Put in Bosch:

6 c. warm water
1/2 c. plus 2 T. honey
5 T. brown sugar
3 T. active dry yeast

Let it sit for a few minutes, then add:

Mix briefly. Add enough additional flour to clean the sides of the bowl (but still leave it sticky like masking tape). Turn mixer onto 2 and mix for 5 minutes.

      
Bake for 20-25 minutes. OH, YUM. It smells delightful and tastes even better.

And topped with Amy's suggestion of this honey butter (which my 4- and 6-yr. olds made), it is unbeatable.

Or, to put it another way, shocking.

Don't you think I should get bonus points just for including more links than I have ever included before? That, combined with my minimal knowledge of ... computering (or computtering around), made this post take three times as long as it should have!

Today's supper preparation (More with Less's Bierrocks) brought a new kitchen helper:

Her method for stirring is quite unique: she holds the wooden spoon still and spins the bowl.

Still, the cheerfulness is appreciated. And every seasoned cook knows to test the recipe:

JUST RIGHT!

Now who wants to kiss the cook?

Ummm...Grandma??

. . . Make Dandelion Jelly.

It's surprisingly easy and a fun transformation for the kids to watch. Yesterday, in a moment of "I NEED TO GET AWAY FROM YOU!" desperation, I sent Ben (6) and Lily (4) outside to gather a bowl of dandelions (just yellow ones, thank you very much).

I used a combination of recipes found online, only to later flip to "dandelion jelly" in Carla Emery's The Encyclopedia of Country Living (one of my favorite books) and discover that the combination I so originally came up with was written in easy language in her book. So much for the Internet!

At first, the two children were a little disgusted at the thought of actually digesting something that they picked from the yard. But this gave us a chance to talk about other flowers that we eat (cauliflower, broccoli, cloves, artichokes -- well, OK, we don't eat those but SOME people do).

And come to think of it, some of the things I've seen my kids ingest are FAR more disgusting than a household weed. . .

This is one of my favorite kitchen tips, courtesy of my Mainiac (person from Maine, of course) friend Kendra (who is my favorite source of tips, kitchen or otherwise).

It's one of my favorites because it ... WORKS. Noticeably. Ready?

In order to make beans less "musical," add a 2-inch piece of dried seaweed (like kombu). That's it. It is incredible how well this works. ***NOTE: This only works if you use the overnight soak method, not a quick-soak method.***

So here's how we do beans here (it's so simple, my 2 1/2 year-olds can help):

1. Dump the entire contents of the dried bean bag into the crockpot. Add the seaweed. Cover with about 4 inches of water. Let sit overnight.
2. In the morning, drain the beans. Add fresh water, covering by about 2 inches (or more). It's fine to leave the seaweed (which will have "grown") in there. You won't notice any seaweedy taste...it just kind of dissolves and you might find a few "green" beans.  
3. Put the crockpot on "HIGH." Leave for 2-4 hours (until the beans are soft). Let cool, and spoon the beans into 2-cup (or more) portions in freezer bags with some of the bean juice. Now you can freeze them. When you need beans, microwave for 3 minutes to thaw. TA-DA!

Now you can enjoy your beans without the "organ recital." Thanks, Kenj!

If you need a little pick-me-up tomorrow morning, try this:

Take your basic muffin recipe and throw in about 1/4 cup cocoa and a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips. Spoon about half a muffin's worth into each muffin tin, add a teaspoon of raspberry preserves to each muffin, and top with the remaining batter.

Bake, remove from oven, and savor each delightful bite.

Have you ever made yogurt? We are huge fans here: homemade yogurt is cheaper than store-bought, it’s more versatile than store-bought, and you control the ingredients. And the process is so easy, once you know the secret.

And here’s the secret: the crucial part of yogurt-making is the incubating. After many failed attempts at making yogurt (and after many post-yogurt-oopsie-smoothies), I clued in to this secret and had a successful batch. And we’ve been enjoying it ever since! I’ll give you two methods of incubating, both of which have worked well for us (but the first method is SO SO EASY that if you have a crockpot, try it first).

We like to eat our yogurt with a little bit of preserves stirred in…it tastes like a blended fruit yogurt from the store.

INGREDIENTS (this will make a little over four quarts of yogurt):

1 gallon whole milk (raw or from the store)

¾ c. plain yogurt (we like the whole milk variety…just make sure it says it contains “active, live cultures” for your first batch. After this, you can use your own yogurt to start the next batch!)

1 c. sugar (optional)

tad vanilla (optional)

½ c. powdered milk (optional; this helps make the yogurt creamier)

OR 4 t. gelatin (optional; this will make your yogurt the creamiest)

Sterilize 5 quart jars by running them through the dishwasher or pouring boiling water over them. (You don’t have to use jars…but make sure you sterilize whatever containers you are using.)

