And a few more

Posted in photos | 3 Comments

A little better

Fooling around a bit with the new toy. Still figuring it out, but these made me a smile a little.

Posted in photos | 7 Comments

Army Training

Tomorrow, Lauren is headed for Hunter-Liggett in California for further pre-deployment training. Last summer, she spent some time in South Dakota, apparently learning the extremely valuable skill of balancing a Chinook helicopter on her head:

There is no telling what she will be learning this time, but prayers for her and her unit would be greatly appreciated.

Posted in family | 9 Comments

First Pic with the Newbie

And I am definitely the newbie, not the camera. I am sure the camera knows exactly what it is doing, but this is my first SLR, so I have a lot to figure out. But I took this shot this morning and it is at least as good as what I could do with my old point and shoot, so it is good for a start. Actually the first pictures I took were of Larry and he says I can’t put them on the internet, cause his hair was all messed up.

So, instead, here is the sunrise this morning:

Posted in photos | 7 Comments

Cottage Cheese Dill Bread

I am putting this up here so that Ellyn can find it, but I highly recommend it to all. I don’t know who gets the credit for this – I may have gotten it from someone or it could be one I made up myself. It is written in my handwriting and from the condition of the recipe card, it has been kicking around for about 25 years or so.

Mix these in a large bowl and let sit for 5 min or so:
2 tablespoons Dry Yeast
1/2 c warmish liquid – water, milk, whatever
2 teaspoons sugar

Stir into first mixture:
2 cups cottage cheese [reg, low & nonfat all work fine]
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons dried dill weed
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 eggs

Stir 2 cups of this into mixture and continue stirring for several minutes:
4-5 cups unbleached white flour

Gradually add remaining flour until dough pulls away from bowl. You can finish adding it by kneading by hand. Knead on floured surface, gradually adding up to another cup of flour to keep it from sticking, for about 7-8 minutes until smooth. Let rise in oiled bowl in warm place for several hours until doubled in size. Punch down, knead briefly and divide in half and form into two loaves – place in greased bread pans and let rise until the highest point is about 1/2 inch above the top rim of the pan. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, but check periodically after 30 min. Top should be well browned and loaf should sound hollow when tapped. Turn out of pan immediately and cool completely on wire racks before storing.

Since I am back to low fat eating as of today, I would probably increase the fiber in this by using some ground-up regular oatmeal and some whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour. [1/2 cup of the oats, 1 cup of the whole wheat flour, in place of 1 & 1/2 cups of the white flour] I would use low or non fat cottage cheese and use 3 egg whites, discarding the yolks. Leaving the eggs whole will not add that much fat though, so it is up to personal taste.

This is particularly wonderful toasted and is very nice for sandwiches.

It is also one of my projects for today, so there might be a photo later. Maybe even taken with my new camera which is supposed to get here today. Sweet!

Posted in recipes | 4 Comments