Pita Bread…..

I’ve always wanted to make homemade pita bread.  So, this weekend, I finally gave it a try.  It wasn’t too difficult..it just involved time, like most bread recipes.   You had to do a bit of stuff and wait….do a bit of stuff….then wait 3 hours…do a bit of stuff and wait…

My plan was to make homemade pita bread and then homemade hummus.   I have a delicious hummus recipe that my aunt gave me…but at the last minute I realized I didn’t have enough chick peas…and I really didn’t feel like going out to the store…so I tried to use what I had..but I ended up adding too much tahini paste…oh well.

But I did think the pita turned out nicely.   The first batch..I cooked too long and they are a bit chewy.  I think I will freeze some of them and see how they taste after being frozen.  We like to use them for little mini pizzas when we need a quick meal.

You had to bake them at 500°, so the entire kitchen got incredibly hot…maybe next time I won’t pick a 94° day to make pita!!  Next…I am going to make tortillas……

Pita Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 cup lukewarm water

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of flour and pour yeast water in depression.

Slowly add 1 cup of warm water, and stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until elastic.

Place dough on floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. When the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and elastic, it has been successfully kneaded.

Coat large bowl with vegetable oil and place dough in bowl. Turn dough upside down so all of the dough is coated.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out in a rope, and pinch off 10-12 small pieces. Place balls on floured surface. Let sit covered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 deg F. and make sure rack is at the very bottom of oven. Be sure to also preheat your baking sheet.

Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into circles. Each should be about 5-6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.

Bake each circle for 4 minutes until the bread puffs up. Turn over and bake for 2 minutes.

Remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.

Take spatula and gently push down puff. Immediately place in storage bags.

Aunt Loretta’s Hummus Recipe

  • 1 package of yeast, or quick rising yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 cup lukewarm water

Aunt Loretta’s Hummus Recipe

  • 2 cups cooked chick peas
  • 4 to 5 garlic cloves, mashed
  • 1/2 cup tahini paste
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 lemon
  • 2-6 teaspoons water

Add all in food processor and blend til paste.  Garnish with paprika and parsley.

For Baba Ganoush  –   follow same recipe but use eggplant instead of chick peas and no water

Giveaway winner…..

The winner of the giveaway is comment number 5:

Written by Wendy Fink
on June 6, 2010 at 9:35 am

“I’m lovin’ the Cow (Almost) Jumped Over the Moon shorties!!!! And now I “like” you on Facebook too! :) Can’t wait til we are closer in our potty learning to pick up some of your training pants. So cute!”

Congratulations Wendy!  And thank you everyone for entering the giveaway!

Let the rain in…

When I was in high school, I went to a conference for the yearbook.  I was the photography editor and responsible for all the photos in the yearbook.  One of the points I remember them saying was, “let the rain in.”  I have remembered that quote my entire life….one of those things you don’t forget……you remember like it was yesterday.

I try to remember to let the rain…..but sometimes I forget.  The rain is a good thing…..something necessary for all living things…and you gotta let it in….because when you do…you realize how wonderful it is….

********And don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway*********

I’m giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!!!

Giveaway ends June 25, 2010 at 11pm EDT.

It ends tonight!

Routine….

Routines…..children crave routine.  One of my favorite routines with River is our nighttime routine.  To encourage her “joy of brushing,” she has a million different toothbrushes and toothpastes.  Normally, she isn’t allowed to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush.  Because when she does, it ends up all over..and way too much of it all over!  But last night, I decided to let her put her own toothpaste on the brush.  Wow, you would have thought I told her she could have as much ice cream as she wanted!  Her eyes lit up and she got so excited…she then got very serious and tried her hardest to get just the right amount of toothpaste on the toothbrush…….I had to take some photos……

********And don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway*********

I’m giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!!!

Giveaway……

Don’t forget-I’m doing a giveaway!

And it ends this Friday, June 25th!

In honor of summer coming, here it is:

Catchick6 Creations First Giveaway!

I will be giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy Shop!

Required entry: Check out my Etsy Shop and in the comment section of my blog, tell me what your favorite item is.

Extra entries:

  • Like Catchick6 Creations on Facebook.
  • Follow Catchick6 on Twitter.
  • Tweet about this giveaway and give me the permalink (1x per day).
  • Blog about this giveaway and give me the link.
  • Follow my blog through Google Friend connect.
  • Make  a purchase from my Etsy shop and you get 10 extra entries!

