Spotify is basically a combination of iTunes and radio.  You can look up an album, song or artist and then listen to the entire playlist that pulls up.  It is legal and so far FREE (though my husband says that it is still in beta form, and the "free" might change after they see how well it markets.)  For the time being though, I have been enjoying listening to musical artists and soundtracks just like I would on our iTunes with very rare commercial breaks.. and did I mention FREE??  Obviously they don't play some of the more obscure musicians or albums, but I've been quite impressed with their extensive selection.  I think we've listened to every version of "The Wheels on the Bus" that are out there during the course of my son's obsession.  

Here are a few photos to show the progress of our plants.  Parsley on the left and tomatoes on the right.

Ooh.. I just love watching plants sprout and grow.

Since I'm posting at the end of the day, it will give you a week to think about it and work on a To-Do list.  Actually, I've found it so motivating, that I've been more energized all week to not procrastinate and get things checked off my To Do list (or is it that I've been getting more sleep and enjoying beautiful spring days?)  Thanks, Anna!

Here was my simple list for today in order of importance:

1. Clean fridge

2. Send over-due emails/messages to three friends

3. Finish hemming dining room curtains and making tie-backs

4. Write a post about "No Procrastination Wednesdays"

Thankfully, everything got done and while there are many more things to do, taking time to enjoy this rare, sunny weather is remaining a high priority.

I have run into this fantastic bread recipe on several blogs.  It has become popular with the release of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.  The authors have their own website where they post all sorts of delicious looking breads using this very basic method.

Here is the base recipe:

3 cups luke-warm water

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

6 1/2 cups white flour

Mix the first three ingredients together.

Add the flour. (The dough will be tacky still.)

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 2 hours.

At this point you can throw it in your fridge for up to two weeks.  The dough will continue to work becoming more sourdough-like.

Or you can shape it into whatever type bread you want to serve: loaf, rolls, braid, etc...

Sprinkle flour on the dough as it is quite sticky and cut off as much as you need.  Gently shape into a loaf and place on a greased (or cornmeal-ed) baking sheet.  Let rise for 40 minutes or till double, cut a slash across the top with a sharp knife and bake in a pre-heated 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until well-browned.

Super easy!

Now, there are all sorts of additional tricks you can do to make your bread more crusty.  The basics being: hot oven and steam.  You can go to Lynn's Kitchen Adventures for more instruction about how to do that.  There are also several videos out there to show you exactly what do to.

*  *  *  *  *

Today, I wanted to make Brotchen - a hard-crust, German dinner roll. 

 According to the Artisan people, I just needed to make the regular recipe and brush the rolls with egg white before baking.  Here they are in all their unequal-sized splendor.

But... I don’t have a picture of the final result because right when I am supposed to be putting the bread in the oven, I get a long-distance phone call which takes 15 mintues and leaves me feeling somewhat discouraged. Then I rush into the kitchen to turn on the oven for my over-risen rolls and madly start preparing dinner. 

Meanwhile, my son is doing everything he can to hinder me. After making it clear that the water in the sink is off-limits today, he proceeds to pull the water pitcher off the counter, flooding the floor. I’m mopping and trying to keep him out of the mess at the same time. In the process, I spill some of the egg white for basting my rolls all over the counter – another mess to clean.  

I’m frustrated and grumpy knowing that the rolls won’t turn out, dinner is going to be late, my family will probably hate what is on the menu anyways, my kid is too much underfoot and most of all, my husband is peacefully sitting upstairs, oblivious to all the fuming and stewing going on in the kitchen.  Does he not know how annoyed I am? (No)  Shouldn’t he sense my mood – we are supposed to be “one”, right? (Uh.. I don’t think it works that way - at least not 3 rooms away.)  How can he be so inconsiderate to let me slave away down here while I'm sure he is doing nothing important. (Irrational assumptions.)

All the negative energy must have made its ways upstairs (or perhaps the sounds of sniveling?) because my knight in shining armor DID come down to see if I needed help and took a little boy off my hands.  Now what was it that I so upset about exactly?  How much easier it would have been if I just had asked for help in the very beginning rather than testing my husband’s love in an exam he didn’t even know about (yet somehow managed to pass with flying colors). 

Dinner ended up being just so-so.. the bread had all stuck together rather than being individual rolls, but eh… it’s just a meal and not worth destroying our family harmony over, right? 

So…. Let’s just pretend that these were my beautiful dinner rolls okay?

This bread recipe really is cool and very easy to make.  

Don't let my bad day keep you from trying it out.

Have fun!

Monday - Spaghetti on left-over noodles and fried polentta with Vegetables

Tuesday - Chicken soup with My Favorite Rolls (I have GOT to post a recipe of these!)

Wednesday - Red Beans and Rice? (Depending on the price of Polish Sausage)

Thursday - Oven-fried Fish with Oven-baked Potato Wedges and Brussels Sprouts

Friday - Calzones

Saturday - Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Sunday - Egg Sandwiches

When my parents first moved into the tribal area where they now work, there was no established village.  Our closest neighbors were the shaman priest and his family who lived up the mountain.  His children were some of my first playmates and I probably met his son, Ndolu, when I was around 2-3 years old.  

I wish I had one of his first pictures to show you.  If it weren't for the loincloth he was wearing, he would have looked like a girl with long, wild hair.  Dad hired him to do basic yard work, teaching him throughout the years how to work with electricity, solar panels, generators, water systems, etc...  He became like a son to my parents and a brother to us kids.  Through the course of time and Bible teaching, he came to know and love the Lord.  He was one of the few unmarried male believers in the young church and he fell in love with a godly young woman.  It wasn't an easy road for them.  His father opposed the marriage because his older brother was already married to her older sister.  He didn't want to, yet again, give bride price to this other clan, making their families even more connected.  I remember the young couple having agonized conversations with my parents about what to do.  It is extremely common for couples to just run away and get married elsewhere to avoid these problems, but my father and mother encouraged them to honor their parents.  If I'm not mistaken, Ndolu waited seven years before his father gave him permission to marry!  Mom and I made a huge wedding cake to celebrate their union.  

Ndolu changed his name to Petrus (meaning 'Peter' which has the same meaning as his tribal name - "A Rock").  He and his wife attended the New Tribes Mission national Bible school and missionary training then returned to minister in the tribe.  His main focus was evangelizing another village and leading people to the Lord there.  He also reluctantly took on the job of village chief when no one else stepped up to the roll.

For the past couple of years, Petrus has been suffering from a chronic kidney condition.  He has continued his ministry despite much pain and finally he had a chance to return to the city and get his condition checked by doctors.  He left his pregnant wife and four children for a few weeks to see if he could get medical help.  Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be much the doctors could do for him and a couple of weeks ago, he headed back home on a boat with another man from the tribe.

In the course of the dark night, their boat was hit by a large, passenger boat causing it to tip precariously.  The boat righted itself, though seriously damaged, but Petrus was missing.  We don't know if he jumped over in fear of the boat capsizing or if he was knocked off, but after several days of searching, he was not found.   It seems that he was called HOME.

This is such a "Why God??" situation.  His wife is due to give birth any day now, he has a family dependent on him, a thriving ministry, a whole life ahead of him and yet from this freak accident, he is gone.  It is so hard to understand, but a verse that I stumbled across a few days after the search was called off comforted me: