Weekly Wrap-Up...Umm-the one with recipes??

Weekly Wrap-Up hosted by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

SO what's been up with us this week?? I've been somewhat missing from the blogging world (but never for too long).


Monday we had Co-Op and all went well with that. It did seem to be a rushed day however. Math was done besides classes for Co-Op (choir, watercolor, chemistry, computer security, PE- Lee had a bad headache and so we didn't stay for Student Council). In the mail I got a review item, PGKey and was so excited to get it going. So excited that I put it on the wrong computer... oops. My review of the PGKey will be up 11/12/10 10/27/10- keep an eye out! 


Tuesday was school-as-usual. We finished Chrysostom and will be moving onto Jerome. I really appreciated how Hodges compared the previous Saints (Cyprian, Athanasius, Ambrose) with Chrysostom. It helped to see how things were progressing in the Church. 
I've been baking a lot of bread-stuffs lately. The kids love it when I make fresh bread! *Check the end of my post for some recipes!
I sent off my giveaway of Janlynn Cross-stitch kits to Martha- lucky winner. I wish I had the what-it-takes to do cross-stitch but I'm like a person with two left feet trying to dance...just doesn't happen!


Wednesday...um, hmm... it was just a regular day. One of those that nothing really extraordinary and definitely nothing negative happened. I did get another giveaway going for LinderCroft's Sticks & Stuff in celebration of my 50 Followers (I have more than 50 now! YAY!). That took a bit to put together but I love doing giveaways :)
Fox went over to a friends house for the evening and came back with a "Welcome Bot-1000". You've never heard of that? Well, neither had I! The reason we've never heard of it is because Fox and his friend made it up. There was an old non-working vacuum cleaner that the boys were able to disassemble and they came up with a nice concept- a robot that 'welcomes' you when you walk in the door. It will have an extendable arm that will hold your coat. :) It's a work in progress and hopefully there will be a finished product to take photos of. Fox also learned how to make french fries- homemade- while he was at dinner at our friends. That leads us into Thursday...


Thursday! This was a good good day. The best parts: It started with rising late (ahem, no that's not the good part yet lol), snuggling with my kids in bed (good part #1), and having coffee (good part #2) and coffee cake (good part #3)- both made by the kids (good part #4)! Fox made my coffee. I was joking with him and said, "where's my coffee??" He got up and went to the kitchen. I heard some rattling of dishes and such and Lee and I wondered what he was doing. Next thing I hear is the coffee bean grinder! He was really making me coffee!! The first cup was just for me and it was perfect! He did wonderfully! 
Both the kids made coffee cake* with some homemade baking mix* that we have. It turned out so yummy! It was great- start to finish they did it all! Well, I had to take it out of the oven for fear of them getting burnt :)
For dinner we simply had beans, cornbread and some yummy homemade french fries (thanks to Fox!).


Friday- well, today :) We've gotten Spanish done already and maths. Lee tried to 'teach' Fox some art but well, he really wasn't in the mood. Talk about opposites! She is a perfectionist and he, well, isn't. They both got frustrated with each other and so art is going to be 'independent' today. Perhaps I can convince them to do the Sketch Tuesday. Much still to do :) But I'm optimistic that today will be a good day :)


*Recipes~
Basic White Bread (with alternatives)
Makes 2 loaves
Dissolve:
  2 1/4 tsp dry yeast (or one package) in
  1/4 c warm water with
  3/4 tsp sugar (helps the yeast activate quicker but can be omitted)
Combine in a large mixer bowl (I use my awesome food processor):
  1/4 c sugar (for less sweet bread add less, more sweet add a bit more)
  1/2 T salt (I hardly ever use this much- don't much like salt...)
  2 T shortening (you can use oil for this also, the shortening seems to help with keeping it moist though)
  1 1/2 c warm water
  yeast mixture
Add:
  2 1/2 c flour (I use half whole wheat, half white OR sometimes when I'm feeling adventuresome I will use up to 1/4 cup wheat germ, 1/4 cup flax seed meal, 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup white. I rarely go all whole wheat because I only make whole wheat bricks, not bread! lol)
Beat with electric mixer for 3 minutes (food processor, about 2 minutes)
Stir in by hand:
  3 c flour (same thing with the flour but reserve at least 1/2-1 cup white flour for kneading)
Turn onto floured board and knead 5 minutes (yes, 5 minutes). Place in greased bowl, turning once, cover and let rise 1/2 hour. Punch down, turn over and let rise again until double. Knead a few minutes, then shape into 2 loaves and place in greased 9"x5" loaf pans. Cover loaves with damp cloth and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes. Brush tops with butter if desired. 


