Bread

It is suddenly that time of year again when having the oven on to bake bread is a cozy thing. The past few days have been much cooler here in southern California. We even got some rain yesterday. I love making bread during the cooler months. There is something about the rhythm of making a couple loaves every week (or more) that is so satisfying. I think it is going to be even more fun this year with the addition of our new grain mill.

I use a recipe for my whole grain bread that I found online. It is Marilyn's Famous Whole Wheat Bread Recipe, and I know why it is so famous. It is simple and DELICIOUS. I use my KitchenAid and can make two loaves at a time, but I would someday love to own a Bosch and be able to handle 5 to 6 loaves at a time. Of course, I dare not tell my husband this or I will end up with another appliance that I really don't have room for.

Even the kids love to see the wheat berries turn into beautiful flour. So far I have been purchasing my wheat berries either at Sprouts Market or at Winco. They are both under $1 per pound.

Here my Kitchenaid is hard at work kneading the dough. I love that it makes the job so easy.

I always end up finishing the kneading by hand. I love the feel of the dough, and there is something about the warmth of it that soothes the soul.

After forming the loaves, they sit in the pans for about an hour to rise. The flour is such a beautiful color that the loaves already looked cooked.

It's not until they are in the oven that you get the first reward... the smell! Ahhh... fresh baking bread. Is there a better smell? Okay, maybe newborn baby breath, but fresh baking bread smells sooo good.

We can only wait minutes after the loaves come out of the oven before we slice one open and spread the slices with butter, which instantly melts. The kids always rave that it is the best bread ever, and I do believe I agree.

Yogurt

I have started making yogurt, and I love it! It tastes so good, and is so good for you. The kids have been eating yogurt daily for sometime. They are used to store sweetened yogurt, but will eat my home-made yogurt if I add some jelly or honey to it. I would love to one day not buy any more yogurt and only have homemade, but so far "their's and mine" is what we do.

Here are the steps I take to making yogurt at home:

First off, the cast of characters: milk, a little yogurt from the previous batch, a thermometer, and stock pot.

I set out the ingredients to come to room temperature while I bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. I hang the pot I am using for the milk over the one that is boiling to sterilize it and to help the pot of water to boil faster.

I use the two pots as a double boiler, pour the milk in, and bring it up to 185 degrees stirring frequently. This kills any bacteria.

When the milk hits 185 degrees I take it off the heat and set it in the sink full of cool water to bring the milk down to 110 degrees.

When the milk comes down to 110 degrees, I add in yogurt (or culture) from the previous batch. I use the ratio of 2-3 tablespoons of yogurt to a half gallon of milk.

Then I pour the milk into mason jars and put them in an ice chest. I add warm water to the ice chest to keep the jars at 110 degrees for 7 hours. I check this with the thermometer and add warm water if the temperature drops. After 7 hours the yogurt should have solidified. I then take it out and let it cool and then store it in the refrigerator.

And voila... yummy, tart, fresh, yogurt. Such a morning treat with a little granola and honey on top. A terrific way to start the day!

Some great resources on making yogurt: Cultures for Health, and How to Make Your Own Yogurt

Week 4 Wrap Up

We are wrapping up our study of the United States and get to go to Mexico next week. We spent all last year studying the U.S., so I for one am looking forward to moving down the road a bit. We added a couple things in this week and fine tuned some other things. I am feeling a bit relieved that we seam to be fitting in most everything during the week. I think we are getting in a groove, but I am well aware that grooves change, constantly.

Exploring Countries and Cultures

Bible: We read about the Navajo people in Windows on the World and learned some of the ways we can pray for them. We also started our study of Matthew reading about the genealogy of Jesus and discussing our family tree. We read and discussed Jesus' birth and the wise men's visit to Jesus. Zachary's weekly Bible verse is Matthew 1:23, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - Which means, "God with us." We Israel, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Iran on the map. We also read about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in Hero Tales. Zachary has been writing the different character traits learned in Hero Tales in his notebook.

Language Arts: Zachary finished practicing his letters last week and started this week in language arts by copying his new Bible verse. On Tuesday he wrote his Bible verse by dictation. On Friday he will add two more words to his Vocabulary Notebook. Each Friday he gets two additional geography words that he illustrates and defines. Each week we go over the words from the previous weeks and add two more.

