The Best Man

Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 and is a day set aside for people to show their love and affection to one another. My opinion, it should be showed everyday to the ones you love, but for some the 14th is the day companions get engaged, or as in my brother's case, the day he was married!



Patrick was the Best Man for my brother and did an outstanding job!


This is only his second wedding to be part of. Around 1997, he was a ring barrier in a good friends wedding. Sunday, he was all grown up and standing proudly beside the groom.





Just married and introduced for the first time as
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Riley.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

More Snow Photos!

School was closed today because of the weather. Going outside this morning on my way to work, it was amazingly quiet. Now the wind is blowing, the snow is drifting, and it's getting colder.







The boys got out their toys that's been in storage for the past couple years.







The beauty of the snow if evident all around us.





The evening forecast is calling for an inch or two more, blowing and drifting snow as the winds gust to 30 mph. I'm putting another log on the fire, cutting up a good salad, and reading a book till I fall asleep.

Are YOU Listening to the Answer?

When you meet someone, either for the first time, or just in everyday passing, and you ask 'how are you doing?' Do you really listen for the answer? Are you too busy to ask a second question before the person finishes the first question you asked?

Bob: "How are you doing today?"

Joe: "I'm doing..."

Bob: "What time do you get off work?"

Joe: "Usually it's around...

Bob: "What's going on?"

Joe: "Well, today we...

Then how many times have you had people blurt out a question and you have no idea what they are talking about?

"Do you think he's home?"

"What time is it over?"

Then there are those that will ask a question, then answer it after you have gave them the answer.

Dick: "What time does the store open?"

Jane: "8:00"

Dick: "Oh! I thought it was 9:00."

Well if you knew that it was 9, then why are you asking the question?

Dick: "How much is a pound of bacon?"

Jane: "It's normally around $2.89 a pound."

Dick: "I thought I seen if for $1.99 at the store yesterday.

Hmmm, not sure why you'd be asking, since you already have the answer!

So make sure before you ask a question, you don't already have the answer, or if you really need the answer to a question you've asked, take time to listen to the answer!

Do People Believe This Crap?

Today I received the following email from the United States Postal Service. First I thought, how in the world did they get my email address, then I thought it might be from something we had ordered online. Until I read the email I wasn't sure:

USPS OFFICE AUTHORITY
P.O BOX 55, NEW YORK NY, 10116-0555
MAIL TO:SERVICE@POST.COM

(looks official so far)

This is to notify you that we have intercepted your parcel from DHL/UPS courier service from delivering the parcel to you for security reasons as stated below.

(don't remember ordering from DHL/UPS)

1. Our scanning system detected your parcel containing a confirmable
ATM CARD.

(must be some pretty good scanning devices the USPS has)

Before the parcel could be delivered, you are obliged to obtain A Duly Sworn Affidavit from the Spanish High Court in Spain

(in Spain?)

to back up the the origin of the Parcel,this is in line with the Anti Terrorist Campaign due to the Law Implemented by government of United States of America to protect and reduce the terrorist activities.

(wow the Government is on top of the game now)

We kindly advise you to contact the agent in Madrid, Spain to get the Sworn Affidavit for you. Please note that the cost of the Sworn Affidavit costs only $154

(only $154?)

which must paid by the receiver of the parcel.Below is the contact details of the agent in charge. He will advice you on how the payment should be made so please contact him immediately you receive this notification.

(oh, my! do I call so my parcel can continue it's journey? what if I pay the $154 and my ATM card only contains $5, or what if it has a bajillion on it?)

Name: Mr Michael Boston
Email:michaelboston2@mail2world.com
Tel:0034 639 032 542
Secure Email:michaelboston2@mail2world.com

We shall forward the card to you as soon as we receive the Duly Sworn Affidavit, we are doing this to secure your interest considering the credit card frauds and stolen cheque which brings problem to American citizens all around the world.

(I think the America people are having problems, but it's not from Madrid Spain!)

Your prompt response is most higly desired to terminate the delivering of your parcel.

(Sorry Mr. Boston or Mr. Gillian, I'm not playing)

Mr William R Gillian, Jnr
Chief Postal Inspection Service.

lovin' it!

Woke up this morning to snow accumulation from overnight. Totals are probably somewhere around 2-4 inches. The good thing is it's still snowing!!!



From the warmth of the wood stove cranking out the heat in the family room, I can hear the wind howling and see the snow blowing from the roof top and the snow flakes flying sideways.



