I think I must be losing my mind.  I wrote this days ago, and I thought I had posted it.  Now I discover it in my draft box!! Well, here it is, and I hope no one has suffered from the delay in getting these recipes out.

Here are a few really good recipes.  Miriam asked for my multi-grain bread recipe, so this is specifically geared toward her request.

Multi-Grain Bread

(yield: 5 loaves)

2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. yeast

5 cups liquid (water and/or fruit juices)

about 1 cup powdered milk

½ cup sugar (or adjusted to account for sweetened liquids)

2 Tbsp. salt

½ cup oil

2 eggs

2-3 Tbsp. molasses

3 ½ cups wheat flour

¾ cup rye flour

¾ cup oat flour

¾ cup barley flour

1/4 to 1/3 cup toasted wheat germ

¼ cup wheat gluten

6 ¼ cups Robin Hood flour (or what you use for bread flour)

I think you know the business of the mixing, kneading, and all (refer to my King Arthur Bread info. if needed). Here are the basics that I do:

Place yeast, warm liquids, milk powder, and sugar in a bowl; stir. Let stand until foamy.

Add all but the Robin Hood flour, mix well.

Add oil, eggs, and salt; mix well.

Add Robin Hood flour; mix; knead; and continue kneading for 10 minutes.

There, that’s the condensed version.

Over on her blog, Miriam is making hot cocoa mix.  I told her I would share my tried-and-true recipe.  So, this one is for Miriam also.

Hot Cocoa Mix

1 cup powdered sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup non-dairy cream powder

¼ tsp. salt

2 ¾ cups instant non-fat milk powder

1 cup miniature marshmallows, if desired

Makes approximately 4 cups hot cocoa mix.

Use 3-4 Tbsp. for one cup hot water.

And, since I discovered this great recipe (adapted by myself from the Kraft booklet), and Rachel (who doesn’t have a blog–she has a job and is in college) wanted it, I am posting this one too.  It is a great way to use up all those tomatoes that are still hanging on the vines.

Fresh Tomato Spaghetti Sauce

1 cup Italian dressing (can use fat-free)

1 onion, chopped

2 green bell peppers, chopped

1 ½ Tbsp. minced garlic (I buy mine already minced, so it wasn’t fresh)

1 heaping tsp. dried basil

4 med/lg. tomatoes cup in chunks (approximately 5-6 cups chunked tomatoes)

Simmer all on stove top about 20 minutes, then serve. It is much, much better after it sits in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and then reheat it, so you can make it ahead.

Alrighty, happy cooking to you folks!

The two big things of today were installing Hannah’s new car seat and making bread.

Gail found this car seat at Finders Keepers for nearly 1/2 price.  It is a nice comfortable one like Paul’s.  We installed it this morning.  Since I discovered our Honda Odyssey is equipped with the LATCH system, I took the time to figure out how to use it and hooked up Hannah’s seat with it, and then I changed Paul’s seat to the LATCH hook up also.

Paul in Hannah’s new seat.

One thing I discovered as I was taking out the cheap, thinly padded car seat that Hannah had been using was that all the hardware and straps to hook it up the to the LATCH system were under the cover at the bottom of the back!  I hadn’t known that, so she has been strapped against these buckles and stuff to ride for the last couple months!  It is a wonder her spine isn’t broken or aching, or whatever.

Paul and I also made bread for the first time since June.  I made the mistake, or the bad judgment call, to make both wheat and white bread at the same time.  Boy, was I busy!  That’s 10 min. of kneading each pan.  I cheated a little, and probably only kneaded each pan about 8 minutes.  It gave my arms a real workout.  It was also a little tricky to get all the dough mixed up and kneaded without the yeast getting too far along on either one.

Paul shaping bread loaves.

Paul helped me every step of the way.  After he was done stirring around in the big pan of dough (while it was still liquidy), he “washed dishes” for a little bit (which at least spared the dough getting spilled).  A bunch of water got on the floor and on his shirt.  That ended up in a floor cleaning, cleaning up the cupboard door inside and out, and getting him a new shirt.  I was afraid I was going to suffer severe impatience, but we managed, and got the dough mixed up and kneaded eventually.  I have made a mental note about why I like to get up at 5:00 and start the bread so that it is all mixed up and rising before anyone else gets up!  Helping to shape loaves is a lot less messy than mixing up the dough.

