Home again

Two weeks after I wrote my last post here, I received a divine call to serve two congregations in southwestern Montana: Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Three Forks, Montana and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Belgrade, Montana.

After several weeks of prayerful contemplation, I accepted this call and began the moving process.  This, understandably, led to a blogging hiatus which is now over.

There are two events that hail the end of the blogging hiatus.  First, we have successfully located my pizza stone.  Second, we have ordered a new bread machine to replace the one that fell victim to a cooking accident a few months ago (don't ask).  Third, we bought two pounds of yeast last night (Yeah, so I can't count... sue me...).

To get back in the swing of things, I just want to mention how great it is to be back in the west.  We have several grocery stores to choose from, all of which stock real food (organic, natural). One of them, called Town and Country, even stocks the organic/natural goods side by side with the processed stuff.  This means that you can compare the prices side by side in the same location instead of having to run halfway across the store thirty-seven times.

The town in which we live also has Wheat Montana.  This means that all of our baking will now be done with locally sown, grown, and ground wheat.  Nothing about that isn't awesome.

Also, I've lost 42 lbs since my last post.  I'm walking two miles per day and eating less.

Also, I want to thank an anonymous Lutheran photographer and artist for the awesome new blog banner.

Finally, here's our new kitchen.  Yup... this is where the magic now happens!

Flour. Lots of flour.

Recently we started purchasing flour in 50 lb bags.  We use lots of it.  Why?  Because we don't buy bread.  As of a couple of weeks ago we don't buy flour tortillas either.  The last 50 lb bag of flour cost us $21.25.  I buy yeast by the pound (about $3) and it lasts about a year.  I think the flour will last a couple of months.

When we decided to buy the 50 lb bag of flour we wondered how in the world we were going to store it.  After consulting with some friends who do a lot of bulk buying, we found out that if you go to a large grocery store with a deli you can usually get large food grade buckets for free or for a buck or two.  Three of those puppies and you have all the flour storage you need.

Wednesdays are Jen's baking day.  Saturdays are mine.  This weekend I'm making hamburger buns, so I'll probably post my recipe.  I might make baguettes too (if I have time tomorrow).  I try to make the baguettes every two weeks.  Jen has considered marrying them.  I tell her she has to settle for me.