Homemade Graham Crackers

This summer I had the opportunity to try making graham crackers.  We had a small group over to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday around a campfire in our backyard.  Since my sister-in-law was bringing over the bulk of the food for the party, I offered to make graham crackers and have some s'more ingredients.  I at least am really glad I did because I enjoyed the best s'more I've ever had.  Hands down!  And I know it was the softer, delicious homemade graham cracker that made the difference.   

Since the backyard party I've made these crackers a few other times and we've always enjoyed them.  I'm even planning to make them next week for the little man's pre-school class.

Kari's Homemade BBQ Sauce

Recently I've been on a bit of a DIY kick in the kitchen.  But it hasn't all been recent.  Over the past few years I've slowly replaced some of our pantry or staple items that are usually store bought, with homemade versions.  I've gotten into the habit of making my own bread for sandwiches, ice cream, most of our jams, and some salad dressings.  Then there's other things that I've at least tried but haven't out right replaced the store bought version with yet.  Most of those trials I hope to eventually turn into regular kitchen habits, but we'll see...baby steps.

Usually when I decide to try my hand at making a homemade version of something often purchased at the store, it's for one of two reasons, or both: cost and realizing the item has an ingredient list longer than my index finger.  Are you like me?  Do you get a bit suspicious of weird ingredients that you can't even pronounce?

Well one food item that has bugged me whenever I would purchase it was BBQ sauce.  When Shawn and I lived in Japan--it's been 8 years since we moved back ya'll!!!!--we couldn't find good old american BBQ sauce on the store shelves of our neighborhood grocery store, Maruhei.  Nor could we find it at the liquor store down the street, Yamaya.  Yes, I said liquor store.  They actually double as international grocery stores in Japan.  So we frequented the one near our apartment and got VERY excited when they started carrying flour tortillas!  Anyway, back to the sauce...they had none to purchase.  So I knew making BBQ sauce was totally do-able, I mean everyone at a grilling contest probably has their own homemade secret sauce, right?  Well in my search for a good recipe, I was roadblocked by ingredients that I couldn't find in Japan.  The main one was hickory smoke--blast you hickory smoke!  Finally a good friend who we worked and worshiped with in Japan found out that I was in need of a BBQ sauce recipe and she shared hers with me.  It was just what I was looking for: simple ingredients and fantastic taste.  

I made Kari's recipe often during the three years that we lived there and we always enjoyed it.  But somewhere along the way, live got busy--ahem, three children--and I turned to store bought sauces.  But I always felt a little guilty about it because I knew the homemade version wasn't all that difficult. But recently I came up with a good way to use BBQ sauce that the whole family enjoys (more on that in a future post), so I tried my hand at making this sauce again.  Now I double or even triple it and keep the leftovers in the fridge so I can have it ready for the next meal.  This fall I may even try making an extra large batch and canning it.  We'll see how busy life gets during Shawn's annual moose hunt. 

Kari's Homemade BBQ Sauce

from Kari Littlejohn
makes about 1 quart

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 of an onion chopped in slices
1-4 cloves of garlic, diced or pressed

3/4 cup ketchup (natural if preferred)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/8 cup worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup soy sauce (low sodium if preferred)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard or prepared spicy mustard (I always used the spice mustard in Japan cause I couldn't find the dry--tasted just great)
2 teaspoons chili powder
juice of 1/2 lemon and slices from the other half.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes until soft and fragrant.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer for a few minutes until the onions look done.  Store in a container in the fridge for several weeks, maybe even months if you like to live on the edge. :-)


If the weather isn't hinting at fall where you live like it is here, then you probably have some grilling opportunities ahead of you in the near future.  Maybe Labor Day?  If you have the chance, then I encourage you to give this BBQ sauce a try.  I think you'll enjoy the sweet and tangy flavor on just about anything you add it to.  Plus you can feel good abut what you're feeding your family--simple ingredients you can pronounce.  Except maybe for that worcestershire sauce.  That's a tricky one.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream month?  Since we are entering the final weekend of July I highly encourage you to enjoy some ice cream this weekend.  That's why for this week's (delayed--but at least I'm doing it) Tasty Tuesday post, I wanted to suggest a delicious way to enjoy ice cream.  Even though I'm due for more of a savory recipe suggestion, I figured you could overlook my game plan change*.

