New pics, new do :)

Cheyenne is sporting a new, short summer hair do. Here are a few new pics I took of our kids this week. 

Amish White Bread

Holding true to my new proclimation to start posting some of my favorite recipes...

Amish White Bread

Ingredients:


2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) ---I don't actually check the temp, just what ever feels warm to the touch :)

2/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast---If you buy yeast in the individual pakets 1 1/2 Tbs = 2 packets.

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups bread flour

The key to making this bread is a WARM KITCHEN!!! I usually leave the oven cracked while it is pre-heating to make my kitchen a little toasty :)

Directions


1.In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. (About 15-20 min)

2.Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat ( I use my cooking spray to oil the bowl and I spray the top and sides of the dough lightly). Cover with a damp cloth (A thin, damp dish towel works best). Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour (Mine never rises in 1hr. It is more like 1 1/2-2hrs. Again...the warmer your kitchen is the faster your dough will rise).

3.Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes (Again, mine always takes longer. Usually 1-1 1/2hrs), or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

4.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. I like my bread doughy so I usually shave about 5-7 minutes off the baking time. 

Practice makes perfect with this bread recipe. The first few times I tryed making it were a flop, but I am a bread lover so I din't give up! Please stick with it if your first loves aren't picture perfect. And please feel free to contact me if you want to discuss any problems you incounter :)
Enjoy!!!

Easter 2011

This was Cheyenne's 5th Easter, Ryker's 2nd Easter and my 1st Easter dinner...that I hosted!
After a moving musical service at our church we can home, along with my mom, Bob, Bryan's mom (Stacy) and Becky (Bryan's Sister). Bryan's Dad and other sister Brooke came later after preaching in WV that morning. I have to say I did cheat a little...I didn't actually make the whole meal. I made the meat loaf, some veggie sides and homemade white bread. My mom and Bryan's mom made some other side dishes. I was thankful for the help. Dinner was delicious. Then took the kiddos out for a little egg hunt. I have a few picture from the day and from dying eggs the night before I thought I would share:

 We hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of Christ with your loved ones! Happy Easter!

Good Friday, Great Saturday!

On Friday we remembered the price that Jesus Christ paid for our sins. It is the day we give thanks for His life and the blood that He shed on the cross. It is a day, as is every, that I am thankful for the life He has provided for me...and on this particular Good Friday we celebrated a new life and birth of my sweet niece Sophia Loraine Shover. She weighed 7lb 9oz and was 19in long. She arrived a little after 7pm.  Unfortunately Bryan and I were unable to be there when she was born but we were over there first thing this morning. Here are a few of the shot I took as the Volpe 4 were introduced to our newest family member:

Cheyenne had to be the first to hold her.

 Ryker could not wait to get his hands on her either. He was so thrilled with her!

 Sophia must be destine to model...at less than 24hrs old she already knows to smile for the camera.

 The Volpe 4 + 1 Shover = Lots of smiles!

 The Shover family: Zoey, Mike, Brandy and Sophia

  

Fruits of our Labor

These are our first clippings off of the new rose bushes Bryan and I planted a few weeks ago :)

At!

So last night while I was working with Cheyenne with her word flash cards this is what was said:


Me: ABOUT, like: "We are ABOUT to eat dinner"

Me: AFTER, like: "AFTER dinner you are going to get a bath"

Me: AT, like: "Daddy is AT band practice."

...Cheyenne: Or like,: "AT, get out of there."


Hahahahaha! I am still laughing about this!

A birthday wish!

