Today I cross off #44

I finally made bread. From scratch. I've been making bread for a few weeks, but in a cheating sort of way. I was using this... Lord I'm even embarrassed to post the link because it BLATANTLY states that you basically dump everything in a bowl and then bake it. Not exactly "homemade."
Although it did have a very Old Testament look to it, which made me feel quite a bit like Ma from Little House On The Prairie.

Not to mention it was about a frazillion times better than any bread I've ever bought at the store. So simple! Cheaper than buying ready-made bread! Tastes amazing!
Yet I was still feeling like a bit of a fraud "making" bread out of this box.

So after a quick trip to the grocery store today, I bit the bullet and made some honest-to-goodness bread FROM SCRATCH.
I used my cousin's recipe since it looked pretty simple and the directions were (almost!) idiot-proof.

Questions (these are most likely to be seen in the next edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Making Bread):

1. What kind of yeast does "yeast" mean? I saw ActiveDry and Rapid Rise Active. I had no clue which was more appropriate for bread so I flipped a coin and got ActiveDry.

2. I cannot be held responsible to determine whether the bread has had enough flour or not. It looks sticky but is not sticking to the sides of the bowl, so... more flour? The lump of dough is all clumped around that dough hook and the mixer sounds like it might be threatening to start an electrical fire if I don't knead this dough by hand... Looks done to me!

3. I felt like I should take before and after shots of the dough so I could determine whether it had doubled in size or not. It looked considerably bigger after a half hour, so I called it good and started on the next step.

4. Punching the dough left me feeling PRETTY stupid. Is there a technique to punching it? Do I punch it like I'm letting out some aggressions on the Army or like I'm fake-punching a friend? Or maybe something in between? How many times am I supposed to hit it? After I had beat that hunk of bread into submission, I divvied it up and set it in two pans.

This is where I think I might have made my fatal mistake. I halved the dough ball and then flattened each ball into the pans so that each of the balls were in a shape similar to the pan. But I think I might have done too much flattening, not enough punching, maybe vice versa, because those babies didn't come out nearly as fluffy as I had imagined.

HOWEVER. It is quite delicious. It's not going to win a blue ribbon at the county fair for its good looks, but I think a slice of this bread and a heapin' helpin' of peanut butter would get along just fine.

Now I'm not trying to imply that baking bread was anything less than scintillating, but Sam and I did a few other things today that are worth noting. (HA.) We made muffins this morning (call me Betty Crocker with all this baking I'm doing), played many rounds of trucks and blocks, made this with some ribbon,

It's for hanging Christmas cards! Someone send me a card so I can look at you while I grab my coffee mug and wonder how on earth you make your hair look so good.

went to the grocery store off post (yeowzah!), and had every intention of going to Mass tonight, but didn't. Since Steve randomly came home for about 8 hours last night, I waited up for him. Didn't quite think it would take him til 1am to get home, but what can I say? He's worth the wait. And since Sam hasn't developed any manners yet, he rudely woke us up at 7am, so I didn't get as much sleep as I've grown accustomed to. (I know, I know, Second Baby is fixing to murder me with a new sleep schedule.) So while Sam was playing with some toys in his room this afternoon, I passed out HARD in the glider and didn't wake up until he started smacking me on the knee and whining. (I think I slept for 3 minutes? Maybe 5?) I started to get us ready to go to church, but Sam started melting down and today was just NOT THE DAY for it. I didn't want to battle him during the entire Mass, only to come home and force-feed the overly-tired child dinner, and then get him ready for bed. I didn't have that much fight left in me at 4pm.

So I did what any crazy, half-asleep mom would do: We went for a drive. Usually that only works for calming newborns, but as long as Jason Aldean is serenading us, Sam is pretty sedate. We drove around some of the neighborhoods on post to check out Christmas decorations and finally drove by the Division Headquarters on our way back to the house.

And whaddaya know? They're fixin to retire the flag for the day! We turned around and went straight back to the parking lot to watch all of THAT go down. (Woohoo.) I've never actually been in the area when they take the flag down or put it up, so I was kind of interested to see what it was all about. Sam was singing the whole time, which, again... manners? Old Glory is going to bed and I guess Sam was singing her a lullaby.
They blasted this bugle music from the loudspeakers and then shot a cannon and it all had Sam's FULL attention. So naturally I wanna come do this everyday at 5 in order to offset the ugly witching hour.

So there you have it. Another fun-filled day here in Tuckassee. Tomorrow we are babysitting our newborn neighbor for about 8 hours straight. What can I tell you? The fun just NEVER stops around here.

Also? The fact that I somehow keep doing this cowlick to his hair everyday is all the more reason for Steve to hurry up and come home. Bless this poor child's heart (and hair).