Brown Breadsticks 
Makes 3 doz breadsticks
Dissolve:
  1 1/8 tsp dry yeast (or about 1/2 package) in
  1/2 c warm water
Mix in large bowl:
  1/2 c melted shortening (or oil- I used oil)
  1 1/2 T honey
  1 t salt
  1/2 c boiling water (I didn't let my water get that hot because I didn't want to wait for it to do the next step!)
When lukewarm, add:
  1 beaten egg
  1/2 t honey
  dissolved yeast
Stir in gradually:
  3 c whole wheat flour
Mix well, but do not knead (that was what caught my attention!). Place in refrigerator to chill one hour or more. When chilled, break off pieces of dough with well-floured hands. Make into balls the size of a baseball, then roll the ball between hands to form a long roll. Divide each roll into 8 pieces and roll each pencil-thin. Place thin rolls on greased cookie sheets. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 325F until crisp, about 30 minutes.


Master Baking Mix (with alternatives!)
Makes 4 or 8 lbs
For 4 lbs:
Stir together:
  10 c all-purpose flour (OR mix the flour types- use white flour, wheat flour, rice flour, oat flour, coconut flour, soy flour, wheat germ, flaxseed meal to equal the amount)
  6 T baking powder
  1 1/2 T salt (I don't use that much)
  1 1/2 t cream of tartar (I've made this without it and it actually seems to add a bit of flavor when you do- I'm not entirely sure what it's purpose is otherwise...)
  1/4 c sugar (use less, or a bit more, depending on how 'sweet' you want your mix- I use less)
Cut in to consistency of cornmeal:
  2 c vegetable shortening (you can use oil instead but it just makes it a bit more difficult [imho] to get the 'consistency' right that way)
Stir in:
  2 c dry milk powder (I rather use whole milk powder but the last time I used generic fat free- it makes a difference in taste and texture!)
Store in covered container at room temperature (Not a good idea!! If you change the ingredients as suggested in my alternatives, you should refrigerate or freeze this mix as some of the ingredients could spoil.). To measure baking mix, pile lightly into a cup and level off with spatula. 

-For 8 lbs (*OOPS forgot this so this post has been EDITED):
Stir together:
  5 lbs flour (whatever mixture you'd like)
  3/4 c baking powder
  3 T salt
  1 T cream of tartar
  1/2 c sugar
Cut in to consistency of cornmeal:
  2 lbs shortening (if using oil I think this would convert to about 4 cups?? don't quote me on that! some people use slightly less to 1/2 what is called for when substituting)
Stir in:
  4 c dry milk powder
Same preparation instructions as above and again, I would recommend refrigerating or freezing this. But that's just me. If you do, you may want to let it sit at room temperature for a bit before using it.


Coffee Cake using Master Baking Mix
Serves 6
Preheat oven to 375F.
Beat together in a bowl:
  1/3 c milk
  1 egg
Add:
  1/4 c sugar
  2 1/4 c Master Mix
Stir until well blended- about 1 minute. Pour into greased 8" square baking pan. Combine and sprinkle over:
  1/2 c brown sugar
  3 T softened butter
  1/2 t cinnamon (lol Fox used the cinnamon/sugar that we have- so there was extra sugar in ours!)
Bake 25 minutes. Serve warm.


*All recipes were taken in part or modified sort of from More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. ISBN: 0-8361-1786-7