By 2:30 we had 15 beautiful loaves of bread baked and cooling on the island–10 white, 5 wheat (or multi-grain, since I used several kinds of flour).  It was hot in here, but it smelled great!  I gave 5 of the white loaves to my mom, and then put our bread in the freezer.  Usually 10 loaves lasts us about 2 weeks, or a little longer if we eat grits with eggs instead of toast, and a few things like that.

Well, that was our day.  We now have bread in the freezer, and Hannah has a more comfortable seat to ride in.

Can I mention again how much I love my Oreck vacuum sweeper?  Due to canning last week, I didn’t use it much, maybe not at all.  But today, oh, I enjoyed vacuuming with it.  And, once again, I was not dripping sweat as I vacuumed!  I love that!  It is light and I can maneuver it so easily.  Paul loves it too, but I don’t let him use it.  Hannah had been terrified of it, but she is getting better.  She no longer howls the whole time it is running, she just looks a little scared and about ready to cry.

Well, that’s the only thing I got done today, besides the usual.  I ran the vacuum in the bedrooms, bathroom, dining room and kitchen, and I washed the kitchen, bathroom, and part of the dining room floors.  Pretty much the rest of the day was spent in childcare, which is o.k.  That is every day, and we have a lot of fun most of the time.

loves her feet.  She loves to hold onto them, and she loves to wiggle them and watch them wiggle.  It is so fun to watch her do that!

looks gorgeous!  This entire outfit is from her Aunt Julia and Uncle Linden, and she wore it for the first time today.  They gave it to her right after she got home from the hospital, and at that time I thought it would be Easter ‘09 before she wore it.  Boy, was I wrong on that!

here’s what happens.  (I left the camera at home for Andrew to use, that’s how I know what all went on.)

Some self-photography.

Andrew starts potty-training Hannah when she is just 6 mo. old.  (Not really, she has all her clothes on.  But, Andrew did ask today when we were going to start training her.  Has he been changing too many diapers lately?)

Paul and Hannah learn how to share a rocking chair.

Where was I?  I left on Friday evening to go with a couple ladies from our church to a Ladies’ Conference/Retreat in Staunton.  I came back on Sat. evening.  Unfortunately, I was tired when I left, and even more tired when I got back.  They jam-packed in 6 speaking sessions, which I enjoyed.  I loved the singing–so many ladies who could sing and did sing singing together, and some very, very good live piano playing to accompany it–oh, what a joy to sing with them and to listen as we sang.  Anyway, we all had a good time a I learned some things.  Things I knew, but needed to hear again and learn to live out better.

When I got home, the first thing I did was lay down and rest for 1/2 an hour.  When I got up, here’s where I found my family:

Andrew was clearing the corn stalks out of our garden and Paul was husking an ear of corn.  Hannah was sitting in her little blue walker seat watching it all.  We soon got our supper heated up and ate supper.

I slept so very well last night, and this afternoon I had a good nap.  I think I am all rested up from last week (canning pears and grape juice) and this weekend.  We’ll see what all happens this week!

Outside, that is.  One of these beautiful fall-like breezy days, we took our sandwiches and salads outside for lunch.  I turned a wash basket upside down for a small table, and we brought out Paul’s booster seat for him to sit on.  Of course, he only sat on it intermittently because he was running around having fun in between bites.

After we were done eating, I brought out a bottle of bubbles and we blew some bubbles for Paul.

Can you believe I saved these bottles of bubbles from when I was a little girl?  They were in my “dude boxes” (a few of my siblings will remember those), and I dug them out for Paul to enjoy.  They are so old the plastic bottles are breaking up.  I had to pour the bubbles over into an empty parsley can.

We were planning to go visit some wonderful friends of ours, the Rittenhouses, in WV tomorrow.  We arranged this about 2 weeks ago provided Dave (Mr. Rittenhouse) didn’t have to preach a funeral on Tues.   He is in his 70’s, but gets called on to preach a couple funerals a week back there.  Anyway, they called Sun. evening and said he had just gotten a call to preach a funeral Tues. afternoon, could we possibly come on Monday instead.

After talking to Andrew Sun. evening, we decided to go ahead and go today, even though Andrew had just returned from CA, and we were both pretty worn out.  We figured even if we rescheduled, the same thing would likely happen the next time we planned to go see them.  We haven’t seen them in over 2 years.

We got there soon after 11:00.  Laura Jean (Mrs. Rittenhouse) had a delicious lunch for us.  She is also a type 2 diabetic so she had some low-carb foods on the table.  After lunch, Dave and our family took a walk, aiming to find his 11 cows and 11 calves and show them to Paul.