Spelling: We added in our new spelling curriculum this week. I have high hopes for it. We have chosen to use Spelling Power. I have been reading the teacher's manual and watching the DVD that comes with the program and had started to feel comfortable with the many steps involved. I kept hearing that it all sounds like a lot to absorb, but once you get started it is very simple. My Father's World suggests waiting until the third week of school to start up spelling. It gives you a chance to fold in everything more slowly, which I think is a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, the night before we were to start, I noticed something I had overlooked regarding doing this program differently if you are doing it with a student that is 8 years old or younger. It threw me in a bit of a tale spin (although it shouldn't have). I asked some questions about this on a couple homeschool boards I am on and got a few suggestions. After going over them I decided to proceed with the regular program knowing that I could always "tweak" it if something was not working out right. (Here in-lies one of the most beautiful things about educating you children at home!)

English: Continued in Primary Language Lessons. Zachary learned about ('s) which answers the question, "whose."

Math Drill: We have started a new way of drilling. I have purchased a great computer program for Zachary called Mad Dog Math. I had the pleasure of sitting in one of Julie Kotoff's workshops at the CHEA convention in July and her enthusiasm for math was contagious. She impressed on us how important math drilling is for mastering math facts. I had some trouble downloading her program and she kindly called me and helped me through the process. Zachary enjoys working on the computer, and doing math drills on the computer makes them fun. I think this program will be well worth it.

Geography: This week we worked hard on learning the states. Zachary surprised me by the end of the week with how many states he could name. We also did an exercise coloring in the states using only four colors and not having and bordering states the same color. We started at the four corners and worked out from there. It was fun and Zach got it with only one mistake that was easily corrected. We also studied our flag and the symbols behind the stars and stripes.

Science: We continued learning about forests and what kind of animals live in different areas of the forest. We worked on some tree identification using a tree guide from the library.

Read-Aloud: We have been reading Kingdom Tales. Our whole family has been enjoying it and the discussions it provokes after each chapter. The stories are fun, and they all point to our King.

I could go on and on... we have had a very full week indeed. I think I will share some photos of some additional activities this past week.

Zach and Emma working on labeling and coloring in North America on the world map.

Our World Cake!

Zach doing Rosetta Stone.

Emma working on some sorting in math for 1st grade.

Emma's completed scroll. She work several days on her printing and got to put all the pages together in a scroll.

Read other homeschoolers weekly wrap ups at Discover Their Gifts

Right Now

I haven't done this for awhile, and I think it is good sometimes to pause and see just where you are every once in awhile. So here it goes...

Outside my window... there are three kids and a daddy throwing the football around.

I am thinking... I am glad those screams are from outside and not inside the house right now.

I am thankful for... my mom coming to play with the kids today!

From the learning room... school is almost done for the day, and I feel as if I am keeping up (so far) this year.

From the kitchen... today was yogurt making day, I have a pork roast smelling heavenly in the crock pot, and a cake just came out of the oven ;-)

I am wearing... an elastic waisted skirt and a t-shirt (summer outfit of choice!)

I am creating... in the process of planning an art project for school tomorrow which involves sand art. Wondering if will be cool enough tomorrow to do it outside?

I am going... No where today or tomorrow, and that's how this homeschool mom likes it every once in awhile.

I am reading... the Spelling Power teacher's manual. I think the "just jump in and go" advise was very wise.

I am hoping... my oldest continues his enthusiasm for this new spelling curriculum.

I am hearing... my daughter ask for help from her brother, and him helping with a happy heart (music to my ears).

Around the house... completely enjoying our newly re-organized living areas. Love that it is giving us more room to live and to school.

One of my favorite things... listening to my son share his school work with his Nana and listening to his enthusiasm.

A few plans for the rest of the week... grinding grain and making bread tomorrow, planning a date night for this weekend to celebrate my hubby and my 13th anniversary.

Thank you The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Beautiful Cloudy Morning

We're enjoying a cool cloudy morning. The boys are riding their scooters and Emma and I are doing school. I know the summer weather is not gone for good, yet... but I am enjoying this glimpse into fall.

