TTFN!

I am out the door to the Big City (Seattle) for 

a school trip with my daughter. I don't know 

if I will be able to post anything since I won't 

have a laptop with me--if not I will resurface 

around May 12th or so.

In the immortal words of Tigger:

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!

WE HAVE A NEW BOAT!

Well, new to us anyways. It is an aluminum drop-bow

boat which means the front end drops down with a

ramp. This will be a working boat for us because

the Home Repair business can now be expanded

to include island cabins and homes. It is impossible

to move materials like lumber and sheetrock to

an island with a regular boat--there is no way

to unload it. With a drop bow boat you can

drive right up to the island (within reason)

drop the ramp down and unload.

This also includes moving fun toys like 4 

wheelers and dirt bikes. There is a lot of 

unlimited riding available on islands in this 

area, the catch is being able to get your 

bikes out there--now we can!

So we took the boat out today since it is unseasonably

warm and gorgeous out. The ocean was like a lake, calm

blue and beautiful.

This is a cabin we looked at last year and we even made

an offer when it came up for sale. It didn't look like this

when we looked at it--the new owners have completely

redone it and now they have a beautiful place to come

out to and relax. We had fun going by and wishing it

could have been ours. Well, maybe one day...

We swung by my younger brother's cabin to see how

things are coming along with his project. Isn't this a

gorgeous spot they have? The water gets quite shallow

as you approach the island so we didn't get very close

this time.

Sweet! Just the right get away for a family with 3 small

children that love to play on the beach. They built the

whole thing themselves with help from family members.

It looks like they just have siding to go and then the

interior to finish.

This island has a very fancy lodge hidden in the trees.

Those are seagulls on the rocks in front. You can see

part of our town in the picture to the very left at the

foothills of the mountains.

Another shot of part of town and seagulls sun bathing.

Boy is it hard to have to go back once we are out here.

This bigger boat is so comfortable too. Next time I am

going to bring food and drinks--we may never go home!

Awww...poor thing...such an ugly place 

to sit and do schoolwork in the sun...

SWINE FLU--PREVENTATIVE HEALTH

I receive Byron's email updates and

have used his supplements. He is so

knowledgeable that it is well worth

a few minutes of your time to sit

and listen to him talk. He is very

down to earth, easy to understand

and even funny at times! The link

to the podcast is at the bottom

of this post.

Podcast: Swine Flu (April 28, 2009)

Learn the vital information you need to know to be 

prepared and stay well if the swine flu hits your area. 

Byron goes far beyond the basic tips to wash your hands 

and stay out of public places. He offers excellent advice 

for those of you who want to boost your immune system, 

take charge of your health, and stay well!

Swine Flu Preventative Health Podcast

BUSY WEEKEND

We started off by attending a storage unit sale.

Have you ever been to one of those? The renter

owned a restaurant and had not paid her storage

fees for several years, so the locks were taken off 

& the contents sold for what she owed in back rent. 

There were a lot of very large items like pizza 

ovens and restaurant booths, I was more 

interested in the smaller items. 

Here is my pile; 12 pizza and serving

trays, several ladles, a large pizza cutter,

2 large steel mixing bowls and a soup pot,

all for $14.00. Not bad considering one

pizza pan will cost me more than that in 

a store here!

I had an order for Star Wars cupcakes to take to

school, then a Star Wars cake for the birthday

party over the weekend. Chocolate everything!

The little Darth Vaders and light sabers were 

made from marshmallow fondant and I

sprinkled little white candies to look

like stars:

Darth Vader is marshmallow fondant with royal

icing details and buttercream flames:

Saturday night we had a surprise belated 

birthday party for Keith. The big 50! My 

sister in law had a great theme planned--

everything Mac since he is an Apple nut. 

She asked everyone to dress in black and 

silver, some people even came in costumes.

She had Macadamia nuts--mac nuts--get it?

And slices of Apple to snack on. Plus

everyone brought their Apple electronics,

most of them had some help from Keith

to get them.

He had to wear a #50 necklace and a full

sized pink iPod with songs from the year

he was born.

