Monkey Bread

I am having trouble thinking of a blog topic for this particular blog. I made this bread last night and thought I would share the recipe.

I have met many people who claim to have a great recipe for monkey bread. Their recipe usually involves Pillsbury biscuits and either a cinnamon and sugar mixture or pudding mix. This is not one of those recipes for monkey bread. This is the monkey bread I grew up eating. Its simple, its delicious, and it doesn't involve getting your fingers sticky trying to eat it.

Start with:

2 cups very warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1 T salt

2 T active dry yeast

Combine the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl and let stand for 5 minutes to let the yeast begin working.

Next add:

2 eggs (the recipe calls for them to be beaten, but I just put them in and stir them to break the yolks up)

3 cups of flour

Stir with a wooden spoon until combined (the batter will be lumpy)

Lastly add:

1/4 cup oil (I use canola)

3 cups of flour

Stir again with a wooden spoon until well combined (again...it will be a little lumpy)

Let the batter stand in a warm place until it is risen double (about 45 minutes or so). The batter is sticky, so you can't punch it down. I usually just use the wooden spoon and give it a stir or two. Let rise a second time.

After the second rising, I melt one stick of butter in the microwave and then I get a floured surface ready, sprinkle about a half cup or so of flour over the top of the dough, flour my hands and pull a large piece of dough off. There is no kneading involved in this recipe. I get my piece of dough somewhat dusted with flour, and use my hands to spread it evenly at about 3/4 to 1" thick. I use a Tupperware cup to cut circles out of the dough. (You could also use a round biscuit cutter, or whatever you have that will work). Dip each circle of dough in the melted butter and place it in a bundt pan. I do this placing each subsequent piece of dough leaning over on the previous one so that the edge of the circle of dough is against the bottom of the pan. As the pan gets fuller you will have to put the dough in between other pieces. I just pull them aside so that I can see the bottom of the pan for my new piece of dough. Repeat this process until the pan is full and you run out of dough (once my bundt pan is full if I have dough left I will often use about ten pieces of dough and fill a bread pan with the last of the dough.) Let the dough in the pan rise for about 30 minutes. Then bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. The result is a nice pull apart bread that tastes great. The kids love it because it doesn't have to be sliced, and its fun to eat. I love it for those reasons, and because I don't have to knead it or get my kitchenaid mixer dirty making it. I have also made this recipe using the same ingredients, but using half wheat flour. Then instead of doing the butter dipping step I just take half the dough and form it loosely into a loaf, place each half in a bread pan, rise and bake. That method makes two nice loaves of wheaty tasting bread that you don't have to knead and since you leave the butter part out it has less fat as well.

Its a conspiracy...

I had the rare opportunity this week of getting my driver's license renewed. I think that there is a possibility that the DMV has been secretly infiltrated by an anti-american group that is set on driving our self esteem into the dirt. That camera that they use may LOOK like it was spawned in the 1950's, but really it is equipped with a state of the art uglifying lense. They WANT your driver's license photo to look like a mug shot.

Here in Oregon they have changed their policies so that you only have to renew your license every 8 years. The only pros I can see in this are that I won't have to visit the DMV again for a very long time, and when I am heading towards age 42, my I.D. will still show me looking like a 34 year old criminal.

The cons are substantially worse. Here are some of them.

The weight I am now will be unchangeable on my license for the next eight years. I suppose if I wasn't overweight that would be a good thing, as it has been for the last few years when my license listed my weight as 15 pounds lighter than I really am. Now though, if I should actually lose any of that weight that I have been meaning to lose for the last five years (it could happen) I am still stuck with today's weight imprinted on my license until I move out of state or it expires. (Yes, I thought about lying, but I am an overly honest person).

