The nice thing about homeschooling is that I make the schedule.

Are we working until 5 because people have been messing around all day? Could be. Fortunately, this isn’t common…but it has been known to happen.

Do the kids know the traditional Summer Vacation is 3 months? Nope. 2 weeks of Summer Vacation, and then we go into a light Summer School quarter.

Do we find interesting and creative subjects to learn every day? Yes!

So, what do we do on a traditional Day Off? Well, I’m glad you asked!

Lots of Catch Up.

Catch up on reading. This book needs to be finished by Tuesday for a literature class, and we have 4 chapters left.

Catch up on some math with the kids.

 

 

A little raking outside…

 

And have some comfort food for the day…like homemade bread!  There really is nothing like homemade bread.  Have you ever tried it? You should totally try it. There is something very home-y about bread. The smells, the texture, the flavors…I personally believe it helps us focus on what we are doing during the day. Homemade bread is just a very special thing to bake for your family.

Even if you have Celiac, and can’t eat any of it…

• 5 1/2 c bread flour
• 1 cup of powdered milk
• 2 cups of lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp yeast
• 2 Tbsp Crisco Baking Stick
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 2 eggs

Steps to breadmaking:

First:  You want to get a bowl out and put the yeast in there with the sugar and 1 cup of lukewarm water.  The yeast actually eats the sugar and activates it a lot quicker, and that is awesome.  Trust me.  Let this sit for 5 minutes.

Second: Combine the flour, crisco, salt, olive oil and powdered milk in a bowl (preferably a Kitchen Aid) and start mixing slowly.  When the yeast is fully activated, slowly pour that in with the rest of the warm water (so 2 cups total) and keep mixing.  Mix until you get a nice ball of bread dough.  Feel free to add a tablespoon more of water if you think it’s too dry, but don’t go overboard.  You don’t want it to get too wet.

Third: Cover with a damp paper towel and let rise for 45 minutes….in the winter it might be too cold to get the bread to rise.  I put it in the oven at 125F and that does the trick.

Fourth: Punch the dough down and knead the bubbles out of it.    Either cover these or put them in the 125F oven for another 40 minutes.

Fifth:  (I don’t know if this is a kosher move, but I’m just being straight with you: this is what I do) Turn the oven up to 350F without opening the oven or touching the bread.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

You now have homemade bread.

Enjoy your day off, my friends!