I supplied cupcakes with silver marshmallow

fondant Apples on them and an iPhone cake.

The cartoon above the cake is Dilbert telling

his psychiatrist how attached he is to his

iPhone...click and you may be able to read it.

My little niecie-poo enjoying the party

in her little rocking chair...

EVERYTHING

Time to rerun my favorite video of all time.

HIGH FIVE THURSDAY

Woman finds $357,959 cashier's check 

and returns it

By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer 

Wed Apr 8, 4:49 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – As she walked from a post office, 

Talon Curtis thought she'd found one of those gimmicky 

sweepstakes offers on the ground that scream something 

like "$357,959.55" in big bold letters and "This is not a real 

check" in much smaller type. 

But just as she was about to do her part for a cleaner planet 

and deliver the paper from the parking lot to a trash can, she

 noticed it was a real cashier's check with a real signature.

"I couldn't believe it. I almost passed out," Curtis, who works 

as a loan negotiator, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

 "I have never seen a check that big. Not in my possession, anyway."

She immediately set out to find its rightful recipient, but it 

was Saturday afternoon and the banks were closing. On Monday, 

with help from KCAL-TV reporter Dave Malkoff, she located the

 check's owner, who had arrived at her bank in a panic.

"I think she had walked in at the same time the bank manager 

called me back," Curtis said. "I could hear her walking up to 

him and I could hear all this commotion in the background."

Curtis said she spoke briefly with the woman on the phone about

 a possible meeting, but Pacific Mercantile Bank instructed her 

to mail the check to them instead. Not willing to take a chance 

on the mail, Curtis delivered it personally. A bank employee 

confirmed it had arrived.

Curtis said she never thought of keeping the check for herself, 

and she declined the woman's offer of a reward. Still, she's just

 a little disappointed. "I just wanted to see her face," Curtis said, 

laughing. "I just wanted to let her know that there are honest 

people left in this world."

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

Bear time! Yep, we've already had a bear on our road.

The neighbor told us his dog woke him up at 3:00 am

last week and when he looked out there was the

bear sauntering up the road turning over trash

cans as he went along.

My brother took this picture last week out at the bear

sanctuary. This is one of the baby bears that was 

brought here last year when their mother was shot. 

They are really getting big, aren't they? I can't get over 

how huge the nose is. All the better to sniff out what's

for dinner I guess.

To celebrate the end of hibernation I made these bear

cookies for the church mission's fundraiser on Sunday.

It's still cold here at night so I gave them each a sweater.

And a big nose!

FRENCH BREAD FROM SCRATCH

Yes, it can be done and it's easy! I love the

flavor and texture of french bread, but I

don't like the fact that the only way to buy 

it here is previously frozen. The store tries

to make it more desirable by reheating it and 

selling it warm, but the crust is so tough from 

being thawed and heated that it is hard to 

even cut through with a serrated knife.

This recipe is very simple and I have even

put step by step pictures so that you can

follow along with, even if you have never

made a loaf of bread in your life!

I have a lot of people tell me that they

will try the recipes on my blog, but they

never turn out as good as I make them

sound. Hmmm...well I think one of the 

first things you should do is to stop 

substituting ingredients in recipes.

Yes, I know you do that--I've seen you.

Second, follow the directions. I know this

sounds obvious, but I can't tell you how

many people say that they did everything

the recipe said except _ _ _ _ _....

That works O.K. most of the time with

regular cooking, but once you step into

the realm of baking you kind of have to

become like a chemist with OCD.

Personally, I think ingredients are way too

expensive nowadays to be experimenting

with recipes. To me, if you are not following

the directions of a proven and time tested

recipe, then you are basically experimenting.

And we all know how experiments turn out

sometimes.

O.K., if you're still with me, on to Homemade 

French Bread.

First of all pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 2 1/2 packages yeast,

2 teaspoons salt. Stir in 2 cups of warm water (110 degrees--

get yourself a thermometer folks) and beat with a wooden

spoon until well blended. Stir in 3 1/2 cups more flour

until well combined. If you live in a very dry and arid

area you may end up using less flour than this.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead

in enough extra flour to make a stiff dough. The picture above 

shows the ragged dough ready to be kneaded. Knead about 

8-10 minutes with an up and over motion, pressing down with

the heel of your hand and turning the dough up and over onto

itself until it is smooth and elastic. Kneading is not difficult

and it's a great way to get rid of your pent up frustration 

with all the government overspending.

