Liquifying Honey

When I wrote about buying a huge bucket of honey last fall, several of you asked what I would do about the honey going hard. As honey ages, it begins to crystallize into sugar and eventually will be a solid mass, instead of a liquid. The secret is to heat the honey.

I keep my bucket of honey in the basement and a gallon jar in my kitchen which I refill as needed. This past week was the first time that the honey had crystallized.

First I filled my gallon glass jar. It was actually easier to dip out of the bucket now that it was a semi-solid. Then I placed the jar in a pan or water on the stove. I turned the pan to medium-high heat until the water in the pan boiled then turned it back to medium.


Maybe you can see that part of the honey has heated and liquified. It is darker in color.


Eventually the entire jar was liquid honey again and ready to use.

I love that honey is an unprocessed food that has an indefinite shelf life. If I don't finish this bucket of honey this year- or next, it will still be good.

Making Dirt

I usually keep this blog rather impersonal. You typically won't guess what has been going on at our house from reading here, though you may know what we've been eating.:-) I figure there isn't many that really care what we did this weekend.

But I'm going to make an exception with our latest project since I would like a record of the process.

After four or five years of planning and saving, we are building an addition to our house. Above is the back of our house - the "before" picture.


Even though we've talked about it for years, it was almost a shock two weeks ago when Ed ripped the back deck off our house. I couldn't believe that it was actually happening.

But the real changes started happening this week.


On Thursday, they started to dig.


It soon became apparent that the small equipment that they had was not going to be heavy enough for our rock. Around here, you can hardly plant a flower without hitting rock!


Thankfully Ed has a friend with a huge excavator. This machine was absolutely amazing!


The children had a great view and camped out here for the entire day. It was a great deal safer (and warmer) for them inside. My boys have the typical fondness for anything with wheels and now they talk of nothing but construction equipment!


On Friday they poured the footers.


Nothing looks messier than a construction site, but these huge piles of dirt are an obvious delight to our boys. I'm threatening to designate a pair of pants each as their outside pants and not wash them until this job is over!


Saturday, the men began laying the block for the foundation. I'm learning a ton about the construction process. I have two brothers that have a construction business that are doing the main part of the work. Ed is helping out as much as he can to save labor costs. The children love having dad home. Okay, I love having daddy at home! I probably have as much fun as the children watching the men work!

So, that is the excitement around here - far more thrilling than baking bread!

Bread Baking - Dough Enhancers

In the whole wheat honey bread recipe I shared this week, you may have wondered about the unfamiliar optional ingredients. These ingredients are for the purpose of enhancing the dough but are not required for bread baking. Many bakers make lovely bread without soy lecithin, vital gluten or Vitamin C. But if you have struggled with baking bread, especially whole wheat bread, I'd recommend trying one or all these ingredients.

I've already talked about the importance of good flour in bread baking. The lower the quality and protein level of your flour, the more important these optional ingredients will become. Despite your personal experience, whole wheat bread does not have to be dry and crumbly. It can be soft and wonderful, and some of these ingredients can help. They could be the difference of your bread being good or great.

If you are using a high protein wheat such as Prairie Gold, you may not find any of these ingredients necessary.

Vitamin C and Soy Lecithin soften the bread and help to increase it's shelf life. They make your homemade bread less dry and crumbly and more like a bought loaf. Vitamin C also helps your body to absorb the minerals found in whole wheat flour. I purchase these ingredients at a health food store. Powdered vitamin C is easier to use but you may also crush a vitamin tablet.

Vital Gluten is added to the bread to help it raise. All flour contains some gluten, which when mixed in bread is what gives it the elasticity to rise into what we know of as a loaf of bread. The bran in whole wheat flour can cut the gluten strands and make it more difficult for the bread to rise. If you are using a poor quality flour or lower protein flour, it is especially helpful to add extra gluten. I also find it helpful when a bread has extra seeds or other additions that may make it heavy. Vital gluten can be found in small bags near where flour is sold. Larger grocery stores or bulk food stores usually carry it. Vital gluten should not be confused with high gluten flour which is regular flour with added gluten for bread flour.

My mom always used these ingredients in her whole wheat bread, so I always did too. Any time I used whole wheat flour in a bread recipe, I would add a tiny bit of vital gluten. Only recently did I begin to wonder if they were truly necessary. I'm not real excited about soy products and with all the gluten intolerance around I wondered if I should be adding gluten to my bread.

So I did several test batches. I made one batch just as written with all the optional ingredients. I made another batch without the vitamin C, soy lecithin, or vital gluten but keeping the egg. The result was almost identical bread. There was no difference in appearance. The one without the dough enhancing ingredients was just slightly more coarse in texture. But it was so slight that my husband could not tell which one was which when I gave him slices from both loaves to eat side by side.

Several days later I made a third batch, this time leaving out all the optional ingredients including the egg. Egg contains natural lecithin helping to create a softer bread. Unfortunately we had eaten the first loaves so I couldn't do a side by side comparison. This time I thought the bread was definitely coarser and less soft, but still very edible.

So my recommendation...if you are using a high quality flour and are pleased with your bread, skip the dough enhancers. If you are not happy with your bread, try one or all four of the dough enhancers. As you increase in experience and practice, you may find your perfect loaf.