Very Berry Sherbet

Oh how quickly a week can go by!  As I mentioned before, our summer schedule has us hosting family from the lower 48 almost non stop this summer.  This past week, started out with some fantastic house guests and then a couple of days to catch our breath and prepare for our next set of visitors due to arrive in two days.  I also threw some Bible class preparation into our schedule last week for an upcoming vacation Bible school our church is hosting in a few weeks.  So yes, it's been a busy week. :)

But I made sure there was time to make this DE-licious frozen treat.

Rotisserie Style Crock-pot Chicken

 ****I do realize that it's not Tuesday.  But due to circumstances beyond my control I had to bump back my Tasty Tuesday post by a day this week.  I do hope you'll allow me this scheduling change for the week.  And I really hope you enjoy the recipe this week.  We do at our house. :) ****

This recipe is quickly becoming one of our family's favorite chicken meals.  It is ridiculously delicious and quite simple to prepare.  Plus I REALLY like to use my crock pot and a recipe that uses a "cut" of meat that I can often find on sale is another bonus.

I've started buying several whole fryer chickens whenever our local Fred Meyer has them on coupon sale.  Then I put them directly into the freezer and pull it out to defrost a day before I plan to make this meal.  Whenever I make this, there's always plenty of meat for our family for several meals.

Raspberry Chiffon Pie

Recently, my brother came for a visit and we all enjoyed hosting him.  I don't know if it was the big sister in me or the baker--probably a little of both--but I couldn't stop making treats while he was here.  Of course, he had not problem with that and encouraged me to keep up the roll I was on.

Sadly, for you, dear blog reader, most of the treats I made were devoured before they could be photographed.  This particular one made the photograph cut.  However, I didn't get any pictures of the slices so that should also tell you how quickly we enjoyed it. :)  And also that good photographing light was fading.

Corn Bread

Whew!  What a week this has been.  Lately I've been trying to keep up a little better with the blog and get at least one post in between my Tasty Tuesday entries.  But this week has flown by and now it's Tuesday again--and a quarter to midnight at that!  So I guess I better squeak in my recipe recommendation before the clock strikes.

If you've noticed on my Tuesday posts, I've been trying to alternate the recipes I share between sweet and savory.  If I wasn't being intentional about alternating the recipe types my posts would probably be 90% desserts. If you know me at all, you know I'm a girl who much prefers to make and practice and talk about sweet recipes rather than savory ones.  Of course, in reality I only eat sweets occasionally--the recipes are just so much more interesting to me.

Chocolate Salted Caramel Layer Cake

It's been a long time coming, but I'm finally sharing my birthday cake from this year.  The month before my birthday, I made several birthday treats for some friends  So when it got close to my birthday, I suddenly realized that I didn't have to limit my baking to what other folks requested or the flavors they liked.  I could make whatever I wanted cause it was MY birthday cake.

Spinach Feta Pizza

Homemade pizza makes a frequent appearance on our monthly dinner menu.  Sometimes we have it weekly, but usually once every two weeks.  Rarely do we go an entire month with homemade pizza just once.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Cake

It's Tuesday, so it's time to get "tasty" again.  This week I wanted to share a cake I made for my niece's birthday.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Good day!  I'm back on the blog trying to keep my posts a little more frequent than they recently were.  One way that I plan to do this is to start a new feature on this here blog.  I think I'll call it "Tasty Tuesday" and plan to post some kind of delicious food or recipe each Tuesday.  Hopefully that will help me regularly post at least once a week.  So let's see how that goes.

Homemade Ice Cream...Even in Winter

The time has come for me to finally finish off this blog post and move it out of my drafts folder.  Don't know why I always seem to get stalled at this same point in the blogging process.  Oh wait!  I suppose I have 4 reasons to get distracted from completing my blog posts in a timely manner--the husband and three kiddos in my life--all good reasons, of course. :)

Ok on to a highly important topic...ice cream.  But not just any kind, the homemade kind.  As it is in most cases, homemade is just better.  If you agree with me and you have one of these....

a Kitchen Aid mixer--any style will do.

Then you really ought to consider getting one of these...