I have to see that picture on a regular basis every time I open my wallet to buy something. This is a key component in the AADDAC (or Anti-American's Devoted to Destroying American Confidence) plan. Not only will I have to suffer by looking at that horrible photo, but I will also have to suffer the humiliation of presenting my ID to various checkers, bank tellers and other sundry people to verify my identity. I will watch as they study the photo, then look at me, and I will be hoping that they say "Hey! This CAN'T be YOU! You look way better than that!" all the while knowing that they will in fact, decide that I am indeed the ugly person in the picture. Those AADDAC's are subtle I tell you. Every time my identity is verified it will be like a little poke to my self esteem.

I have a solution to this problem. I think they should hire the people that started glamour shots to do the DMV photos. Just think of the photos! Women in feather boa's actually smiling or looking mysterious for the camera or even a nice rose or exotic bloom in the picture! They could have a stylist there to make men's hair look stylish, or at least combed (or messy if that is the current in look). Better yet we could just have a good photographer there that lets us show our true individuality in our pictures. So what if we don't really look like that every day! I like to think that most of us don't really look like our current mug shots show us looking either. At least we will feel good whenever we see our license because we will know that we CAN look like that. I say DOWN WITH THE AADDAC! Join the fight for a better America!

Some of My Favorite Authors and Books for Young People

There is a lot of great literature out there. There is also a lot of sleaze as well. I have to admit that for me it has gotten to a point that I am pretty afraid to buy a book written for adults, because so many of them have...adult content, that is not the kind of content this particular adult wants to read. Its not just romance novels that are full of sleaze now, and even books that are not full of sleaze have an awful lot of swearing. Personally, if I am not going to watch an R rated movie (which I won't...no matter how good someone says it is) I am not going to want to read a book that has the F word in every chapter. Its bad enough to have to hear people saying it at the grocery store, I don't want to be reading it on purpose.
I have taken up collecting Newberry Award authors. Even then, I am less than thrilled with some of those. I do tend to read books from the children's or young adult sections of the Library. I am not ashamed of it. Occasionally, if it is recommended to me, and I have enough information on a book to know that it is not overly sleazy, I will read a book written for grown ups, but that is rare. This list is one that I would feel okay letting my kids read, so here goes.
Here is the list...in no particular order...

Robin McKinley: One of my all time favorite books is The Blue Sword. Other books of Robin McKinley's that I enjoy are The Hero and the Crown, and Spindle's End (a retooling of the Sleeping Beauty story). I also have a collection of her short stories entitled A Knot in the Grain. She has several other books that I am interested in getting.

Gail Carson Levine: Is a wonderful writer, whose book Ella Enchanted is nothing close to the Disney movie of the same title. So if you saw the movie and hated it, please give the book a chance. Disney has a habit of remaking stories in their own image, and they took a wonderful book and really dumbed it up. Another of her books that I love is The Two Princesses of Bamarre. She has also written several short books that can be bought separately or in a collection of stories that are her versions of various fairy tales. They are called The Princess Tales.

Jean Craighead George: Writes wonderful books that have a great nature element, and survival and love for the outdoors. My favorites of hers are Julie of the Wolves and its sequels including Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack; My Side of the Mountain, and Tree Castle Island. Her books are wonderful reads for animal and nature lovers.

Suzanne Collins: I am in the middle of reading her Gregor Overlander series about a little boy who discovers an underground world beneath New York City and has many adventures there. So far I have the first three of five books in the series, but have loved every one of them so far. I recommend starting with Gregor Overlander and continuing on from there.

Susan Cooper: My favorites of hers are the books in The Dark is Rising sequence. They include Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree. They have roots in Arthurian legend, and I have read them multiple times. I am currently working on reading her book Green Boy as well.

Lloyd Alexander: The Prydain Chronicles. I was first introduced to Lloyd Alexander's work in the fourth grade when my teacher read The Book of Three out loud to us. I checked out the rest of the series from the library and read them in Grade school. I now have the complete set in my library. They include The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron (again...not quite the same as the Disney movie), The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King. I also read his book Time Cat when I was still in school and enjoyed it.

Gary Paulsen: Again...survival stories abound in his works. Favorites are Hatchet and related books. The Voyage of the Frog was also a good read.