Tammy wrote a great article describing dough enhancers in more detail.

Do you find dough enhancers helpful?

Whole Wheat Honey Bread - Small Batch

Here is the same recipe as yesterday, written for the convenience of those who have a smaller mixer or are making bread by hand. This recipe will make three loaves.

Whole Wheat Honey Bread

2 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1 T soy lecithin (optional)
1/8 tsp vitamin C (optional)
2 T vital gluten (optional)
1 egg (optional)

1 1/2 T instant  yeast
7 cups whole wheat flour, approximate measure

Combine water, oil, honey, salt, soy lecithin, vitamin C, gluten flour, and eggs. Mix well.
Add three cups of flour and mix. Add yeast and mix. Add flour until dough doesn't stick to sides of bowl.
Stop mixer and allow to rest for ten minutes.
Knead for five minutes with kneading hook on medium speed or by hand.
Form into loaves. Place in greased bread pans. Allow dough to rise until double.
Bake bread at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool.

I love hearing from those of you who are trying these recipes. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments or by email. I'm not promising to have all the answers but we can work through it together!

Next, I'll talk about those mysterious "optional" ingredients in the recipe!

Whole Wheat Honey Bread - Large Batch

Though I like to make various breads and often try new recipes, this bread recipe is the one I have made more than any other recipe. It is slightly adapted from the one my mom has used for over twenty years. I've made it often enough that I almost don't need to look at the recipe, though I usually don't trust myself to go entirely without checking the recipe.

I've debated on the best way to share this recipe. I know that not all of you have the same tools and ingredients that I use. I decided to share it just like I make it. In coming days I'll be sharing two other variations of this recipe and also details on the optional ingredients in this recipe.

Made with freshly ground Prairie Gold flour, this bread is soft, light and absolutely wonderful! Wish I could have you over to try a slice!

Whole Wheat Honey Bread


5 1/2 cup warm water
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup honey
1 T salt
2 T soy lecithin - optional

1000 mg Vitamin C (¼ tsp) - optional

1/4 cup vital gluten - optional

2 eggs -optional

3 T  instant yeast
13 cups whole wheat flour (approximate amount)

Combine water, oil, honey, salt, soy lecithin, vitamin C, gluten flour, and eggs. Mix well.
Add six cups of flour and mix. Add yeast and mix. Add flour until dough doesn't stick to sides of bowl.
Stop mixer and allow to rest for ten minutes.
Knead for five minutes with kneading hook on medium speed or by hand.
Form into loaves. Place in greased bread pans. Allow dough to rise until double.
Bake bread at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool.

Note: I use a large Bosch mixer. If you have a smaller mixer, you will need to mix the first ingredients, then transfer to a bowl to add the flour and knead by hand. Tomorrow I'll share a small batch recipe.

My bread pans are 4 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches. This recipe makes six loaves.

Bread Baking - Whole Grains

I've been planning to write about whole grains for several weeks but I keep hesitating. Healthy eating is such a controversial subject and I don't claim to be an expert.

I almost hate to talk about nutrition because I don't want it to become an idol. God has the days of our life numbered and what we eat isn't going to change the fact that on an appointed day, our life will end.

On the other hand, I have stood in the grocery line behind a cart laden with processed nutrition-less food and almost cried, especially if there were small children also in the cart. I hate to see a mom lose the opportunity to build good eating habits in her children while they are young.

But then, if you looked at my cart, you would find numerous compromise foods. While I hope the bulk of our diet is "real" foods, we love our sweets.

Please know that we don't eat perfectly. I don't even know what "perfect" is! I attempt to feed my family a balanced diet with foods high in nutrition like God created. But I have in no way attained even my own goals. And I'm okay with that.

One of the foods we really enjoy is whole wheat bread. The basic daily bread we eat is made with 100% whole wheat flour. I will occasionally make white bread if others are eating with us that I'm concerned will not enjoy whole grains. In the past few months, I made more white bread than usual in an attempt to test recipes for this blog. But we really enjoy whole wheat bread the best.

Whole wheat bread can take a while to become accustomed to. The texture and flavor are different than bread made with white flour. Baking whole wheat bread can be a greater challenge than white bread, which is why I began this bread baking series with white bread.

Maybe we should stop and find out the difference in white and whole wheat flours.

A grain of wheat is comprised of three parts. The endosperm is the starchy white part of the grain. The bran is the tougher shell of the grain. The germ is the part of the grain that will sprout into a new wheat plant if the conditions are right. The germ is also what contains the vitamins and nutrients of the grain. 

White flour is made by grinding grain and removing the bran and the germ. What is left is the endosperm, the starch. White flour is turned to sugars in our body and contains no nutrients except for the vitamins and iron that producers add to the flour. Most white flour is further whitened by chemicals unless it specifies that it is "unbleached".

Whole wheat flour is wheat grain that was ground into flour. The best whole wheat flour will contain all three parts of the grain, endosperm, bran, and germ. One problem with whole wheat flour is the oils in the wheat germ quickly becomes rancid. To give it a longer shelf life, whole wheat flour often has the germ removed. So again, all nutrition has been lost but at least the flour is not rancid and contains the fiber in the bran. 