We have some good friends and a fellow ministry team that are going through a tough time right now and I am asking for your help on there behalf. Randy Perry and his wife Mary are an amazing evengilistic team. They travel all over the country sharing the Gospel through song and strong preaching. They were just here at Kerrs Creek last week, and many lives were changed. While they were here Randy shared with us that he had not been feeling up to par and that when he got home he would be headed to the Dr to get checked out. He put his concerns to the side and continued the revial here at Kerrs Creek. Yesterday, he was taken to the emergency room for chest pains and after a heart cath they were informed that Randy will have to under go 3-5 bypass heart surgery. He and Mrs. Mary are meeting with the surgon today and his bypass will probably be scheduled for tomorrow. I know that many of you are already praying for Randy and his wife, but I am going to ask you to go a step farther. Randy is a full time evangelist and this surgery will  probablly keep him off the road for months. They are fully trusting God to help them make ends meet and I know that they would never ask for help...so I am :) I have a birthday coming up and if you were planning on getting me a present or would like to make my birthday wish come true please pray and make a donation to the Perrys. I have no doubt that the Lord will continue to bless them through this time, but I ask that you seek out a way that you may let God use you in blessing them. If you are a member of Kerrs Creek Babptist Church or in the Lexington area our church will be collecting a monthly love offering for them. If you are not local you can make a donation through the Randy Perry Ministries website. Click on the link below and select the "donate" button. Thank you all so much and please don't forget to keep Randy and Mary in your prayers.

Click here to make a donation.

P.S. They also have some samples of their music. You might want to make a CD purchace while you are there :) Every little bit helps!

Easy Turkey Stromboli

My friend Ashley often includes recipes on her blog and I think I may start doing the same. So here's the first of many I hope...

I found this recipe in Parents magazine and it looked pretty easy and tasty so we decided to try it. It has become one of my favorites! The following is the recipe from the magazine. Tonight when I made it (and took this pic) I decided to add in a little red and green bell pepper. You could add in some of your favorite pizza toppings too, like onion, mushrooms, olives, etc.




1 pkg (10 oz.) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

1 pkg (11 oz.) refrigerated thin crust pizza crust

1 cup pasta sauce, divided (save half for dipping)

2 tsp low fat milk

1/2 cup shredded Colby & Monterey Jack cheese blend

2 tsp grated Parmesan

1 lb. turkey-breast tenderloins, cut into strips

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Boil a cup of water on medium in a large skillet; add turkey and return to boiling. Cover; simmer 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then chop.

Unroll crust into a 14"x12" rectangle on a parchment-lined baking sheet (or just grease your pan). Spoon 1/2c. of the sauce down the center, lengthwise, leaving 3" on either side. Layer spinach, turkey, and cheese over sauce. *Cut 12 strips on both sides of crust. Fold strips over filling, so they overlap. (I don't do this step. It takes too long for me. Instead I just fold each side to the middle and pinch them together. Then I use a sharp knife to cut about four or five slits horizontally on the top of the dough. Try it the other way if you want too...but this is the easier way)

Brush with milk and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 12 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce.


For those of you who may be interested, if made to their specifications, the Nutrition Info is as follows:

Per serving (makes 6 servings):
305 calories; 27g protein; 8g fat; (3g sat. fat); 31 carb; 2g fiber; 157mg calcium; 3mg iron; 553mg sodium.

ENJOY!!!

High Water

Thought maybe our Fla friends and family might want to see why Cheyenne's recital was postponed on Saturday. Rockbridge County experienced some pretty hard rain, flash flooding and even a tornado. Here are two pictures of Kerrs Creek (the creek in front of our house and church). One was taken last summer with Cheyenne and the other is from Saturday.

Thankfully we have not heard of any serious damage from the storm.

Dance Recital

Dancing Senorita...

This is not the best video in the world but it is the only one I have. This is from Cheyenne's performance on Friday night. I had hoped to get a better one on Saturday, but the performance was postponed due to the bad weather and flooding issues in the auditorium. Cheyenne is the third dancer from the left. She is also the girl who had to improvise when her hat was taken from her in the end and she is the one who decided she was ready to leave the stage as soon as the music was done. Enjoy:)

This Old House: Outdoor Edition-Part One

Once again let me share the love for our "old house". It's not like it was an eye sore or anything, but she was in need of a little face lift. So here is before...

 And after...after new paint on the exposed basement, shutters and doors that is...

A better picture to show our RED door. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I have always wanted to paint my front door red. This isn't even as bright of a red as I originally wanted to paint it, but I let Bryan talk me into a darker choice. I am pleased with the final product:)

 Cheyenne enjoying our "like new" front porch.

You may have noticed this post is titled "Part One". Stay tuned for post with next weeks project......LANDSCAPING!!!!