Paul and Mr. Rittenhouse found a bug crawling on a log.

Paul loved putting clods of dirt down a crawdad hole.

We took a group picture before we left.

This is a picture of Laura Jean & Hannah.

This is Paul with Dave & Laura Jean as we were loading up to come home.

And then, Paul discovered the crab apple tree and loved picking some of them until we loaded him up to come home.  (Isn’t this a great picture?)

It was a beautiful day, and it was even more beautiful because we got to see them again.  Laura Jean had a heart attack this summer, and consequently had open heart surgery.  So, we were especially thankful to get a nice visit with them, and I hope it isn’t 2 years before we see them the next time.  This was their first time to meet Paul and Hannah.

One of the things I love about being around them is that I come away inspired and encouraged to live for the LORD and not for myself.  It isn’t what they say, it is their lives, how they talk about others (always say good things), how they treat each other (with gentleness, kindness, and love).  Just watching them live a Godly life for a few hours is such an inspiring example.  It challenges me to slow down and learn more of God and his ways.

We got home about 6:00, which is supper time for all around here.  We had a supper of quick foods (grilled hamburgers that were in the freezer, peas, spinach, and leftover macaroni), then Paul and Hannah played in the living room a little bit while Andrew and I sang a few songs at the piano.  We turned around once and saw Paul sitting beside Hannah holding her hand.  It was beyond words!  We got him to repeat it for the camera, but it wasn’t quite as good as the first time.

This is the end of a perfectly splendid day.  Andrew washed the dishes that didn’t go in the dishwasher for me so I could blog.  Is my husband the greatest, or what?

while Andrew was in CA.  First, we missed him.  At least I did.  It was only on Sunday morning that Paul asked for his dad and started to go down into the basement (where his office is) to find him.  I had to explain to him that Daddy was coming back today, but he wasn’t down in the basement.

I had the nerve to take a bushel of pears that my neighbor offered me (they grew on her tree).  So, we spent a lot of time canning pears.

I ran out of wide mouth flat lids, so I bummed some off another neighbor to use until I went to Wal-Mart.  When I went, they were sold out of flat lids completely and expecting another shipment.  So, I still need to buy more flat lids.

I have more tomatoes from my few plants than we can eat fresh, so we canned some tomato juice and some whole tomatoes.  Paul and Hannah helped, of course.  Paul was taking longer than me eating lunch but he wanted to watch, so I let him eat standing on a chair watching me run them through the sieve.

I am so thankful I have two canners.  I can load up 14 jars and get ‘em in the water and be done in 45 min. or however long it takes them to water bath.  My poor stove caves in on top like crazy, the flimsy piece.  Does anyone know how to remedy that, or what stove it made of canner worthy metal?

We talked to Daddy on the phone every day.

He called as soon as he got up in the mornings, which was mid-morning for us, and right after the meetings and before he left for supper, which was just before Paul’s bedtime for us.  It was Paul’s first time to talk on the phone.  Andrew would ask Paul what sounds different animals make, and he would ask Paul to say “mommy”, “Hannah”, and “daddy”.  Sometimes Paul just jabbered.  He did very well.

We played in the living room nearly every evening after supper and baths, and on Sunday afternoon after lunch and before nap time.  (Oh, Hannah now sits up with something behind her back and pillows on both sides.  She loves to sit that way!)

Andrew met us at church on Sunday evening for the evening service.  He was very, very tired, but we were happy to have our whole family together again.

I can’t let today past without some sort of posting.  I will start with the half celebration–today was Hannah’s 1/2 birthday (she turned 6 mo. old today).  What are some of the things she enjoys?

Just like her mom, she loves to eat.  She eats cereal and fruit at this point (plus formula), three times a day.  I tried some mashed up potato, but she carried on so I thought she was going to throw up.  So, we quit that for the time being.

She loves to play with toys, soft toys.  She grabs them and holds them, and even puts them in her mouth.

Paul had brought her a bunch of elephants this evening, and she was pulling on the tail of the big brown one.

She likes reading books with Paul and me, except she wants to hold the books too.

Here, we are reading about sheep, and lo and behold!  Some of the sheep jumped out of the book and into our living room!

Hannah likes doing anything with Paul, and even just watching Paul.  He is her #1 entertainment.  Here, Paul is playing in her bed (crib), supervised, of course.

Hannah also has a cute little swirl of longer hair on top her head that curls.  It is all that is left of her original hair.  The rest fell out, and all the new hair has grown in straight.  I tried to capture her curls with the camera.  If you look closely, you can see her beautiful curls.

