Fresh Bread

The most wonderful smell in all the world is fresh baked bread. Sure, cookies smell good too, and so does a roasting turkey. But, fresh bread carries with it a sense of home, belonging, comfort, and family that no other smell can do.

This morning I woke up and decided to bake some bread. I have a bread machine, so it's no big deal to throw in a loaf. My daughters love to bake. Claire helped me this morning. Her favorite thing is to stick her hand in the canister of flour and then run her fingers through it. But, she's also getting pretty good at adding ingredients to the bowl. So, although it takes at least twice as long to bake with her, I usually invite her.

Today I baked a new bread. I have a wonderful bread cookbook,so I'm always trying new recipes. Today we made cereal bread. It is made by adding 2 cups of your favorite cereal in with the flour. I used a great grains granola and pecans cereal. It made the yummiest bread! It is sweet yet tasted of whole-grain nutty goodness.

Ah.... Bread! I love it!

Here's the recipe for 2lb loaf:

Granola Bread from the Bread Machine Cookbook II

Water 1 & 1/3 C
Oil 3 T
Honey 3T
Salt 3/4 t
*grated orange peel 1 t
granola cereal 2 C
bread flour 2.5 C
wheat flour 1 C
yeast 2 t
*raisins 1/2 C
* sunflower seeds 1/2 C

I didn't add any of the optional things, but I'm sure they could be good.  

Behind the Scenes: Towel Embroidery

My daughter Jessica wants to grow up to be a mermaid.  So, since I can't help her with that...  I decided to embroider her some mermaid towels for the bathroom.  This is how it's done.

First, you start by hooping either the towel and the stabilizer, or just the stabilizer.  For anything without a smooth texture, such as terry cloth or polar fleece, you need a water-soluble stabilizer on the top.  That's what you see in the picture to the left.  This helps the stitches to remain visible and not sink too deep into the terry cloth.  Next, you start the pattern and it sews by itself.

My youngest girl, Claire, keeps asking me, "who's sewing on your machine Mama?"  because I can walk around while I embroider.  (It's loud enough to hear throughout the house!)  Jessica answers with all the authority of a General, as though she didn't just ask the same thing 10 minutes ago,  "It's magic Claire.  It's sewing by itself."  When it's time for a color change, the machine stops (the silence is nearly deafening after the racket of embroidery) and I change the thread out.

On the back you can use a tear-away stabilizer--the white stuff seen to the right.  It keeps the fabric from puckering.  Once the pattern is done, you trim the extra threads and then tear away the stabilizer.

 This pattern had three color changes: yellow outline, light green body, and cream over the light green.  It was pretty quick to stitch up and was very fun!  It looks great hanging in our bathroom.  Jessica loves it!  Here you can see the finished product.  










This weekend I made up a few kitchen towels as well.  Lots of fun!  If you have any interest in handmade embroidered towels, you can check out my Etsy shop for some for sale.  I love to do custom orders, so if you want something I don't have, just ask me!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewinthesnow?section_id=10800589


Feel free to ask my any questions you may have regarding embroidery.  Thanks for reading!

Laughter, Toddlers, Warmth: A Great Day

Sigh, I've been waiting to exhale for a month as its been super cold for weeks. It's been colder than 20 F below for weeks. However, today it was 25 degrees above zero! I got to play in the yard with my girls on the swing set. Claire's wild laughter rang off the house while Jessie found the first star of the night and made a wish. It was a hoot! Being outdoors is such sweet relief.

Although this picture is a couple of years old, they were both still in these swings tonight.

The schnook, warm wind, that brought the warm weather also knocked out our  power for 2.5 hours.  I was grateful for the wood-stove and the camping LED lantern we have in the house. The girls were taking a bath and getting warm after playing outside when the lights went off.  Claire's shriek  from the tub nearly deafened me.  I sprang from my sewing machine and raced into her room to grab the lantern.  I got it to the bathroom without mishap.  Then I stumbled about in the dark, kicking a toy squirrel into Wishy (our Beagle) and scaring him while trying to light candles.  I managed to pilfer through our wood-stove bucket--past the poker, the two pairs of gloves, and the -- Ow!-- stiff metal bristle brush--to grab the lighter.

I wandered around with the lighter on  trying not to catch my hair on fire or trip over the dog while the flame flickered in the breeze. By the time I got half-dozen candles lit around the house, I was chuckling thinking about a rock concert I went to with Sean in The Gorge Amphitheater (near Seattle) where everyone was waving their lighters. 




Soon Sean got home and we grilled pork chops and made spinach salad while wearing headlamps for light.  The girls were really excited and were running around wildly.  What a great day!


What delightful stories do you have of when the power went out?  I love a good story!