Rants, Ramblings, and a Recipe!

I don't have much on the schedule for a blog post this week. So something with the 3 R's is always good.

I was originally just going to post a rant on how I currently feel about doctors.......but I don't want to just dwell on the negative right now, because that's way too easy to do. You see, right now, mom has pneumonia. Not good. The worst part was how she was diagnosed. She'd been not feeling well since Memorial Day, and when we took her to her normal doctor, they said she had bronchitis, gave her some sulfur drugs, a shot, and sent her home. She had a terrible cough, and, pardon me for being graphic, had coughed up a bunch of icky yellow/green mucus, and once or twice it had been laced with blood. Now, we explained all that to the doctor, and she still said bronchitis. She said she couldn't hear pneumonia in her lungs and mom didn't want an X-Ray. After 10 days of the sulfur drug, mom was still sick, but she said it wasn't near as bad. The cough, however had not let up. After about 3 days of being off the sulfur drug, she was worse. So we tried a different doctor at what they call "Urgent Care". It was the only place open besides the hospital on a Friday night after 5PM.
I don't know God's plan, but I know everything has a reason. There is a reason mom got sick, and there is a reason that this particular doctor saw mom on the night in question. But I doubt I will ever know the reason.
I hadn't gone with mom and dad that night, because they said there was no need. Mom had been told by countless people that she had  pneumonia, and after doing some research with my good friend Google, I had come up with the same conclusion. We were in hopes that another doctor would give her some medicine that  would actually clear it up, instead of just holding it back for a while. After the doctor saw mom, she said an X-Ray was necessary, and BEFORE she even found out the results, she came in and proceeded to tell my mom that she didn't have a virus, or pneumonia, or anything else.......her lungs were completely covered in cancer.
As I have said in my past posts, we are aware of some small tumors in mom's lungs, and she has an appointment in August to have them looked at, but this? No one was expecting. You can imagine the pain and shock that mom and dad were feeling at that time, and after hearing this story, I was upset that I had not been there with them. Anyway, this doctor was completely rude, and after she found out the results were indeed pneumonia, she didn't even offer as much as an "I'm sorry for putting you through this". Some doctors can be such scum. Thankfully we do have mom on 2 strong antibiotics now, and she has finally (after a week) started showing some improvement. Thank you, Lord! The final straw that made me not like this woman in the least happened the following Monday when mom went back for a follow up. Apparently this was not necessary (even though the doctor said it was), and the doctor was mad mom was there. When she got done examining mom, she said "Well, I'm still not convinced it's pneumonia". Boy, did my mom tell her the what for! Go mom! All I have to say is, what kind of a doctor does that? Not a very good one.

Thus ends the rant section of this post.

As for the rambling, I'm good at that. Just ask my husband. One of the big differences between us is the way we describe our day;

Me: "So, how was your day?"
Dan: "Eh. There were some good points, but it was still a rough one." 
Me: *waiting* *waiting some more* "Ummm.......OK, would you like to elaborate on that a bit?"
Dan: "Not really." 

End of discussion.
Reverse roles.

Dan: "So, how was your day?"
Me: "Oh, you know. About the same. I went over by to check on mom and when she fell asleep, I ended up falling asleep and I was afraid I'd get to the store late. I did get to the store late, but not because of that, it was because I had to follow some guy that apparently doesn't know how to drive because he was weaving all over the road and wouldn't go faster that 40 miles per hour, and after I got to the store Russ had to leave and help Skyla with some real estate stuff so I was there by myself and this nut-job comes in and decides to tell me his life story! I just kept standing there saying "uh huh, uh huh" but he didn't get the point."
Dan: "Uh huh." (Yes I'm aware of the irony)
Me: "So after an hour......an HOUR.....that guy finally walks out and I was ready to strangle Russ by the time that he got back. Then I had to make the virtual tour for the property that Skyla just listed and my computer kept freezing up.......I really need to clean that thing......and when I finally got it done I was 15 minutes late for my student, which of course threw me behind on all the rest of them. And then I get to hear the famous whine of "Why do I have to do it that way?" and "My fingers hurt". Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. I'm just glad to be home."
Dan: *nodding* "All right then." 

There are several hundred variations on that conversation, but it's pretty much that same conversation every day. Sometimes I don't know how he puts up with me. But he does, and I am grateful.

Alright, I guess that's enough rambling, so on to the recipe!

I've wanted to post this bread recipe for quite a while now, because I am a flop when it comes to home made bread. Seriously! But this bread worked for even me, so I know someone with bread making skills could do wonders with it. My dad makes the best bread in the entire world, no joke. He makes it out of a start that he got from another man about 4 years ago, who got his start from a man a year or so before that. So we just call it "man bread". Dad will not give the recipe or the starter to a woman because he wants to carry on the tradition. Oh well. This way I just get to eat it and don't have to bake it. lol OK, rambling again. Sorry.

The ingredients are as follows:

 2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons sugar 
2 heaping tablespoon or packet of yeast.
2 tablespoons butter
5 cups Bread Flour
2 tablespoons of salt 

Mix warm water and sugar in a largish mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the top and let sit for about 5 minutes.
 Add the butter, 4 cups of flour, and the salt. Stir this together until it begins to hold together. Pour a cup of flour onto the surface you intend to use for kneading. 

Knead until it holds its own shape well, 3 or 4 minutes. Let the dough rest while you grease a bowl for rising. Return to your dough and knead a further 3 or 4 minutes until it's smooth

Roll the dough into a ball and place in the greased bowl.

 Put the bowl someplace warm and cozy. I like to put mine on the floor in front of my patio door, especially if I'm making it int the afternoon/early evening. This makes for a pleasant environment for the bread, because it's so nice and sunny. It recipe says to leave until it's doubled in size, but I let it rise for an hour.

After an hour dump the dough out on a floured surface and punch it down. Knead the bubbles out and form into two loaves. Place the loaves into lightly greased bread pans. Return to the floor.
 

Let them "rise" for another hour.

With the loaves sitting in the oven, turn it on to 350 degrees and leave them in for 45 minutes.

  Since your oven is probably different than mine, you should knock on the tops with your knuckles to check for a hollow sounds. That means they're done!

I always coat the tops of my bread with butter and cover with waxed paper and a towel. This way it softens up the crust. 

What I like about this bread is not only the taste, but how easy it is to make. Plus it is still fresh the next day, unlike a lot of home made bread. 

I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to post a comment about how your bread turns out if you decide to try it!