Giveaway ends June 25, 2010 at 11pm EDT.

I’ve never hosted a giveaway before, so have some patience with me……!!

Father’s Day tradition….

A Father’s Day tradition we have in our family is writing stories and creating our own books.  I think we started writing them in 2000, when Tuesday was only 3 years old.  Quinn did his first story in 2002.  And River did her first story last year.  It has been such a fun tradition.  I think the best part is getting out all the old ones and rereading them every year!

I use a template that I created in Publisher and type the stories.  When you make a template, remember to leave a big margin on the left hand side for binding…if  you don’t, some of your text and pictures will get cut off!

Then I print them out on thick stock paper.  The children then add their pictures, usually using  Sharpie markers.  I love the Sharpie markers because they are the brightest and they don’t seem to fade.   After all the pictures are completed….we head on over to our local teachers’ supply store, where they have a laminating machine.  I get all the pages laminated….then we head on over to our local Kinkos/Federal Express shop and I use their work station to cut the pages all out and get them reordered……then I have them bind them for me.  (Why don’t I just have the Kinkos/Fed Ex shop do the laminating?  Because they charge about $1.50 per page!!  It is much cheaper to go to the local teachers’ supply store..they charge you something like thirty-two cents a yard!)

I love the laminating because it brings the vibrant colors out and it protects the pages…makes them seem more like a real book!  I always use a cover page…and then an inside dedication page that says the year.

The kids are always so proud of their stories and pictures!  It is a great tradition or gift idea for any occassion!

Upcycling……

I’ve spent this past week taking all of Tuesday’s old clothes, that don’t fit her any longer and upcycling them into clothes for River.  I found this adorable pattern at MADE.  Dana’s blog is incredible!  It is filled with all kinds of great things…I especially love her patterns…and this one was free!  It turned out so cute.  I made it from an old tshirt.

The image on it is from Geninne’s Art Blog…..awhile back she had a free image download and I have been wanting to use it on something.  I thought this seemed the perfect thing!  The image is simply elegant!

The next dress I made was also from an old tshirt…I found the idea for this design at Happy Together….I loved the little flowers and they were so simple to make!

This dress was also easy and quick to make….and River loves it (please ignore the cracker goo on River’s face)!

I love taking something and creating it into something else!  I also liked the ruffles idea from the Happy Together site and used them for the shirt….(this shirt was originally going to be a dress..but it ended up being too short).  This shirt was mailed to me from an organization and I knew I would never wear it.  It had a large logo on the left hand corner, so I had to cut that out.  I made the sleeves a little puffy to add some feminine detail!  What things have you upcycled recently?

********And don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway*********

I’m giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!!!

My new favorite lunch…..

My new favorite lunch is:  organic whole wheat tortilla, tons of fresh organic spinach, some cheese, tomatoes….microwave it for approximately 40 seconds..then add a vinaigrette of fat free organic plain yogurt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar!  Wrap it up like a giant burrito…and yum!!!

********And don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway*********

I’m giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!!!

Capturing memories….

I took care of my grandmother for about three years before she died.  She died when she was 99 years old.  She lived in the same house for approximately 77 years.   She knew every single inch of that house…inside and out.  I think I knew the house pretty well…but I didn’t want to forget it.  Right before my grandmother died, I saw a photography exhibit.  The entire exhibit was photos of the photographer’s mother’s house…..right after she died.   The little details, the small moments…that you might otherwise forget.

I knew I had to do this…..and I am so glad that I did.   After my grandmother died, before I started cleaning everything out…I went through the house and took many photos of all the rooms….doorknobs, photos, wallpaper, plates, light switches…..things that I knew my grandmother treasured.

Things that seemed so small and insignificant….yet held so many memories.  Lightswitches that my grandmother turned on and off thousands of times, dishes that my grandmother cleaned over and over again, railings that helped my grandmother get up and down the stairs..year after year after year…..the wood worn down to show the years….

I am so glad that I have these memories….and I look back at them often.

They are photos that I will treasure for a lifetime……

Painting….

Pretty much EVERY day River paints.   She either paints on her easel or she paints on her desk.  She usually paints for about ten minutes.  It takes about five minutes to get everything set up and it takes about twenty minutes for me to clean up….somehow, I think something is off here…..

********And don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway*********

I’m giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!!!