It is white again

I woke up this morning and the world was white again. The ash had all been covered by a new layer of snow. It was beautiful and clean. Once again I got to enjoy the beauty of Alaska, but I am ready for the snow to be gone. My husband took my children ice fishing. They had a great time. My husband has all the gear. An ice auger, small fising polls, a ice hut (so you can keep warm), he just bought that one last week, and killer bate. He took my son to the store to get the killer bate and McKinley couldn't help but get excited. They came home successful. McKinley came running inside with a sack full of small fish. I thought they were all dead. I placed the sack on the counter and continued to get the sink all ready for the cleaning of the fish. As I was doing this I heard a shuffling in the sack. There was a live fish moving in the sack. I jumped up and moved away from the sack, my son started laughing at me. He is only 4 and thought it was funny to see his mom get scared at a flopping fish. You would have to admit, seeing something moving on your counter would cause most people to jump back. Well I thought that I would now give you my awesome bread recipie. It is called Maple Apple Oatmeal Bread. I tried it last week and my family ate one whole loaf at dinner.

Maple Apple Oatmeal Bread
4 cups warm water
1/2 cups canola oil
1/2 cups pure maple syrup
2 T maple flavoring
2 eggs beaten
3 T yeast
3 T Dough Enchancer
3 cups Bread Flour
2 cups whole wheat flour( more flour will me needed later)
4 cups diced apples
2 cups rolled oats(oatmeal)

In you mixer thoroughly mix ingredients from water through 2 cups wheat flour. Contine to add flour until dough pulls away from the bowl. I Ran out of wheat flour so I just added more bread flour. It is about a cup or so more of flour. Then let it knead for 5-6 minutes on speed 2 in you have a bosh. I highly recommend one. Then add the apples and mix 2 more minutes on speed 1. Form into 2 loaves. Roll in rolled oats. I put the oats in a bowl and then just rolled the dough in the oats. slash the top with a baker's blade. Allow dough to rise until it is 2" above pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. You will get 2 huge loaves of bread that are really good. Let me know how it turns out for you.

The ash has arrived. We were out driving yesterday around 5:30 and the ash started falling. When we first pulled out of our driveway the sky was clear blue. It was actually a beautiful day, but as we started heading south I could see this dark gray clould. At first I thought it might be snowing, but as I looked closer at the snow I could tell that ash was falling. A fine gray mist covered the beautiful white snow. Once we got to Carl Jrs. for dinner we learned that they were just closing up, because of the ash warning. My children were heartbroken and tears started to stream down their faces. Actually only once child cryed and it wasn't my baby. I also wanted to cry, because that ment I had to come up with someting to eat for 4 hungry kids and a husband. Luckily for me I went to a sauces class that week and got a new recipie. We tried it out and it was yummy. It is a type of curry. It isn't very spicy, so even your youngest kids will like it. It has coconut milk in it which makes it very good. If you want to have it just write me and I will post it for you.

Mt. Redout
We are waiting in anticipation for the ash to come falling from the sky. However we haven't seen anything yet. When they announced that Mt. Redout was about to erupt a few weeks ago I quickly ran out to Homedepot to get my masks for my family but haven't had to use them yet. Thank goodness. Ash has been causing all kinds of trouble for the airlines, but Anchorage has come away clean so far. Other places in the state have not done so well, but for me and my family we are just enjoying the falling snow today. NOT. My little boy keeps asking me when is spring coming. We are all waiting for the snow to melt. It has been a good winter, but I am ready for spring. I am going to be posting my new bread recipe that I tried this week. It was yummy. It is called Maple Apple Wheat Bread. It is very easy and sure to be a winner with your family. Stay tuned