Sandwich Bread Recipe

Makes: 2 loaves

Ingredients



3 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup sugar
¼ cup honey
3 1/2 cups bread flour plus 1 tablespoon
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dry milk
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (available at Smiths: Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup oil
2 T lecithin
a cold stick of butter


Instructions




1. Heat water in microwave (30 sec per cup). In your kitchen aid mixer bowl, add warm water, sugar, honey and one tablespoon flour. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add yeast and gently mix in. Let stand 10 minutes. Should become foamy on top, if the yeast was activated.
2. Meanwhile, in large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, salt, and vital wheat gluten.
3. Mix lecithin, optional, with oil, then add into the yeast/water mixture, or just the oil. Don't stir. Then, stir in flour mixture until combined.
4. Using the bread hook, mix dough on a low setting in Kitchen Aid Mixer for about 10 minutes. Add a little more flour if it's too sticky. Stop and take it off the hook every few minutes to assure it's mixing well. (I do this about 3-4 times.)5. Place in large greased bowl. Turn dough ball around in the bowl to get it greased all around. Then cover the bowl with a smooth dishtowel. Set bowl in a warm place and let it rise until doubled in size, about an hour. I usually preheat my oven to 200 then turn the oven off. 

6. Punch down the dough in the bowl. Then, divide evenly into two equal parts on a lightly floured surface.
7. Roll out each portion of dough with rolling pin to remove air bubbles. Then, roll up each one into a loaf size and put into a greased pan seam-side down.
8. Place loaves in the fridge for your second proof. The slow rise with make your gluten bonds stronger. Usually takes 30 min. Once the bread is nicely domed about an inch above the pan, it's ready to bake. 



9. Place the bread in the oven as you preheat to 375, once the oven reaches 375, reduce to 325 and bake for 22 to 27 min or until tops are golden brown.
10. Brush bread with butter and remove from pans. Let cool completely on a cooling rack

1 Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed

MVI 1866 from Brittany Williams on Vimeo.

MVI 1865 from Brittany Williams on Vimeo.

Kool Aid Play Dough

Click the link for recipe: The Pretty Things in Life

Squeaker

I've nicknamed Brandon "Squeaker" for his adorable squeaky cries and noises. John had such a low, manly voice -- even as an infant. But Brandon is just a little squeaker.

Squeaker is such an angel baby. He's so patient about having to share attention. He doesn't demand to be held all the time. He often puts himself down for a nap while I'm taking care of John and he's a silent  sleeper so I can keep him in the room with me at night. I could never keep John in our room because he's such a noisy sleeper and now he talks in his sleep.

Brandon, though only 2 weeks old, has already figured out that day is for being awake and night is for sleeping. So even though he wakes up every 2 to 3 hours to eat through the night, he goes right back to sleep after each feeding. It's beautiful.

One other thing we've noticed about Brandon in the 2 weeks that we've come to know him is that he has "old soul" eyes. His eyes are deep and searching. I could feel this about him even in utero, Brandon will be a wise man one day and an example to his siblings and probably to me and Robby too.

I can't wait to learn more about my little Squeaker. I adore him so much already.

Brandon Keith Williams

Unlike his brother, John, Brandon's entrance into the world was quite uneventful. I had a repeat c section scheduled for Brandon for January 17th, 2014. So on the 16th, I took a long, relaxing shower and went to bed early. On the 17th, I woke up and got everything ready. Robby's parents came into town to look after John and Robby and I took off for the hospital.

Once at the hospital I basically waited around for 2 hours until the OR was ready. Once I was in the OR and numbed up from the spinal it was only a matter of minutes until I heard the sweet, amazing cries of my little boy. Brandon was born at 1:01 pm on Friday, January 17th, 2014. 

He's such an angel and we love him so much. He and John looked so identical to me when they were first born

Newborn Brandon

Newborn John

But the more I get to know Brandon, the more I can see how totally different they are.

Brandon is such a snuggle bug and a squeaker. He's a very calm and patient baby and has a pouty face when he sleeps. I can't wait to learn more about him and see his personality develop.

Welcome to the Williams Family little Brandon.

Christmas 2013

Since I was less than a month from my due date and having daily contractions, we stayed home and had a very mellow Christmas.

Robby and I stayed up late and watch Home Alone and ate homemade pizza, then set up the Christmas presents.

 John was thrilled about all his new toys and still talks about Santa and Christmas lights

 For Christmas dinner, I roasted a turkey and made candied carrots. Robby made funeral potatoes and homemade rolls. It was all delicious, and the next day I made an amazing Maple Pecan Pie. I love holiday food.

It was nice to have a quiet Christmas, but we can't wait for the day when we can live nearer to family and celebrate the holidays with them.

Merry Christmas

Christmas at Home

I miss being with family this Christmas, but it's a very good thing we stayed home. And I'm glad I got to be at home for Christmas and not in the hospital.

On Monday, the weather was so nice, I took John outside for some fresh air. While we were playing outside, I started noticing I was having contractions. I figured they were just Braxton Hicks because they were pretty mild. But then they started coming at regular intervals, so I started timing them. They were coming every 5 to 7 minutes so I got nervous and took John home. I tried everything the nurses had told me to do to stop contractions if they started: pee, drink water, put your feet up, eat something, relax. It wasn't working and they were getting stronger so I called my OB to see what they wanted me to do. 

They worked me into their schedule with the on call Physician's Assistant. She said I was dilated to a 1 and 25% effaced. Next, they hooked me up for an NST to make sure Baby Brandon was doing ok and to see how often I was contracting. After about 20 minutes or so I was still having contractions every 3 to 7 minutes but Brandon wasn't under any stress so they admitted me to Labor and Delivery for observation. 

Since I'm only a little over 35 weeks pregnant, the nurse had to get special permission to check my cervix again. If I was progressing, they would decide if I needed medical intervention to stop the contractions or if Brandon would have to be born early, so I just hung out for another hour or so. The contractions had started around 11 and by now it was 4 in the afternoon. The nurse came back around 4:30 to check me and since I was still at a 1, they sent me home with instructions to come back if things got worse.

So I went home and laid down and luckily, around 6:30, the contractions finally stopped. Whew. I've had some more contractions since, but they've been irregular so I'm trying to just take it easy and keep the contractions at bay. I'm so glad they sent me home so I didn't have to spend Christmas in the hospital, or worse, in the NICU.

On a side note, it's interesting how different these contractions feel than when I was in labor with John. With John, my water broke but I wasn't having contractions so they started me on Pitocin. Those contractions felt like an electric shock to my belly. The contractions on Monday were totally different. I could feel my belly get hard as a rock and physically move down. Then there would be a ton on pressure on my hips and pubic bone and cervix. And (probably TMI) at the end of the contraction, it felt like I really had to go #2. I never had any of those sensations with John, which may be why I never progressed and dilated. So this night and day difference gives me hope that maybe my body will do what it's supposed to do this time and I might be able to do a VBAC.