Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Wednesday, January 9, payday...

For George and Patsy...

Helen wanted picture of the afghan Betty made.  I already posted it once with her potato sack, but I guess she was too ill to see it.  Hope you are feeling better today, Helen.




And Patsy wanted spy cam pictures of the coyote.  It is hard to see his outline, but the eyes show in all three pics.  If you click and enlarge them, you can see his outline. 




Monday, January 07, 2013

Monday, January 7, 2013, of Bread, Deer and Dead People

Yesterday, while I was off walking, George got pictures of 5 big bucks, all with racks on the pond bank.




I  took the spy camera down and put it on a tree by the salt block.  If we don't get deer pictures, we will probably get some fat goat pics.



The bread turned out great.  I took one loaf to work today and it went over well.  After it set all night, it sliced up really nicely.  And, yes, I used the Kitchen Aid with the bread hook to make it.

Then, dead people.  A descendant of Sam and Mary Thomas Cox contacted me over the weekend.  Mary Thomas was Charlie Thomas' sister and Mama's great aunt.  A picture of that Sam Cox was in those pictures I got from Aunt Leona's grandchildren after Aunt Leona died.  I am hoping he can help identify some of the other pictures.

While checking out all this online, I found an obit for Walter Thomas, brother of Charlie Thomas:
http://iagenweb.org/boards/story/obituaries/index.cgi?review=79109
Walter Thomas (-1906)

THOMAS

Posted By: Gail and Dennis Bell
Date: 6/20/2005 at 08:20:27

THE MAXWELL TRIBUNE, Maxwell, Iowa, Thursday, October 25, 1906, page 5, column 5. "DEATH CLAIMS WALTER THOMAS - Walter Thomas, a resident of Zearing, who was for a time a patient at St. Thomas hospital, Marshalltown, and who was later adjudged insane and sent to the asylum at Clarinda, died Saturday night. Mr. Thomas's mental condition was attributed to an injury to his head which he received a few years ago and from which he never recovered. He went to Marshalltown with the intention of being operated on, and soon after his arrival became violently insane. It was necessary to restrain him and he was accordingly sent to the asylum. A post-morteum is being held today to determine the exact cause of his mental affliction, and later the body will be sent to the relatives in Story county. Arrangements for the funeral have not been made."

And on find a grave, I found a photo of the grave marker Elizabeth Brockway Thomas, Charlie's grandmother, in Bokes Creek Cemetery, Delaware Co. Ohio. It says she is the Consort of Lord Thomas.  Helen will be so excited.


Sunday, January 06, 2013

Honey Oat Wheat Bread

Below is the recipe I decided on.,  I think Betty is wrong.  I think it is going to be great.  Just look.


I followed the recipe sort-a, except I used 2 T. molasses and 1 T honey because I only had a dab of honey and I needed some for the top.  Then I used 1 cup of oats, and decreased the regular flour.  Actually, I reduced the plain bread flour by more than a cup, because the bread got really stiff long before the 2 cups of regular flour was in.  Oh, and I let the sponge rise for more than an hour because it was not acting up like a sponge.


Just before going in the oven.  And, another dif, I slashed the top of each loaf down the center and crosswise 3 or 4 times.  I read that slashing the tops helped in some way.  I always thought slashing the top was just for decoration.  They are in the oven now.  Come on down in about 2 hours and you can try the finished product.



Honey Oat Wheat Bread Recipe
Looking for an easy Honey Oat Wheat Bread recipe? Learn how to make Honey Oat Wheat Bread using healthy ingredients.


Makes 30 servings
Bottom of Form


The spongy quality makes this bread light, soft, and delicious. It is not 100% whole wheat, so your whole family will enjoy the taste and texture. The oats make it more fiber-rich, too! Try substituting warmed milk for 1 cup of the water.


