Bagels, Snow and Suncatchers

Yesterday Rhode Island got hammered with yet another snow storm. We got about 8 inches of snow with drifts up to a foot and a half. My husband was home sick yesterday and my oldest still wasn't feeling well. Thankfully the Pediatrician's office called first thing in the morning and rescheduled their appointments to today. We stayed home and took it easy for the day. I made some very yummy cowboy soup in my crock pot for dinner and we ate the artisan bread I made from the day before.

Our buried yard and deck with lots of snow drifts. The wind was whipping so badly that it tore down the plastic covering the chicken coop. Poor birds never came outside all day and only gave me two eggs. Slackers! But I already got three eggs this morning so I guess I can forgive them. I can place the order for my new baby chicks at the end of the month and the kids are so excited.

The kids worked on some watercolors today.

Morgan sketched this winter scene with bright rays of sun. If only!

The finished scene.

Patrick worked on the artwork for his Mythical Creatures book .

A mermaid thingy with seaweed drippage from her arms.

Cyclops.

A Chubacabra.

Tae's freeform artwork.

Tae up close and personal.

We found yet another craft kit in the closet. Everyone gives these to us as gifts but they make nice snowy day or rainy day projects. This one was suncatchers. The little plastic beads that melt were a real pain and were everywhere but the end result the kids just loved and they look so pretty in my window.

They even made a few into necklaces and a keychain out of one.

I tried a new recipe yesterday and a few of you have requested it so here it is. Last week when I went grocery shopping I was appalled at the price of bagels. $3.99 for 6 bagels. So I found this recipe and did some tweaking. Each recipe makes about 12 bagels so I doubled it and froze the rest for another day.

Homemade Bagels

1 package dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons sugar (I use organic cane sugar)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 cups flour

Flavorings-honey, cheese, cinnamon, onion -whatever you like

Proof your yeast for 10 minutes in the warm water.

Pour into mixer bowl with remaining ingredients. Save the last 1/2 cup of flour and add only if you need it. Depending on the day you may need more or less flour. I use my kitchen aid mixer and a dough hook for kneading but you can do it by hand if you don't have one. Knead until smooth and elastic. Add in the flavorings with the last few kneads. I shredded Asiago cheese and made delicious cheese bagels. If using cinnamon you will need about 2 teaspoons. You can add onions or what ever else you would like.

Let the dough rest on a floured board until it is doubled-about 20 -30 minutes. Cover with a linen towel so it doesn't form a crust.

The recipe called for cutting out the bagels and letting them rise again. I think next time I will just do a second rise in a ball. Once I cut these out, they deflated very easily. Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. I cut my first batch too thin and found that they weren't substantial enough for my liking.

Once cut out, poke a whole in the middle with your finger and place them on a greased cookie sheet, cover again and let rise another 20-30 minutes.

While the bagels are doing their last rise, Boil four quarts of water and heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Boil the bagels for 7-8 minutes flipping half way thru the cooking time. Take them out and drain well by dabbing them on a towel. Place them back on the cookie sheet.

When they come out of the water they are still rather doughy and resemble dumpling texture. Just make sure they are cooked all the way through. You shouldn't be able to see any gray colored doughy spots. They should all be pasty white. Place in the oven and cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. I flip them over after 15 minutes so each side will be nice and golden brown.

TA-DA!

Delicious bagels and wonderful slathered with a little butter. Just remember that these are homemade, they look homemade and are smaller than storebought bagels but taste so much better. They have a nice crispy outside and are chewy inside. They are so much more economical too, so more money in my pocket. I'm happy knowing that my family is getting homemade nutritious food without all the preservatives too.

The House of the Lord, Mu-shu Pork and How to Know if Your Kids Are Happy

Patrick spent the afternoon with his church school class on a field trip. They attended the AME church today as part of their Neighboring Faiths curriculum. In our UU faith, the seventh graders are required to attend churches of different faiths and so far they have been to a Buddhist Temple, a Catholic Church and today the American Methodist Evangelical. Our very own Church, Westminster Unitarian, started out in this very building so the kids got to see the full history of the church. Sadly, the building will be closing as it is in such disrepair and over 100 years old.

Patrick had an interesting time there. He listened to the sermon intently this time and told us about the stained glass. On the ride home, as he was riding thru the city he noticed another church with a sign in an old store front. There was a handmade sign in the window that said, "The House of the Lord." Underneath that there was an old no-longer working neon sign, I'm guessing from the last owners, that said, "Chinese Food." Hmmmm. Novel concept. I'd like my church to serve Chinese Food. That would really be nice and would solve a lot of Sunday meal planning dilemmas. Sermon and an egg-roll. A hymn and some Won-ton? Prayer and Mu-shu pork? Yup-works for me. Patrick is 12 and also thinks burping and farting are hysterical too.

