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This is what I want for Christmas please!

Whenever I mention to people that I am making bread, they say “oh! you have a bread machine!”

NO I do NOT have a bread machine. You do not need a bread machine to make bread for pete sakes! You just mix the dough and then you knead it for about 10 minutes. It is an enjoyable thing to do, although it can be a little hard on the hands, especially if you have arthritis in them like I do. But for now, it isn’t bothering me and I am teaching Caitlin how to do it too.

I learned how to knead dough way back in the 70’s when I first learned how to bake bread. I didn’t bake bread for a good number of years, but now that I work from home I have time and the inclination to bake bread again, among other things I have started doing from scratch again. It isn’t difficult to knead, but here is a good video that explains why kneading is important, and how to do it:

How To Knead Bread Dough

4 cups hot water mixed with
2 teaspoons borax
1 teaspoon washing soda
4 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon Murphy’s Oil Soap

The water has to be hot in order to dissolve the borax and washing soda

I used this recipe on our walls, with a little Murphy’s Oil Soap added, and it did an excellent job of cleaning off the yellow smoke gunk. Wipe it on and let it set a minute or two, then I used some rinse water (although if you don’t smoke, you don’t really need to rinse) for best results!

1 gallon water, mixed with
1 cup ammonia
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Blend cocoa powder and sugar in a bowl. In saucepan, bring milk to scalding, stirring frequently. Mix 1/3 cup hot milk into cocoa-sugar mix and pour that into the saucepan. Stir and add vanilla.

If you have a small amount of fruit that you think is going to go bad before it gets eaten, make a jar of jam! It took me awhile to find a recipe for only one jar.

1 cup of prepared fruit (peeled, pitted, cut up)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Let mix stand for 2 hours, then boil for 25 minutes. Skim off foam. Then cool and keep in a jar in the refrigerator.

Quiche is very versatile and you can put all sorts of things in it. Here is a basic recipe to start you out.

1 1/2 cups half and half
4 beaten eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper
2 cups shredded cheese
2 tablespoons flour
8 slices broken up cooked bacon, or some chopped ham
1 cup chopped broccoli (or whatever vegetable you like) - if frozen, thaw first
One 9″ unbaked pie shell

Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine the half and half with eggs and seasonings.
2. In separate bowl, toss cheese with flour and then put in pie shell.
3. Top with meats and vegetables.
4. Carefully pour egg mixture over meat and cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees 40 to 50 minutes until top is golden brown.

4 cups milk, plus 1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
2 tablespoons plain store bought yogurt

Directions:
Let the store bought yogurt sit at room temperature while -
warm the milk to 180 degrees and let cool to 110 degrees. Stir frequently while warming so it doesn’t scorch.
Stir a little of the 110 degree milk into the store bought yogurt, and then add that mix to the rest of the milk.
Set in a bowl, cover with a towel, and place in a warm spot undisturbed for 12 hours. Chill.

This recipe will make 1 quart of yogurt, I keep it in an old large yogurt container, it fits perfect.

Notes:
I like to make my yogurt at 8pm, set it in the gas oven and take it out at 8am.

You can make yogurt with all non-fat powdered milk, but it may be thin. You can do this to thicken it up a bit:
Pour yogurt into a plain, clean, flour sack type towel and strain it for awhile over a large bowl. This will take out the excess moisture. Also, if you let it strain for a longer time, you have yogurt cheese, which is like cream cheese.

The yogurt you have made is plain, unsweetened yogurt. You can keep 2 tablespoons aside (frozen) for your next batch, but everything I read said to get some fresh store bought every few recipes. You can add some sweetening and vanilla to it if you like. Add fruits and/or granola and enjoy!