Here is the smooth and elastic dough formed into a nice

ball shape after about 7 minutes of kneading. Compare to 

the picture above to see the difference you are looking for 

in the dough.

Grease or oil a large, clean bowl. Place dough ball in bowl

and turn over to coat the dough on all sides. This keeps it

from sticking as it rises in the bowl. Cover completely

with plastic wrap to hold the heat in and place in a warm

spot to raise. I prefer my oven with the light on and we

keep our house fairly cold so I also turn the oven on for

a couple of minutes to let it heat and then turn it off.

The dough will rise faster if the temperature is right.

You can let it rise in a cooler place, it will just take a

LOT longer. You want to let this dough rise until it

has doubled in size.

These are the bread plans I use for French Bread. I found

one of these at a garage sale, the other was a gift from

my sister. They are available at better kitchen stores.

If you don't have one you can still make French Bread

on a regular cookie sheet, just make sure the sheet

is greased and sprinkled with cornmeal so the loaves

won't stick. The above pans have tiny holes all along

the bottom so the air circulates and the loaves get

crispy along the bottom. Plus the round shape

makes it easy-peasy to get a nice looking loaf.

Here is my dough, doubled in size. This took about an hour

in my warmed oven with the light on. Take the plastic

off and "punch" the dough down. Basically this means to

stick your fist in and deflate the dough so you can shape

it and let it rise again.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces (or 3 if you are making

the smaller and skinnier baguettes that fit in the 3 way

pan that I showed above) and place on a lightly floured

surface. Cover with a clean cotton towel. Set your timer

for 10 minutes to let the dough rest. Yes, you need to set 

the timer. There is no way humanly possible to remember

something this mundane once you get busy doing other 

stuff around the house. This rest time relaxes the gluten 

so it will be much easier to roll out into a rectangle. You 

can skip this step, but I'm telling you it's worth the 10 

minute wait so you don't have to wrestle with the dough.

When the 10 minutes was up I easily rolled the dough

into a rectangle with my rolling pin. I make it as long

as my pan and wide enough to make it look like a nice

rectangle. If you have ever made cinnamon rolls, this

is basically the same thing. Starting at a long side, roll

it up tightly, making sure to keep it even so you end

up with nice, even rolls. You can taper the ends too

to make it look more authentic, but I don't because

I don't like the ends to dry out from cooking faster

because they are smaller. But that's just me.

Pinch the seam on itself so it doesn't unravel while baking.

If you are really worried about it you can also seal it with

a bit of warm water brushed along the seam.

Here are the rolled and shaped loaves resting

in the pan. Now cover these with the cotton

towel and let rise again in the warm oven with

the light on until they are almost doubled in

size. This usually takes about 35-40 minutes,

depending on how warm the area is they are

rising in of course.

Once the loaves have doubled in size I brush them with a 

mixture of 1 egg white and 1 teas. of water whisked together. 

This is what gives the nice shiny brown finish on French Bread. 

It is optional and you can leave it off if you prefer more of a flat 

finish on your loaves.

An important step is to slash the tops of the loaves about

1/4 inch deep. This allows the gasses to release when the

bread is cooking, plus I think it looks really cool. You

want to use the sharpest knife you have for this because

if you use anything less than ultra sharp you will just

make a big gummy mark in your pretty loaf and then

you'll be mad at me because your bread doesn't look

like the ones in my pictures.

Here is another thing I do that is optional...I place a

shallow casserole dish with some water in it to heat up

in the oven. This creates steam (so BE CAREFUL when

opening the oven door!) while the bread is cooking that 

makes the crust of the bread crispy and bubbly. You know, 

the kind that crackles all over when you take a bite? Yummy. 

Again, this is optional and your bread will have smooth 

crusts if you choose not to place the water in the oven.

