I just bought a fifty pound sack of organic rolled oats. I had been buying them in twenty-five pound sacks, but I had to upgrade since we were going through them too quickly. I’m not sure how long it will be till I’ll need to order again, hopefully at least six months.

We mainly use oats in granola, cooked oatmeal, and baked oatmeal, though I do put some in bread and cookies. The kids all love the baked oatmeal. Yo-Yo Boy says he likes it because it cools really fast once he pours milk on it. Mr. Handsome likes it because it offers more protein than cooked oatmeal (something he hates with a passion). I like it because of the oaty-ness of it, because it’s simple to make, and because it’s like a hearty cake, and I love any excuse to eat cake, especially at breakfast-time.

Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from a recipe that my sister-in-law Dee made for us once upon a visit to New York

4 ½ cups rolled oats
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 stick of butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups milk

Mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients (I add the melted butter last, after stirring in the milk and eggs and vanilla, so that I don’t accidentally cook the eggs), and pour the batter into a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so, until it has baked through and is a beautiful golden brown.

Dish into bowls and top with cold milk.

This afternoon the kids were playing out in the yard when Sweetsie started caterwauling like she’d been stung. And sure enough, she had. So we set her up on the stool in the kitchen, and Mr. Handsome pulled the stinger out and I put some baking soda paste on it.

Right about that time Miss Becca Boo commenced to hollering and I ran to the window just in time to see her burning a trail to the porch like the devil was on her tail. I set her on the table and Mr. Handsome pulled the stinger out of her foot and I put baking soda paste on her foot. They pulled out all the stops in the wailing department.

When Yo-Yo Boy walked through the house he had to plug his ears. Which made me chuckle because it was only several days ago that he got stung on his foot. He was quite dramatic about it, too (I haven’t a clue where these kids learned to be so theatrical—nope, none whatsoever). He declared he couldn’t walk, so Miss Becca Boo had to transport him by trike.

I don’t know—ya’ think they might start wearing shoes now?

My Girlfriend Kelly sent me a recipe for basic white bread. In her email she said, “I figured you might be appalled when you realized that the white bread recipe calls for powdered sugar! Not something you would want to serve for everyday meals, but hey, worth a try. I think it tastes great.”

Um, Kelly, dear. The half cup of powdered sugar didn’t faze me, but the quart of half-and-half did! (Though not for very long. I must have a thing for trying out crazy rich food, see “Going Overboard”—I just have to know.)

The recipe is called Basic White Bread, and white it is—white flour, white salt, white milk, white sugar, white half-and-half, almost-white butter. I know it’s not good to eat too many white foods—we’re supposed to have whole grains and colorful veggies and such. But white bread is so good. Grilled cheese, toasted with butter and homemade sour cherry jam, French toast, bread pudding… Must I justify everything I do? Can’t I just enjoy some plain white bread? My conscience kept rearing it’s nagging head, so I stomped on it once and for all and made the bread.

And it was beautiful.

And then I got to thinking, the color white isn’t bad. In fact, white means purity and holiness and heavenly-ness and—angels. Angels! Angels are good, right? At least the ones dressed in white. So maybe, just maybe, if I call it Angel Bread instead of Basic White Bread, everything will be okay. Conscience! Get your teeth out of my ankle!

I’ll still make my brown bread, most of the time, okay?

Angel Bread
Adapted from a recipe that my Girlfriend Kelly sent to me from a book called Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings by Margaux Sky

Despite the rich ingredients, this is really just a very basic white bread recipe, but it’s also very good.

The original recipe said it made four loaves, but you can see from the pictures that they were giant loaves. I’d shape it into five or six loaves, next time. (Ouch! That obstinate conscience of mine has some sharp fangs!)

2 tablespoons yeast
4 cups warm milk
4 cups warm half-and-half
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup powdered sugar
16 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons salt

Dissolve the yeast in the milk and half-and-half, and let sit until the yeast is foamy. Add the butter and powdered sugar.

Add the salt and flour and knead till soft and tender.

Place the dough in a large bowl that has been either dusted with flour or greased with butter, cover with a towel, and let rise until double.

Divide the dough into five or six portions, depending on how big your loaf pans are, shape the dough into loaves, and place them in well-greased pans. Cover the loaves with a cloth and let them rise until almost double. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 or 40 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove the loaves from the pans…

…and let them cool before putting them into plastic bags.

One bite of it toasted, with lots of butter and homemade jam, and you will be transported to the heavenly realms.