Jane Langton: The Hall Family Chronicles. These include The Diamond in the Window, The Astonishing Stereoscope, The Swing in the Summerhouse, The Fledgling, The Fragile Flag, and Time Bike. I have read those six, and was very pleased to find out that a seventh book has been released called The Mysterious Circus. I will have to check it out!

Eoin Colfer: I have enjoyed reading the Artemis Fowl books. Some people compare them to Harry Potter but to me the only thing they really have in common with that series is that the main character is a teen aged boy. In addition to all of the Artemis Fowl books, I have also read The Supernaturalist and enjoyed it.

Cornelia Funke: I have enjoyed every book I have read of hers. Inkeart, Inkspell, The Thief Lord, and Dragonrider.

Other books I have enjoyed reading include:
Magyk by Angie Sage
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl
Peter and the Starcatchers and Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.
Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean (an authorized sequel to Peter Pan)
The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw
The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool by Margaret Gray
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (a great mystery story involving art)

I could go on and on with books that I enjoy, but I think that I will stop for now. We have more than 1200 books in our library (although many of them are picture books, and early reader books) but I am always looking for a good read. I would love to hear about your favorite non-sleazy books so let me know!

Why DID Anakin Skywalker turn to the dark side?

Since all five of my boys are potentially certifiable Star Wars nuts, I have been subjected to several viewings of the Star Wars movies, and since we recently got the Episode II and III movies on DVD, I have had to watch those. I like Star Wars...I like the storyline, but think that they could have done a much better job with several aspects of character development (as well as better actors in some cases) and story development.
Some people just don't buy Anakin's turn to the dark side. Despite subtle messages as well as hints that are never really explored, it just seems like he turns to the dark side too suddenly.
I have a theory that I would like to share. I think that the beginning of Anakin's descent into darkness as it were, can be traced back to the very first movie. No, I am not talking about Yoda's famous fear speech. I am talking about his relationship with his mother. I think that the woman brought about the utter ruin of a perfectly good (if poorly acted) child the moment she started calling him Annie. Think about it. Something like that can mess any little boy up, no matter how powerful with the force he is. Not only that, but his mother's pet name for him gets taken up by others, including his future wife.
You don't believe me? Well, I propose that any women out there who don't believe me try an experiment. Find a way to make your man's name sound girly, and start calling him that all the time. Don't explain why, just call him that (with a straight face) and make it his new nickname. Especially feel free to call him that in front of his friends, co-workers and people he respects. You just see if he doesn't turn to the dark side.

Shoes...

I need to do some shoe shopping. For myself? No. For #2. If he had a superpower I think it would be destroying clothes and shoes. Jeans cannot withstand him for more than a few months and don't even get me started on sweat pants. I don't even bother buying him sweats. He has maybe one or two pair that were for Tae Kwon Do when he was still taking lessons. They go into #1's drawer now to prevent their being worn into shreds. #2 has worn out his second pair of shoes so far since the beginning of the school year. The first pair he had, the bottom just came right off of one shoe. Not a little bit, but completely unglued. I had thoughts of trying to glue it back on, but I just got him a new pair anyhow. This current pair has lasted a little bit longer, but unfortunately the sole is coming off one of his shoes. It is half on, half off. It looks a little bit like his shoe has a mouth. So it looks like I will be making the trip to Payless shoes again. I looked around at Fred Meyer and Ross (the only other two places besides Payless to buy shoes here in town) and didn't find anything that really worked for me. Hopefully he can make due with his half soled shoes for one more day. When I pointed out to him that his shoes were falling apart he said he thinks its because he has been kicking a lot of things with that foot. I decided it was better not to ask exactly what (or who?) he has been kicking. I just nodded and let it go, although I have to admit that I am a bit curious about it.