You can also just reach in once in awhile and use a spray

bottle to spray water on the sides of the oven to make

the steam.

Slide the pans into your pre-heated oven and set

the timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, rotate

your pans so the back is facing the front to even out

the cooking and brush the loaves again with the

egg wash.

Edited to add: after rotating the pans the 

bread needs to cook another 15-20 minutes!

Here is the finished product! The crust is crisp and crunchy,

the inside is soft with a slightly chewy center. In this house

these 2 loaves will be gone before you can say Bob's Your Uncle.

Good luck and please send me a picture if you try it and

love the results. If you try it and substitute something or

don't follow the instructions you don't need to send me 

any pictures--I'll just use my imagination.  :-P

HIGH FIVE THURSDAY

ED W. FREEMAN

Captain, U.S. Army Company A, 229th Assault 

Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry 

Division (Airmobile)

By the time the Korean War broke out, Ed Freeman 

was a master sergeant in the Army Engineers, but he 

fought in Korea as an infantryman.

He took part in the bloody battle of Pork Chop Hill and 

was given a battlefield commission, which had the added 

advantage of making him eligible to fly, a dream of his since 

childhood. But flight school turned him down because of 

his height: At six foot four, he was “too tall” (a nickname 

that followed him throughout his military career). In 1955, 

however, the height limit was raised, and Freeman was 

able to enroll.

He began flying fixed-wing aircraft, then switched to 

helicopters. By 1965, when he was sent to Vietnam, he had 

thousands of hours’ flying time in choppers. He was assigned

 to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), second in command 

of a sixteen-helicopter unit responsible for carrying infantrymen

 into battle. On November 14, 1965, Freeman’s helicopters 

carried a battalion into the Ia Drang Valley for what became 

the first major confrontation between large forces of the 

American and North Vietnamese armies.

Back at base, Freeman and the other pilots received word 

that the GIs they had dropped off were taking heavy casualties 

and running low on supplies. In fact, the fighting was so fierce 

that medevac helicopters refused to pick up the wounded. 

When the commander of the helicopter unit asked for 

volunteers to fly into the battle zone, Freeman alone stepped 

forward. He was joined by his commander, and the two of them 

began several hours of flights into the contested area. Because 

their small emergency-landing zone was just one hundred 

yards away from the heaviest fighting, their unarmed and 

lightly armored helicopters took several hits.

In all, Freeman carried out fourteen separate rescue missions,

 bringing in water and ammunition to the besieged soldiers and 

taking back dozens of wounded, some of whom wouldn’t have 

survived if they hadn’t been evacuated.

Freeman left Vietnam in 1966 and retired from the Army the 

following year. He flew helicopters another twenty years for 

the Department of the Interior, herding wild horses, fighting

fires, and performing animal censuses. Then he retired altogether.

In the aftermath of the Ia Drang battle, his commanding 

officer, wanting to recognize Freeman’s valor, proposed him 

for the Medal of Honor. But the two-year statute of limitations

on these kinds of recommendations had passed, and no action

 was taken. Congress did away with that statute in 1995, and 

Freeman was finally awarded the medal by President George 

W. Bush on July 16, 2001.

Freeman was back at the White House a few months later for

 the premiere of We Were Soldiers, a 2002 feature film that 

depicted his role in the Ia Drang battle. As he was filing out of 

the small White House theater, the president approached him, 

saluted, and shook his hand. “Good job, Too Tall,” he said.

Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Ed Freeman of 

Boise died Wednesday morning 20 Aug 2008, according 

to a friend of the Freeman family. He was 80 years old.

TOWN HALL FOR HOPE

Have you heard of this event? Dave Ramsey will be

hosting a live internet stream nationwide and he has 

invited anyone that is interested to participate. He 

will be speaking about the economy & money with

real answers, real hope.

April 23rd  8:00 pm EST

Our church will be hosting our event and 

you can host one too.

Visit the website

 It is free to sign up and free to participate.

HE HAS RISEN

Matthew 28

 1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first 

day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the 

other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an 

angel of the Lord came down from heaven 

and, going to the tomb, rolled back the 

stone and sat on it. 

