Anadama Bread

I found this delicious bread recipe on the Internet. The outside is crusty and the inside is so soft.



I put all of the dry ingredients in the bread maker first and stirred them around a bit. I then added the liquids. I mixed my cool melted butter with my molasses before adding.

3 C bread flour
1/3 C yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 packet Red Star active dry yeast (not the quick rise but the regular)
1 1/4 C water at approximately 130 degrees (usually as hot as your tap water gets)
1 1/2 Tbs butter
3 Tbs molasses ( I used the mild)

Use regular white/wheat setting and medium crust setting on your bread machine.
After the baking cycle ends, remove the bread from the pan, place on a wire rack and let it cool for 1 hour before slicing.

The Doctor released me.

Today I saw Doctor Adams for the results of my MRI. Everything was good and I am now released to go back to normal life. He said I should probably avoid high fat foods but other then that I have no restrictions.

He did mention that I have a cyst on my left kidney. I asked if I should worry about that and he said that everyone has cysts in their bodies. Cysts on the kidneys are rarely malignant and if they are there are usually many. My kidney function is normal and that would also be an indication of a serious problem. He said if I would feel better I could have it checked again in one year.

I am happy that I do not have anything seriously wrong with me and I am grateful to all who prayed for me. Life is good and God is great.

Our first county visit

Yesterday we spent a great day at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. Our dear friends, Joyce and Dick Silvey, went with us. We have not been to the fair for a couple of years and we were so proud to see the improvements that Iowa has made to their fairgrounds. Lots of new buildings and fixing up has taken place. What a great State.
Some highlights from our trip.

A definite landmark - the grandstand.


The giant pumpkin - 1323 pounds


Sand sculptures in the Cultural Arts Center

Corn Dogs, Pork Tenderloin sandwich and fries. Yum Yum!!

Beautiful setting


Love these chairs

Quilting room and all things quilting
2nd floor of the Varied Industries Building

Mary on the south side of one of the newest buildings on the fairgrounds, the equistrian center. Note the colorful quilting pattern blocks along the side of the building, one (and sometimes 2) for each county in the state.

Handsome Dude

We are going to visit Polk County

Today we are headed to the Iowa State Fair. There will be pictures to follow and a note about our visit to Polk County. One down and 98 to go.

Project Day

Early morning visitors on this cloudy, rainy day.


It is the perfect day to pull out some projects and get to work.

I am working on hand quilting my Christmas quilt.

On the machine, I am putting together a quilt that I started at the quilt retreat last year. The tension on my machine was acting up and when I looked at it again I decided that I must tear everything out or I would never be satisfied. I have now started to put the blocks back together. I am about 1/2 done with the blocks and then I will begin to piece the quilt.

Ronnie is making a new padded top for my ironing board. Everybody gets a project.

The finished product. A tabletop ironing board
2 feet wide, 5 feet long

Monday was a great day. We started the morning with a trip to the Silvey's. Ron is going to make me a cover for my ironing board and he wanted to use Dick's saw to get it cut just right. Thanks Dick. We also had a nice visit and decided that Wednesday was going to be a great day to go to the fair. We will meet up with the Silvey's for a little for a some fun while we are there.

At lunchtime, I met Tina and Cleo for lunch at a little restaurant in Fort Dodge. Great fun, great friends and a good meal. You cannot beat that.

The rest of the day and the evening I spent with my better half. We had both had a short night's sleep the night before and so we headed to bed at about 10:30. Much more rested today.