Happy Birthday, Four-Year-Old
Scraping Time
This little fellow is sick. No wonder he was so grumpy around suppertime last night (though he was THIS happy earlier in the day, when he insisted I clip this into his hair). We spent large portions of last night nursing, and just holding him in bed. It’s a reminder of those early infant days, when night-time does not equal sleep-time. He’s napping right now and I’m watching the monitor for rustlings. There he is.
Albus is playing with a transformer, pretending to blow things up. The girls are reading quietly (Apple-Apple is trying out Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, one of my all-time favourites).
I want to thank everyone who expressed support and interest in the Nicaragua writing project. I’ve had encouraging comments, public and private, from a variety of friends, family, and even my former editor.
Uh oh, there he is again (baby, that is). Better run.
Back again. Thinking about time management … that could be my biggest stumbling-block in writing anything (she says, typing one-handed, feverish babe on hip).
Whole Wheat Rolls
This long weekend, I did some serious baking. We baked bread, made a large batch of a master baking mix (for future biscuits, pancakes, and muffins), and these whole wheat dinner rolls, which could also be used as hamburger buns. They’re so good, I’ve marked the recipe in my book like this: *fabulous! The kids ate three apiece hot out of the oven, and Albus said that if we were selling these, and someone bought one, they would take one bite and tell everyone else to come and try some too. The recipe comes from my MCC More with Less cookbook, and makes four dozen large rolls.
Whole Wheat Rolls
In a large basin, dissolve 4 1/2 teaspoons of yeast in 3/4 cup lukewarm water. Once dissolved (about five minutes), add 3 cups warm water, 1 cup dry milk powder, 1/2 cup oil, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup honey, and 2 teaspoons salt. Have ready 6 cups white flour, 4 cups whole wheat flour. Add 5 cups of flour and beat thoroughly with electric mixer (or by hand). Stir in an additional 3 cups of flour, then knead in the rest (adding more as needed). I use local hard bread flour. Knead till smooth and elastic. Oil dough/bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled (about two hours). Punch down and shape into dinner rolls on greased trays. I placed twelve buns on each tray. Cover, let rise (an hour or two), and bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.
We’ve frozen those we won’t be eating fresh. Enjoy!