Rosemary bread

 When I was first diagnosed I was lucky enough to have an army of friends (and total strangers!) show up at my doorstep with food to feed my family.  I was in such a state of shock for so many months that even cooking seemed foreign to me.  As we settle in to this new normal cooking has become a lifeline in a sea of uncertainty that sometimes gets me through the day.  I'm guessing there will once again come a time when I will need a team of people to care for our family but for now the process of cooking on most days is my only creative outlet.  And although I should probably be sticking to organically and locally grown kale salads I'm instead baking up a storm of bread.  Like Oprah on weight watchers I'm a gonna be kneading away in my kitchen with a smile on my face. This recipe has become a Hsieh fav and justifies the bossy rosemary bush in my garden.  Because if she had her way she would occupy all the land.  Its fairly simple, although does require a few steps and the first rise can be done in the morning and finished up while your making dinner at night. Your family will think your a wizard when it comes hot to the table and it might be magical enough to entice elves to come and dance with unicorns in your backyard.  Its that good.

 First, mix 1 tablespoon yeast with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 cup warm water. (between 105 and 110) I used my kitchenaid bowl but you can do it by hand.  If your in a hurry you can set your oven to 200 degrees and then turn it off.

 Let it sit for about 5 minutes and let it get all bubbly and happy.

 Yay!

 Then add 1 tablespoon of soft butter

 1 teaspoon of salt

 and 2 cups of flour

Add 1 Tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary and knead with the dough hook for about 5 minutes (or knead for 10 minutes by hand)

 If it's too sticky add more flour a couple tablespoons at a time.  I usually add about 1/2 cup more flour.

 Looks good!

 Put in on a mixing board dusted with flour

 And knead by hand for a few minutes until it looks happy.

 Put it in an oiled bowl and cover with a towel.  If you set your oven to 200 and then turned it off you can put your bowl inside and leave the door open a little.  It will rise faster this way.  If your doing this step in the morning you can just leave it on the counter to rise.

 When it doubles take it out of the oven and punch it down.

 If your going the braid route you can divide the bread into two loaves and then divide each loaf into three parts.  Then just braid each loaf.  If you want to skip this step it also works to just leave each section as a loaf or pinch off pieces and put them in muffin tins for the second rise.

 Sprinkle whatever shape you have with the rest of the rosemary and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.  Cover with the towel and let rise for another 45 minutes in the warm oven or on the counter.

 When they've doubled set the oven to 375 and bake for 15-20 minutes until browned.  Make sure to take the bread out of the oven before turning it on. :)

 Brush the loaves with 1 tablespoon of melted butter and sprinkle with a little bit of crunchy salt if you want.

 Serve to your family who is obviously doing the slow clap as you approach the table.  We usually only eat one loaf and I slice and freeze the other one.  Just reheat in the oven or toast individual slices in a toaster oven.

1 T yeast

1 T sugar

1 Cup warm water (about 110)

2 and up to 1/2 cups flour

1 t salt

2 T rosemary

2 T soft butter

Directions:

Place yeast, sugar and water in a large bowl or kitchenmaid an allow mixture to become bubbly.

Mix in 1 tablespoon butter, salt and 2 cups flour

Add 1 tablespoon of the rosemary

Knead for 5-10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in kitchenmaid until its smooth

Add more flour if its too sticky

Oil a bowl, put dough in and cover it with a towel

Let it rise for about an hour

Punch down the dough and divide it into two loaves

Either braid the loaves, put them in muffin tins or keep it as a loaf shape

Place on a sheet pan covered in parchment or a silicone mat

Sprinkle remaining rosemary on top and press it into the surface

Cover with a towel and let them rise again until doubled (about 45 minutes)

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned

Brush with butter and sea salt if you want

Rowena Crest- Guest post by Ian Hsieh

"I liked that there were lots of beautiful flowers there, and we saw some birds.  I liked that there was lots of cool stuff.  We had to watch out for poison oak.  Poison oak can give you a big rash that scratches.  It has three leaves on it that are red.  But the poison oak looked awesome.  It was kind of pretty.  All the plants were colorful.  I took lots of pictures of all the beautiful flowers.  When I grow up I'm going to be three things.  They are a teacher, an engineer and a photographer.  I'm going to teach kindergarten because kindergarten is fun in my class and I like it.  The hike is hard.  I sweated a lot.  I would like to take more pictures of flowers somewhere.  A different place that is fun to.  People should go on this hike because all of the stuff looked cool."

