Bowman's Catering

My Dad's profession while I was being raised was that of being a part owner at a catering business called "Bowman's Catering"

I could write a whole book about the wonderful things I learned or did with my Dad at his work. But for sake of time and the risk of boring people I will make March's theme be about those memories of Bowman's Catering that taught me valuable lessons.

I loved to go to work with my Dad! Wendy and I loved to play "grocery store" here. They had a section that was dedicated to food supplies. It was perfect for a small child to let their imaginations run wild.

They had these dolly type of carts they would use to load up food on to make it easier to load and unload the delivery trucks with. For us little people we used them for games and grocery shopping.

We loved using these dolly's to push each other around in. Just before you went to the office area, there was this slight slope. I LOVED THIS SLOPE! Especially when we were going fast on the cart.

We would use these carts to race in and going down the slope would give a slight butterfly feeling in the tummy, just enough to make you do this over and over to get that sensation. We would play for hours doing this. As long as we stayed out of peoples way we were granted permission to pretty much do what ever we wanted.

There was a back storage where they stored their Andes mints. I became addicted to these mints. I would go back there and sit on the ground between the boxes of Styrofoam cups and the mint shelf and gorge myself on those little dingers. They were so good to me! Once I found out it was not acceptable to steal the chocolates, it was REALLY hard for me to stop!


I don't know how kids learn certain skills, but I believe this is when the whole idea of how to set and achieve goals started for me. I remember the way I set out to rid myself of stealing these mints. Mind you I was 5 or 6. I started out by setting a goal to only steal so many and then I would knock one or two off for the following time, until I finally was no longer tempted. Still to this day, when I eat a one of these mints, I think of my time at Bowman's.

"I love your lovely loaves," says Jared

I love alliterations!

This bread recipe is so spectacular! I got it from Wendy.

I only have to make this once a week to meet our families needs.

I give one loaf to our neighbors and depending on what I have on our menu for meals that week I give another to a lucky friend.

side note- I use to just make mini loaves when the girls were a little younger because I found that when I baked larger loaves for *smamiches it just was too much. I thought it was so cute putting these mini smamiches in their lunch boxes. Now their appetites are bigger and they have learned how to talk and eat lunch at the same time at school. *My niece Maggie says sandwich this way and it has stuck with our family

After they are cooked and cooled thoroughly I then take my electric carving knife, circa 1970's, I got from an elderly neighbor almost 10 years ago when we lived in Buffalo. I love it and it has never given me a problem. I really have an eclectic group of kitchen ware.

And I slice the loaves up and then stick in freezer storage bags to store in the freezer so the bread stays fresh.

It is essential to have a really good grain grinder. I love mine!

When I grind the wheat I put both settings in the middle. This gives the flour a great texture

If you are on a quest to making things healthier but still taste good this recipe will help you out.

PRAIRIE GOLD WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

6 cups warm water

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup honey- I always add a bit more

2 Tablespoons salt

3 Tablespoons Dough Enhancer

10-12 cups Prairie Gold Wheat freshly ground into flour (10-12 cups wheat = 15-18 cups flour) As a side note I LOVE MY NUTRIMILL!

3 Tablespoons SAF instant yeast

*Use whatever brands you want with the ingredients. I think Costco has the best prices on bulk yeast.

1. In your BOSCH add water, oil, honey, salt, and dough enhancer and half of the flour. Mix on speed 1 until combined. OH AND I LOVE MY BOSCH

2. Add yeast and mix for several minutes.

3. Add remaining flour a little at a time until dough pulls away from the sides.

4. Knead for 8-10 minutes on speed 2. The dough should be soft and smooth.

5. Form into 1 ½ pound loaves, place in greased pans (*Norpro dimpled 8 inch helps loaves cook evenly ) sprayed with cooking spray (I LOVE MY NEW BIRTHDAY PRESENTS!)

6. Pre heat oven to 350º. Cover loaves with wet towel. Let rise until double.

7. Place loaves in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Bread is done when tapped and it sounds hollow or 190° (Makes 5-6 loaves).

