Week 5---- Valentines for the elderly

Wow! week 5 already!

The kids and I are making hand made Valentines cards and handing them out at a nursing home to bring love and joy into the lives of those who may not have a valentine. So this week we will be working on our Valentine cards.

Week 4----The Giving tree

During the winter months in the north some animals find it difficult to find food to survive so we came up with the giving tree. We do not have a small tree near our house only big oak trees so we took a branch and froze it in a bucket of water, then decorated it with a cheerio garland. We plan on putting various treats out for a furry and feathered friends throughout the winter. So far the animals that we have seen visiting our tree are birds, and squirrels.

Week 3----Messege in a Bottle

Not a very green idea but, we are putting a message in a glass bottle and throwing it out into the river with a note asking the finders to contact us and to tell us where they found it. We got this idea from the DK Eyewitness Ocean video we were watching in the car this week. The Eyewitness people did this to track ocean currents.

We have our fingers crossed that someone may find it and contact us.

We used a glass bottle instead of plastic I figure the glass would not be as bad for the environment. Although plastic would definatly be more durable!

When I told my 3 yr old what we would be doing she looked at me with a frown and said "we can't do that we need to keep our world clean!" (We routinely pick up trash around our neighborhood and stress the importance of not littering)

Not sure if throwing a glass bottle in the river makes me a hypocrite or not. Does it?

update; We went down to the river and DUH! what was I thinking we live in the North and it's mid January the River is FROZEN. The kids were so bummed, so was I. Well we will save the bottles till spring and toss em' in then! We will probably have a better chance of them being found in the warmer months as more people are out on the water.

Week 2---- 2010 Time capsule project

We will be starting a family time capsule and include all sorts of things that we did through the year along with news events, pictures, brochures possibly school projects etc. Then we will seal it up tight in December and close it until 2020, so we can then look back at the year 2010 and reminisce. How Fun!

Bread update: I am on day 9 of the starter and will be ready to split the batch and share it on Monday. So far it's coming out well and smelling very yummy!

Baby is crying... must go...super mom to the rescue...... :)

Week 1---- Amish Friendship Bread

After brainstorming ideas with my Friend Kristin late last night on the phone we both decided to start the Amish Friendship bread.

We live in a modern world full of electronics, convenience foods, and fast food restaurants filled with icky ingredients and preservatives. Why not slow down for awhile and take the time to truly enjoy life, and the art of breadmaking. I am an amateur breadmaker only making 3 loaves ever in my entire life but I asked for glass loaf pans for Christmas and I vowed to fill them with yummy homemade bread for my family to enjoy. When my friend told me about the friendship bread I was elated. So, today my kids and I are going to enjoy taking the time to make this wonderful bread and then sharing the starter kit with friends.

To make this bread you need a starter, I do not have one so I will have to make my own starter today. The starter will take 10 days, once we completed the starter it will be another 10 daysfor the bewar to be ready to split off into fourths and then bake. This is a lengthy process so I will be updating along the way.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter
This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you will need to make the Amish Friendship Bread. It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!The "no metal" thing is because the metal could throw off the ph of the fermenting dough. Weird I know!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.

2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.

3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle the starter according to the instructions (below) for Amish Friendship Bread.

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe
Day 1 - receive the starter

Day 2 - stir

Day 3 - stir

Day 4 - stir

Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.

Day 6 - stir

Day 7 - stir

Day 8 - stir

Day 9 - stir

Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Divide into 4 containers, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread.

After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Using a fork beat by hand until well blended. You can add 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts (optional).

Grease two loaf pans with butter, sprinkle with sugar or flour. The Sugar makes it a sweeter stickier bread, I prefer the flour myself.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (individual oven temperatures vary). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.

You could also put bread mix in muffin pans to make muffins or other types of pans. You will have to vary the cook time though. When knife comes out clean it's done!

Variations:
This list will be updated as I try new variations and if they are tasty I will share my recipe

Banana Amish bread omit cinnamon and raisins from the above recipes and add 2 over ripe mashed bananas. ( 1 cup of chopped nut optional) This came out very good and moist


Helpful link to keep your starter healthy and usable http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/baking_joy/85474

A new Day a new year

So when I first thought of this idea it seemed easy, well it would be if I had LOTS of money I could do lots of new experiences so the true challnge for me is going to be trying find new experiences that don't cost a lot of money. I'm still trying to figure out what this weeks new experince will be but will post smething before next Friday :)