The Best Fresh Bread Hack Ever!

Once in awhile, amidst the meandering wanderings my many interests take me on the internet, I stumble on something really, really awesome, something so useful, easy and delightful, it's almost too good to be true. Thus it happened on a day when I was reading an article about how to make wigwams (more on that later) on the Mother Earth News web archives, I looked to the sidebar and noticed the link entitled, "Five Minutes a Day for Fresh Baked Bread."

The article shows how to mix up a big-ass recipe of dough, store it in the fridge and, voila, fresh bread items on demand.

I've made a few minor adjustments to both the basic recipe and the method. So here's my version, though I would recommend reading the article first to familiarize yourself with the process. There are some great tips to make your oven work like one at a bakery.


6 cups warm water (just above body temp is good)

6 cups all-purpose organic flour

7 cups whole wheat flour

2 T. sea salt

3 T. instant yeast for first recipe, then decrease to 2 or less for subsequent recipes.

Mix all ingredients just until flour is incorporated. Let rise till double. Store in the refrigerator, and whenever you need dough for something, sprinkle the top with flour, flour your hands, and remove enough for your project. Work in a small amount of flour as needed, but do not knead. Just shape and set on a well floured surface to rest for about 40 min. Bake in preheated 450F degree oven on preheated stone, sprinkled with flour, oats, wheat germ, corn meal, or whatever you wish to keep the dough from sticking. In the rack below, place a broiler pan or cookie sheet. When the oven is hot, slide your bread onto the stone and pour 1 cup of water in the pan below to create steam. This will make a wonderful crust.

The dough can be used for artisan bread, such as the French boule pictured, buns, bread sticks, cinnamon rolls, pizza crust, dinner rolls, stromboli, etc. When there is only enough dough left for about one loaf of bread, mix up your next batch, mixing in the remaining dough to act as a starter, including scraping the dough off the sides of your container. The more you do this, the less yeast you will need, and the more flavorful your bread will become. It will soon take on sourdough properties. One batch will keep two weeks in the refrigerator (although it gets used up long before that in our house).

Three Kings Day Celebrations

As Episcopalians, we have always celebrated the Feast of Epiphany. Our family tradition has been to make King cake and display the three wise men worshiping the baby Jesus from the nativity set. And we take down the Christmas tree. But this year we decided to add something a little different, something to celebrate the beautiful, ever changing, ever blending, multicultural landscape of our locality. And so we adopted the Latin American tradition of leaving hay and water out the night before for the Wise Men, or rather, their camels. In the morning, the children expect to find a gift left by the venerable Magi. What could be better than homemade play dough? So this morning, each child found a bag of play dough and played to their heart's content, and Mama got to take a long soak in the tub. Then we all made King Cake together. Tonight we will see who finds the hidden treasure inside the cake.

Tea in the Beaver's Hideout

We have been enjoying reading aloud together "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis, one of our Christmas gifts from Grandma Wright. This morning we read about how Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, and three of the children: Peter, Susan and Lucy, hid from the White Witch in a secret cave. The White Witch had cast a spell over the magical land of Narnia, which Lucy discovered by entering an old wardrobe in an ancient house, making it always winter and never Christmas. When their brother, Edmund, disappeared the night before, the Beavers knew he had gone to the White Witch to betray them. She had lied to him, telling him he could be a prince and eat Turkish Delight all day long if he brought his brother and two sisters to her. But she really meant to kill them, because of a prophecy that said that when two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sat on the four thrones at Caer Paravel, her reign would be ended. Yet she was even more afraid when she heard that Aslan, the great lion, was returning to Narnia. It was to him, the true King, that the Beavers were taking the three children, their only hope to stop the witch and save Edmund. While hiding in the cave, they heard sleigh bells and were afraid the witch had come upon them, but their fears were soon quelled when they discovered their visitor was no other than Father Christmas. His coming was proof that the witch's power was crumbling. After bestowing gifts upon them all, "he brought out (I suppose from that big bag on his back, but nobody quite saw him do it) a large tray containing five cups and saucers, a bowl of lump sugar, a jug of cream and a great big teapot, all sizzling and piping hot. Then he cried out, 'Merry Christmas! Long live the true King!' and cracked his whip, and he and the reindeer and the sledge and all were out of sight before anyone realized that they had started.........So down the steep bank they went and back to the cave, and Mr. Beaver cut some of the bread and ham into sandwiches and Mrs. Beaver poured out the tea and everyone enjoyed themselves." (from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe")

Nature Display

I've been enjoying one of my Christmas gifts from my mom, a book called "The Creative Family" by Amanda Blake Soule. While many of the suggestions in the book are second nature to me, there are many fresh, inspiring ideas.

One of these is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and that is to set up a nature table with treasures we find outdoors. Ever since I can remember, I've collected rocks, pine cones, shells and fossils from my many outdoor adventures. Most of these I've had to discard, though I've held on to a few amazing specimens. And the kids are following suit.

But it's not exactly practical in a small house full of little ones to have our treasures out in the open. I have learned from experience after a beautiful conch I found on the Gulf of Mexico got flushed down the toilet. So a nature table seemed out of the question. Don't have that kind of space that is out of the reach of the littlest ones. And then I thought, why does it have to be that big? We can set up a small space to display a few treasures at time, and change them with others as we cycle through the seasons.

As soon as I told the girls that I had set out a basket for the treasures they find outdoors, they ran out to collect some. Pine needles, rocks, acorns, some dried flower skeletons and thin, papery leaves soon graced the winter display, with a fossil some friends and I found long ago when I lived in rural New Jersey, and a lovely piece of quartz my sister had found when we first moved to this state, over thirteen years ago. I wonder what we'll add next.

Waldorf Gnome Tutorial

I've had a blast this week end making these Waldorf gnomes out of some recycled wool sweater scraps I had stored away and some large wooden beads from a bag of craft odds and ends my mother-in-law gave us. They are super quick and easy. If you're interested, check out this tutorial I wrote on hubpages.

Build a Snowman

Here in South Carolina, we don't get to build snowmen very often. Maybe once or twice a year. But with this easy felt game, we can have lots of fun and stay warm and snug in our cozy kitchen. Ok, so nothing beats the real thing, but this project comes in for a close second and makes a great homemade gift that the kids can help you with.

To make this game you will need 1 sheet of white felt, scraps of black, brown, orange and other desired colors for the scarves. Then you will need four colors of felt for the building surfaces, each made of half a sheet. Also, you will need 1 die.

First, draw your patterns onto paper. I drafted a whole snowman, rather than three separate balls. Virginia designed the hat, scarf, carrot nose and stick arms. Next, on the sheet of white felt, trace four snowmen, cut them out and then cut into three "balls". Trace and cut out the accessories. Make four hats, four scarves, four noses and eight arms.

To play, each player chooses a building surface. Then, they take turns rolling the die and adding each piece that corresponds to the number rolled. Here's how we did it:
1. snowball
2. nose
3. give a piece away (if everyone already has the pieces you have, you don't have to)
4. hat
5. scarf
6. arm

The winner is the first to assemble a completed snowman.

The game has become quite a hit with the kids. Miriam asked for it first thing in the morning. And they can't just play one game at a time. It usually takes 3-5 rounds before they have lost interest, which makes for a great rainy day activity.

Peg People

We've been working on some Christmas crafts today. If you recognize these two families, please don't let on to the two little girls who they might be for. :)