New Challenges

We have been homemaking bread and it has been a blissful bonding experience. Okay, in my daydreams it has been blissful. In reality it has been more like C offering to stir and pour while I squint at the recipe, look at the bowl, look at the ingredients, then back at the recipe hoping that I got everything right. We have done it a couple of times now and we have learned one very important lesson. You need to knead. Not just a little bit and not just until your arms hurt but until the the job is done and your bread has really come together. I know you can also make bread that does not require kneading but working the dough is what makes bread making so much fun. Home made bread has been one of the first steps towards our simplified lifestyle where we provide for ourselves, make what we can, and spend more time with each other.   

However, this whole simple life thing is turning out to be not very simple. There is a lot of learning required plus things that used to just happen now require extra effort and time. It is kind of cool though have my daughter so excited to help out and she thinks that I am magic as the dough rises. The rest of the family is equally excited about bread making. The dog is running around the kitchen covered with flour and the three year old is alternating between brushing flour on to the floor/dog and shoving handfuls into his mouth. So while bread making might not always go as smoothly as I have planned it is still over all a great experience. Now if only I could decide that I am going to start making bread before I sweep and mop the floor rather than after.