Rye Bread made from scratch

I thought with St. Patricks Day only 2 days away, I would share a recipe for homemade Rye Bread, for all of you that will be making your Rueben's for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

5 c. white flour, sifted
2 c. rye flour (medium)
1 pkg. dry yeast, add to flour
2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. caraway seeds
2 3/4 c. warm water
4 Tbsp. oil

Mix all 6 dry ingredients to blend flour and yeast.  Mix in warm water and oil.  Using spoon, mix all ingredients.  Then by hand knead well for about 8 minutes.  The dough should be well mixed.  Cover and let rise until double in bulk.  Punch down and let it rise again.  Place the dough in a pan sprinkled with cornmeal.  Let it rise.  Before putting bread into oven, slash top a few times.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes; then lower temperature to 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

I have always found homemade bread to taste better than store bought, if you have the time to make.  It is so worth with in the end!  Hope you enjoy!

Mom Caves

            Are you kidding me?  The first time I heard this term was about 2 weeks ago.  Mom caves are the new thing.  Funny thing is, the whole house is a mom cave.  Man caves seem to be slowly disappearing and come to think of it, mine is gone as well.  Now when I say the whole house is a mom cave, I mean more often than not, a mom designs and decorates the house.  She picks out paint colors and furniture and dad nods his head in approval.  How many guys have a floral print or some kind of paisley bed comforter?  This guy does and why?  Because, I want my wife to be happy.  If a man decorated a house, it would be dark and cold…..kind of like a MAN CAVE.  It’s one room where we want to put all of our hunting stuff and NASCAR items on display.  Usually the basement works perfectly for this.  I have been told the garage and shed are mine.  Great, an un-heated, un-air conditioned place where I store gas and fertilizers.  I’m sure I’d smell great sitting down for dinner.  When my basement was taken over by my son’s ridiculous amount of toys, I moved all my items into a 10’x10’ bedroom.  Cozy.  Well #2 came along and all of a sudden my items ended up in our crawl space.  Man cave gone.

        

Well, now there is a mom cave.  How did that happen?  I must have been sleeping.  The den has been taken over by a scrapbook table and crafting items.  There’s a nice couch to cozy up on and read a book as well.  I guess I never thought about it, but mom deserves a place as well. 

            Recently my wife and two sons tried to clear a place in the basement by moving the treadmill and shoveling the toys out of the way.  They cleared a nice 5’x8’ spot for me.  But, It’s just not the same trying to watch a race with a Tickle me Elmo staring at you.  I truly appreciate their efforts but it looks like it will be years before I can claim a cave again.  Until then I will proudly claim the garage and shed and all the aromas that come with them. 

            Just remember, if you are out to dinner and sit next to a guy that smells like gas, be sure to say hello, it’s probably me.

Steve ✈

The newest members of the family

My boys love animals!  Since we can't have dogs, we got these

Meet Edith, Agnes, Margo and Vector!

Our three fish and African Water Frog

As you can see, they love them!

Whatever makes them happy, ya know? 

Have a beautiful weekend

and

don't forget to set your clocks forward tonight!  

I also wanted to remind you to check out this giveaway
http://forblogs.blogspot.com/2011/03/giveaway-time.html

LUCK-Craft

You should know by by now that I love quick, inexpensive, cute crafts.  We all don't have hours upon hours to create masterpieces.  So I try to think of things that we can all do quickly and use it somewhere around the house, that are cute.  I'm sorry it's taken me so long for a St. Patricks Day craft, but here you go.

Supplies:
Cricut cutter & cartridge of your choice
81/2x11 cardstock
12x12 printed paper
8x10 picture frame  (could use the one from this project)

1.  cut your 8 1/2x11 cardstock to 8x10
2.  Place your 12x12 into your Cricut machine.  Remember to put the print facing to the left so that the letters have the print facing the correct way.

