Bread and Adventures in Style!

Hello Everybody! 

What a balmy hot day here in my neck of the woods!  99 degrees with a heat index of 105.  HOT!  I'm at work today so I'm sitting inside in the cool with believe it or not, need to go outside once in a while to get warm!  We had a nice rain shower this morning at home and I'm hoping it was enough to sustain my garden in the heat of the day.  Ok, let's get started on all the goings on.....

Bread!  I finally took the time to bake bread!  Now that the neighbors moved that used to bring the community free day old bread from the grocery store, we are not enjoying the possibility of paying for bread again.  So, I dusted off my mixer and got things going.... Here's some pictures.  It's not hard at all.  I like the recipe that came with my KitchenAid best. 

Here's milk, butter, sugar and a little salt warming up ready to wake up all that yeast!

This is after the dough is mixed up and ready to rest for an hour...

Dough has rested for an hour, now it's rolled and put in a loaf pan...

Resting for another hour....

Ready for the oven!  400 degree for 30 minutes.  All in all the only real work I did equaled about 15-20 minutes tops.  The rest of the time was waiting for the dough to either rest or bake.  That's it.  Yummy Yummy Stuff!

Now onto some weird,scary and a little embarrassing stuff.....
Have you guys ever watched that show on TLC What Not To Wear?  Well, I LOVE that show and my mom and I joke around how fun it would be to actually be on that show.  I used to love shopping in my younger years, but don't remember really liking it once I got into my mid to late 20's so needless to say, I lack in the style department.  I know that most homestead wanna be girls aren't the kind that are overly concerned about such things as clothes and style.... but I secretly want to be girly, I just don't know how to be girly.  And, apparently this was so evident that my mom got the whole family involved with hooking me up with a mock "What Not To Wear" day!  Now, folks, I have to admit... I was not a happy camper at first.  My grandmother had come to our store and I was expecting a visit followed by a lunch out with her.  So, when my brother Denny and my sister in law came in and told me what was about to go down, I was not happy.  I think it's even fair to say I acted like a brat.  Even when my mom handed me $300 and said I wasn't allowed to step a single foot into a thrift shop I had a big old giant size chip on my shoulder.  "I haven't even had my tea yet!"  I exclaimed.  But my family lovingly whisked me away and my brother bought some tea for me.  What a sweety.  I continued to have an attitude once we were actually in the store.  I dismissed every piece of clothing for some stupid reason.  I totally related to the people on the real show.  I was overwhelmed and had no idea where to even begin in trying to find new style. Shopping was hard enough by myself, now I had my whole family watching me and waiting for me to perform.  AND THEN IT HAPPENED.  Heather (my sister in law) picked out some clothes for me and every time I tried to say that it wouldn't look good on me, she sweetly told me it probably would and to just try it.  I was in a dressing room before I could say - I need to shave my legs!-   I was trying on clothes and hey..... I didn't look half bad in them.... even pastels that I assured Heather was all wrong for my pale skin.  She assured me that it would look good on me.  You know what?  They did.  I battled for a little longer.... but my family stood there, for some reason, cheering me on telling me how good I looked.  I kept thinking Why are they insisting on helping me?  Why?  Especially my brother and sister in law.  They keep giving and giving.  No questions asked.  They have supported us and brainstormed with us about our business. 

In those couple seconds that I stood before them wondering why the heck they would give up a very big chunk of their day for me, I got it.  They love me.  They are my family and they want to see me happy inside and out.  After that I didn't fight anymore.  I went with it.  I voiced concerns about a color or style, but not in a dismissive way.  I had fun.  I was being girly and I was having fun!  I was being spoiled for a day and I loved it!  Heather rocked some coupon magic and I got a ton of clothes for less than the $300!  My brother carried my bag out to the car.  We went back to our store, had lunch and then they took me BACK OUT to get my haircut.  I really enjoyed that part.  I had let down my guard and just enjoyed being with my family...... So here it is..... I went from the look above with those crazy walking across America kids from my previous post to this.......
Cool huh!?!
I love it! 
So yes, again I understand and can totally relate with the people on the real show.  It's ok to love yourself and let others love you as well.  It's ok to be girly.  It's ok to not take yourself  so seriously and just have fun.

Have Fun Friends!!