And for those who like to plan ahead

A Whole

Year Supply for Whole Wheat Bread

(52 batches…one a week!):

• 
  
• 5-6 45 lb. buckets of *Prairie Gold Wheat or red wheat what ever you fancy
• 5-1 lb. *SAF yeast
• 5 lbs. *dough enhancer
• 9- 32 oz oil or 2 gallons oil (measurements are approx.)
• 3- 96 ounce honey (Costco Jug…Mrs. Crockett’s)
• 19 ½ gallons water
• 3.25 lbs. salt

Oh and for a good laugh, make sure to check out my husband's blog He just updated it with some crazy videos. Just so you know, I have never claimed nor ever will that I am a good dancer. That's all I'm going to say :)

Ode to Joy

Today I am thankful for the joy of being a Mother,


for the frustrating times that help me appreciate the joyful times so much more,


for the sounds of laughter, consideration, playfulness and peacefulness,


for the messes, because it means I "have",


for the whining, it helps me develop the ability to endure to the end,


because if you let them, children help you be a better you.

Invisible Baskets

We have a lot of invisible laundry baskets in our home. Mostly in the laundry room. They apparently are right next to the real ones.



When it is time for the children to de-clothe I even specifically say "Make sure to put your clothes IN the laundry basket, the real one, not the invisible one!"



It leaves me puzzled every time, because at least one child is unable to see the real basket and puts their clothes in the invisible one I can't see.



There are also invisible baskets all over the house that typically hold random socks. Usually one pair in each basket. It is a true phenomenon!



I suppose I should be grateful that they put their dirty clothes in their invisible baskets, and I am mostly. It 's just that I am a bit jealous I can not see them yet. I take that back , I have seen them before, when I was a kid.

The Great Outdoors

Early Memories- Part 2

We moved to a home in Troy Michigan when I was about 3. The yard that came with the home was about an acre. Our yard growing up is the center of many of my early recollections.



I do not have many memories of playing inside as a child. Most of our time was spent outside. We had a "forest" for a back yard. We had a large weeping willow tree in the front that I loved grabbing the branches of and swinging from.


We had a few pear trees and a couple crab apple trees that beckoned to us to climb. Which we delightfully obeyed . Those trees had a variety of unique caterpillars.



One of my most favorite trees was a magnolia tree. It sat right in front of my parents bedroom bay window. I loved climbing this tree and then hanging upside down on the one long sideways branch. I especially loved the soft velvety buds that were the precursor to the beautiful big pink and white fragrant flowers that came every spring. This tree also allowed my siblings and me to gain easy access to the roof. Our home was a ranch so it was not very far from the ground.


We also had a weird cabin type of shed. Very old and a distinct cabinny smell. I would have these imaginations that this cabin shed used to be occupied by an old looking man. Crouched over, bald, longer nose, had to use a cane, and grouchy, extremely grouchy. I was afraid of this cabin shed for a long time, mostly because of what my imagination came up with.

One day I felt like I needed to confront my fear and decided to give the place a good clean. My siblings and I came up with a plan and we got to work. Oh how I was terrified! But I talked myself through it! I felt proud that we did it! I found many treasures while cleaning the place up. Both tangible and figuratively.



Right behind the place was a wild strawberry patch. It grew some very tasty strawberries.



One year an unfamiliar elderly lady came to our home. I was back in the garden area, and had seen this lady come up from the front to the backyard and talked with my Mom for a moment and then they came back with my Mom. In my little kid eyes I thought this lady looked scary, until Mom introduced her saying something like, this is Ms. Stamps, she used to live here and she always has enjoyed the strawberries and would like to pick some. For some reason this changed the way I looked at her, and she suddenly was beautiful. She had one of those large brimmed garden hats on, and she had brought a basket and her gloves. She told stories of the home, but I do not remember any of the details, just that I know she told stories. She came a couple years in a row before she passed away.

My twin sister and I loved it in the winter time. We would played Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. We built snow forts, we would go on adventures to find stuff. We would build snowmen, or just lay in the snow and look up in the sky. Pure joy! I really liked when we would get a lot of snow because that meant the long row of towering shrubbery that was between the driveway and grape vines fell over into a make shift tunnel.



One year we had gotten a ton of rain. So much that a part of the backyard had flooded. We had this blow up type of inner tube and we used them as boats and then used sticks for the ores. We moved slowly around the huge pine tree in the back. weaving in and out around the other trees. Pure magic I tell ya!


To be continued......................