3.  Cut LUCK in your favorite font
4.  Use adhesive for backing of LUCK

5.  Place on 81/2x11 cardstock
6.  Add a bow or some shamrocks to give it a little something, something

7.  Place in your frame and display it for all to see.

I hope you enjoy it!  Have a Fabulous Friday Friends!

Be sure to check out this awesome giveaway for some ad spaces! http://forblogs.blogspot.com/2011/03/giveaway-time.html

Chocolate/Hazelnut/Coffee LOVERS!

To all my lovely friends that love Chocolate/Hazelnut and coffee, here is the drink for you!  Real simple and it is sooooo yummy.


Chocolate-Hazelnut Coffee
10 oz favorite brewed coffee
1 shot chocolate liqueur
1 shot hazelnut liqueur


Pour coffee and 2 liqueurs in preheated wine glass.  Top with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder, and ENJOY.


If you have a drink you would like to share, hop on over and link up. Have a wonderful Thursday, and come by tomorrow for an easy craft!

Handwritten

My beautiful friend Chrissy over at Chrissy in America sent me the handwritten link so that we can all see how we each write.  I thought it was pretty cool and figured I'd go along with it!  Here is what I had to do

1. Name & Blog name
2. URL
3. A quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
4. Favorite Quote
5. Favorite Song
6. Favorite Band/ Singers
7. Anything you would like to say!
8. Tag some peeps!!!

So here you go!

Sorry, didn't realize it was going to be so hard to see.  Sorry I didn't write Rachel's link, but it is http://averyfan.blogspot.com


As you can see, some of them I have a hard time choosing just one, so I didn't! :)

So to my peeps, Rachel, b.lee, mZ.E, Mrs. Bee, Carla, it's your turn!  

Have a beautiful Hump Day!  

Fat Tuesday, Donuts and Easy, Delicious Gumbo

Being that today is Fat Tuesday, I thought I would join my friends over at FTLOB for their Tasty Tuesday and share a couple of recipes.


I just wanted to share a little background of Fat Tuesday, its roots lie in the Christian calendar, as the "last hurrah" before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That's why the enormous party in New Orleans, for example, ends abruptly at midnight on Tuesday, with battalions of street sweepers pushing the crowds out of the French Quarter towards home.  To read more go here.  It tells a really good explanation of Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras. 


This morning for breakfast I decided to make some donuts.  Not just any donuts, but Cafe Du Monde donuts.  Cafe Du Monde is the Original French Coffee stand in New Orleans.  Everyone that I know that has ever been to New Orleans has told me how wonderful their donuts are. A few weeks ago while browsing the newspaper flyer's, I found in the World Market flyer, they had Cafe Du Monde donuts on sale.  I jumped on the opportunity and purchased two boxes.  They are so easy to make and super yummy.  If you don't have a World Market close to you, you can always go to Cafe Du Monde and order some.  They are totally worth it!  All you do is add water to the mix, roll and cut it out and drop it in you hot grease.  Seconds later, fresh, delicious, mouth watering donuts!  

When they are finished, top with powdered sugar and ENJOY!


I also wanted to share my Easy Chicken Gumbo recipe.  I don't remember where I got this one, but is so good, I had to share.


Ingredients:
3 Chicken breasts (cubed)
1 onion
3 celery stalks
1 green bell pepper
1tbs Garlic powder
1 whole Bay leaf
1 pinch Thyme
1 pinch Oregano
1 container beef broth
3 cans water
salt and pepper to taste
1 can stewed tomatoes
parsley
okra (optional)
hot pepper sauce (optional)
cooked rice
green onion (optional)
sausage (optional)


1. Saute onions, celery and bell pepper in butter in skillet, transfer to gumbo pot
2. Saute chicken until firm, but not brown.  Transfer to gumbo pot
3. Add broth, water and seasoning, bring to boil in gumbo pot, reduce heat and cook gumbo on low for 40 mins.
4. Serve over hot rice, top with green onion.


I hope you enjoy these recipes, and have a very Tasty Fat Tuesday!  If you have a recipe you want to share, join me over at