3 His appearance was like lightning, and 

his clothes were white as snow. 

4 The guards were so afraid of him that 

they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be 

afraid, for I know that you are looking for 

Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; 

he has risen, just as he said.

Hallelujah!

HAS EVERYBODY MET CLARA?

I love this lady! I started watching her videos on cooking during

the Great Depression on You Tube and now I'm hooked. Clara 

is 91 years old and tells stories of her childhood while she's 

cooking great tasting, simple meals that she grew up eating.

I hope I look half this good at 91 years old!

My favorite story she tells is how they used to all gather at 

someone's house to listen to that person read a book. No radio,

no TV or computers, just a person reading a book. She talks 

about what a treat that was and how you had to bring a blanket

to stay warm and something to drink.

Here she is showing how to make Pasta with Peas for dinner.

There are several links to her other videos on the sidebar of 

the website if you go to You Tube. Enjoy!

PLUGGING AWAY

Well I am finally getting to the point where I can actually

visualize the new kitchen! We spent some time down

there today laying out where everything is going to be.

I would be a terrible architect or engineer--I cannot

see something flat on paper and understand where

it will be in real life. I have to have it drawn out or

better yet, laid out in real life!

My poor husband takes the time and measures

everything out, then draws it with a sharpie on 

the floor so I can make a feeble attempt  to

figure out where I want everything to be built.

How come I don't have this problem when it

comes to decorating food?!

Working on getting all the wiring in place for the electrician.

We were in the hardware store today talking with salespeople

to get the supplies. I stood and listened to them discuss the

different wires, voltages, amps, etc and all I heard was

qweiu wekfig  to the  oe;lf [peiw, djgoo,  and rpotyosl

for the  tiewrpogml and install weporpumbmssjddd

if you bvmsdfkp on the lctv2surt  breaker etc............

 

Yay--the ceiling's framed in the kitchen! There is a lot

of time and work here, even though it doesn't look like it.

The roof is sloped to accommodate the deck above and

of course for water runoff, so the ceiling had to be brought 

back to level. The right wall is the one that connects to the 

garage and all of that exterior wafer board was removed 

and both windows taken out and then covered.

Looking into the left half of the master bedroom. The panel

door is our bathroom. This ceiling was lowered to make

the room feel more cozy and warm. The ceilings were very

high so all the heat rose up and made the room feel chilly.

This doorway we are looking through will have a pair of 

French Doors in it and I can't wait to see how they look.

This view is taken as you look into what used to

be the master bedroom. This room was so huge

that it was always drafty, so as part of this remodel

my husband framed up this 4th bedroom inside of 

the master. The door to the bedroom is on the left. 

The hallway continues down, our master bedroom 

is on the left with the kitchen entrance on the right.

I had fun last week making a 2 year birthday cake

for a customer. When she asked for a "Backyardigans"

cake I had no idea what she was talking about since

my kids are teen and pre teen. I looked online

and found all kinds of pictures about these cute

animals that spend their time in the backyard.

The cake was white with strawberry filling, vanilla

buttercream frosting and all of the decorations

are cut by hand from homemade edible 

marshmallow fondant. Fun stuff!

A WHALE OF A GOOD TIME!

We have been quite preoccupied with the Herring Fishery and

all the activity that is going on in front of our house and out on

the ocean. It seems like once the herring hit the flip is switched

and everything starts coming back to life.

My sister came over the other day to see the progress on the new

kitchen and just as we were looking out the window we both saw

a Humpback Whale breach completely out of the water! In the

following video I found on You Tube the very beginning shows

exactly what we saw:

The bubble nets that the whales use to feed were captured in

photos right here in Sitka Sound by a friend of my sister's while 

out on his boat:

And along with watching all of this right out of our windows, we 

get to hear the whales singing ALL NIGHT LONG! You cannot 

believe how loud they are even with the windows closed. I love

hearing them, it is so cool to be in the midst of these amazing 

animals, even if it is hard to sleep  LOL

Give a listen to the beautiful song of the Humpback Whales:

The kitchen is progressing quickly, with the next step being

electrical and then plumbing. Photos tomorrow--I promise!