nourishment

For the first time in...two years (?), I made bread. I've been wanting to make bread for us, but it always seems like such a chore, even though I love eating freshly baked bread. I've been reading through the SouleMama archives and found an easy-looking, simple bread recipe and, after we bought a bread pan Saturday night, I actually made bread. (Well, I waited until last night to make it, because by the time we got home from gallivanting around, as my Grammie would say, on Saturday, it was too late to make bread.)

The bread is Amanda's (SouleMama's) WHO bread (there's a bread machine version of the recipe also, but we don't have a bread machine). The WHO (wheat, honey, oat) bread is super-easy to make and oh-so-quick too. (It took me maybe twenty minutes to put everything together and I'm a person who has to triple the prep time of most recipes because I'm such a slow cook/baker.) And, most important, it's good. I love it. I will definitely be making this a lot more often. Cardo and I couldn't resist sharing a piece last night, just before midnight, when the bread was ready. Then, this morning, I had two pieces and a apple for breakfast. Pic had a piece toasted with butter and strawberry preserves, and an apple, for breakfast (of course, it took her until almost one o'clock in the afternoon to finish her breakfast). I doubt this bread will last very long. I'm excited about this (if you couldn't tell)!



By the way, I love SouleMama. I have a ton of bookmarks from the blog, saving projects I want to try and foods I want to make and books I want to read. I found SouleMama through another blog I love, The Blankie Chronicles. (Kate also blogs at Cluck and Tweet.) From both The Blankie Chronicles and Cluck and Tweet, I've also bookmarked tons of posts. Each time I create a new bookmark for a new project, I'm more excited about this time I have with Pic before she heads off to school (sometimes, I need to remind myself why I'm doing this year at home).

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share the blog and food love.

In other food nonnews, this is what Pic and I had for lunch the other day:


We're kind of into making popcorn lately. Except, I tend to always burn some of it. The day before this pictured lunch, in fact, I was doing too many things at once and I burnt the first three kernels to disgusting, black bits that billowed smoke and caused our smoke alarm to chirp (but only once...huh). Oops. Any advice? Should I have the heat turned way up so the kernels will pop faster and the already popped pieces will have less time to char? Or, should I have the heat turned down so I won't scald the popcorn?

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Of course, I need to post days seventeen through nineteen for my decluttering:


Birthday paraphernalia that, let's face it, I'll never actually use. And, a book that, let's face it, I'll never read. As much as I don't like to let go of books, sometimes I just have to realize that there are some that will just lay around, unread, until they decompose.


I got this bag when I subscribed to Self. It looks cute enough, but it doesn't have a zipper or or snap to keep the main compartment closed (I prefer a zipper). It's small enough to be a purse, but I like my purses to securely close. Also, it has some weird, crinkly plastic lining that makes me crazy. It has been hanging on a door knob for almost a year now...time to give it up.