Seriously, you find this a lot in Rhode Island-odd combinations of stores. For instance, Bowling and Jewelry, Laundra-mat (don't contact me about the spelling-it's really spelled that way) and ice-cream parlor. Or my favorite....Weiners and tax returns. Ahhh Rhode Island.

As parents, we always question whether we are doing the right thing for our children. Is my screaming at them to stop Ninja fighting the dog going to damage their little psyche's for years to come? Will they hate me in their old age and put me in the crappy nursing home or will I get to go to the good place where the diapers don't leak? Will they let the grandkids visit me or keep them away because Grandma's house smells like eggs and mothballs?

So my proof came today. Just look at their artwork-it is always reassuring to me. No black paint, no guns, bloodshed, axes or dead people. See, all happy, happy. Rainbows and geometric shapes and flowers. Hmmm-I'm looking forward to group Bingo at the Nursing Home...and maybe they'll even walk me to the bathroom instead of diapers. I'm doing ok as a mom.

See, these two are Morgan's. Happy colors and lines. Nothing off kilter with this child.

See...more Morgan...rainbows, flowers and clouds. Self assured written name, puffy clouds.

And here's Tae's. Muted, pastelly colors. Got a few letters to his name. Happy.

More Tae, also rainbows and flowers and sun and stars this time.
And a happy face from Tae. He wanted me to be sure to mention the pimple he put on the chin and the two different colored eyes and the cross...for... the...nose. And the green...shaped...foot ear...and the "yellling mommy with the big mouth" as he put it. Where are my teeth? And I think my roots need to be dyed.

Now this is my favorite. First glance looks happy enough...I see the sun and blue sky but ask my 4 year old what it is. His explanation..."That's mommy with her hair standing straight up after she yells at us. She has 3 eyes cause she always knowed when I'm in trouble and the check mark is for her list of chores." Yes, I also know it says "eat". Tae likes to spell his name backward and sometimes "tea". It cracks him up. Sigh. Nursing home diapers....here I come.

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Baking Artisan Bread

This afternoon I was finally able to try the recipe from the Mother Earth News Magazine. It had a whole section on bread baking and the recipe (supposedly) made enough dough to last a week. The idea being that at dinner time, you would always have fresh baked bread. The recipe was easy to follow but I went thru half of my flour canister. I bought these canisters at Target and just love them. They are very old fashioned looking and remind me of my Grandmother's canisters when I was a girl. I have two antique scoops in them that were my Mother's and Grandmother's. The big canister holds about seven pounds of flour and we buy the 25 pound bag at BJ's. The sugar canister holds 5 pounds of sugar. This is the recipe in Mother Earth News. It was a four page spread and I think tomorrow I'll try their recipe for whole wheat sandwich bread. I made a double recipe today. Each recipe makes about 3 loaves of Artisan Bread. The steam from the water pan makes the outside crispy and crunchy and the inside tender and moist. My Kitchen Aid mixer that I absolutely could not live without.

The dough rising.

Three delicious loaves resting on a bed of cornmeal and ready to go into the oven.

Fresh out of the oven. The whole house smelled like fresh baked bread and primer (my husband was busy priming our bedroom).
Three hot and steamy loaves. We ate two for dinner with our pasta tonight. Delicious!

And Uncle Kevin sent some artist paper and watercolors for the kids for Christmas. He had directions included. This is Tae painting a bug, heart, cross, bleeding circle thingy.

1. Use only 5 colors.
2. Paint nothing that you know of.
3. Fill the entire paper with color.
4. Return painting to Uncle Kevin.

I think he is actually looking for artistic material for the album cover of his new CD.

And here's mine. Tae wanted me to paint with him. Morgan said it looked like a fish or a squid or an alien. Uncle Kevin might want to rethink this.


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Homeschool Ceramics Class

After we did some Math this morning, we took a ride to Clayground. Clayground is a ceramics studio for painting but they also do glass fusion and beading. I had several items to pick up from our homeschooler Mom's night out (Diva's night). I painted a huge pasta bowl with sunflowers. It's a little streaky but not bad for my first ever ceramics experience. Here it is.

The three kids came with me and each selected a piece to paint. Morgan chose a plain plate which she decorated with "Cookies for You".

Patrick chose a piggy bank and he painted it all in blue.

Tae chose a mug with a snowman on it. He loves hot chocolate...well

mostly the marshmallows that we put into it.

When we came home, Morgan and her friend from next door played a game of MASH. It's kind of like a paper fortune telling game for 9 year olds. They told me that I was going to live in an apartment, with a normal amount of money, that my wedding dress was going to be black and my honeymoon would be in a small box and my profession would be a pooper scooper. Not too far off from reality if you ask me! Here are the girls playing MASH.

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