I thought it was going to get the opportunity to sleep till noon, or at least till 8 or 9AM, but I was wide awake at 5AM, waiting for a peak of the sun so I could take a picture or two or three...



I still love the snow as much as I did when I was a kid. Maybe I'm more happy with the beautiful pictures it creates rather than sliding around in the cold stuff!

It's Finally Snowing

The weatherman said it was going to snow and they finally got it right!



The snow flakes are wet and huge! This makes it stick to the trees, which is simply beautiful!




Hopefully by the AM we will be covered by a blanket of the white stuff...I can't wait!!!

Another Bread Story...Or Two...

With 22 starters would you think I would blog about anything else other than Friendship Amish Bread? I've attempted something different with making the bread...some on purpose, some not!

First, I have frozen all 22 starters in attempt to see if the bread would be any good using the starters after removing them from the freezer. The good news is, YES! The bread does not taste any different using frozen starter!

I have read numerous websites and posts concerning how to treat the starter and using different bread ingredients.. Wednesday morning, before I left for work, I removed 2 bags of starter from my freezer, and placed them on my counter. This gave the starter time to thaw and be ready to use by the time I got home from work. (the website I looked at said to let the starter thaw for at least 3 hours)

When I got home from work, Ric and Patrick had decided it was going to be a bowling night! I dropped them off at the bowling alley and made my way to the store to pick up some vanilla pudding and a few other things.

After we arrived home from the bowling outing, Patrick started doing homework, Ric went to the shower, and I started on the bread making. I decided to make a double batch of the original Amish bread. I just needed to remember to double all the ingredients. This time, instead of using the unhealthy oil, I substituted apple sauce. I beat all the doubled ingredients together then buttered and spread the sugar/cinnamon in the pans. Since I was doubling the starter, I was creating 4 breads. I poured the bread batter into the pans and placed them in the oven, set the timer, and beginning cleaning up my mess.

WAIT!

As I turned around from placing the 4 loaves into the oven, there set on my counter the vanilla pudding! &$#@&* !!!!

Now what do I do?? I decided to leave the bread in the oven and omit the instant vanilla pudding. Not sure if an Amish cook as ever done this, but to us the bread tasted just as good as if I had added the pudding!

Well, since I made that mistake, I decided to lay 2 more starters out this morning, before I left for work, and then make 4 more loaves of bread when I got home this evening. This time with the pudding!

When I got home I started on another double batch. This time being more careful not to eliminate any ingredients. Patrick decided to help me on this batch. As he was cracking the eggs, I was adding the apple sauce. He was measuring the cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt as I was measuring and adding the sugar and flour. With a double batch I had to add 4 cups of flour. 1, 2, 3, 3, umm, was that the fourth or third cup???

Well it looked like 3, so I added a fourth. Patrick started mixing as I began washing the dirty dishes. Soon after I started to smell my mixer as if it was getting hot. When I turned around and seen the bowl of bread batter, I could tell I had added an extra cup of flour. It looked a bit thicker than normal.

NOW WHAT???

Well, I added another egg, a few spoonfuls of apple sauce, a pinch of soda, baking powder, salt, some milk, and begin to mix again. It still looked a tad thick, so again I added some apple sauce, milk and some cinnamon. A pinch of this, a dash of that, a splash of milk until it got the constancy I thought looked good.

This double batch produced 5 loaves!

I had some caramel ice cream topping and decided to drizzle a couple spoonfuls over the top of the bread before baking. Into a 325 degree oven for one hour. The bread did smell pretty good as it was baking. It even looks pretty darn good as I take it out of the oven!

Finally! After a few minutes, the bread cools enough to take it out of the pan and do a taste test...

Delicious!

Again, my Amish friends would be impressed with my baking skills, lol

The caramel bread is really good! The caramel, for some reason, sank to the bottom of the pan, so on the bottom of the bread is this gooey, sticky, yummy topping! I just flip the bread upside down so the topping is on the top!

I don't think I will put any starters on the counter in the morning before work. I think I'll take a night off. My baking brain needs a little rest.

Saturday could be a different story...stay tuned!

Bread, Bread, Bread, Bread, etc...

Saturday was the day I baked my newest round of Friendship Bread. I originally started with two starters from my good friend Leslie. Each starter will make two loaves of bread and four starters for your friends. Out of the two starters I started with it turned into eight starters. I gave two away and kept six.



