Waaaaat a looong Weeeek

Looking through the back door
It all started last Friday when Annalyse came home with a stomach bug. We got her all better and then a couple of days later the boys came down with it. and then a few days after that Justin and I got it! So now we are all though with it! It was so hard when I got it, and then to have Justin get it that same night! Talk about poor kids scrounging around for food and basically watching T.V. all day long! It only lasted a day or two so they didn't get to go wild for to long! It wiped me out and I had no energy for two days but now mom is back on her feet and putting the house back in order. I do have to thank Annalyse for being such a good little mommy to her brothers while I was down.

I have a another long week ahead, we have a dinner party for Justin's people at work this weekend, which I have to clean house for, and we need to mow the grass now that its been raining like crazy, haven't had to all summer! I also have to get everything in order before I leave next Thursday to go to my brothers wedding, my baby brother is getting married! So much to do! Hair cuts, laundry, getting warm clothes for the kids, making lists of what to bring, re-writing lists of what to bring(it's a problem I have!). I also have lots of recipes I was going to post, maybe in between loads of laundry? I guess you will just have to keep checking back!

Pain de 'Epi (wheat stalk bread)

Or in my case, Ugly stalk of wheat bread. This is what it should have looked like.

And this is what mine looked like. I think I needed to cut more wheat things. It tasted good though! Better then the first batch of Artisan bead in 5 min. a day that I made, this one had so much more flavor. I had it warm with some butter and honey yesterday morning, what a why to start the day! Maybe that's why I got so much done! I am a heal person, I love to eat the heal of the breads, and this one had so many it was awesome!
I am going to share the recipe for the dough just cause it really is so easy to do, but if you want more info you can go to there web site here, or just buy the book. But I will give you the gist of it.

The Master Recipe(Artisan free-form loaf)

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

6 1/2 cups flour

Mix all of this in a plastic container, cover(but not with a tight lid, just put the lid on top and not seal it) let it rise for 2-4 hours until it rises and then falls, put into fridge and let sit in there for at least 2 hours before using. It will keep for about 10 days in there. Take some dough out and kind of shape it into a ball(use lots of flour) stretching it around itself until you have a nice ball. Let it sit for 40 min. on the counter, your supposed to let it sit on a pizza peal so you can just slide it in the oven, but I don't have one so I let it sit on the counter and then use my really big spatula to lift it and put in the oven. 20 min. before you are ready to put it in the oven, turn it on to 450, put a pizza stone in the center rack and a pan below that so you can pour some water in it so you will have some steam in your oven to help with getting a crisp crust. So when you are ready to put it in(it wont rise much) slid that baby onto your pizza stone, pour one cup of hot water in the pan below and quickly close the door so you wont lose the steam. let it bake for 20-30 minutes or until it is nice and deep golden. You ca tap it and if it sounds hollow, its done. Let it cool for a while if you can, and then cut your self a piece and slather butter all over and enjoy your artisan bread you made your self!

There is so much that the book can explain better then me but if you are getting hungry looking at the bread and really want to try it hopefully I gave you enough info to get started! If you need help or have any questions, just ask!

You can use this recipe for so many things and the book will give you ideas, like pizza, calzones, pita and so many more! I'm doing some pizza tonight for dinner so I'll let you know how it turns out.

One more thing, they might have the recipe and better instructions on there site, I saw some of there recipes and they look yummy!
Sorry! One more note, you are supposed to slash the top of the loaf before you put it in the oven, make sure it is a real sharp one and you wont have any problems! Do 3 lines or an X.

This is keeping me busy

Justin tore down our cheep looking shelves and built these beautiful built in bookcase. He builds it and I stain it. And because of this it had a domino effect on the house, I had to move the credenza into our room, the bookcase in our room into the boys room, total reorganized the boys room, moved the dresser that was in the boys room into Annalyses room, I stoped there, I am supposed to switch her dresser with the one from the boys room and get rid of hers that is falling apart, and then find everything a new place, cause everything must have a place and everything should be in its place, but lately everything is not in its place and my house feels like a chaotic mess which in turn makes me feel unorganized and crazy in my head when I see clutter everywhere, so in stead of blogging right now I should be working but so many of you wanted to see the bookcase so I had to post the picture so ya'll quite bugging me!

This is the before all our crap goes in picture.

After most of our crap is put in. There is going to be cabinets on the bottom so you wont see that stuff! See all my Martha mags on the far left? I told you I had a problem with magazines. But I do go back and look at those so that why I keep them. And most of it is movies! We love to watch movies.

Just a little note

About September 11th, I had just had Annalyse in July, and I had just bought tickets the night before to go to Utah! I was so scared to fly after that! Now looking back, after every child I have had, a few months later there was a major disaster that happened. After Zander it was Katrina after Madden it was my sisters passing(not really a disaster,but life altering). Crazy coincidence? Don't know. One of my questions to God when I see him again! Everything happens for a reason so I am sure there was one for that horribly day back in 2001. Maybe we were getting a little to relaxed and spoiled here in our country.

Chicken Popers!

Justin's brother actually made these for some family get together, and we have been making them ever since! For those of you who don't like raw meat you wont like the first picture, but I wanted to show a before picture. They are really easy to put together. Its just chicken tenders with a couple slices of onion and Jalapeno peppers(with the seeds scraped out), rolled up and wrap bacon over it. Skewer it with a tooth pick and your ready to pop those babies on the grill!

You have to watch these guys so they burn, the juices like to drip and start flames. When there done, brush some BBQ sauce over them, or if your lazy like Justin and don't want to get the brush you can just squirt it on like he does!

OOOO....these things are so good! I usually pair it with my Grandmas macaroni salad, have I done that recipe? If not I should, its awesome!!!!
Just try not to eat the whole plate! Oh! and they are not spicy hot if your wondering, if you take the seeds out of the jalapenos.

Boys will be......

Best buds!

Yikes!

The dirt calls to him!

Crazy, active, messy, smelly, super hero wannabe, save the world, and still love there Mamas!
Boys will be boys no mater what you do! Even if you try to get them to play with dolls so they will have a soft side, Zander did for a minute and then chucked the poor thing across the room, that was after he gave it a kiss of course! I love my boys, even if it means dirty faces, foot prints all over the floor, rocks in my laundry, who knows what in the bathroom sink and granola bar wrappers under the bed!

Artisan bread in 5 min a day #1

I highly recommend this book, the bread came out great! This is the first of many more to come! Its so crazy, you mix the dough, put it in the fridge and after at least 4 hours, you take out some of the dough, form it, let it rest and then pop it in the oven! If you are interested you will have to get the book I would have to copy the first couple of chapters to explain it all!

Now if would get a little cooler I could make some soup to go with!