Progress!

We finally got a 'rountuit' and got some more done in this back bedroom. We hauled all these chunks of concrete out and dumped them in a sinkhole. Then I

swept all the small bits of concrete and the dirt that came out of the hole, back into the hole and leveled it off as best as I could. E ran a water hose in through a window and started mixing the concrete mix in the wheel barrow. When he had it like he wanted it, he dumped it in the hole.

I leveled it off and pushed it into the holes and cracks and smoothed the top of it. Then we discovered that we didn't have enough to fill the hole! So...E will bring 3 more bags tomorrow, when he gets home from work. Hey, I might get to find the living room, someday! Right now it is nowhere to be found, as it has a little path from the kitchen to the bathroom and the rest of the room is wall to wall with 'stuff' from this room!

I made another loaf of bread today. This was the bowl of batter that I pulled from the fridge. I had already made two loaves from it, and this was just enough to make the last one. I floured my hands so it wouldn't stick to them and pulled the dough from the bowl.

I shaped it into a ball, without kneading it, tucking the loose ends underneath, then I plopped it onto my cookie sheet that had been dusted with cornmeal. While doing all this,

I had turned my oven on, just for about 1 to 2 minutes, then turned it off. This is just enough heat to warm the insides of the oven and my pizza stone, to

100 degrees. Then I set my cookie sheet with the bread on it, inside the oven and let it raise for about 1 hour. Yes, my pizza stone is well used! After it has raised, I flour the top of the dough, slash it with a serrated knife and slide it onto the stone and

then wait for it to cool! That is the hard part, as warm bread doesn't slice very well. One night for supper, we ate a whole loaf, just out of the oven, and nothing else and that was our supper!

Since I used up the last dough in the bowl, it was time to start a new batch. This one is called European Peasant Bread. It is a whole grain, country style bread of rural France and Italy. It has whole wheat, rye flour and unbleached white flour in it. Haven't baked it yet, but it sounds good.

This is what it looked like just after I mixed it.

After an hour it had risen and was nearly filling the bowl. After another hour it had risen to the top of the bowl and was ready to put in the fridge, for up to two weeks. Making a loaf of bread anytime your little heart desires! It is supposed to be even better toward the end of the two week period, but mine never lasts long enough to find out it that is true!

And to go with that wonderful fresh baked loaf? A pot of freshly made Cheesy Potato Sausage Soup!