Homemade Bread and A Little Story For You

This week I had a friend over to work on some scrapbooking projects, so I decided to bake some homemade bread just for fun. 

Awhile back I found a very simple recipe on YouTube

(you can see it HERE)

and I decided to make a few loaves,

one for me and one for her.

It's a very simple recipe, but it does take a process of letting it rise

for at least 8 hours, so I made the dough

the night before, covered it, and 

got up the next morning to finish the process.

After it was cool enough,

I got out my decorative parchment paper and twine

and wrapped her loaf and tied the twine around it.

She was pleasantly surprised that she was

getting to take a loaf home with her

and I was happy she was happy 😀

I used to bake bread all the time in my bread machine,

but one day...

Well, here's a story from my book

Notes from a Writer's Heart

I'll let the story tell you the rest...

The Day I Gave Up My Bread Machine

One day, my friend Michelle and I traded items - my humongous coupon binder for her seldom used bread machine.  At the time, we both thought we were really winning.

A few loaves and lots of counter space later, I put the bread machine back on the merry-go-round of trading things and sent it off to the Thrift Store.  Boy, did that feel good!

Let me explain.

Baking bread is a lot of pressure.

That's right.  I couldn't take the heat (or the freakishly dense loaves) anymore, so one day I took myself right down to the bread aisle at the store and decided that this was my destiny - store bought bread - and I would wear this shopping badge proudly!

Sometimes you have to bake a few ugly (did I mention dense?) loaves of bread to realize there are people getting up at the crack of dawn to bake beautiful works of art-bread.  I mean, you have fat loaves, skinny loaves, buns and hoagies, and even an entire loaf of perfectly sliced pieces, just waiting to go home with you and make your sandwich dreams come true!

Who did I think I was, trying to steal these hard-working people's dreams of selling their perfect loaves of bread?   These people need a paycheck, for heaven's sake!

So, I loaded my buggy up with store-bought bread and held my head high at the thought of all the job security I would be giving these bread artists and I made my way home with the goods.  And, you know what?  I decided on that day, that I would never try to put someone out of a job again!

And just like that, I accepted my position in the world of homemaking and decided to stay in my own lane, whatever that was, and let the bakers of the world be at peace.

As for my humongous coupon book...I have wished for that back a few times, but let's face it...I wasn't any good at that either.

No worries, Coupon Queen!  Your job is safe for now!

😀🍞🥖

I hope you enjoyed that humorous story 😀

I'm sure I'll enjoy this recipe again, but

most likely won't make a habit out of it 

and I won't be buying a bread machine 

anytime soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Dream a Little Dream With Me

 

Hello Monday and Hello Friends!

Did it seem like a long weekend to you or is it just me? 

Saturday David and I went shopping for a few pieces of artwork to go on the walls, shopped for a new ottoman and went home to a full day of hanging pictures and working around the house. But before we headed home, we stopped off at a Crumble Cookie shop to pick up a few (very big) cookies to take home.

If you've never been to a Crumble Cookie shop, it's a unique little shop where you stand in line to order from the selection of flavors of the day. Each day they have a new batch of flavors to choose from.

Once you've chosen your cookies, you stand in a different line to wait on your warm cookies to come out to you, packaged in a cute pink box.

Everything is painted pink inside, as well as the box you take your cookie home in. So, with a cute concept and a cute color chosen for the decor and packaging, you would think the music inside the shop would match, such as something fun or whimsical.  But on this day, they were playing rap or some harsh sounding pop music and it didn't fit the shop at all. 

As we were waiting for our order to come out, I was noticing that all the workers were young, probably teens or in their 20's and I didn't see the owner anywhere around. That might explain the music choice.

It got me thinking about how music sets the tone, wherever you are, and "if I had a cute little shop, I would do...." and that led into my topic for today:

If you could own a little shop, what kind of shop would it be and what kind of music would you play or what atmosphere would you want to create?

I would own a bookstore, just like the one in the picture above. My talented daughter-in-love drew this for me and it's exactly what my store would look like. 

I would only carry copies of my favorite books, as well as books written by local writers or other lesser known authors. I might have a few classics to offer, but only if they were truly good stories. I would subscribe to all my favorite magazines and offer them there for others to enjoy.

There would be vintage couches to sit and read, coffee with powdered creamer and real sugar, maybe a jar of cookies to add to your coffee time, and cold water readily available.

There would be whimsical music playing, only loud enough to paint the background, but not too loud to keep my friends from being able to read or talk.

I would have fresh flowers here and there and my operating hours would be 9:00-2:00. 

It would be a quirky place and that would be the charm of it. And of course, there would be the resident cat or two lying around, here and there. 

What about you? Even if you've never had a desire to own a shop, just pretend for a moment and indulge me in the comments. 😀 I can't wait to hear all about it!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

The Blessing of Friendship

(look at my babies - Emmy and Ella - 15 months apart, but always best friends)

 This week I've had the privilege of having lunch with two friends and just getting to discuss life in our current season of parenting, grandparenting, and empty nest occasions. 

