Not all experiments come out exactly right.....

Yes, for those of you who are giggling already... let me just tell you that bread does not always rise just because you put yeast in it! Pili and I had a wonderful time mixing some cranberry crunch bread this morning. I covered the dough and set off outside for a relaxing jog while the girls rode their bicycles along side. I checked the dough in about 45 minutes, and found that it had not raised one little bit... then I remembered that you should have the dough in a warm spot. Yeast likes warmth... so, I turned the oven on low and placed the bowl on top of the stove. Our house is a little on the cool side - the nights have been dipping down into the upper 40's, and Mommy loves a chilly house in the fall! The only warm place for that dough was on the stove! Well, that did the trick, and we happily dumped the now risen dough into the bread pan, punched it down, and waited for it to raise again so we could actually bake it! Well, that whole second raising thing never really happened. It tried, but I think it just decided that it was too much work! After waiting an hour - I actually went out and mowed the backyard!! - I decided to just put it in the oven and bake it and see what happened. It came out ok - a little flat, but it tastes pretty good! We are going to have it tomorrow with our lunch when our friends from VA get here. Our dear friends, Mark and Patti, and their two children are coming up for a visit this weekend. The girls are thrilled!

We did one other experiment that turned out better! We made butter from heavy whipping cream. You simply put it in a jar and shake it for about 15 minutes. We each took a turn shaking the jar, and Pili said it was hard work! Adie was just about in tears at the end of her 5 minutes. I explained to them that back in colonial days, women couldn't just run down to the store and pick up butter when they ran out - they had to get the cream from the freshly milked cow, and then churn it. Pili said she would rather do without! HA! We added a little salt for taste, and it is pretty good! We'll use our freshly made butter on our flat cranberry bread tomorrow!

School is such fun - and it's even more fun when things don't work as perfectly as you've planned. Our whole life is for learning and teaching, and the most fun of homeschooling so far for me is that my little girls are learning life as we go along day by day. They interact with all sorts of people throughout the day, and they can carry on a polite conversation with anyone they meet.

I promise, one day soon I"ll post more pictures of the girls riding their bikes!
Love to all,
Mommy