 Daddy being silly

This is definitely one of our favorite hikes.  It's a few exits past Hood River (which means we can stop at Mike's ice cream shop afterwards!)  It's just the right distance for our kiddos, even though our oldest was living it up in Chicago.  And as Ian so eloquently captured, the wildflowers are incredible and stretch as far as you can see.  These are my favorite days.  The ones with blue sky and winding rivers and holding hands through a field of sunflowers.  The long conversations dreaming about summer plans and especially training my boy to notice the beauty around him.

Here and now

If you were to look around our house today, compared to the six years ago that we moved here you could probably count on one hand the number of major decorations I've accomplished that were once on my pinterest worthy wish list.  I love those woman that change up their mantles and bedspreads  and have boxes of seasonal decor.  *note to self:  start collecting antique sprinkler heads.  I'm coming to realize that the major thing marking our years here are the changes of little chubby bodies into self sufficient human beings.  And as much as I miss exhibit A and B: 

I've got to admit that there is something to be said for that marker.  I wasn't sure we'd ever be able to say, " Go take a bath." and not be needed for any part of the process.  Or to not have to know every detail of my children's bowel movements.  I slept in every morning in Hawaii and they just entertained themselves.  Just because you choose to get up in the sixes does not mean mommy has too.  I mean, right?!  There are literally years and years you think things like that will never happen. And we still get all kinds of snuggles up in here and every now and then I get a "yemolade" for a lemonade.  And my heart melts with every lispy gem.  So I say we are in the sweet spot between chubby dependence and snarky attitude.  Although who knows, I've heard it gets even better.  I'll have to check back on that one. 

We had such a lovely visit with GiGi and Papa.  Can you believe they are in their 90's and they're all jet setting around the country to visit their own babies.  So, so blessed.  GiGi even brought the kiddos their own watercolor sets and gave them a refresher course.  It all made me a little teary.

The gang on easter morning

 Easter basket chase, hidden in the cobweb infested bathtubs underbelly.  Mama's got to start getting creative.   And how they still believe in the easter bunny after literally getting caught taking down the easter baskets is beyond me. 

Smiles for candy, after four years they know the drill.

 Love this crew

 Miss A started in a volleyball league.  In her own words writing a letter to her NiNi, "I started volleyball this week.  I realized that I'm terrible at it."  I'll admit it is sorta painful to watch but getting better every week!

This bond still melts me.  We hit the jackpot in the pet department.

  Remind me of this the next time she eats a ball of yarn, poops it out and drags it from her litterbox to play.

 Welcome to lego city.  I swear little man is going to be an engineer one day.  He and legos = pure magic.

 She is now almost four times through the entire series.  I'm not sure it's healthy at this point.  

In honor of her finally getting over her virus and since she missed dress as your favorite book character at school I agreed to throw her a Harry Potter book club party.  It was actually super fun to plan and her friends are so sweet.  Here they are playing bamboozled and getting super dramatic with every skunk/puke flavored jelly bean.  Gross and hilarious.  There is talk of a trip to Harry Potter world this summer, which we have to keep to a minimum or hives just might break loose.

 Although the distance between their BFF and complete enemy status is getting closer together they still manage to crack us up with their play.  I still can't believe she convinces Ian to do this on a regular basis.  

 Gotta forsee some years of therapy for this one.  My beauties.

 And had to include some outtakes that make me smile.  Although I wouldn't trade it for the right now us.  The endless reading logs, sports practices, after dinner family bike rides, staying up a little later for movie night, precious sleep, chapter books, make your own lunch, jokes, daydreaming, morning devotions, independent tooth brushing and laundry folding, the picnic game (ask me sometime), quiet hours while the kids are at school, and fun road trips.  This is the good stuff, but still...

#holdmeJesus