Amish Friendship Bread Bonanza

If you've ever been blessed enough to be given Amish Friendship Bread starter then you know how absolutely delicious it is and also how it can overrun your household. Or the households of your friends. There's something ironic about a baked good having the word "friendship" in the title when it can literally make your friends run and hide when they see you coming to give them starter of their very own!

I've been doing some experimenting of late to see if I can remedy the situation. I think I've found a solution that will work for me and thought I'd share it just in case some of the rest of you find yourself overwhelmed from time to time. After all, feeding a starter shouldn't make us groan as though we've been awakened by an infant for a 2 a.m. feeding, or spending so much money on its feeding requirements that it is like having my teenaged son living in the house.

Here's what I've done to make my starter fit into my routine and schedule:

• Freeze it. I found that it does not hurt the integrity of the loaves because more leavening agents are added to the bread batter anyway. The starter is basically for taste, not leavening of the loaves.
• Thaw it when ready to start the 10 day countdown toward the finished product. I count the day that I take it out as Day 1.
• Don't give any of the starter away. Gasp! No, really. I take out 1 cup and return it to a gallon-sized Ziploc as per the directions, put that bag in the freezer for a month or so, and use the rest.
• Triple the bread-making recipe to make 6 loaves. Trust me on this one. If you were to remove the 4 cups of starter (3 to give to friends and 1 to keep) you would have approximately 1 1/2 cups of starter left in the bowl for making a 2-loaf batch of bread. So if you include the 3 cups that you would normally hand off to friends you can see that the recipe can be tripled to make 6 loaves.
• I mix everything up in a gigantic Tupperware that I bought years ago. I found it to be just the right size for allowing yeast bread to rise and now it also doubles as the mixing bowl for this sweet bread. As an important reminder, make sure you have enough flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and pudding mixes on hand before you begin. It is quite shocking how much of each ingredient it takes to make a triple batch.

There are a few other things I've done to the bread recipe that you might or might not like. For instance, I cut the amount of oil in half and substitute applesauce. And speaking of applesauce, the kind I use is pre-sweetened and has cinnamon added. Consequently, I cut back on the amount of sugar by about 1/3. For a triple-batch I used 2 cups as opposed to 3.

We use the loaves in a variety of ways. Since it is a dessert/breakfast bread of sorts, I tend to give the extra loaves to friends and relatives. For some reason, the same people who run away when they see you coming with a bag of starter do not run when they see bread. :)

I enjoy doing a once a month cooking marathon whenever possible. I can bake the bread once a month and dole it out accordingly. This means freezing it quickly before Bear has a chance to down a loaf or two during the cooling stage.

I'm thinking about giving my starter a name like Baby Huey or Traveling Gnome and handing him out for adoption each month. That way we could all share in his care and feeding, he'd be used once a month, and we'd each only be baking from his bounty 4 times a year. Any takers?

Called to be Firecrackers?

This is an adaptation of a devotion that I gave several years ago when speaking at a conference to several pastors' wives. Recent celebrations brought it to memory again.

It is illegal for individuals to set off firecrackers for personal use in Ohio. Even so, it does not seem to be a law that is followed or enforced with any regularity. Other states do not have laws banning the purchase and use of fireworks at home. When we lived in Tennessee, Pastor Dad usually set off a selection of small pyrotechnic devises each Fourth of July for the enjoyment of our children.

One holiday I was sitting on the porch watching the display and the Lord brought Matthew 5:14-16 to mind. One of the phrases serves as my blog verse and it is probably already a familiar one to you.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

As Christians, we are the light to the world. I began to think how sometimes my light is more like that which comes from a firecracker than a candle. My spirituality may have a lot of force behind it as I delude myself into thinking I'm "in the Spirit" but after awhile it becomes apparent that the result might be momentarily beautiful but illumination is not going to be maintained. Quickly the light will fizzle to the point that no one will be able to even see it, let alone be led to God by it.

But wouldn't it be nice to be a lighting devise that can accomplish powerful things for the Lord? Perhaps. However, putting on a spectacular show prior to a quick burn out is not what the Lord had in mind. Just because a lighting device has a wick – or fuse – doesn't mean that it is one in which to place confidence during a dark storm. Remember the following:

• In order for a light to lead others it needs to be consistent and faithful. God expects us to shine until the job is done.
  
• The objective is not to glorify self but to glorify God. The candle might never be admired in and of itself but if it points the way to The Way it has fulfilled its purpose. A firecracker expects to be the whole show.
  

As a homeschooling mother I have a tendency to "blow my top" before my family thereby extinguishing the light of my testimony. Having a short fuse does not help anyone see Christ in me. The verse says that the illumination is supposed to be for the benefit of all who are in the house. Ouch!

