Thursday, July 8, 2010

Baking Day

Speaking of gratitude, I'm thankful for sisters!

Yesterday my 16 year old sister came for the day. It was far to hot to work outside, so we did a baking day. Actually, it was rather ridiculous to heat up the oven on such a hot day. Hopefully, by mass-producing some baking, we won't need the oven on some other days this summer.

The final count was six loaves of whole wheat bread, two loaves of chocolate chip zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini brownies, 36 hot pockets, angel food cake, granola, and grape nuts. I could have never done all this without a sister's help!

The cereal I'm attempting to dry in the hot van. The idea is to take advantage of all this solar power! I'll let you know how it works!

The temperature hit 104 yesterday if you believe the thermometer outside the kitchen window. Last night we were babysitting five children. Ed rigged up a water slide with a piece of plastic which delighted all the children (and the grown ups.)

We still have had no rain. After our unusually cold and snowy winter, we seem to be having an extraordinary hot dry summer. But God always provides and I'm so grateful that we don't need to excessively worry about the future. But I do feel bad for the farmers whose livelihood relies on adequate rainfall.

18 comments :

  1. That water slide is so neat! Gina did you freeze everything? If so, do you just wrap it in plastic, then a freezer bag? I'd like to organize a baking day like this at our church.

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  2. I made these hot pockets last week! We love them for breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage crumbles, and cheese.I also made a few using smoked turkey breast & bacon crumbles. So tasty and wonderful to have on hand.
    For those of you who have never tried them, this dough is very workable and does not stick very much.
    ~Starla

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  3. Okay, so I admit, having a sister to help out would be heavenly at times. I was the youngest so I was always the one helping out my sis-in-laws...not that I minded. But I would love to have that help every now and then now. Glad she could come give you a hand.

    And the waterslide, well, that looks like every child's dream come true! Fun!

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  4. Okay, I will not complain about the heat here! It is warm and humid but no where near what you are dealing with. Huggles.

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  5. Sarah -
    I froze anything that we wouldn't eat in a day or two. Some were placed in tupperware, others in bags.

    A baking day at church sounds like a ton of fun!
    Gina

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  6. Love your baking days! How do you freeze your bread loaves? Do they retain their quality after freezing? I always end up with leftover bread, since I'm just baking for my hubby and I.

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  7. Teresa -
    I do freeze my bread (and everything else extra). It is so nice to have a freezer full of extra bread and rolls.

    My favorite way to freeze sandwich loaves is to pre-slice the bread. I separate the crusts (which I use for croutons, filling, or bread crumbs) and place the sliced bread in ziploc bags. It is so easy to pull out a loaf or just several slices. The bread can be popped in the toaster still frozen for those mornings that I forgot to get bread out.
    Gina

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  8. Can I adopt your sister??

    What filling did you use for your hot pockets?

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  9. Gina, I'd like to have the recipe for the chocolate zuchini bars. Maybe you allready have it posted on here somewhere!
    Thanks, Yvonne

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  10. Brenda -
    This time I used ham and cheese for hot pocket filling because that is what I had on hand. Our favorite is pizza ingredients.

    Gina

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  11. Yvonne-
    I'd be glad to share the zucchini bar recipe! Look for it in a day or two!
    Gina

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  12. Thank you so much for your encouragement and tips on my post on homeschooling! I really appreciate it! Your family is precious, and your blog is a huge fountain of information that I will be sure to visit again! Blessings, Kate

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  13. My husband is a designer for the auto industry and does not recommend using a hot car to dry out food. The plastic in cars is far from food grade and it give off a gas.*** Just thought I would share this info with you.****

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  14. Dionne -
    Thanks for sharing! I had not thought of that possibility! But what about when we ride in a car?
    Gina

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  15. Gina,
    It's the enclosed hot temps that cause the gases to be released. When your car has been sitting closed-up in the hot weather you should air it out some before getting in. We generally open all the doors and windows for just a few minutes before letting in the kids.

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  16. Dionne-
    Thanks! Not a possibility I have ever thought about.

    Drying in the van definitely worked. Maybe I'll try experimenting with solar cookers to do the same thing without plastic.

    Gina

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  17. Oh I just LOVE your baking day!!! So many yummy goodies:) Must feel good to have accomplished so much!

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  18. I came by to see if you had a recipe I am looking for and saw the discussion about using a van to dry foods. I did this last summer for onions and bell peppers. It did a great job. What I did read about doing it this way is to open a couple windows. I had the foods on cookie sheets on the dash and opened the back windows. Would this maybe help with the concern of the gasses?

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