Speaking of shoes...just how many shoes does a person need? I have noticed that many women I know and my sisters all seem to have a lot of shoes. I personally have a pair of sneakers, a pair of slippers, one pair of church shoes, a pair of sandals that are unfortunately too small, a pair of hiking boots, and a pair of winter boots. That seems like a lot of shoes to me, and yet, I feel unfulfilled in the shoe department. I long for more shoes. We just don't have the room for them. Take into consideration that we have five sons. Each of them has a pair of sneakers, a pair of winter boots, a pair of church shoes, a pair of sandals...and two of them also have cowboy boots. That is 22 pairs of shoes...plus my six, and D's 4 (sneakers, work/church, slippers and boots) brings us up to 32 pairs of footwear. PLUS...somehow #5 actually has three pairs of sneakers that fit him right now, and there are other sundry pairs of shoes around that someone has just outgrown or someone is just about to grow into. Shoes around here seem to multiply. Anyone have any tips for keeping track of them? Or for organizing them? Right now we have a shoe rack. It used to be a rack for Videos to go on, but we converted it and our shoes are lined up in pairs on it (as many as it will hold anyhow).

So Monday I will be adopting two more pairs of shoes. Unfortunately, the school makes each kid have a pair of shoes just for P.E. (to save their precious gym floor) and #2's P.E. shoes were his old shoes that are a half size smaller than his current ones. He complained that they are too tight...so I guess I will pick up another pair to replace those as well. I hope Payless is still having their BOGO sale on Monday!

I used to think I could...

Teach homeschool that is. I thought that if the public school situation here got bad enough, I could teach some of the boys at home. For the most part, the school is doing a good job. However, one of our sons (#1) struggles with school. His biggest struggle is doing the homework. He is a very smart kid who taught himself to read at age three and was reading a sixth grade level at the beginning of Kindergarten having had absolutely NO preschool of any kind. He is still a great reader, a great speller, and a very intelligent kid. The problem is, that he hates math. I'm sorry...I misspelled that. I meant to say he HATES math. His teacher says that he is perfectly capable of doing math. She even says that he is smart in math. I think the problem is that Math doesn't come naturally and instantly to him. He has to think about math. He has to work at it. This frustrates him. I think that not having to work hard to learn to read has been a stumbling block in a way, because he learned to feel that he was so smart that he didn't have to work at school.
Homework has been a big struggle for #1 as well. He feels that homework adds a lot of pressure to his life. He has struggled with getting his homework done and with organizational skills. We are to the point now that his teacher sends home a note with the homework listed and we sign it and send it back. There were just too many times when he would forget about an assignment and it would not get done. Right now, homework is our big focus.
Yesterday I reminded him he needed to do his homework. He got it out and almost immediately became frustrated by it. It was Math. I hated Math once I got to high school. Before that I liked it okay, but once I hit the Algebra stage...I was out. He is already learning Algebra in the fourth grade that I didn't learn until I was in 8th or 9th grade. He does pretty well with it. Division was the culprit of yesterday's frustration. I can do division, so I tried to patiently walk him through the process. He burst into tears. Eventually I assigned the Math help to my math loving husband. The result was the same. I think they must have gotten through it eventually, though I heard many sobs from #1 over it. It has made me realize that I don't think I can teach homeschool. Not math anyhow. Do you have any suggestions for me?

What is your grocery budget?

I read an article online yesterday about Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and his wife planning to live on food stamps for one week. They will get $21 per person to live on for a week. So...$42 for a week. This got me thinking about how much people spend on food for their families. I will admit that our $60 a week budget is on the small side. I will also admit that I rarely manage to stay within that budget and we often spend closer to $85 a week to feed our family of seven. Also...our "grocery" budget here also covers essentials like toilet paper, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc. To me, feeding two people on $42 a week doesn't sound that unreasonable. Sure you have to cut out things like oreos and ice cream, but that can only benefit you health wise. I thought I would try to come up with a basic menu to feed two people on $42. Here it is. Take into account that this is based on food prices where I live (also take into account that because I live in a small town, we don't have wonderful stores like WinCo. We make due with Safeway, and Fred Meyer [owned by Kroger] If I had access to a Winco more often, then it would be a snap to feed two people for that price.)

