Let me preface this by saying gracious, am I tired. So I apologize for being skimpy lately and stingy with the photographs. Getting the camera out and focusing in so as to exclude the mess feels like an insurmountable effort.

So I really hope you appreciate this. (:

My mother sent me a book late spring which I have read but (shamefully) haven’t actually used yet. Well, yesterday I decided that was absurd. I know many of you have heard of it (and probably have it): Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I got the ingredients I needed yesterday (I had never even heard of vital wheat gluten) and finally scraped up enough energy to get started a little while ago. I’m pinning my hopes on the payoff: good, homemade bread and making it again in the days to come without all the prep work. With the Nativity fast here, we all tend to eat more bread (yes, yes, carbohydrate addicts) and not only am I picky about the bread I eat but I don’t want to have to shop multiple times a week to keep it fresh. Plus, it gets expensive.

The only picture I have to show you at the moment is the dough. That is some sticky stuff, let me tell you. It will go in the oven after Vespers tonight.

The other thing percolating is also from a book, one my sister just sent me. I had to tear myself away from it so I could start the bread. I had heard of this before on Pleasant View Schoolhouse and admired it but hadn’t ever thought to get the book. It’s Alabama Studio Style by Anna Chanin (click on her name to visit the studio site). How nice to see that raw edges can be beautiful. It’s the edging that has always kept me away from applique. Thanks, Em!!