

--Going along with the first example, you say you are going somewhere fun.  Then you do the unthinkable.  "Go potty before we go."  WHAT!!??  How dare we make such a request.  Pure torture!

--Also along those same lines.  Once again, going somewhere fun.  Then that part comes where you have to get in the car...and the car seat.  YES!!  I said it!  You HAVE to get in YOUR CAR SEAT!!  Haha!  Tortured again!!

--And then comes the whole reason why you took them to somewhere fun.  "Yes, I took you to Chik-fil-A.  Yes, I got you a meal.  Then a cookie.  THEN I had the audacity to let you play in the playground, all for the soul purpose to fulfill my evil plan to MAKE YOU LEAVE!"  I find this form of torture to be among my favorites.

--There's always going to bed.  This one works better on some kids than others.  But I love the way it takes some by surprise every night.  The look of "You expect me to go to sleep AGAIN!?  How dare you?!"  Well, we know the reason...to torture them!

--Another one that works on some better than others.  The dreaded bath.  Nothing screams torture louder than requesting your child to get clean at any regular interval.  Tortured again!

--I'm not sure about your kids, but one way that I torture them once a week is by clipping their fingernails.  I look forward to that day each week with giddy anticipation.  The look of horror on their faces when I announce that today is the day nails need to be trimmed is well worth being a parent!

--One that stands the test of time is one that gives me pleasure in spite of having to spend money to inflict the torture.  Family picture time!!  The screams and cries of torture are music to our ears.

--When winter rolls around, one of the best forms of torture is to ask your child to wear a coat to keep warm outside.  It screams to your child "I'm so desperate to torture you that I want you to put on yet ANOTHER piece of clothing!"

--I really get the warm fuzzies when I torture my kids by actually wanting to comb their hair.  Torture, torture, torture.

--"What's this meal you call dinner that you expect me to sit and eat every night?"  That's basically how it goes every night for dinner.  The fact that I expect them to eat a meal?  Pure, crazy, torture!

--One of the BEST parts about taking kids to the store is the joy I find in saying "no" when they ask for every toy they see or every treat they see.  I love their cries and fits of rage from that one little word.

--And my absolute favorite form of torturing my kids?  Cleaning!!  "You mean you actually want me to PICK up and PUT AWAY the toys I took out and have been playing with all day!  You're CRAZY!!"  That one just never gets old.

I cannot wait until my kids are older and my ability to torture them widens!

I Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

The day before my birthday, I took little jC to a dentist appointment.  The dental assistant said "You look 15.  I thought you were his sister."  She was only 16 years off.  It had been a while since I'd heard a comment like that, so I thought I'd grown out of it.  But it appears that I will forever be looked at as a teenager.  I won't complain about that!

My birthday started out with a birthday greeting and being crowned as the birthday princess.

Then my birthday card.

I couldn't figure out how he managed to find a card specifically for someone turning 31.  Then I realized how sneaky he was.


 I was also left 4 small gifts I was instructed to start opening at 10.  One every 2 hours.
A small key chain flash light...because I light up juC's life.
A pack of ponytail elastics...because he likes when I put my hair up.
A "magic towel"...because I stink and need to take a bath.
And a crystal growing kit...so I can grow my own bling.

The kids were their usual selves.  So it was just a day, except now it was a day as a 31 year old.  Little jC loves birthdays though, so there were happy birthday wishes sprinkled throughout my day.

When juC arrived home from work, he brought my two of my favorites.  Georgetown cupcakes AND a peanut butter cream pie from Wegman's.  (All of which were consumed by yesterday)

 Then it was time for dinner.  Very sadly, one of my favorite places to eat was closed for 2 weeks which meant juC couldn't go pick up some carry out for us.  So I thought it would be a good idea to have some birthday torture by taking the kids to a sit down restaurant for some hibachi.  The super good food totally outweighed the bad of Lula deciding she didn't want to sit by the time it was time for us to eat our dinner.  It was a perfectly delicious birthday dinner.

After dinner, back home we went for my last birthday gift.  I got a new digital camera, bringing my camera total to 4.  I am very happy to finally have a new small camera that actually takes good pictures, and that the battery doesn't pop out of.  

Yay for birthdays!  juC did good.  I tried to convince him that since my birthday was on a Friday, we should celebrate it the whole weekend, but that didn't go over too well.  Maybe next year.

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

Little jC is a numbers man.  Some people say that all kids his age are interested in numbers, but homeboy is obsessed.  Numbers on calendars, a clock, addresses, ages, phone numbers, speed limits.  If there is a number involved, he wants to know about it.  And having numbers for street names in Utah instead of word names was the most amazing thing.  My favorite question of our trip out there was when we were on the interstate and he asked "What does "9,000 so" mean?"  (9000 South)

So yesterday when he was sitting at the table saying he was working, it wasn't too big of a shock to find out he was making his own calendar.

But there is a strong possibility that I had one of those proud mommy moments that you sometimes get.

He also likes words.  After he learned the alphabet he became obsessed with what sounds each letter made.  And he always wanted to know what letter words started with.  It was great but could be tricky to have a conversation when he kept stopping to say "What letter does table start with?"  But then again, it was fine, since most of our conversations consisted of questions like "What sound does 'n' make?"  I have to admit I'm glad he's well past that phase, and now it's fun to see him writing things.  When he was working yesterday he kept saying something about "jud dot com".  It wasn't until I was checking out his calendar that I found this.

Realizing that he thinks it's "duc com" makes me giggle.

My hope with his number and letter writing skills is that he will soon be able to work out a budget for us and help us stick to it.