Raspberry jam.

I haven't been able to think of anything to post lately. Life has been moving along, quietly and well. Amy is 3 and a half months old now, getting chubby, and has started to laugh! Few things are more delightful than a baby's first belly laugh. :)

Today was noteworthy, because although my husband is working a 12-hour shift tonight, he got up early this morning and drove out to the country to pick a whole slew of raspberries for us. We go through a lot, because Chris loves to make his own raspberry lemonade all summer long, and the children and I go through a lot of raspberry jam.

I made 2 batches of jam this afternoon, which went very nicely with the batch of fresh bread I made this morning.

I am continuing to make all of our bread. Because I knead it by hand--and because we go through a lot of bread!--it's rather a time consuming chore. I do enjoy it, but I can see right now that I am not going to be able to manage this during busy times, such as in the autumn when we will resume our regular homeschool lessons, and our toy shop will start getting busy. But when I can, I'm going to do it. I like knowing that my kids are eating bread free of preservatives and other undesireables. And of course, the taste is rather an improvement over Wonderbread. :)

I do wonder though, how some people can manage to make all their family's bread by hand all year round? Mothers with large families must have to make several loaves every day. That's a lot of kneading!

I was pretty enthusiastic about hanging our laundry outside since our dryer broke a little while ago. But today I had to bring everything in still damp because it started raining. I was able to hang two loads inside, but that is the most I can manage. I also have been wondering, how do some of you ladies manage it who don't have or who choose not to use a dryer? I imagine we're going to be calling our landlord to fix our dryer very soon. Because if it rains for the next few days (as the forecast indicates), the laundry is going to start backing up, since we average about 3 loads every 2 days. I just can't fit that much laundry into our back room to dry when things like blue jeans take 2 days to dry indoors.

Well, that pretty much sums up what I've been up to lately. Caring for a baby, and baking bread, and doing lots of laundry. The regular stuff. I did stay up late last night with Chris to watch a funny movie, which was nice. I can't remember the last time I had a chance to watch a movie all the way through. I'm glad I did, even though I was a bit tired today, and after the second batch of jam was done I had to take a nap, when what I really wanted to do was make another batch of granola bars and reorganize the toy cupboard. I love the life of a homemaker, but it's a constant frustration for me that I don't have endless energy to do all the things I'd like to do in a day.

Comments

[Molly W.]

aww baby laughs! I'm still waiting for Henry to figure out that laughing and coughing aren't the same thing... he has a giggle, but can't figure out the difference yet. It's rather cute though! =)
Did the postal strike get resolved?

[Brenda]

Love baby laughs too! WIth regards to the clothes, I have a drying rack that is on a pully system that I fill and haul up to the roof in my laundry, it fits an entire load of washing and it drys up out of the way, if we have the heating on it drys really quick. Your clever hubby could make one easily, just timber end pieces with dowel running between them, I also have the dowel poking out the other side - handy to hang undies and things off!

[Provincial Homemaker]

Hmm, we don't have a big family but one thing I do to reduce the number of times I need to bake bread is to double the batch and then freeze the extra loaf. That way there is always bread available when time is short. It is no extra work because you only have the same knead time.

I loved your comment about the frustration of the homemaker - amen sister.

[Lindsay]

That raspberry jam looks absolutely delicious. Your photo is making my mouth water!

Laundry - I leave mine out on the line when it rains! It dries pretty quickly after the rain ends, and I find sitting out in the rain makes for super soft laundry. I also will hang a load in the evening and leave it overnight, and it is usually dry by the time I hang another load the next morning :)

[marlyn dubay]

You are a little ahead of us with the raspberries. Our wild blackberries are just turning colour now.Looks like a lot of raspberries on the bushes though. Your jam looks inviting. Good for you. I have to tell you I cheat on the bread. I make a loaf a day but I let the bread machine knead the bread.Then I put it in a loaf pan for second rise and bake in the oven the same time something else is in the oven. I like kneading bread, but the time it takes. I got my breadmaker on sale for $50. and used all my Canadian Tire money. It was free! I love the new picture of you on the side board. Your baby is getting so big already.