One of these friends I've known since our 23 year old kids were in kindergarten and one I've only known for the last 6 years or so, but both are priceless to me and offer me something that fills up my friendship tank in all the ways I need. 

Friendships are such a blessing and I love that we can have a group of friends that meet different needs in our lives, yet are each valuable in their own way.

I used to envy groups of women who had been friends since college or elementary and remained friends into their later years. I was never a "group" kind of girl.

But, as I've gotten older, I've maintained some precious friendships that are solid and true and I can count on two hands.  And I'm good with that small, but consistent number, because honestly, who has time for more than that?

I also have some special blogging friends, whom I've known for over a decade now! We met through blogging and some of us have watched one another's kids grow up as we've homeschooled them, graduated them and sent them off to start their own lives. These are also precious friendships to me.

I love that we can have friendships that are different, such as the shopping friend, or the friend who loves to write, or the crafting friend or the friend who loves budgeting as much as I do. 

 I think it's such a sweet gift to have friends going through the same season of life, at the same time. I also think it's very valuable to have older friends who have already gone down the road and can pull you along with their encouragement and wisdom. 

It's nice to have the friend who wants to spend time with you and cares enough to put it on the schedule. It's also nice to know that even your busy friends will schedule a dinner with the husbands in tow, just to be able to catch up, as well. (It helps that the husbands enjoy one another's company too.)

There are also those friends who you don't get to see, but when you happen to run into one another, it's like you've never missed a beat. Or my best friend from high school that still remembers my birthday. These are so special!

Friendship is one of life's greatest blessings. True friendship leaves you feeling happy, but can also have a differing opinion than you do. True friendship can walk through the fire with you and hold you up when you're having trouble standing. True friendship calls, just because you were "on their mind" that day and they wanted to check on you. True friendship wants the best for you, even if it means less time to gather.

Whatever station you are at in life, I hope you have a handful of friends to call on. It doesn't take many - just a few good ones. Treasure them, nurture them, schedule them if you have to. Let them know they are important to you. It's an investment you won't regret.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Are You Taking Time To Appreciate Life?

 

Today I'm just sharing some things on my heart. It will most likely be a rambling of some sort, but hopefully you can follow along.

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend...a very busy friend. We love our lunches together and sometimes we throw in some light shopping or a craft at her house. Yesterday we shared lunch and had some great conversation. But something she said stuck with me and later that day, as I was reading on the back porch, I had some thoughts about it and thought I'd share them, in case it's a question anyone else every ponders.

She and her husband have been very busy with projects over the past few years, but as we were talking, she mentioned being a little concerned about how their life would look after all the renovating and projects were over. She wondered what they would find to do. 

I could relate to the question, because I battled the same thoughts when my youngest son got married and all of a sudden, I found my house to be very quiet. Thankfully, I have always been content taking care of my home, the bills, cleaning and other interests around the house, so I quickly found that I had plenty to do, in spite of my empty nest. 

But after processing her question throughout the day, I realized that we are a society that doesn't know how to relax and not be busy. 

We are addicted to the hustle and bustle - I even see it in little children. Gone are the days of being home more than you're not. Gone are the days when kids have time to just play - and adults too.

We don't know how to enjoy our lives, our homes, our work, without cramming a bunch of other activities in between. 

So my answer to her fear, was this...

When the running and the doing is slowing down, THEN you can begin to live and enjoy.

Instead of squeezing in a dinner party, between other events, you can savor the planning and the execution of throwing one. 

Instead of squeezing in lunch, between errands and more DIY's, you can have lunch and linger over coffee or dessert. 

Instead of starting a craft project, but having to shelve it to move on to the next thing calling, you can actually finish what you've started and enjoy being creative.

Instead of speed reading a book, just to throw it down and pick up the next, maybe you can read and glean, while putting your feet up on the back porch. 

Life moves faster as the years go by. Or at least that's the way it seems to me.

I want to slow down. 

I want to enjoy my home and making it beautiful and cozy for myself, as well as family and friends. But if I'm cramming those family and friends in and out, like a revolving door because I'm too busy to really enjoy them, then what am I gaining? 

Is this really what God meant when he said he wants to give us an abundant life?

I guess it depends on what you want an abundance of...stress, consumption, material things or time to enjoy the abundance of people, the quiet of a sunny day or the beauty and satisfaction of cooking a homemade meal. 

It really does come down to making choices that move us toward our own personal dreams of what we want out of life. 

For me, I think I'll choose to slow down. To move through my days at a slower pace; savoring the work God has given me, whatever that may be. But not filling my life so full that I'm literally running from one thing to the next. I just don't see the point.

Even now, there are days when my house is quiet and I'm a little uneasy at the thought of hours of time stretching out before me. But I'm learning. 

I'm learning to be ok with the slower days.

I'm learning to be ok with sitting or soaking up the quiet.

I'm learning to love my home again and finding the value in investing in the cleaning and work that needs to be done here.

Projects will come and go. But we need to be ok with regular days too, I think. For those are the days when real life happens and you actually have time to appreciate it. 

And what's the point of life, if you're too busy to appreciate it?

Until Next Time...

Blessings!