Stuff I Like…The Oh-My-Goodness-Has-It-Been-Two-Weeks Edition

Wow…I have really, really, really fallen behind in blogging lately.  I blame this blog.

For a while, I was maintaining two blogs that were virtual carbon copies.  Since I posted exactly the same thing on both blogs, this blog didn’t take any extra time or energy.  Recently, due to a combination of guilt and divergent interests, I decided to change the format of this blog so it included posts that are different than the posts on my other blog.    Those of you out there with more than one child may be able to relate to this.  Remember when your second (or third, or fourth, or…) came along.  That new baby required so much time and energy that you may have felt like you were neglecting your older child(ren).  That’s how I feel now.  I have been very lax in posting about homeschooling and all other aspects of our life while I worked on devotionals for this blog.  Between you and me…I’m pretty impressed that I was able to get the kids’ day books posted two weeks in a row.

I also realized that I haven’t posted a Stuff I Like for two weeks now.  Since I know you are all sitting at home desperate to find add to your knowledge of MamaMi’s favorite things, I offer you this extra-long-winded edition of Stuff I Like.

What’s that sitting on the counter?  Could it be the makings of one of our family’s favorite goodies? Let’s see…there’s flour, yeast, and sugar.

 And what’s this?  These seemingly innocent ingredients are positioned right next to my stand mixer, scale, and measuring tools.

 What’s this?  A willing helper who desperately doesn’t want her picture taken?

This is looking promising.
Let’s see…I’ll bet I can find 3/4 ounces of that yeast…

 …and 2 Tablespoons of that sugar.

 Hopefully the yeast and sugar was added to a cup of hot water.  What’s this?  I think that cute little helper found 2 pounds of that flour.

 Now, I wonder if that adorable little helper dumped the flour into my stand mixer and then added the water/yeast/sugar combination?

 Yes!  She sure did.  It also looks like she started it mixing on low and added up to a cup of additional hot water until it formed a pliable dough ball.

 At this point, my sweet, lovely helper got bored and left me in the kitchen.  Good thing I knew to put that dough ball in a greased bowl.

 And that I knew to cover the bowl and place it on my stove for around 40 minutes while my oven preheated to 425 degrees.

After letting it set for 40 minutes, I punched the dough down and shaped it into two loaves which I placed on my baking stone to rise for another 20 minutes (sorry – no pictures of this step – pilot error).  As a totally optional step, I brushed the loaves with olive oil and sprinkled on some salt after the second rise.  Then, I tossed the stone in the oven for around 20 minutes (which will, of course, vary oven to oven).

Finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for…stuff the whole family likes…homemade bread…

 Thank you for indulging me in this extra long Stuff I Like.  Hopefully the bonus recipe was enough to keep you following along!  As a side note, this recipe is super easy and can also be used to make rolls, breadsticks, and pizza crusts.