Maybe temper isn't your firecracker problem. Perhaps you are the kind of Christian who shines brightly on Sunday when you're at church but shows no discernable light the rest of the week. About the only way anyone would know you are a Christian is if they happened to see you sitting in the pew. Then the analogy to the firecracker for you is that your light only appears before an audience. Your fuse is lit for a temporary Sunday performance. There is no consistent light shining in your life throughout the rest of the week.

There are probably many analogies to illustrate how our testimony can more closely resemble a firecracker than a candle. Repentance always needs to be the result when we allow our light to be hidden.

Let's resolve not to be firecrackers that put on a good show for a short time, make a lot of noise in the process, but ultimately leave a lot of smoke to hinder progress as we quickly burn out. The world needs reliable candlelight in dark times.

Mental Images

I guess I discovered a new well of inspiration springing up yesterday. After a few weeks of silence I've become Chatty Kathy all of a sudden. Bear with me.

You'll notice that I haven't posted any pictures of yesterday's zoo trip and I probably won't. Why? Well, I only have three. Two of them are of Fen in his stroller and one is a far-off picture of giraffes. I guess photography wasn't one of my priorities. Too bad, too, since there were many special moments throughout the day that just screamed "take pictures!" I'm hoping someone else will post theirs. Hint, hint.

But I am carrying several mental images of the day that one son-in-law called "the best zoo trip EVER." I agree whole-heartedly. It a was a peaceful day for all of us: a day of rest (unless you count the miles and miles of paved pathways that we walked), of relaxation (unless you count the unruly children scaring the zoo keeper in the bird house while annoying the rest of us who kept the children in our group under control), and of family togetherness. Yep! That last one tends to get me right here (hand over heart) every time.

One image I have is of our grand entourage (all 12 of us) making our way from place to place. We stayed together but we tended to walk in smaller groups as we meandered along. Several times I looked at my two sons-in-law who were leading the way due to the length of their long legs. These fellas were side-by-side as they pushed their baby strollers. I wished I had thought to take out my camera. It was one of those "Kodak moments" that repeated itself many times.

The guys were deep in conversation. I'm sure they were contemplating some of life's more complex issues. You know, things like wives, children, and what's for dinner. I'm not sure there are any definitive answers for the first two, but the answer to the last issue was Frisch's Big Boy.

Ah! The warm fuzzies just would not end.

Good times.

How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation

The last you heard from me I was on a trip to Kentucky. It was great but now it seems so long ago. There are two things that can make a recent trip seem that way:

1. Life is so boring or intolerable that one can hardly remember being away at all, or
2. Life is so busy that one good thing just quickly follows afterward.

In my case, I'm glad to say it was the latter.

So, where have I been and what have I been doing? I'd like to think I've been putting some memories into my spouse's and children's memory banks. Here is a quick run-down of recent activities:

• That little trip to Kentucky featured a bit of unintended genealogical research. Okay, yes, there was also some intended genealogical fun, too, as we visited an obscure cemetery where some of Pastor Dad's ancestors are buried. We can now say we have visited "Lizard Lope." The part that was unintended was finding out that the conference's host preacher is distantly related to Pastor Dad. I found this out by talking with the preacher's 90+ year-old grandmother. The preacher and Pastor Dad are 3rd cousins once removed. Will wonders never cease?
• About 36 hours after I returned home I found myself on the road again. This trip was with Lulu. We spent one day traveling to NC, one day doing TONS of work in her yard in NC, and one day driving back from NC. Whew!
• Upon returning from NC we took some hasty showers and went to Wednesday prayer meeting. Afterward we took Pastor Dad out to eat for his birthday. We didn't rush home because Pastor Dad expected us to be here for his birthday. We did it because Lulu wanted to take her daddy out to eat. You'll need to see her blog to see how that episode turned out! :)
• We celebrated the Fourth of July (on the actual date) at Karen's house. Thanks for having us!
• We celebrated the Fourth and Pastor Dad's birthday again yesterday at my mom's house. We're party animals I tell ya!
• Today we took the whole family to the zoo. Well, the whole family minus Sgt. Dan who is not in town yet. I think everyone, including our newest grandchild, had a great time. Too bad he won't remember watching cheetahs run, being up close and personal with a penguin, or seeing his cousins hand-feeding giraffes. Of course, he won't remember that his mommy took the time to feed and diaper him whenever necessary either but that's okay. Our zoo always makes a big deal out of "Zoo Babies" each May. Little Fen was one of the youngest babies around the zoo today, animal or human.

It has been a busy few weeks with no let-up in sight, but that's fine. I only wish winter passed as quickly.