Cabin Fevers
Ahhh, Monday. Delightful wonderful peaceful Monday morning. Two children, up and out of the house before 7:30. And my sentence has been lifted.
I’ve been under lock-down. House arrest. For eight eternally long days. No, you’re right. I shouldn’t exaggerate. Why just the other day I was allowed out to bolster our stock of Children’s Tylenol and decongestants.
I wouldn’t dream of complaining. Nope. Not me. After all it’s just the flu. The feverish, coughing, whining, icky flu. In the scheme of things, it wasn’t all that bad. At the very least it is over. And just when a shimmer of bright lining hovered within reach, when sanity seemed possibly to be lurking around the next bend; just when it seemed safe to let the children venture out of each other’s company and into the world at large, this happened–
You can’t hear it, but that’s the sound of Mother Nature laughing as she dumped snow all over my plans to air out the children. By which I mean dangling them by their germy little ankles in the branches of our glorious autumnal trees where a gentle clarifying breeze might blow on through. Breathtaking, right? As in, they will be so busy gulping in lung-fulls of fresh air that they will have no voice to complain that so-and-so spit on me when she brushed her teeth and SHE TOUCHED ME and ahhhhhhh, I’m so over house arrest.
Breathe in. Breathe out. I can do this. If Mother Nature throws me freezing temps and whiny children, I just have to reach a bit deeper into the old parenting tool box.
And so we made a cozy fire.
And drank hot cocoa with little marshmallows.
And I let them make their own baguettes.
Before you toss too much credit my way, I should confess that this bread is not only delightfully tasty and good at distracting unruly children, but it’s also unbelievably simple to make. It’s a one-bowl, no kneading kid-pleasing kind of recipe. I got it from my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cook book. Don’t be alarmed; I’ve come a long way since my initial attempts based on a hastily transcribed recipe from my mother resulted in that Not-So-Consumable Crusty Shards of Glass Bread.
And just 20 minutes later, we had our warm, aromatic results.
I also had two smiling children, mouths so full of homemade bread that their ability to bicker was drastically reduced.
And like the softly whirling, sparkling twinkle of the fresh falling snow, peace, sweet, silent peace, at last descended upon our home.
13 Replies to “Cabin Fevers”
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Thanks for that recipe! Maggie has been asking me to get that one ever since she tasted that bread in your backyard back when it was summer! (and I’m not just saying that to get an invite over to your fireplace…)
I like your picture of the snow…. knowing someone else got snow helps me. Today was our second snowfall in three days. I think more is on the way. I am trying so hard to be positive about it. Thankfully, the kids were thrilled with it.
We’re free! Free of thermometers, 7-up, Tylenol, watching kids breathe through the night, and the Swine Flu!!! Mother Nature can throw all she wants at me, I’m celebrating! I loved your post. It captured my cabin fever beautifully. Now someone said something about homemade bread and a fire…
So glad to hear you are free again. It really makes you appreciate being able to do what/when you want, if only during school hours!
So glad everyone is feeling better over there.
Snow? Already?
I have to do that, nothing like the smell of fresh bread in the oven and well my kids could live on bread, just bread. No butter jam or anything else! Hope the kids are feeling better : )
Wow – that’s some beautiful bread!! I am so impressed – how’s freedom tasting these days?
Love the bread. We made a couple of loaves at our house this weekend!
I hope that everyone is still feeling better! Being home with sick kids is very tough (and it does not help that usually you catch some form of what they have!). I was watching the Phillies play in Colorado these past couple of nights and thinking that everyone is going to have to wear very warm halloween costumes this year. 🙂
I feel (felt) your pain…sick kids, sick us, sick of being sick. I’m just gonna assume that since we were sick now that we’re in the clear for the rest of the Winter…that’s fair, right? That bread looks great, I’m gonna try it w/ the boys. Also, congrats on your new job!!!
probably should update Madame Source with your success. Looks pretty good. Have just finished the Colo bread (from Jan 09) and the double fibre Felix special, and am hankering for some homemade bread to go with the forty gallons of homemade soups currently enjoying space in the frig-freezer. G-P M
Still have to make the bread. It turns out that expired yeast DOES NOT make bread rise. Who knew
You did it. You got your family well and you baked bread. What more do you want to do. Yes, you can dream of when you can get back out in the big beautiful world and spend time in the garden. Spring is just around the corner.