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

This blog post has been sitting in my drafts folder for four days now, so it's definitely time to get it submitted into blogland.  We have been so busy the past few days.  Over the weekend we sponsored, chaperoned, and led devotionals for our church's youth group on our annual fall retreat.  It was fun, but a lot of work.  I was pretty wiped out when it was all said and done. 

Then yesterday, was Alaska Day.  A day we Alaskans celebrate the transfer of ownership of our state from Russia to The United States back in 1867.  The actual transfer was done in Sitka and we visited the historical park this past June when we went to Sitka to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  Our little family celebrated Alaska Day with a hearty pot of Alaskan Beef Chili--also know as moose chili. :-)

Blueberry Bagels

A few weeks ago now, I made bagels for the first time.  It was something I had looked forward to trying both for the baking challenge and for pleasing my bagel loving daughter.  Choosing the flavor for my first bagel making adventure was easy--blueberry bagels are the Little Miss' favorite kind.  So during her first week of first grade I made these as a welcome home from school treat.  They were a big hit with everyone and were devoured within two or three days.  (Which is why there's only two in this picture! Ha!)  As with many things, we've decided homemade bagels are definitely better than store bought.  And I thought they were more fun too.

I found the recipe on this blog, but it originally comes from Peter Reinhart's book The Breadmaker's Apprentice, which I coincidentally gave my sister-in-law for Christmas.  She and I share a love for baking yeast breads.

Back to Blogging and And 2 Cookie ReMakes

It came to my attention recently that I was suffering from over-loaded-summer-schedule-itis.  Generally, I was able to keep things together.  No one went hungry or without clean socks--unless by their own choice--I'm talking to you, Little Man, my sock obsessed boy.  We did so much every chance we could, it just didn't involve the blog.  :)

But here in Southeast Alaska, the weather has already begun to change.  The cold, hard reality is that...IT'S DONE!  The trees are starting to change colors, the flowers are withering, there's a crispness already in the air.  I actually wore a winter hat this morning when I walked the Little Miss to the bus stop.  (That part may or may not be directly related to the temperature.  It might have had something to do with me still been in my yoga pants and having not brushed my teeth yet...possibly.)  Sorry folks, summer is over here...sniff, sniff. 

Putting up with the short, cool summer is probably the biggest personal sacrifice I make to live in such a beautiful place.  I can put up with the cold winters (they're not too bad--the way winter ought to be in my opinion), the isolation of our capital city (you can only fly or ferry in to Juneau), and the wildlife traipsing through my backyard (a small black bear actually did last week and I saw it with my own eyes!).  But the summers...just not enough for me.  Not that I want the 45 consecutive day streak of 100+ temperatures that our family and friends are experiencing in Oklahoma, but I'd love to take a 10-15 degrees off their hands.  I'm sure they'd be ok with that. :)

So you can see why I go CRAZY when the summer weather heats warms up.  We head to the beach, the park, pick berries, go out on the boat, grill, play in the sprinklers, make ice cream (more on that to come), work in the garden and yard, ride bikes, hike, visit the glacier, and generally soak up all the natural vitamin D possible.  No matter what the temperature actually is, if it's sunny out, we pretend it's hotter.  As in years past, we made lots of great memories and captured most of them on camera...they just didn't make it on to the blog...yet. 

So as you can imagine, I'm behind.  There's so much to blog about and "catch up" on that it's almost a bit overwhelming.  So much so that I found myself ignoring the blog for the past week or so.  Trying to pretend it wasn't there, needing attention.  But I can't ignore it anymore.  So today, I'm back to blogging.  But to keep things realistic, I'm going to just start where I am.  Sort of a "bloom where you're planted" approach.  I hope to get back to sharing some of our summer memories in the near future, but I don't want to continue to ignore the blog and not share future memories.  So here goes...

The other day I made some cookies that I'm really excited about.  Not only are they delicious and beautiful, but they are both second tries at recipes that flopped the first time. 

A few months ago, I was seeing recipes involving malted milk powder on several food blogs that I check.  I became intrigued and started searching for a cookie recipe.  I found one on the Taste of Home website that I thought was fail safe.  But I was really disappointed with the results.  Instead of soft, thick cookies like the picture posted with the recipe, mine looked flat and sad.  They basically fell apart in your hand.  I reviewed the recipe trying to figure out what I had done wrong and tried baking the second pan a little differently, but the results were the same.  So I sort of gave up on it....until this week.  I wanted to make cookies for my husband's hunting trip and started scouring my recipes.  I saw that print out from Taste of Home and felt challenged to not let this recipe remain a failure.  So I surfed the web and found another recipe with excellent reviews and slightly different ingredient amounts.  The resulting cookies were these beautiful babies.