What We Did With Them Apples

Well, we ate them, of course. Luke has been asking for them all day everyday this week. He loves walking around the house with one in hand. I do have to be careful though because he starts at one end of the apple and eats his way through to the other - core, stem, and all.

Being that these are fresh apples, organic even, I thought we should get them cooked up before some of them bruised and got mushy. So I got out the handy dandy apple corer/peeler/slicer that my wonderful husband bought me last year and went to work. We decided that a big apple crisp and some apple sauce was in order.

This is where we started. (Notice mom's iced coffee in the background, it's never far away!!)

Apple peeling is so fun and easy with this gadget! (Iced coffee strikes again!)

Not to mention you get these great peel ribbons that the kids love to eat (and drape around their bodies).

At the end of it we had enough cinnamon apple sauce for a couple days.

And a wonderful dish of simple apple crisp! We're out of ice cream, but I bet it will be great tonight after the kids go to bed... with an iced coffee ;-)

I'm thinking we may need to plan another apple picking trip before it gets too late.... yum!

2011 Apple Picking

September has flown by here. It is a month my oldest has been looking forward to. We used to look forward to October, but we have learned that October may be a little late. Late for what, you ask? Late for apple picking.

So while apple picking may bring to mind a picture of things cooling off, the color of leaves changing, and a different smell in the air, here it is summer as usual. We are still getting 100 degree days and staying indoors as much as possible. Although we were very lucky to experience a little break in the weather last week. Friday being the coolest day. And, also lucky, Oak Glen is always a little cooler than it is in our town. So with Danny having Friday off of work we ate some yogurt for breakfast and told the kids to get in the car. It wasn't long before the older two were guessing where we were headed. And it didn't take long for Zach to guess right.

Oak Glen has gotten to be a tradition in our family. We start the trip at Snow-Line to sample apple cider and the apple varieties they have out. Then (the important part) we purchase fresh apple cider donuts. We've done this in the rain in years past, but this year the day was picture perfect and we ate our donuts under the Chestnut tree while watching the kids play tag with very cinnamon-y sticky fingers. Someday I might actually have a photo of this, but so far mama is also with sticky fingers and in the excitement of getting my hands on some of those yummy donuts, the camera usually gets left in the car... but not for long.

I do love the donuts, and I love picking apples with my family, I love the walking (running for some) around the orchards, and I love the raspberries, but one of my favorite things are the photos that come from this day each year. It is seriously difficult to take a bad picture in that gorgeous scenery. There is something about that fresh air and the trees and the kids too I suppose that just make my camera work in a way I can't make it work the rest of the year.

This year we picked both apples and raspberries at Los Rios Rancho. The big kids had so much fun running around and looking for the perfect apples. We all had a lot of fun watching Luke maneuver around the natural obstacles and look for an apple growing at his height. Of course he got some help from Danny reaching some that were higher up, but when he would find one at his height he was so proud of being able to get it all by himself. Once he got his teeth into one of those apples, we didn't see him again for the rest of the day without one in his mouth. Occasionally he would pick up a stick for awhile and walk around with it, but there was always an apple in the other hand being chewed on.

When we had filled our bag of apples, we went back for the raspberries. Again, I think Luke may have eaten more than he put in the box, but he was having so much fun no one dared stop him. And I don't think anyone could have if they had wanted too. My kids love their apples and berries and to pick them off the plant and eat them is quite the thrill.

So without further ado, here are the winning photos from this year.

Luke eating one of his many apples. See, who would tell him no?

One of the few times I caught up with him.

It's a little easier to catch up with this guy. Isn't he cute ;-)

One, Two, Three

The Boys

I love this one of my two older kiddos. And you can't hear the bickering from this distance ;-).

This one pretty much sums Ms. Emma up.

I'm sure that's not a raspberry in his mouth (ahem)... This kid is truly amazing in so many ways.

Tell me how I got this blessed!!! Seriously, who would have thought having a daughter would be so much fun?

And Mr. Bonus... he is just the cherry on top.

Yes, blessed is what I would call it.

And, by the way, I believe the next post will be, "What we did with them apples" - Stay tuned!