G: Grain, Grinder, Gluten, Goodness & Grandma's

I made bread today. It's a common occurrence these days but it didn't use to be. The first many years of our marriage I tried now and again to make bread but it NEVER worked. Finally a few years ago I took a couple of classes at a local kitchen shop and it all clicked. Now, if we need bread, I start at the beginning.

1. The Grain: Here is a bucket of Hard Red Wheat. Some people say they prefer the slightly more expensive White Wheat but we like them both just fine.

2. The Grinder: A pampered chef I most definitely am with my super duper wheat grinder. I put in the grain and out comes this beautiful, healthy flour.
3. The Gluten: I was actually planning on making bread yesterday but I opened my pantry only to find that I had used up all of my Vital Wheat Gluten last week. I called Matt in a panic. "PLEASE stop at Kitchen Kneads and get me some wheat gluten. It's VITAL!!!" Can you see those perfect little gluten strands formed throughout the dough? "They" say that's the secret. Don't ask me though. I just follow the recipe and hope to get lucky.
4. The Goodness: Even now, after several years of making my own bread. It's a joy to pull these loaves from the oven. I'm a little bit amazed every time that it actually worked. All those failed attempts kind of scarred me for life.
Here are the taste testers with the final verdict! YUMMY!!!

Part II:

As I was writing this post the kids said, "For 'G' you should do 'Grandma's House'!" "What would I write for that post?" I replied. Nicole: "You know, just tell about all the things we like about it." So I asked, "What is your favorite thing about Grandma's house?" And then I typed as they yelled out their responses:

Paige: Um, well. There's cousins sometimes.

Spencer: There's toys!

Nicole: All the fun we have there.

Corinne: The games we play with cousins.

Spencer: (Whispering) Don't forget the candy!

Claire: Uhhh...CANDY?!

Here is a video of some of the "fun they have there". It's long and silly but might be fun for the moms, dads and grandparents of these kids to find out what our kids are doing all those hours that we are upstairs visiting and (ahem) eating responsibly.

Starring: Anna, Jacob, & Corinne

Videographer: Nicole

And lastly, I don't even have a "G" word for this. Unless it's Good Grief! Today is April 8th. Let me say that again...APRIL 8TH!!! And THIS is the picture I took from my back door this morning. It's beautiful, but as Nicole said when she saw it. "I thought it was Spring Break this week not Winter Break!"

You are all welcome to join us for a warm piece of homemade bread today, but if you come, wear your boots because I don't shovel snow in April.