Bread and Yogurt

I had a friend request Mom's wheat bread recipe, so here it goes.

Mom's Whole Wheat Bread

• 2 1/2 cups hottest tap water
• 1/4 cup honey or 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 TB salt
• 4 cups flour

Mix. Add 1 TB yeast. Mix. Add flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead for 4 minutes. Scoop batter onto oiled surface and let sit for 10 minutes. Divide in half. Form each into a loaf, put in loaf pans (I use one loaf pan and 1 glass bowl because I don't have two loaf pans). Let rise until dough reaches top of pan. Bake at 370 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool.

Also, I know I've given it to some of you already, but below is my homemade yogurt recipe. I discovered this recipe on a baby food website. I'm now making it for the whole family and have it memorized. I suggest starting this process in the morning, so you can keep an eye on it in the cooler throughout the day. If not, do it right before bed and check it in the morning.

Homemade Yogurt

• 1 gallon milk
• 1 small cup of yogurt with active cultures (read the ingredient list)
• candy thermometer
• camping cooler
• heating pad

Heat milk in large stock pot, slowly, stirring constantly to avoid film on the bottom of the pan. Keep track of the temperature and when it reaches 185 degrees, remove from heat. Let it cool until it is between 105-115 degrees. Whisk in yogurt and pour into containers (I use canning jars). Place containers in camping cooler with heating pad. Have the heating pad turned on to medium*. Keep the temperature inside around 110 degrees (just guess) for 4-10 hours, until the yogurt is set. Refrigerate until served.

*if you don't have a cooler and/or heating pad, there are other ways of doing this. The website lists some more options, or you can email me and I'll talk to you about it.