 

Chocolate Malted Cookies (click on title for recipe)

I was so excited when I transferred them from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack that I started trash talking with myself.  "Wohoo!"  "Look at these!"  "Take that Taste of Home!"

These cookies have plenty of chocolate taste, are a bit on the sweet side, and very soft.  Pretty much my new favorite cookie.
The only change I made to the recipe was using parchment paper.  But I only did that because I had some sheets still handy from the other cookie recipe I had just retried.  I don't think the parchment was necessary unless you really want to save yourself some dishes. :)

Then there were these fantastic morsels, Monster Cookies. (click on title for recipe)

Again, I had seen this basic recipe on food blogs in the past and wanted to try it.  Sometimes they are called Kitchen Sink Cookies because they have everything in them except the kitchen sink.  But for me, that name isn't all that appetizing.  So I googled "monster cookies" and found what seemed like a winning recipe from Pioneer Woman.  The dough was SO good, but again they were flat and not like the ones pictured.  I tried them again, got similar results, started questioning my baking skills, and wondered if the Bob's Red Mill baking powder I had recently started using was a bit too weird.

But Shawn really loved the taste of these cookies and so did I, so I was determined to find another version that "worked" better.  After another google search I was able to find a recipe with promise and from another reliable food blogger.  In fact, it was on a blog I check regularly.  So it was right under my nose all along!  The results were GREAT!  The recipe from Brown Eyed Baker was slightly different from PW and I used a few of the mix in ideas from PW in this latest version.  Instead of using Reese's Pieces I upped the amount of M&M's and added peanut butter chips.  I also liked the use of rice krispies in PW's recipe, so the next time I make these I want to try adding those too.  BEB's version also had A LOT of peanut butter in them, but surprisingly I didn't think the flavor was too much.  It basically worked like the glue that kept all the mix ins from falling out. :-)

 

Hope you enjoyed the glimpse at where we're at right now--or at least what's been going on in my kitchen this week.  And I hope you'll climb back on the wagon to enjoy more memories that I share along the way.

A Festive Fourth

We had a great 4th of July and have been going like crazy ever since.  Especially this past week with sunshine and warm summer temps.  It's officially against all rules to do any housework, watch any TV, or spend exorbitant amounts of time in front of a computer on days like that, ya know.

On the morning of the 4th, I finished up some sugar cookies that I made for the annual picnic with our church family.  This was my first attempt at decorating with royal icing.  The results were about as I had expected except that is took a LONG time to decorate each cookie.  If I decorate cookies like this again, I think I might be able to shave a little time off and get them done quicker, but I'm sure they will still take a while to complete.  This is the recipe/tutorial that I used in case you're interested.  I'll have to post my sugar cookie recipe sometime.  I know everyone has a recipe they prefer, and well, so do I! :)  So I'd like to share mine with you too.

Once the cookies were done, picnic things packed up, and we had ourselves ready, I loaded up the kiddos and headed downtown to the parade.  This always ends up being a highlight for my kids every year.  They love seeing all the entries walking by them.  The little miss said her favorite part of the parade was a supped up car that had fire shooting out of it's exhaust.  The little man says his favorite part was when float riders threw candy.

 

 

The little babe enjoyed the parade just like this...the entire time.  He really never moved--just sat there in his stroller peeking his eyes out from under his hood.

 

The Juneau Volunteer Marching Band
always a good performance

more peeking

My friend, Beth,

and her husband, Andy, with the Green's Creek Mine parade entry.
Andy isn't known to be much a smiler (especially in pictures), so I'm a little proud of myself for catching his smile in the picture.  Just wish the rest of the photo wasn't overexposed.  I was having a hard time keeping up with the changing light conditions with sun playing peek a boo with the clouds.

And we also got to see our favorite police officer.  A nice treat for these parade watchers.  Actually this was what our little man said was his second favorite part of the parade.  I'd say it was my favorite too.

