MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

Very few things say home more than fresh baked bread.  Clothes hanging on the line run a close second in my book.  I just pulled this bread from the oven and thought it looked soooooo good.  It smells delicious too.  I tried a different recipe today and am hoping it will be good.  I needed a good sandwich bread recipe.  Here is the recipe I used:

1-1/3 plus 1tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. butter, 4-1/4 cups flour, 3 tbsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. dry milk, 1-1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. yeast.   I put these ingredients into my bread machine on dough cycle and let it do its job.  When the cycle was finished, I took the bread out of the machine, shaped it into a loaf and put it into my loaf pan.   If you do not have an extra long loaf pan, you will need to make 2 loafs.  Bake at 350 degrees until done.  It takes about 30 min. in my oven.

I also have been working on apron patterns and I think I have decided which one to do the matching aprons in.  I just have to adjust the pattern a little to compensate for what I don’t know how to do.  I will show pictures soon.  By the way, thanks Dave, for fixing my problem on the computer.

Warmer temperatures here today-35 degrees.  Hardly any wind.  A really nice day.  I have to go raid my material stash.  I will need a piece large enough to do all 3 aprons.  I’m not sure I have anything.  Hopefully, I will, as I would like to get started on them today.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Another picture of Stripes.  Maybe she wants a shower.  Grace took this picture of Stripes in one of her strange places.  She lays in the sink quite frequently.  She also loves to get a drink from the faucet.   I think the word “spoiled” might come to mind.  Yesterday was lots of fun.  I went to my friend Vicki’s  and we made our own hot cocoa mix.  It is really good.  Much better than the powdered mix bought from the store  and I’m sure much healthier.  We read the ingredients of the store bought instant mix and it contained lots of things we couldn’t pronounce.  In case anyone is interested in making their own here is the recipe.  16 cups powdered dry milk, 1 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 5 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt.  In a large bowl mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container or zip lock bags.  To use measure 1/3 cup of mix into a cup and add hot water, stir.  This will make about 1 gal. of mix, perhaps a little over.  Vicki and I halved this recipe.  The powdered milk will be your biggest expense, so shop around for the best price.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we have.  God Bless.