Out of the bread slump!!

My mother taught me how to make whole wheat bread when I was a young teenager. And I did a great job at making the dough, struggled a little bit with putting it in the pans but it always came out of the oven looking and smelling heavenly. And I never worried about making bread after those teenage years.

And then while living in Virginia, something happened and my bread didn't turn out. As a dough, the bread would rip and not form into loaves very well. As a bread it was a bit crumbly but still worked. I soon realized that the wheat that I had purchased had a really low gluten/protein level and had to add gluten to make sure the dough would stick together.

And then I moved to Ohio, and made a batch of bread...and it was terrible. As a dough, it ripped while I was trying to put it into pans, it didn't raise, it smelled great but was small and heavy. I was so frustrated. I had made sure to have good wheat (higher gluten level) and followed the recipe that I've had memorized in my head since I was thirteen years. And so the next couple months, I tried to use of the bread but not in sandwiches because it would just fall apart. (Later I found out I was still using my "bad" wheat and not the "good" wheat). And then I made another batch (6 loaves) of bread for when my family came to visit. And it was even worse. I mean, I tried to make french toast with this awful bread and the bread would break apart as I was pulling it out of the egg mixture. And let's not forget the tuna fish sandwiches that would fall apart before you could raise it up to your mouth.

And so this last week it was time to make another batch of bread and I was ready. I'd been gathering information from ladies that make bread in Northern Ohio. I asked each one what makes great whole wheat bread. I got some great advice and applied a little bit of each to this last batch of bread. I also added some gluten...to my bad wheat...because the thing I found out after making all my different loaves of bread, was that I have good wheat and bad wheat, and I had been using the bad wheat even when I thought I'd grabbed wheat from the good wheat bucket.

And, I ended up making terrific bread...and gave it all to SM's co-workers because I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke...and made another batch of bread. This time I also made some cinnamon roles along with the bread. And, it is all delicious! And I'm out of my bread slump!! Back to making terrific bread!!

The trail

This is the trail near my home. Three weeks ago, SM helped me learn how to run. I never knew how to breath and run at the same time. I had to run the mile in junior high as part of my junior high curriculum and I hated it. Well, I have felt like I needed to learn how to run for a year or so AND after being inspired by my youngest brother who has also started running this year, I decided it was time to start running.

I took my niece, and my in-laws for a walk on the trail. That day was saw many different kinds of birds, a rabbit, a beaver and a deer. This is such a fun trail...fun to walk along...not so much fun to run upon because it goes up and down so quickly.

The trail also follows a small stream and boasts of a Frisbee golf course that looks pretty challenging because of all the trees and the potential to get lost in the stream.

Hometown Moments

A. I. Root Company is a candle company that was founded her in Medina. Amos I. Root was a manufacturing jeweler that in 1869 became the owner of a beehive. Originally he sold honey and honey candy as a hobby and then became one of the leaders in bee keeping in the 1800's and 1900's.

The candles at A.I.Root Company are beautiful and smell wonderfully. While we walked through the show room we saw so many types, colors, shapes, and smells of candles. These candles are used by Oprah and Michelle Obama. The top picture of this post is of the rejected candles are are sold in the warehouse. I forgot to take any picture of the candles in the showroom.

For lunch we went at a diner just down the street from SM's work. A diner called Dan's Dogs. They sell all kinds of hot dogs.

Above you see two of the hot dogs eaten that day. These were SM's hot dogs. You will notice the hot dog closest to the front is a peanut butter and jelly hot dog. I also took a bite of this hot dog and was surprise that is was actually very good. The peanut butter makes the hot dog!

And here's the group! Family, thanks for coming and thanks for all the fun times!

Lehmans...an awesome store

We also took the family to see a store called Lehmans. In this store you could buy so many things...but especially things you'd need if you were Amish and needed things that didn't require electricity to run.

I just had to take a picture of this pig BBQ. That's one way to make a statement.

They had a rocking chair that was just Gracie's size.

And glass items for all the lanterns...beautiful glass!

And pots, and hand grain grinders, and meat grinders, and almost anything you can think of that doesn't require electricity. Oh, they also had items that do require electricity, but those weren't fun to take pictures of.

I love Polish pottery and they had a room full of different kinds of pottery. It reminded me of some of the pottery I saw while in Germany.

And after spending so much time window shopping, we had to take a minute to relax in the rocking chairs. Fun times were had by all!

Smucker's Headquarters

We found the headquarters to Smucker's and had a great time looking at all the different things that Smucker's makes...and it was a lot more than I ever imagined.

They had different displays every three or four feet away. I wanted to take a picture of every display but tried to keep control and didn't take a picture of everything...just some things. Isn't that display cute?

(This is what the above picture says) 1897 The J.M. Smucker Company was started in 1897 by Jerome Monroe Smucker. He sold homemade apple butter in stoneware crocks from a horse-drawn wagon. (This picture was in a small museum area of the headquarters).

Decisions had to be made about what to buy and what to leave...since there wasn't going to be a lot of room in the van as they drove back to Utah. Luckily, they got everything they wanted and had room to stash it in the van for the trip back to Utah.

Once again I was drawn to all the color of the glass.

Gracie was so cute and ran to the Pillsbury Dough Boy. I was even drawn to this cute guy!

Yep, we were all excited about our purchases. Look at those grins!

Amish Country

Tuesday (May 11) SM and I took our family a couple hours south to Amish Country. The day was full of rain but every time we got out of the van, the rain stopped and we were able to really enjoy being tourists. Above is a picture of a quilt. I absolutely love handmade quilts and loved wandering in different quilt shops.

And here is a silly photo but a very cute guy!

Here is a fun stained-glass window. I am always drawn to art. Amish country is like taking a step back to a simpler time. The Amish people have chosen to have a simplified life without some of the modern conveniences that we have.

While driving down different roads, you have to be aware of the buggies. And we found that the Amish youth are very friendly...that they'd wave a short wave as you passed them on the road.

What a great family!!

Lake Erie

Here's a photo of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law taking pictures. Let's just say that we all love to document our events with photos.

After visiting Kirtland we had the opportunity to drive to Lake Erie...and it's huge. It's one of those lakes that looks like the ocean since you can't see to the other side nor around the edges. The weather was a bit cold but almost everyone had fun throwing rocks into the lake.

Here's me...cold but happy!

What a beautiful lake! And how wonderful to have visited it the first time with our family!