Neal's Bakery...Mmmmm, it smells good here!

When I'm baking I think I love baking more than any of my household chores, but then when I'm sewing I think that's my favorite part of homemaking. This week I've spent my evenings finishing the handwork on a beautiful baby dress, (Adalyn gets this one!) but I've spent just as much time in the kitchen making wonderful baked goods and oh my, the house has had the most wonderful aroma. I love it when people at my door comment on how they could smell the warm breads before they got to the door!

Monday I made my usual batch of sourdough bread. They're getting better all the time. Practice does make perfect! The sourdough bread is what I'm allowed on my diet and one round loaf lasts me all week. (I even share some!)

Tuesday was the homemade wheat bread. It's for the children to have for healthy snacks. I'm not sure how healthy it is after they warm it and put butter and jelly or honey on it, but it's better than candy, that's for sure!

Then I decided to try a new recipe for Cinnamon Rolls that I got from the internet. They caught my attention because they looked like the good old fashioned cinnamon rolls that I love and because they made seven pans of rolls! Perfect! I can bake some for eating and put the rest in the freezer for mornings when I just want to make up a skillet of scrambled eggs with cheese and warm some cinnamon rolls. I could tell the frosting was maple frosting and we all love that.

I love to roll dough out on my breakfast bar, I love flour on my apron (and the floor), I love the feel of the dough under my hands. I believe that the only way to get good at breads (rather it is biscuits or yeast breads) is to make them and make them. The reason I believe this is you learn to know the feel of the dough--it will tell you rather it's going to be good or not! I know exactly when the biscuits are going to be perfect by the feel of the dough. Yeast breads are the same way.

It thrilled me to see seven pans of cinnamon rolls lined down the breakfast bar. Not only were they pretty everyone agreed they were the best cinnamon rolls that I had ever made. They even thought they were better than my copycat Cinnabun recipe!

Four of the pans went into gallon freezer bags and were put away for another breakfast and three of them stayed in the kitchen for sampling and breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.

If you want to try them here's the recipe link:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

Then it was time for my next Spring Sunday dinner dessert. I dug out the Strawberry Cake recipe that I found last year. It is so yummy but very simple. You use a strawberry cake for your base and add jello, strawberries, etc. and then make a wonderful cream cheese frosting and put on it. Gary says that it runs a close second to Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting, which has always been his favorite. Now that's saying something!

So, that's the news from Neal's bakery for this week. We've been told that about 400-700 dump trucks will be going by our house as they carry the ash sludge out and I told the family I'm seriously considering putting a sign out in front of the house advertising what I've baked that day with the cost per serving and offer it with a nice hot cup of coffee. Who knows I might get rich off of something I love to do! :)

When I became a wife I decided to be the best I could possibly be at every facet of my job. So I've worked hard at learning to do the highest quality job I could afford to do rather it was laundry, cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, decorating or sewing. I often tell my children how wonderful and varied my chosen calling and "career" is. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole wide world.

So, what's going to be baked at your house this week? Put on your apron and give your family something to enjoy. You'll be glad you did!