Another factor in the wheat germ is that after milling, the vitamin content quickly drops. Within a day or two nearly all of the vitamins have oxidized.  

A home grain mill is expensive but personally I'd give up many of my appliances before losing my grain mill. My parents blessed us with a grain mill as a wedding present so I've never been without it. But if something happens to it, we'll be on the fast track to saving for another. I have a Whisper Mill which was renamed Wonder Mill. I think the name change was a good one because it is quite a bit louder than an whisper!


I buy Prairie Gold wheat from Wheat Montana. I can get 50 lb bags at my local bulk food store. We go through 50 lb of wheat in 2 or 3 months. That sounds ridiculous for a family of six but remember this wheat is used for all our bread, rolls, tortillas, waffles, cookies and more. 


Because I only use Prairie Gold wheat, I have no experience with other whole wheat flours. You can purchase Prairie Gold flour at some bulk food stores if you don't have a grain mill. 

Prairie Gold wheat is a white hard spring wheat. White means it is naturally light in color. It has the same nutrients as red wheat but not a strong of flavor or dark color. Most people do not believe my bread is 100% whole wheat since it really isn't dark in color. 

Prairie Gold is a spring wheat which makes it higher in protein which results in a lighter baked product. It is a hard wheat which is best for yeast breads. 


If you have struggled to bake whole wheat bread, I highly recommend trying Prairie Gold. I make no money from them, just have been a happy consumer of their wheat for years. Their customer service is tops. Last year I had a bag of wheat that contained a lot of chaff. I could still use it but I was sure it was a mistake as their wheat is always clean. I sent a short email alerting Wheat Montana of the problem. Wheat Montana immediately sent me a new bag of wheat with their apologies. 


If you don't grind your own flour, try to buy your whole wheat flour at a store with a fast turn around. Hopefully the flour will be as fresh as possible. Freeze the flour as soon as you get home to keep it fresh. 


Next I'll share the whole wheat bread recipe that my mom made when I was growing up. At one point she made twelve of these loaves every single week.

March in My Garden

In just the past week, we had temperatures in the seventies, six inches of snow, a low of 2 degrees, and today we are back up to 60 with rain. With fluctuating weather like this, you know it is March. Whether it is like a lion or a lamb, whether it is barefoot weather or blizzards, March is heralds spring. I can't wait!

A quick glance over the landscape shows the same barren brown stumble we've seen for the last four months. But take a closer look and you'll find swelling buds and green spears poking out of the earth. March may be a brown teaser but it annouces a new season, a blank canvas just bursting with possibilities! For the optimistic, the visions of what could be, are often more exciting than the reality!

Here is some of the garden tasks for this month. (Remember, this is written for my zone 6, which may need adapted for where you live.)

1. Purchase seeds

If you haven't already purchased your seeds by mail order, nurseries and garden centers are setting up their seed displays. I have all my seeds but I will try to get to my local garden center for seed potatoes and onion sets.

2. Prepare your garden soil

Beautiful, healthy dirt makes beautiful healthy plants. If you've never taken a soil test, you may consider doing one this year. A layer of compost, an application of lime, or other fertilizer in early spring may have a huge impact on your garden's productivity this year. If you plan to begin a new flower or garden bed, now is the time to till and amend the soil. Of course, if you are getting rain like us, it will be a while before you can walk into the garden without being sucked in. But since our drought last summer, I will try to never complain about rain ever again!

3. Draw up a garden plan

Spend a few minutes planning can save some grief later. This is when keeping some garden records is helpful. Think about what you planted last year and remember to plant the same vegetable in a different area of the garden this year. Crop rotation will help halt the spread of disease and insect pests.

4. Plant early vegetable seeds

As soon as the garden is dry enough to be worked, I like to plant the early vegetable crops. Peas, potatoes, onions, spinach and lettuce are some of the earliest. In our area, I've heard the old timers say that St Patrick's Day (March 17) is the time to plant peas and Good Friday (April 22 this year) is the perfect potato planting day. I will just pick a dry day that is suitable for my husband to help!

5. Start indoor seeds

Tomatoes, peppers and flowers should be started in early March to be set out when the danger of frost is past. If you have cold hardy plants such as broccoli, cabbage and lettuce started, they can be moved to a cold frame or planted in a protected area this month. I sometimes plant these cold hardy plants in the garden and protect with row cover, hoop house or milk jugs.

6. Clean up flower beds

Unless you did this in the fall, cut back old perennial foliage, rake out the leaves and remove the garden debris from around the emerging spring blooming bulbs. If you have some homemade compost available, apply a thin layer over the soil, avoiding the crowns of the perennials. Plant some early pansies, sit back, and enjoy the spring show! If we have a warm spell and perennials such as hosta begin to emerge, dividing the plants early will make the job less difficult and give you new plants to fill in any gaps!

I'm getting excited about March! In a way I'm sorry to see the slower days of winter end - but it will be so good to be outside enjoying the sunshine again!

Check out what others are doing at
Tuesday Garden Party
and the Barn Hop