One of Those Mornings...and A Recipe

First off, I hope you have your red on for the soldiers today. We are still in our PJ's around here and it's lunchtime, but you know it's just been one of those mornings. You know those kind of mornings where everyone is just crying for no reason. Over everything. Even me. Those kinds of mornings where the kids dump their cereal while you're feeding the baby and you just don't even have the energy to scold or clean it up. The kind of mornings where all you get accomplished is eating breakfast, reading books, feeding the baby, holding the baby, comforting crying girls, loading the dishwasher, breaking up fights, throwing a load of laundry in, and surveying (but not cleaning) the mess the kids are making. "Oh, what a waste of a morning," I think to myself.

And then, after the kids have laid down for a nap and all is quiet for a while, (but your house is still a mess) you read this quote on Facebook. And you just love that person for putting it online...

"Cleaning the house when you have young children is like shoveling the driveway in the middle of a blizzard."

"Ahhh...someone else understands my plight and I feel better," I think to myself. I feel like posting this quote all over my house right this very minute, making it messier than it already is. Somehow it would just make me feel better. And I do already.

My house is still in disarray, but the kids are all sleeping now (save for Shiloh who is one of the last to fall asleep and is singing to herself) and it can be cleaned up in a jiffy. I remind myself of this verse,


II Corinthians 12:9
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

It's ok to be weak, it humbles me and keeps me seeking after God. Longing to be filled with His power and not my own...my own fizzles out soon enough...especially on mornings like these. Weakness draws me to the scriptures and keeps me on my knees. Weakness reminds me of my place before God - His greatness and my insignificance. Oh how I desperately need Him to fill me. Fill me with your Spirit Lord, so I don't make a mess of things with my attitude and my responses to imperfection. Because, I remind myself, I am imperfect. My husband is imperfect. And my children are imperfect. We all need the Savior.

So, if we can get our act together at some point today and go out for a little fun, then we will get our red on for the soldiers. You should too!!!

And speaking of imperfection, (of which I am queen) I am posting lots of pictures for this recipe so it will turn out perfect for you if you decide to try it. Please do!!! It is well worth the patience and carbs it takes to make it and eat it. =)

This recipe came from Susan Simpson, our Pastor's wife at Independent Bible Fellowship Church in Delaware. We went to that church for 13 years until we moved to SC when I was 15. Mrs. Simpson has 4 boys and loves to bake. She used to borrow my sister Mandy and I on many afternoons and teach us how to make all sorts of desserts, pasta from scratch, bread, etc. I loved it and soaked it all up! She is the reason I have a huge place in my heart for baking.

This bread is on the sweeter side, easy, versatile, and a definite crowd pleaser. It makes a lot of dough so when I make it I usually give some of the bread away - it's pretty and makes a sweet gift. It's also great for large gatherings and I typically make this every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, sometimes Easter. I've included lots of pictures in case my daughters are reading this someday and forgot when we used to make it, or in case you have never made bread before, or in case you're like me and love to have lots of pictures to a recipe whether you're new at it or not!

Rich Yeast Bread

2 cups milk
1 cup butter - melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
9 cups flour - approximate & divided
2 eggs
2 pkgs yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon or orange extract

In large bowl, stir together milk, melted butter, sugar, and salt.

Stir 5 cups of the flour into milk mixture.

Stir in the eggs.

In a separate small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water...

Stir and mash clumps till it looks like this...

In another small bowl, mix the vanilla and orange or lemon extract together.
Next, add the yeast mixture and extract mixture to the dough.
Mix in enough of the remaining flour (about 4 cups) to the dough to form a stiff dough.
Knead dough on floured surface for 5 - 10 minutes.

Grease a large bowl with butter and place kneaded dough inside, turning once to coat the dough with butter.

Let rise till double. (This usually takes a couple of hours.)

Punch dough down.


Now, you can use this dough for a variety of things. You can spread some out, butter, and sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture on it and make cinnamon rolls. You can separate and make into rolls. You can make into braided loaves. Or, there's enough dough to make a combination of all of these. I made a bunch of braided loaves...

Roll out with hands into these...

Braid the bread and pinch down the ends...


Fold ends under and pinch...

Place loaves or rolls on greased baking sheets and let rise till double...


Bake at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes and till golden brown. You may have to cover with tinfoil if the loaf is browning too quickly.

See how many loaves I got out of this recipe! I even had enough extra for my budding baker.

We ate this bread on our way to Missouri and still had some to share with our friends. I promise this is worth the effort - please let me know if you make it and how it turned out. Happy Weekend to you all!