Marlyn

[Melanie~ Our Ash Grove]

Oh my goodness, that jam looks amazing- raspberry jam is really my favorite!
We make all our own bread and baking, and have to make probably 6 to 8 loaves a week- but I have a handy helper: I knead the dough in our industrial kitchenaid mixer. Because you're right, I would have a very hard time keeping up on it. Often if I want the children to get the fun/experience of kneading I'll do it partway in the mixer and let them knead it the rest by hand.
As for the line drying/dryer- we have our dryer to use sparingly for days we need it, and hang as much as we can. We also have a big ole wood drying rack for inside, though I admit I feel frazzled with it as it takes up room!

[Laura Jeanne]

I wish we had a Kitchenaid mixer--that would help a lot! I don't have a mixer at all, or a food processor. Maybe I should look into getting a mixer if I'm going to continue making bread all the time. I don't think I have room for the size of bread machine we'd need.

[Laura Jeanne]

I like the idea of using a bread machine, but I don't think I have room for one anywhere in my kitchen, which is quite small and cramped already. Great deal you got on one! You must have saved up your CT money for quite some time...

[Laura Jeanne]

I hadn't thought about rainwater making the laundry softer, but I guess it would, wouldn't it? Thanks for the tip. :)

[Miriam]

Love, love baby laughs.
I haven't had a dryer for about 5 years now and I always have an eye out for the weather. If you have a portable fan it can make a big difference in drying time when you have to dry clothes indoors. In the winter things dry pretty fast in the bathroom with the door closed. Ventilation is important though, you are putting a lot of extra moisture into your home.
I do have a bread machine but I never bake in it. I always let it rise in a pan and use the oven. Something that I like to do is to freeze the dough, let it thaw, knead it, plop it in a loaf pan and carry on from there. It saves just that much time every other day if you make two loaves the first day and freeze half of it. Or you can keep the dough in the freezer for a busy day. I have a small kitchen so my bread machine lives on a shelf over the freezer in my laundry room. Tiny spaces call for creative thinking :)

[Leah]

I often make a big batch of dough once a week using a no-knead recipe, then refrigerate it or keep in in the cold room, and bake as I need it.

Getting some baby laughs here too (awww!)

[Only in Louisiana - documenting the adventures we call life]

I do not hang out laundry yet but thought this comment was brilliant! If I do start - now I know!

[Only in Louisiana - documenting the adventures we call life]

Could we get that no-knead recipe?

[Shannon]

I love raspberries so much now and I'm terribly embarrassed to admit that I never ate them until my husband convinced me to!

[Amy :)]

We have five kids, somewhat on the smallish side of a "large" family, I would say. I hand make all our bread, and if I make four loaves at a time, I only have to do it every other day.

Sometimes, the kids & I won't use quite all the loaves in two days, and then I will freeze the extra loaf and go ahead and make more. It's so nice to have an extra loaf for the weekends, when I don't make bread, or for a day when I didn't get the bread going early enough in the day for lunchtime. And, I've noticed that it seems to be a little softer, even, once I have frozen it.

I have to say that after reading your hard crust woes and some of the advice you got on here, that I've started baking my bread at 350 instead of 375 as I've done for years. I cannot believe the difference! The crust is *so* nice & soft now. Just perfect! :)

Your raspberry jam looks delicious! I've been making strawberry/mango jam from fruit bought at the store, as well as fig jam from the figs in our backyard. Homemade jam is so delicious!

Amy :)

[meghan @ countyclothcreations]

I'm also interested in how to bake our own bread...I mean how a routine that is. The above poster had some helpful info, I suppose it's also practice so that I can get better at make good bread consistently. I sure rather have homemade bread and for the next couple of months every dollar saved will help.

I've managed to hang most of my laundry this summer, one thing I've found helpful is to wash my two loads (lights and darks) at night, then hang them in the morning. My routine gets a little mixed up when it's diaper washing day but so far that's the only way I can get it done. Maybe a second clothes line would be helpful, or a drying rack inside?