Lately: Seeing Green and Making Dough

I'm starting a new series this week where I post just a few pictures of what's been going on lately and thoughts that are on my mind. 

Lately, I'm psyched that I can finally start bringing my plants outside during the day. 

I saw a family in the grocery store the other day, the mother was pushing her little boy in the cart while two little girls-- one wearing face paint whiskers, a big flowery skirt, and cowboy boots and the other wearing a plastic tiara, a dress and pacifier-- holding hands, trailed behind her. The whiskered girl was saying, "you know, mama, I think we really need some sunflowers." I couldn't help but smile. And buy some sunflowers. 

My mama has a small binder that she uses as a homemade recipe book. I love flipping through it and seeing the collection of recipes she's curated over the years. Some of the recipes are from books or the internet but many more are from people we've known in the many different stations we've lived while in the military. There's Miss Pam's Sweet Potato Casserole. A rhubarb bread recipe from my grandmother. A New York Cheesecake recipe from my mom's boss. 

A few years ago I made a recipe book of my own, and included some of the recipes from my mom's collection. I have a recipe for curry from my South African friend Pashy, who I met while she was studying abroad here in the states, and a few other from my international friends. I hope to fill this book even more as the years go on with great food recipes from great people. I wanted to share one of these with you today. This is my godparent's recipe for wheat bread. I've tweaked it a little to reflect how I've been baking it lately: 

4 cups warm water

1 tbsp. dry yeast

1 tbsp. honey 

4 cups white flour

3 tbsp. oil

3 tbsp. honey 

3.5 cups whole wheat flour 

additional white flower 

Combine water, yeast, 1 tbsp. honey, and white flour and beat until smooth. Cover and let sit 1 hour. Add oil, honey, and whole wheat flour and mix well. Let sit 15-20 minutes in refrigerator. Turn out onto floured counter and knead for 10ish minutes, adding flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Cover and let rise again for one hour until doubled. Divide dough in half and bake on greased pizza stone at 400 for about 45-50 minutes. 

I don't have much experience making breads, this recipe is easy to follow, hard to mess up, and makes two very tasty loaves of bread. These past two weeks, I've made the recipe and kept one loaf for myself and given the other away to friends (what college student doesn't like free, homemade bread?). 

Have a great week, friends! 

-Madelyn