Beer Bread made by my BIG Boys

For Christmas we bought my husband a supper sized bottle... of mixture for beer bread.  Well it sat around, for longer than I want to admit.  Obviously this gift was not a hit.

Evan had been asking for a while to make it all summer long.  All HOT summer long where I turned on the oven as little as possible.  But the other day was cool.  So when Daddy went to bed each boy decided to make a meal for him.  Evan wanted to make the bread, Gregory wanted to help.  Here is our traumatic cooking experience...

(Remember they are only 6 & 8 though)

Absolutely and joyfully Evan gathered the ingredients to make beer bread.



Wait didn't I say BEER Bread?  Well we are not beer drinkers.  We do not have any beer in the house nor do we ever.  I am not opposed to buying it, but I buy  it a can at a time for what ever recipe needs it.  However this was on Sunday and I don't even know if you can buy beer here on Sunday plus I had all 4 kids and I hate leaving them in the car while I go to the bar.  JUST KIDDING!! no need to call me in. :)

But in small print on the back it said for a lighter flavor you can substitute beer for gingerale and we do have that.

The big fake beer bottle came with a bottle opener that has since been lost so I grabbed the can opener.  It had a hook on it that look like it was to open bottle caps.  The boys were so excited. They wanted to open the bottle.  Why not?  I did not even guess what was coming ahead.





Evan what is that puzzled look on your face for?  You look worried?  Why?



Oh I see!!  You two are 6 & 8 and have NO idea how to open a beer bottle let alone with a can opener.  I would have been worried too.

Acually it was the funniest thing.  I never even imagined this would happen.  But as Gregory popped the top it blew up and beer bread powder batter went every where.  A cloud of flour covered the boys and the kitchen.



They were covered.



They could not have laughed more.



But we recouped and got back to cooking.

Evan poured what was left of the mix into a bowl.



Gregory poured in 12 oz. of gingerale opposed to 12 oz. of beer.



It bubbled up.  It looked more like a science experiment that something I want to eat.



The directions said clearly DO NOT over mix.  Mix until just moisten and then pour into a greased pan.  Well I really never do a greased pan when it comes to baking.  I always line it with brown sugar. I don't know why, but it make it better.  I don't know who thought me that but that you.



I poured the barely mixed just moistened batter into the pan.  I did spread it out and it looked... Lumpy.



I sure hope this taste better than it looks.

pop it in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes or until done.



And at the end you know it was not bad with a touch of melted butter and help of the best big boys!

Back out boarding

After a week of what seemed to be endless rain we are thankful the sun is shining and the boys can get back out to skateboarding.

The rains came down and the floods came up

To say we have got a little rain the past week is an understatement.  We are flooded.  We are stuck inside.  I have been stuck in side with little kids all day, all night for over a week.  Schools and business in the area have been closing.  Everyday the emergency broadcast goes across PBS.  And on the other channels the ticker is always giving us some sort of natural disaster watch.  Our phones and computer are going off constantly with the same forecast more rain and flooding.  I went to the grocery store today and waited through water in my flip flops and capris, I knew what I was in for, to get inside.  But the time I did get inside I was soaked and I did not park to far out.  The sky is a constant gray full of storm clouds.  We have had enough.  I want the sun back.  The kids have still been going out in there slickers and wellies, they do just fine.  They come back in dirty and wet ready for a bath and bed.

Harrisburg our capital has undergone some serious flooding.  Today I had to call and cancel my sons doctors appointment because you can't get there.  The hospital is of course open by for me to take one child in there the whole family might end up in there. The roads are flooded.  The bridges are washed out.


Now if you are from here you will know this is not actually Harrisburg but close by and looks just as the roads do there.  It is Wilkes-Bare.

But I did not have to go to Harrisburg I had to go to Hershey.  Yes chocolate capital.  Home of the Hershey kisses.  Home of a devastating reality.  We go to Hershey all the time, monthly.  My kids are always being seen up there.  Smiley has regular appointments.  We have been going for years since there just 4 of us.