Hope you had a fabulous 4th too!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Before the month of June gives way to July, I wanted to squeeze in a post of a scrumptious dessert I made this month.  A few weeks ago, I was able to make the dessert for a friend's baby shower.  I knew immediately I wanted to make cupcakes.  Reviewing my options for flavors, I came up with two that I thought were do-able and ones that my friend would like.  But I had a hunch she'd pick this one as she did with absolutely no hesitation.
I found the recipe here, where the blogger refers to these cupcakes as being "life changing".  Sounds a bit over the top, right?  Well, after I tasted one, I didn't think she was exaggerating all that much.  The flavors in this cupcake are spot on.  Each part of the dessert blends together perfectly.  And the frosting?  Uhh, DE...LI...CIOUS!  Tastes just like cookie dough.  These cupcakes are so good in fact, that I used a few to pay off a baby-sitter the next day and she felt handsomely rewarded for her time.
If you've got a reason to make these I highly recommend them.  Although you should know that you will get more than just 24 cupcakes from one recipe.  I doubled this so we'd have enough to keep a few at home and plenty for the baby shower and ended up with 66 cupcakes!  Oh well!  There was plenty to share that way.  But doubling the filling gave me way more than I needed.  I probably could have made 1 filling recipe work for all 66 cupcakes.  Also doubling the frosting gave me the perfect amount for decorating all the cupcakes with a little bit leftover.  When I make these again I'll probably make 1/2 of a filling recipe for a full cupcake and frosting recipe.
Hope you all enjoyed a sweet moment or two in June.

****
Edited to add...
And you should also know that this isn't a recipe that's just a little more time consuming than using something from a box.  You'll definitely need plenty of time to make each part of the entire cupcake.  I also recommend making these for folks who will enjoy and appreciate your effort.  For me, that doesn't include small children who I think generally eat the frosting and toss most of the cake--just saying.
The recipe for the mini chocolate chip cookies came from this blog.  I used a rounded teaspoon to get the right sized dough balls--worked like a charm.
****

 

Cheesy Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

It's been a little while since I posted one of my current favorite recipes so I thought the blog was due for a good ole recipe post.  Not too long ago I talked about my recent brownie quest--a search where I challenged myself to find an outstanding basic fudgy homemade brownie that was better than a box.  After a couple of tries I settled on a winner although that doesn't mean I'm done trying new brownie recipes.  I see no reason to be stingy with recipes that involve chocolate. 
Well during those brownie quest days, I was also on a "Homemade Mac 'n Cheese" quest.  Over the course of several weeks, I tried various recipes, some from well know chefs and cooks like Alton Brown (Food Network) and the Pioneer Woman (blogger).  Most of these recipes were good, but they weren't quite what I was looking for.  Then one day I was reading an article online about homemade mac 'n cheese and found mention of this recipe: John Thorne's Macaroni and Cheese, aka Cheesey Homemade Mac 'n Cheese.  So without further ado, here's my adapted recipe with photos.
Here's the cast of characters.  All basic items in my kitchen that I generally always have on hand.

Boil 1 pound of elbow macaroni or other similar sized pasta.  I used a bag from the mixed pasta combo sold at Costco.  While your water is boiling and the noodles are cooking, grate 1 pound of cheddar cheese.  I used a combination of sharp and mild--I suppose that evened things out to a nice medium.

Also while the pasta is cooking, beat two eggs.

And melt about 2 Tablespoons of butter in a small skillet.

Then add 1 cup of panko bread crumbs to the melted butter.  Saute for a few minues stirring frequently until bread crumbs are a nice golden brown.

Whe the pasta is done cooking, drain and toss with the butter.  To save myself from having another bowl to wash, I did the tossing right in the collander.

Then you mix the remaining ingredients into an oven safe bowl or dish.  I used my 5 quart removeable crockpot liner and this seemed to be a good size.  Pop the whole thing into a preheated 350* oven for 20 minutes, however, remove the bowl/dish/crockpot liner every five minutes to add more cheese, more evaporated milk (as necessary) and mix.

By the time the 20 minutes has passed you'll have a beautiful and cheesy dish with warm oozy cheese in every nook and cranny of each pasta piece.  The method of mixing the dish every 5 minutes is genius and really helps each piece of pasta to become completely cheesy.

Here's where I add the toasted breadcrumbs from before. 