Monday: Breakfast=A bowl of cereal with milk and a piece of toast.
Lunch=Peanut Butter Sandwich and an apple
Dinner=Baked Potato with sour cream, salad
Tuesday: Breakfast=Scrambled eggs (3 eggs divided between two people) toast.
Lunch=Tuna Sandwich and some carrot sticks
Dinner=Spaghetti and Salad
Wednesday: Breakfast=cereal with milk and a piece of toast
Lunch=Leftover Spaghetti and Salad
Dinner=Burritos, Carrot Sticks and tortilla chips
Thursday: Breakfast=cereal with milk and toast
Lunch=Peanut Butter Sandwich and an Apple
Dinner=Homemade Mac and cheese (note-I assume I didn't start this kitchen from scratch and have access to some flour, salt and spices) and Salad
Friday: Breakfast=scrambled eggs (again three eggs divided between two people) and toast.
Lunch=tuna sandwich, carrot sticks
Dinner=Grilled cheese sandwiches and Ramen
Saturday: Breakfast=Cereal with milk, and toast
Lunch=Baked Potato with sour cream celery with peanut butter
Dinner=Breakfast burrito with Hash Browns
Sunday: Breakfast=Cheese and Potato Omelettes
Lunch=Grilled Tuna Sandwich
Dinner=Cheeseburger soup, salad

Okay...so its not really a fun menu. I think that its a lot harder shopping for just one week at a time. Usually we have staple foods that we buy once a month or once every other month. My grocery list for this menu is as follows
2 boxes of store brand cereal at $2.00 a box, One Gallon of milk (generally-you would have to drink water at meals) at $2.00 a gallon. Two loaves of the cheap generic bread (priced here at .79 a loaf every day) for a total of $1.58, a dozen eggs at $1.19, 18 oz jar of peanut butter for $2.00, 18 oz jar of jelly for $2.00 a jar (note...here I get them for about $1.00 a jar for peanut butter and/or jelly...there is a coupon every couple of months for that. I used the higher price in this example though). 10lb bag of potatoes for $2.00. Container of sour cream for $1.00 (that will usually get me a whole lb). 1lb spaghetti and 1 lb macaroni at $1.00 each for a total of $2.00 of pasta, 1 lb of ground turkey for $1.50, 2 lb of cheese for $4.00, 2 lb of carrots for $1.00, a bag of apples for $3.00, 1 can of spaghetti sauce for $1.00, 2 cans of tuna for $1.00, 1 jar of mayo for $1.00 (here they sell the generic kind for $.98 for the first jar). 1 can of refried beans for $.79, 1 lb of margarine (I prefer real butter, but in this case I'm on a budget) for $.50, one package of tortillas for $1.50, one jar of salsa for $1.50, tortilla chips for $2.00, 3lb bag of salad for $1.98, small onion for $.44, Ranch dressing for $2.00, 2 packages of Ramen for $.20 each equalling $.40, $1.00 worth of celery (with celery prices as they are now you would have to make due with just buying a few stalks).
Shopping for a family can be expensive. Getting enough food to keep your family from being hungry can be easier, but getting food that is good for them too, can be complicated and can consume a lot of money. So what are your tips for staying within a budget for groceries? I can always use more ideas. Making up this menu took more time and energy than I thought it would, and I am glad that I am able to spend more on my grocery budget than I was allowed here.

Happy Birthday Grandma...

Today would have been my Grandmother's Birthday. She was my favorite person in the whole world. In many ways she still is. Happy Birthday Grandma Nora! I MISS YOU!

A chore all my own...

