Potato Refrigerator Bread

Yesterday was bread day at our house, as I was baking bread for dinner.  The first was Potato Refrigerator Bread, which my family loves.  I've used a recipe from Bread World for years now and it always seems to work great. It was easy and fairly moist. just the really soft bread that the family loves to put butter and jelly on.

The second was Italian Hearth style French bread, using a recipe from my King Arthur Flour Company 200th Anniversary Cookbook that I've had for many years. I actually use King Arthur Flour when I can, as I can now get it from two places locally. It is not enriched and unbleached and I can get the regular or the bread flour, which I use a lot of.  If I cannot get KAFC flour, I will use Hodgson Mill unbleached white flour, which I can find at my local grocer. 

Because I do not have Italian bread or Baguette Pans, I found that I can substitute heavy duty foil triple layered before forming my make-shift baguette pan. A quick call to my Traci to consult with, confirmed she did the same as well.  I continued, and I thought it worked rather well, and the bread still turned out great and the first loaf was consumed in no time!   

 

So even though I don't have the fancy tools, I can still turn out delicious hearth style french bread. I must say, the recipe I use literally takes all day.  I started at  9 a.m. and it was finally ready at 6 p.m.  Please don't let this scare you away from attempting to make traditional Hearth style bread.  It is the whole process of multiple risings that give it the classic French Bread.  I was also busy yesterday teaching the kids, doing laundry, and chasing the baby, so the preparation time could have been much shorter, but it worked out well by the time Honey walked through the door. 

 

 

Homemade Baby Wipes

Homemade baby wipes.  When my kids were little, they tender bottoms broke out when I used store bought wipes, so I made my own using water, baby oil, baby bath, and Bounty Paper Towels.  Now that I am keeping The Princess, I've began making and using them again.  I've even given them as baby gifts to moms that love this sort of thing. I know there are many recipes for this, but this is what we do.  When our kids were little we used cloth diapers and made our own baby wipes. I loved knowing what went into them as Oldest was a little sensitive to the bought ones. In a few weeks, we will start watching a baby for a some friends when she goes back to the classroom, and I'm considering making them again. They last forever! Here is how we made them. Since most parents have these supplies on hand anyway, these are relatively inexpensive to make.

Supplies:

• 1 roll of Bounty paper towels.  I like to use the Big Roll (it's gotta be a really strong paper towel)
• 2 TBSP Baby Wash/Bath (choose a natural wash!)
• 2 TBSP Baby Oil(I've heard some people use olive oil
• 2 Cups water (I like to use warm water, as it mixes easier)
• Container to hold wipes. we use a 10 C. Rubbermaid container with locking lid that we got about 18 years ago. You just need something that has a locking lid

Directions

1. Cut roll of Bounty. I mark the center using a ruler and ink pen, then used my electric knife (or you could use a sharp serrated knife) to cut the roll in half.
2. Place 1/2 roll of paper towels in container.
3. Pour solution over towels.
4. Seal tightly and let set for a few hours or overnight.
5. Open container, remove cardboard center, use from the middle.
6. This will make two large rolls of baby wipes. Save the other 1/2 roll for the next time you need to make wipes.