ColoradoBennett-Whole Wheat Wonders

I was on the phone the other day with Gram during the usual breakfast fiasco. I noticed that Sierra and her bowl of cereal and milk were missing from the kitchen. Gram laughed on the other line as I searched the house and finally found Sierra in her room just as she was slamming her dresser drawer shut. I asked her where her cereal bowl was and she told me that she'd hid it. I had visions running through my mind of a full bowl of cereal and milk in that dresser drawer, soiling layers and layers of freshly washed and folded clothes. But the gods of the morning breakfast were smiling on me and Sierra pointed out that she'd only hidden the bowl under the kitchen table so that I would stop nagging her to finish eating. Gram was still laughing and said that would be a good story for the blog, so here it is.
Darla, wheat grinders are great, maybe ask Santa for one. It is a great way to turn vast amounts of seemingly useless wheat food storage into healthful flour. I used to make bread a lot, it sure was easier to do with only one kid around. Now they both want to help put the ingredients in the bowl, and they both want to help kneed and eat large amount of raw dough. This results in a painful mess and I can't even bring myself to start that process again. But if you are in the mood for some really great bread, here is the recipe I got from Cory's mom:
Buttermilk Bread
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
3/4 c. very hot water
1/4 c. honey (put the water and honey in measuring cup to equal one cup, then microwave for about 30 seconds so that the honey is easy to pour, but don't get the water too hot or you'll kill the yeast, use a clean finger to test temperature)
1 1/4 c cold buttermilk (the Allen family always seems to have buttermilk around, but if you don't have any just add regular milk with 1 teaspoon of vinegar)
5 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I guess there is something to be said for freshly ground flour, but the store bought stuff seems to work just fine)
2 teaspoons salt (no comments on the salt)
2 to 4 Tablespoons butter (use cold, small chunks and put in last)
Now, you can knead the dough by hand--which is the big reason I got into bread making in the first place. I thought it would help me be a better rock climber. Turns out it is crazy hard to knead bread dough for 20 minutes, so I just use my Bosch machine. Then cook it 325 for about an hour. If you knock on the bread and it sounds hollow, then it is done. If you ever get your hands on some Canadian flour, I'll give you Brandon Smith's mom's bread recipe. I bet Geof. would quit one of his jobs just to be able to come home to a loaf of that bread everyday.
So I went to a funeral for my grandma Bonnie this morning. She is my bio dad's mom that just died of diabetes. Well, she had lung cancer and was getting radiation and that gave her diabetes and she died pretty quickly. Non-LDS funerals are so difficult, but this went better than expected. This side of the family has really been through the wringer lately. My dad's cousin just got stabbed and killed a few weeks ago, his sister gave up her daughter to the state because she is a difficult teenager, another sister committed suicide, and the list goes on. Our bishop's son was adopted and was talking about finding his real parents so that he could do family history work. I warned him about the Pandora's Box I opened when I found my bio family and suggested he do family history work without acctually contacting the relatives.