And then of course, we feast!  But be forewarned, this mac 'n cheese is not for the faint of heart.  It's for those who really like their cheese and prefer their macaroni extra cheesy.

Cheesy Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

adapted from John Thorne

1 lb. elbow macaroni

4 Tblspns. butter--cut into bits

1 dash Tabasco sauce

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

1 lb. grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1 tspn ground mustard

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tblspns butter, melted

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Prehead oven to 350*. Boil macaroni until just barely done in salted water.  Meanwhile, melt the 2 Tablespoons of butter and lightly toast the bread crumbs.  Set aside.  When macaroni is finished drain and toss with the butter pieces.  mis the tabasco into the ebaporated milk.  Reserving about 1/3 cup, stir the milk into the macaroni  in an oven safe bowl or dish.  Then add 3/4 of the cheese, the eggs, and mustard.  When well mixed, season with salt and pepper.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes total.  Every 5 minutes remove the bowl/dish and stir in some of the remaining cheese and any milk as needed.  After 20 minutes remove from the oven and top with the toasted bread crumbs.  Serve and enjoy.

Fresh Baked Bread

If you are like my grandma and check this blog daily hoping for the latest pictures of cute kids, stories of wild adventures, or new recipes I like to share, then I truly apologize for my recent hiatus.  (Sorry, Grandma.)  I'm not sure what to tell you all except that I guess life just happened.  For one thing we were gone for a few weeks visiting family.  And for another, we've all had colds recently with our boys having two different viruses basically back to back.  So throw all that into the usual organized chaos of this stay at home, cloth diapering, poultry "farming", bible class teaching, kindergarten shuttling, momma and you're sure to have something fall by the wayside.  Hopefully my unplanned blogging absence hasn't resulted in the loss of all my once usual readers.  And if you've had crazy events in your life recently and haven't checked this blog in a while, good news!  You haven't missed anything!  I do hope you'll read along enjoy my posts as I'm blessed with time to write them.

***************

So on with today's topic...fresh baked bread....mmmmm 

In the early years of our marriage (can't believe I can say that phrase already, "the early years of our marriage", we celebrate 10 years very soon) for several reasons I did a fair amount of bread making.  One reason was because of our fabulous neighbor, Nicole.  We both regularly baked bread on the weekends and enjoyed walking over to the other's apartment to smell the goodness baking in our tiny little ovens.

Well, recently I've started doing a lot of bread making again.  One reason is because I really like to bake and make food for my family in general.  But another is that I like knowing that the food my family is eating is  healthy and as unprocesssed as possible.  

The bread in the photo above is some delicious Italian Bread that I made a few months ago.  The recipe made three medium sized loaves.  We enjoyed two with friends over dinner, and the third I froze for us to enjoy later.  It was wonderful and I'm sure I'll make it again.

Lately, for our general everyday/sandwich bread I've been making a whole wheat recipe from the King Arthur Flour Company.  Another recipe I'd recommend, but it only makes one loaf.  Some may prefer to get two loaves out of their baking time, but I find that we use about 1 loaf a week and I don't mind the weekly task of  making bread especially since it yields a fresh loaf.     

Another recent adventure has been making hamburger buns.  However, I've only made these once and I don't feel like the recipe I used was exactly what I was looking for.  So my search for a good hamburger bun recipe continues.  (I don't mind those kinds of searches.)
And look tough boys help their mommas bake bread too!

Baking hambuger buns with my little man reminded me of seeing a picture of myself helping my mom make hamburger buns when I was close to his age.  So I had her dig through her "archives" for the photograph.  And aren't we all glad she found it?!

Not even two years old yet (if the date on the photo is correct), and I was already "helping" my mom make bread.  Maybe I've always enjoyed baking bread.
And yes, I do realize how much I look like my mother.  If I didn't realize it before seeing this picture I definitely do now!  And the good news is that my mother doesn't have that floral wallpaper in her kitchen anymore, although she does have the red bowl still! :)
And Mom, if you still have this hamburger bun recipe, I may need it.  I'm currently in search mode.

Another funny bit about bread, recently Shawn said something to the kids and referred to himself as the bread (money) maker in our family.  I corrected him.  Although he's the main "bread winner" in our family (which we're all thankful for), in the minds of our children I'm the bread MAKER/BAKER in our family.  A title I'm happy to hold.