Chronicles of Yeast: Bread Rising

A few months ago, I really wanted to try the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Bread. After hours and hours of dedication, my bread came out of the oven dense and, well, flat. It smelled good, but it didn't really taste good. Attempt two: fail. Yeast donut attempt: fail. I really thought of giving up, but I really wanted to have fresh cinnamon bread in this joint for my peeps to devour. Toasted, french toasted, or just warm out of the oven were looking like pipe dreams.

That is utnil my culinary adventurous neighbor informed me I could cheat...CHEAT!! How do you ask? It can be done, successfully, with frozen white bread dough....or so we thought.

Today I decided was the B-day...bread day. I thawed and rose the bread per package directions. So far, so good! That is when the fun started.

First, I added some melted butter to the entire thing. Mmm.

Then, I rubbed some brown sugar all over and sprinkled that with cinnamon. Mmm. Mmm.

I rolled it up, put it on a greased loaf pan, and covered with plastic wrap and a warm kitchen towel. Since my kitchen is drafty, and I had made busciuts for dinner, I placed the covered loaf pan on the hot cookie sheet I had just taken out of the oven. Oh, and I almost forgot, I smeared some more melted butter on the top and sprinkled cinnamon sugar over that. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

And I think this is where I failed. I got to be an eager beaver and I only let it rise for 30 minutes. I think it needed to rise for a full hour, but the delicousness was taunting me. It was evil. So I put it in the oven to bake.

It looked pretty good when it came out and better yet, it sure did smell good!

And then it happened. The middle collapsed. And after it cooled for a while, and the begging for a piece wouldn't subside, I cut it open. The outer layer was seperated from the inner swirls of the bread. I don't think the inner parts had enough time to rise and fully grab ahold of the outer layer.

This did not stop the natives from devouring it. Only a small portion remains. I only had a bite because I do not like bread that doesn't behave.

I will not be defeated. The yeast will not win. Stay tuned for the sequel to this epic tale.

P.s. I apologize for the title...we have been watching Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian on repeat in this joint...I couldn't resist!

Draw, color, scribble, write

Over the past few weeks, Avery, Kendall, and I have been spending a lot of time coloring since Kendall has figured out that there is more to do with crayons other than eating them. Now, I'm not too bad with a crayon or marker, but my repertoire of drawings are limited.  This results in the same pictures drawn over and over and over...

I decided to take my lack of talent to the internet...that's what it's there for, right?! This lead me on a wild goose chase and lame selection. Barnesandnoble.com to my rescue! I stumbled upon these books:

               

I ordered them along with this little gem:

     We are big fans of making things out of our fingerprints, handprints, and feetprints here, so this was a must-have!

We received them in the mail today. They are AMAZEBALLS!! The first two books teach you step-by-step how to draw everything from animals to vehicles to people using simple shapes and letters.

Of course, Avery and I had to give it a try! The very first masterpiece we undertook was a dragon. Here is how they turned out:

RAWR!!!!!!

Not too shabby. And check out the mad name writing skillz on Avery's dragon! She has only been working on her last name for 2 weeks!

Now my arsenal is full when Avery asks if we can draw...no more lame little doodles for this mommy. I wonder if I am still mean since I asked her to get the markers?! 

p.s. the pictures of the book covers are live links so if you click on them, you will be redirected to bn.com!

Louboutin's are in her future...

This is just one of the one hundred times Kendall will try to put shoes on in a day. She doesn't discriminate against color or size, but she is especially fond of Avery's shoes.  I think this will lead to a future obsession that will be costly to her father....and as I am typing this, she is rounding the corner into the living room wearing Snow White fancy shoes--with a heel, I might add!

Bloggy blog blog

Because I am sure my friend Kara is sick of me bothering her on her facebook chat with the doings of our days, we collaborated on the idea of a blog....then after thinking that no one in their right mind would read it I remembered the Grandma's would!! So we have Kara and the girl's Grandma's! We are set.

Our days here, though simple, are rather entertaining. So here I will share the anecdotes of the day, our projects, recipes we sometimes succeed at, and any other adventures we may have. With our cast of characters, there is never a dull moment.

Kendall started on a new adventure today: the ability to remove clothing....in her bed, instead of napping. Not too exciting, as long as she continues to have problems removing her pants and she doesn't have you-know-what in her diaper.

Stay tuned, folks. There's a blizzard coming...DRAMATIC BLIZZARD MAYHEM OF '11!! Projects are planned...

How I became a "Mean" Mommy

Since we have had the girls, I do not get to watch many movies or t.v. shows that aren't animated. Even so, I am a Hollywood gossip groupy and an awards show junky. Never one to dislike a beautiful princess dress, Avery watches them with me. Last night just so happened to be the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Exciting, right?!  As the show is starting, random actors are saying, "My name is blah blah blah. I've been a yada yada yada. I'm an actor." Following this lead, I say, "My name is Avery. I am a sassy pants." Maybe not so nice, but in the moment is was very truthful. Without skipping a beat, she fires back, "My name is Mommy and I am mean."

It was impossible to maintain composure and Eric and I both lost it! We were laughing so hard at her witty comeback, but then it hit me...why am I so "mean?"  Her response, "The other day when we were going to play playdoh, you made me get it out, ALL BY MYSELF!"

This can be coupled with her saying she does "EVERYTHING" around here because I asked her to let the dog in the other day! I said, "Everything?"
"Yeah, I have to brush my teeth, get my pajamas, let the dog in, that is EVERYTHING!"

I guess we run quite a tight ship here....