Amish White Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
Filling:
8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
15-ounces pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Pumpkin Crazy

The moment I saw pumpkins at the grocery store is the moment I went pumpkin crazy. I bought 3 of them, one for each of us. They sat on my front step for a couple of weeks and then instead ofcarving mine, I cut it in half, scraped out all the guts and then baked the pumpkin halves in order to get myself some pumpkin to cook with. I made the usual, pumpkin break, pumpkin dip, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin cookies... But this year I tried a few new things.

I made pumpkin butter a few times... I couldnt find a very good recipe for making this, so I made it a few times. It's a good thing I had lots of pumpkin to get rid of and another good thign that I have lots of friends and family who are willing to take some home with them! The 3rd batch was indeed the best, but it's still not "THE" best. I added the recipes to my cook book and made notes. I will attempt this again next year.

I made pumpkin Chili! This chili was some of the best chili that I've ever tasted! I know it sounds weird, but ask anyone who came over that day and they will tell you that it was delicious! I won the chili cookoff with this chili and I will definitly make it again! Perhaps I will make it again tonight? I used ground beef and black beans for this chili, however soemone suggested that I might try ground turkey and white beans which actually doesn't sound like a bad idea! I will post and share this recipe soon...

And then I made pumpkin cheesecake! I actually made 4 of them! The first two that I made were gone pretty quickly. The mention of pumpkin cheesecake the first time had people running over for a taste. I made another 2 last night and I'm pretty sure that they will be gone by tomorrow. PS: I've only had 1 piece for myself!

Potty Time!

Alec and I have a lot of one on one time this week since Caleb is visiting his dad. This morning I woke up around 8:30 and found Alec still sleeping... I let him sleep until about 9:30 and then we got breakfast. After eating I got our clothes together to get dressed and of course grabbed a diaper. Alec hasn't showed ANY interest in using the toilet. This morning he screamed and threw a fit over that diaper. It's a different brand that what we've been using so I figured it was that. I told him that if he just used the potty, that he didnt have to wear a diaper. He said ok and stopped crying... I pointed him towards the toilet and told him to go potty. He walked over and sat on that toilet. He didn't go at first, and I suggested that we come back and try again, but he didn't want to get off! He sat and sat and sat and THEN.... He PEED! Woo Hoo!!! I started to cry tears of joy! I know it's just the beginning and all, but at least he WANTS to go! I guess it's potty time! :)

Caleb and the Butterfly Bandage

I got a call while at the bank today. Caleb's teacher was on the other end telling me that he got hurt during playtime by a hula hoop. He was fine, and the bleeding stopped, but he was asking to go home. I told her I would be by soon to see if he was ok. So, I got to the classroom to pick him up and he was laughing but once he saw me he was getting up to go home. It's no biggy, there was only 20 minutes left of class and they were pretty much done for the day anyhow.

We got home and Caleb indeed has a tiny cut under his eye. It's puffy and bruised and it's red across his eye and nose. He had a small frozen sponge that they gave him at school over his eye that he would NOT take off! I told him that if he took it off, I would put a butterfly bandage on it. (he doesn't need it, it's just so close to his eye that it's the only thing that will work...) He agreed... So I went upstairs to grab the bandage.

I came back and said, "ok, lemme see it!"
Caleb: "what's that?" pointing to the bandage...
Me: "It's a butterfly bandage for you eye."
Caleb: (whispers to himself) "but it doesn't have any butterfly's on it..."

A few favorites...

I was showing someone my photo blog the other day and they asked me why I dont have more pictures of my kids up. It's not that I don't take pictures of my kids, in fact as soon as they "think" they see a camera, they smile or say cheese. I find that taking pictures of my kids is a little more challenging than you may think. Partly because I'm pretty critical of my own work. I should take more pictures of them though. And I will... Soon. For now though, here are a two of my favorites that I have taken recently and the story of why:

"Alec on the Beach"
The moment we arrived Alec cried and cried for almost an hour. He was terrified of stepping on the sand. We were there for quite a while and when he saw the other kids having fun, he slowly got out of his stroller and cautiously walked over to the spot where I had been taking everyones picture. I snapped a few before he realized that he was standing on the BEACH! He actually sat and played for a little bit though before we left. He loved the sand... wouldn't go near the water so much.

"Smell the Flowers"
One day the boys and I took a walk around our neighborhood. The weather was beautiful and the flowers were blooming. We came up on a patch of these flowers and Caleb wanted to smell. Alec, wanting to do everything that Caleb does these days, followed him. This is Caleb "teaching" Alec how to smell a flower. He kept saying, "like this Alec!" I snapped this the moment before Caleb stood up and said, "Ok, that's enough sniffing, lets run!"

Growing, One Car seat at a time

I am a bit late on posting this but about 3 weeks ago we purchased a new car seat for Alec. It's a bit more comfortable for him, and much closer to a big boy booster seat like his brother has. With the age difference being 3 years, and how much he wants to be like Caleb, this car seat was the perfect solution.

So without further adieu, I present to you Alec in his first mounting of his third car seat :)