METHOD 1:

1. Pour the milk into your crockpot (if you have a small crockpot, you will want to halve the recipe). Set the crockpot on “LOW” and leave it for 2-3 hours.
2. Turn the crockpot “OFF” and let the milk sit in there until it cools to anywhere between 95-110 degrees. It takes about 2 hours.
3. Put about 1 cup of this cooled milk into a bowl. Add the yogurt to the 1 c. of milk, and whisk well with a wire whisk. Dump this back into the large pot of milk. If you are using sugar, vanilla, powdered milk, and/or gelatin, add those now. Whisk well.
4. Put the lid back on the crockpot (which is still off), cover it with a bath towel, and leave it for anywhere from 4 hours to overnight. When it is custardy, put the yogurt into the jars and refrigerate. DONE!

METHOD 2:

1. If you are using RAW MILK: heat the milk to 180 degrees (this is pasteurizing, and store-bought milk is already pasteurized). Just dump it into a large pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally (unless you like the smell of burned milk in your house) until it reaches 180 degrees when checked with a candy thermometer. Cool the raw milk (you can just remove it from the heat or set it in a sinkful of ice water to cool quickly) to somewhere between 95-110 degrees. Note the time it takes to do this. Next time, you won’t have to baby-sit the milk to see how long it takes to cool.  If you are using STORE-BOUGHT MILK: heat the milk to 110 degrees.    
2. Turn your oven on to its lowest setting, or "WARM."
3. Remove about 1 cup of milk. Add the yogurt to the 1 c. of milk, and whisk well with a wire whisk. Dump this back into the large pot of milk. If you are using sugar, vanilla, powdered milk, and/or gelatin, add those now. Whisk well.
4. Place your jars into a shallow roasting pan and ladle the yogurt mixture into the jars. Tuck a bath towel over and around the jars. Set your jars in the oven, and set your candy thermometer right on the rack.
5. Turn the oven "OFF." Try to keep the oven at around 100 degrees (if you have moderate weather, you usually won’t have to adjust the oven after you turn it off). If it gets cooler, set it on “WARM” again until it reaches 100. If it gets too warm, open the oven door so it can cool down a little. Leave the yogurt for 4-6 hours. Once it gets custardy, put your jars in the refrigerator. DONE!

Here are some drinks my family enjoys during the summer:

3-2-1 Lemonade
3 lemons
2 cups sugar
1 gallon water

Thinly slice lemons in the round. Add 2 cups of sugar and stir to coat. (We usually use the potato masher and mash it all; this brings out the flavor.) Wait 10 minutes. Add 1 gallon water and ice. Stir. This is a delicious, refreshing, and stinkin' easy lemonade. If you are going to be storing any leftovers (huh?), remove the lemon slices.

Mock Orange Julius
1/2 frozen concentrated orange juice carton (I literally cut the carton in half)
1 cup water
1 cup milk
splash of vanilla extract

Put all in blender and blend. If you want it extra frothy, add ice and blend. (Note: do not add ice if you will be putting this into sippy cups. The tiny ice chunks just plug the valve.)

Lime Rickey (or, as my husband insists on calling it, Rickey Martini)
Juice of 1/2-1 lime
1-1 1/2 oz. simple syrup (boil 2 c. sugar with 1 c. water; store in fridge)
6-8 oz. club soda

Stir lime juice and simple syrup together. Add club soda and ice. Stir gently. My mom likes to drink this and reminisce about her childhood in Boston.

Iced Tea
6 regular tea bags (or 8 decaf)
3/4 c.-1 c. sugar
1 gallon water

Bring tea bags and sugar to boil in pot with water. Add cold water to pitcher. Dump contents of pot into pitcher. Add enough water to fill gallon pitcher. Stir, add ice, stir.

Tea aficionados will tell you never to boil tea blah blah blah. But this is the way my family has always made it, and my mother is known for her iced tea at potluck (or, in my denomination, potprovidence ). Of course, my mother would never submit to the 3/4 c. sugar. It has to be a full cup.

We really don't reserve these drinks for the summer. But they definitely do cool you down and taste delicious and summery.

So occasionally I remember to plan ahead . . . when I am working according to plan, this is what we have for breakfast –

Breakfast

Monday – Muffins (Overnight)
Tuesday – Toast
Wednesday – Waffles (Overnight)
Thursday – Thoakmeal (Overnight)
Friday – French Toast (Overnight)
Saturday – Scrambled Eggs

As you can see, there are a couple of themes here: 1) I like overnight recipes, which means I prepare them the night before, let them sit overnight in the fridge, and just heat in the morning, and 2) Each breakfast has the same beginning letter as the day because I need all the memory helps I can get (well, we cheated on Soakmeal, but Thoakmeal is how my 3-yr. old says it and it makes it more convenient to go with Thursday).

For morning snack (on those mornings when breakfast is early enough to warrant a snack – VERY rare), we usually have some sort of fruit with or without peanut butter.