Now, for the 1 celebration.  Today was Andrew’s birthday.  Unfortunately, he has recently landed in California for a raft of business meetings.  He left this morning and will come back in 4 days.  We celebrated last evening just before we left for Bible study.

I made his favorite cake, German Sweet Cho. cake, all the way from scratch, the whole 60-step 5-hours-to-make method (o.k., that is exagerating), and it was worth it.  We put some in the freezer for later, and I gave some to my mom.  We also had fat-cow steak, which Andrew grilled, baked potatoes, and broccoli.  That is the usual birthday menu for Andrew’s birthday.

I gave Andrew some Corelle dishes for his birthday (don’t laugh too hard).  The dishes we use for everyday don’t hold up in the microwave ever since we got our dishwasher last Nov.  (and I wasn’t willing to not use the dishwasher).  Andrew has had endless aggravation at not being able to microwave plates, having to use pie plates, etc.  So, I got some Corelle on clearance.  No, it wasn’t dirt cheap, but we will now be able to microwave our plates and bowls.

I could write more and more about my husband, but it is pretty late, and I need to go to bed.  I need to be well rested for a day of doing the parenting of two people tomorrow.

As you can see, Paul and I are having so much fun using our new Oreck vacuum sweeper.  Yes, we already have it.  There is an Oreck store here in town, so instead of borrowing our neighbor’s vacuum sweeper until our new one arrived, Andrew canceled the online order and he and Paul drove to town on Friday and picked up the same one we had ordered (at the same price too).

I was sooooo thrilled with it!  I should have blogged that very night, but Paul and I stayed up a little extra late vacuuming our entire house (except the office room, somehow I forgot it), so there wasn’t much time for blogging.  Here are some things I didn’t know:

That vacuuming doesn’t have to be a full-body muscle-building work-out.  I was shocked at how easily this vacuum rolled over the carpet and pushed and pulled with such ease.  It didn’t suck up the linoleum in the bathroom either (and take all my might to get it loose as it did with my old one).  And it is so light!  It only weighs 9 pounds, as I recall.  I guess the most amazing thing was that I wasn’t dripping sweat while I was vacuuming, which seconds the testimony of it being easier to use.  Andrew asked how I was going to get my excercise now.  Well, there are other things to do besides vacuuming.

That you could make one swipe with the vacuum and all the dirt would be gone!  I was so impressed as I vacuumed the carpet, I just vacuumed once at each place and it was done!  I wasn’t vacuuming a spot over and over to get the dirt up.  And, the same on the hardwood floors.  Under the table where the food bits were, the old vacuum just pushed them around, shot them out the back and so on.  I just pushed the Oreck under there, and the food was gone–and it wasn’t behind me.  Never once did I see the dirt that was in front of the sweeper behind me.  It was amazing!  I must be honest and say that last night a big piece of food, I think it was fish, did take two swipes to get it up, but I think it was moist because it was right after supper.  Also, on the carpet, once or twice it picked up a piece of dirt on the back stroke that it didn’t get on the forward stroke.  But, those things are hardly worth mentioning because it does so well all the rest of the time.

That one could actually enjoy vacuuming.  I just love it!  I used to dread it with all dread.  Now, about middle of the day today, I was looking at the floor to see if there were enough crumbs on it to merit getting out my new Oreck and vacuuming them up.  There weren’t, so I had to wait.  I think I will be whipping that thing out of the closet to get up crumbs frequently (instead of pulling out the broom and dustpan, which I used to stall having to get out the vacuum, or because people were sleeping).

That anybody made a vacuum sweeper with a handle/pipes long enough that you could stand upright while vacuuming.  I always wondered why vacuum sweeper handles and pipes were so short because I always had to be bent over to vacuum.  They must be manufactured with information that the average height of a person is 4′. One of the first things I noticed was that the handle of the Oreck must be about 4′ tall, and the pipes for the little canister vacuum are very long.  I just love being able to run the vacuum while standing  upright.

Paul also loves the new vacuum.  I haven’t let him use the upright yet, but he just vacuums away with the pipe and floor end of the little canister vacuum that comes with it.  He “vacuumed” all the time I was vacuuming.

As you can tell, I have much appreciation for the Oreck, and I thank all you folks for giving me advice.  I don’t think you can get this thing away from me, but if in the next 30 days I find fault with it, we can take it back.  And, I hope it lasts me at least 20 years!  (Mamajil, how long have you had yours?)