Do you have a special place in your home? A job that no one else can do, that is just yours alone? Do you ever feel that you are simply more capable than most other people? Are you the one person that holds everything together in your home? Yet do you feel under appreciated for all that you offer to the people you live with? Sometimes, I do.
There are things in this home that no one else will do. I have a feeling that certain other individuals (who shall remain unnamed because I am feeling generous today) who reside in this home feel that they are in fact, not equipped to do this job, but I beg to differ. Still, I think that if they did decide to attempt this important job (that could even be construed as part of the very foundation of our everyday life) I might feel somehow...diminished in my usefulness. At least that is how they must think I would feel. Because they certainly never attempt to do this job that has somehow, through some unspoken agreement, become MY job.
I am talking about changing the toilet paper roll. No one else in this house, young OR old, seems to be able to do this. Maybe it is something of a curse that comes with being the only female in a house full of males. All I know is that even though they don't need to use the toilet paper as often as I do, they do, in fact use it. This has been made clear on numerous occasions as evidenced by a frequent lack of any TP left on the roll after the use of the facilities by the aforementioned males in the household.
Now the question...Are they physically incapable? No. Well, the youngest one might be...but since he is not potty trained as of yet, I will let him off the hook. Our five year old changed the TP roll by himself once, when he was only four. He even managed to get the little springy mechanism that holds the roll in place securely installed in its proper fitting. He did, however, put the TP roll on backwards. (I am a stickler about the paper being to the front, and not backwards. That is another post all together.) I didn't say anything to him because I was so grateful that he changed the roll, but I did turn it around so it was going in the right direction. Perhaps he noticed the change and felt somehow inadequate at doing the job. I can never be sure, but he has not changed the roll since.
My husband doesn't change the roll either, but at least he is usually courteous enough to set a new roll of TP on the back of the toilet when he uses up the other roll. This saves me from noticing too late the lack of TP and having to lean across the bathroom to find a new roll (I have learned to keep it within reach). I suppose I should be thankful that my boys are a bit messy when peeing, which usually means that I have to clean off the toilet seat every time I need to use the bathroom (even though they pee with the seat up...don't ask me how they still manage to get pee on the seat every time). Because of this, I am usually aware right off the bat as to how much TP is left on the roll. I have also switched to the double rolls of TP...which means I only have to change it half as often as I used to.
So do you have a chore that is only yours to do because no one else in your home will stoop to doing it? Please, feel free to share it with me and make me feel better.

I have survived Spring Vacation

Tomorrow the masses head back to school, and #4, #5 and I can get back to our normal routines. Spring Break wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be. D was able to take Thursday and Friday off, and we went to Vancouver to visit family and to meet my Nephew that was born last week. Thursday evening I got to go to Shari's with my younger sisters, and we had a nice time chatting and just spending time together. On Friday my Mom graciously offered to watch the boys while D and I went to my next older Sister's house and I got to spend a couple of hours holding and admiring her new baby, as well as playing with my other Nephew, and chatting with my Niece (who ran up and down the hall to show me how fast her brand new shoes made her go-I remember feeling that way about new shoes as a kid too.) I really enjoyed being able to spend a couple of hours with my Sister and her family. I wish that I lived closer so that I could enjoy all of four of my Sisters more.

We also took the boys to Lacamas Lake Park and enjoyed hiking around and viewing waterfalls, fast moving water, and parts of the lake. We took some nice pictures of the boys, and enjoyed each other's company. There was a little bit of complaining on the part of the boys about the long hike (which wasn't really that long, but was mostly uphill on the way back to the car). It made me realize that we have spent most of the winter holed up in our house and that we need to get out more and enjoy all the beautiful places around us.

That evening, D's Dad took us out to Izzy's (all you can eat pizza and buffet) for dinner, and I got to see how much little boys can truly pack away, yet still have room for ice cream.
Now I have to admit that while I was worried about entertaining all five of the boys all day long on my own for several days, I am a bit sad to know that they will go back to school tomorrow. I have enjoyed having a relaxed time together.
While you may have noticed that I wrote this post on April Fool's Day, you can, in fact, take it seriously. I am not kidding about enjoying my kids during Spring Vacation. The extent of my April Foolery this year is going to be putting a loaf of bread and a jar of Peanut butter on the table for dinner, and telling the Missionaries (who we signed up to feed tonight) to help themselves. Of course I am really making Taco Salad...but I wonder what they will think. I am not sure I can pull it off with a straight face, but I guess we will find out.