And still when we have four kids.




It usally is a nice experience.  And after our apointment we visit Hershey park and choclate world.  But Hershey park has hit some really hard time because of the flooding.

The rides are closed.



You can not even enter without a canoe.  Here is the entrence now.



Here is it before.



Everything at the park is under water.



It rose so fast the animals were not all able to be saved.

Two buffalo at Zoo America had to be euthanized when the flash flooding came. The official statement from ZooAmerica said "while we were able to ensure the safety of the vast majority of the animals in the Zoo, flood waters rose too quickly in the area occupied by two of the Zoo's bison and we were not able to rescue them."

We love going there.  Here we are standing by the shops.  I rescheduled for the end of the month.  Lets hope the rain stops by then.

Disclaimer:  No I am not pregnant AGAIN.  It is an old photo.  All of the photos on this post that do not have my family in them are not mine but from Hershey's facebook and the local news reports.


This rain has gone on for so long.  It starts, it stops, it pours.  It luckily has not affected our house.  A few years back in another time of flooding  our basement suffered 3 feet of water.  it was scary.  You just don't know what a helpless feeling it is to watch water rise around you and you can't do anything.





Our fire department came then and pumped us out.  And we do not live in a flood zone.


This is our Statue of Liberty.





She sets high in the Susquehanna River.  You always see her as you drive into Harrisburg.  She is still standing but I think we need to get her a bathing suit!





It is supposed to stop.  We need it to stop.  





Until then we will keep on paddling.

The red wagon

I love my little boy and his red wagon.

Soul Surfer

What a great movie!  We all liked it.  We sat glued hearing the inspirational story.  It was very family friendly and nothing inappropriate.  All the kids cuddled on the couch with me to watch it.  It effected my oldest son the most.  Ever since we came back from Massanutten in June Gregory has loved surfing.  He wants to try out for Americas Got Talent under surfing.  He really connected to this movie.

I have nothing bad to say about Soul Surfer.  It was refreshing to watch a good movies and one that is set in Hawaii even better.

the grill is fixed

When our grill broke I started grill dreaming.  Yes of a new one...

From September 2, 2011

Beautiful, stainless, clean, meets most our needs, why not?

And if I had such a nice grill why not an outdoor kitchen?  We cook outside year round.  Under feet of snow in the 100 degree weather, rain storms, when you want great food there is no stopping you.

From September 2, 2011

From September 2, 2011

But in my dream reality reared its head again.  I CAN'T AFFORD ANY OF THAT.  I sometimes hate reality.

Jay looked at buying a replace part.  And that was more in our budget.  But feeling a little crushed, disappointed and broke, he said he would build me a custom grill.  And custom it was!

From September 2, 2011

He read many forums about this grill and it seem our problem was not that uncommon.  Most people did just buy the replacement part but he found one site that said how to make a replacement out of real estate signs.  And guess what?  I have them, in my basement.  I used to be a Realtor, before the market crashed.

So he grapped one a started making me a custom grill.  He took the sign off and traced it to the old rusted broken piece.

From September 2, 2011

From September 2, 2011

While he was looking for the snips Smiley thought it would be fun to drive over.

From September 2, 2011

Faith look I will take the big red car and get in the way just watch me.

From September 2, 2011

You did it AGAIN big brother.  I bet they are impressed.

From September 2, 2011

Now that he found them he cut the sign to size.

Let's just slide it into place....

From September 2, 2011

Vola!! A one of a kind.

From September 2, 2011

Almost perfect but what about a grease trap?

Don't worry dear I got that too. What was it you ate for lunch?  Let me get the garbage.   ????



Really?



Huh, now there is a grease trap and a working grill.

I am happy and the babies... well they got moved.  And despite there enthusiastic looks are happy too.

September 2, 2011

sweet friendship

I hope they understand how blessed they are.