Recipe Ingredients for Honey Oat Wheat Bread
1
tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
2 1/4
3
tablespoon Canola Oil
3
tablespoon Honey
1
large Egg
5
tablespoons Rolled Oats
3
2
teaspoon Salt
3
Recipe Directions for Honey Oat Wheat Bread
Generously grease two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and set aside. Note: My favorite loaf pans for bread baking are glass. Your bread will brown beautifully and look even better than what you can buy in a bakery! Combine the yeast and water in a small bowl. Cover and let stand about 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, mix the oil, honey, egg, oats, whole wheat flour, and salt. Add the yeast mixture. By hand or with the dough hook of the mixer, mix the dough to a spongelike consistency, about 2 minutes. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes or until you begin to see little bubbles appear and the sponge is almost doubled. Gradually add 21/2 cups of the all-purpose flour. Knead in the mixer for 5 minutes or by hand on a floured surface. Add more flour a little at a time only as necessary to make a moderately soft dough. (Put some canola oil on your hands if needed to make the dough easier to handle.) Return the dough to the bowl, greased, and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes. Punch down and knead briefly to remove air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. Shape two loaves. Place the loaves in the prepared pans top side down to coat the dough with oil, then turn back upright. Top with a light sprinkling of oats. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until a finger mark remains when a corner of the dough is poked, 45 to 60 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes. For a soft crust, immediately remove the loaves from the pans and place on kitchen towels to cool. For a crustier crust, place the loaves on wire racks to cool. Brought to you by BYUTV The Food Nanny
Calories 117, fat 17, 1.9 g 
Sodium 159 g carbs 21.6 g

Sunday, January 6, 2013

I see I stumbled when typing the year on yesterday's post.  I am on the net early to find a bread recipe to try.  At Erin's yesterday, I saw a whole bookcase floor to ceiling full of books, and mostly cook books.  I should have picked out a good bread book.  If she was not watching, no way she could have noticed one book missing from all those cookbooks.  Erin said she used the recipes in the books. Sister and I said we did not much use recipes, or at least not as exact blueprints.  I think of recipes as suggestions, not orders.  Erin said that and sometimes your non-recipe cooking does not turn out just right.  I think probably sometimes recipe followers cooking does not turn our just right either.  Anyway, when I cook something that does not taste quite like I want, I call it diet food.  Diet food is any food that does not taste very good and does not tempt one to take an extra large portion.

Anyway, I want a honey oat whole wheat loaf to make.  I only have two cookbooks now, a 1989 Better Homes and Gardens and a 1963 McCalls.  There are lots of suggestions, but only one whole wheat bread in each one. The McCalls even has a section of several pages for cooked breakfast cereal.  Then the book that came with the mixer has a whole wheat bread recipe that calls for all whole wheat flour.  Usually whole wheat bread recipes call for mostly white flour with about 1/3 whole wheat flour.  If I don't find a recipe on the net, I will build my own from the suggestions on hand.  The real problem with build your own recipes, is that I never write anything down, not even ingredients or measurements.  Actually, I rarely actually measure anything.  But, no measurements and no list of ingredients makes it hard to do a repeat and get the same results.

Donna asked about the losing weight thing, since Patsy says I am the only sibling that does not 'run to fat'.  As in why do I need to lose weight.  Well, it all has to do with relatives, as in all things are relative.  So, here is a relative story.  When I was at the relatives house yesterday, there was a little girl there that came up from Russellville with her grandmother plus a little boy and a little girl that lives at the relatives house.  The little girl live in was quite, shy and wanted to sit on Mama or Daddy's lap most of the time, but she was quite well behaved.  The little live in boy was shy, but not quite.  A mother of the visiting little girl sent a message asking if the girl was well behaved.  We all looked at each other and more than one said, 'relatively speaking, visitor is very well behaved'.  In her home environment, it seems, visitor is often, 'relatively speaking, not so well behaved'.  It all depends on the relatives present, when speaking of behavior.

Relatively speaking, I weigh less than any of my siblings, and have for most of our adult lives, and much of our non-adult lives.  Just the same, I think I need to lose weight and need to develop healthier eating habits in my old age.  To that end, the new customized digital scale is really helping.  When I first stepped on it this morning, for the first time in a couple of years, I weighed less than 150 lbs.  But, in my foolishness, I did not follow my recipe and call that good.  A few minutes later, when I stepped on the customizer, it read as below.  Still, that is almost 2 lbs less than the work scale that I was using said last Thursday.  The work scale is the upright thingy that uses actual weights to judge you.  Maybe in a month or so I can start with the 100 lbs weight instead of 150 lbs.  In the mean time, this customizer  is good, if I stay off the scale at work.