Not sure what I was thinking at that time when I didn't give all my starters away?? With six starters and each starter making four new starters, I have created 24 starters!! I gave two away Saturday, but still have 22 of them! Needless to say, my freezer is filling up! I did keep one on my counter, so in just 10 more days I'll be baking again.

I decided to do all of my six starters at one time on Saturday. At the same time I was making breakfast, biscuits and gravy, and tacos in a bag for lunch, for the 100+ kids, parents, grandparents, and fans at Enter His Courts. I was one busy cook all day Saturday! (with help from Conner, Mark, Conner, and Parker, no Patrick since he was working at his job!)

My supplies:



My first round of bread was the original recipe.



The smell of the baking bread Saturday morning sure attracted a crowd of hungry guests. Almost everyone coming in the building made their way to the kitchen wondering what I was doing!

My next double batch (I used two bags of starter at one time and just doubled the ingredients) produced Cherry Amish Bread. Besides the original recipe, this one I believe is my favorite:



They don't look too differently sitting on the counter, but once you slice the bread and taste it, you notice the difference! My last batch was Chocolate Banana. After eight hours I was done with all the bread making for the day.



I'm really glad I only have one lonely batch of the starter on my counter!

Strike! Spare! Gutter Ball!

About a month ago our son Patrick attended a birthday party of one of his friends. They traveled to Louisville Kentucky to go bowling at a sports establishment. (I have forgotten the name of the place) Well, to our surprise, Patrick won a free party for 12 of his friends by bowling three strikes in a row!

A couple weeks ago we traveled back to Louisville with a bunch of our friends to redeem the coupon. I can't remember the last time I went bowling, but I do know I have only been three times in my lifetime, and two of those times were during my junior and senior after-prom! I think once, while Ric and I were dating, we had a bowling date, so this outing was my fourth time!

We absolutely had a blast. The food wasn't all that great, but all the laughter we shared made up for it and we had a great time!

Little did I know Ric was getting addicted to bowling. The following Wednesday he thought it would be a great idea to go again!

So now I can say I have been bowling seven times! Three of those have been in the last three weeks!!! Yup, it's pretty much a given the family will be bowling once a week from now on, or at least till the addiction wears off!

Next time I promise I'll take the camera to capture some of the fun times so I can share that too!

Good Ole' (OLD) Bread

Whew! It's been awhile since I've posted. Sorry! January is always a busy month for me in several ways. One of my friends calls it "Hell Month" and I think I can agree with her! I have numerous year-end reports that have to be created and mailed. No one wants to stop their lives and let me concentrate on what I'm doing, so I have to carry on business as usual while still creating and doing the 'Hell Month' reports. But, FINALLY, they are all done and I don't have to think about that for at least another 11 months, so I'm not going to think about it! Yippie!

I did have time yesterday to create my Friendship Bread my good friend Leslie (NO, she's not Amish) gave me a start of 10 days ago. I actually got two bags of the starter, so I ended up with a total of 8 bags now. I made 4 loaves of the bread and gave 2 of the starters away, along with a tasty sample of the melt-in-your-mouth bread.

My good friend Shelley has already posted on her blog about it:

http://whatifitdid.com/?p=2434

I'm not going to include pictures with my post this time, but I will try to next time I make the bread, which will be next Saturday!

Now, supposedly, this 'starter' you have can only be made by the Amish and there is only one type of bread you make with the recipe and that's it. Well...I've done a little research.

It seems most all the recipes I came across are exactly the same. I sort of find that strange as most of the time the same recipe will vary a bit and maybe have 1 cup of something, where another recipe might have 2/3 cup of the same thing! Not with this Amish Friendship Bread. ALL the recipes I looked up were identical!

I did find some variations on the types of bread you could make. There are recipes for Banana Nut, Chocolate, Apple cinnamon, Butterscotch, Mounds Bar, Chocolate Mint, Lemon, Cranberry-Orange, Banana-Chocolate Chip, Cherry, Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Spice, Strawberry, Chocolate Cherry, and Carrot Cake. WoW! There are several.

At the end of the original recipe, it reminds you to keep a starter for yourself and you will be baking every 10 days. Only the Amish know how to create the starter, so if you give them all away, you'll have to wait till someone gives you one back. Well, I also found a way to make the starter. This way you don't have to wait for an Amish person to give it to you or a friend to give to you, you can just create it yourself!

In 10 days I will be baking 12 loaves. I'll make sure to take some pictures to share and also let you know what flavors I create and how good it is! Let me know if you'd like a start of the 'goo', I'll have plenty to share next Saturday!