Homemade NO KNEAD Bread

Basic White Bread (Sourdough too)

3 cups bread flour*, packed and leveled
1 1/4 teaspoons salt (iodized)
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups cool water
Coarse cornmeal for dusting

Step 2 - the wet dough

The Cast Iron Pot -3 Quarts

Proverbs 23:15

“My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad”.

Note: I like King Author Bread flour

1.  Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly

2.  Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir with rubber spatula. Add additional water and stir as needed, until you have a thoroughly mixed, wet, sticky mass of dough. This dough is much wetter than normal bread dough and will NOT form a ball. (*For Sourdough you add 1/2 - 1 cup of starter)

3.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for 12-18 hours. 

4.  After 12-18 hours have passed, your dough should be dotted with bubbles and doubled in size. Dust a wooden cutting board with bread flour, using rubber scrapers turn out dough onto the board. Although the dough will be sticky do not add additional flour. Dust the top of the dough lightly with bread floor and cover with a clean cotton tea towel. Let dough rise another 1-2 hours.

5.  About 30 minutes before the second rise is complete, place your 3 quart cast iron pot (without lid) on rack positioned in the lower third of your oven. Heat oven to 475 degrees.

6.  Once your oven has reached 475 degree, remove the pot and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of course corn meal on the bottom of the pot. BE CAREFUL THE POT WILL BE VERY HOT!

7.  Uncover dough and using a rubber spatula, shape dough into a ball and carefully lift dough into the hot pan. Dust top of dough with corn meal. Place lid on pot.

8.  After 35 minutes remove lid, and place back in the oven for another 12 minutes until loaf is browned, but not burned.

9. Remove pot from over. With a sturdy wooden spoon remove bread from the pot, and place on a cooling rack. Do not slice for at least an hour. Mine always falls out when I turn the pot over, no need for any tools.

* If making sourdough bread add 1/2 cup of sourdough starter.

Yummy. Can you Smell it?

NOTE: This is easy bread dough that requires NO KNEADING! It is delicious, and my family loves it! However, the cast iron pot is very important to the bread. I've never tried using a bread pan, but I believe the main problem is that a typical bread pan doesn't get hot enough. 

Sourdough Starter

Who doesn't LOVE the smell of homemade bread? When I was 16 years old I worked for a very small Italian restaurant in Westminster, California. Every day after softball practice I would waitress for a few hours at Capirelli's. Walking into that place around 4 PM was like a step into Heaven! Warm fresh bread smells wafting out the door, the smells of homemade pasta and cheeses, the red gravy...wow, my mouth just waters thinking of it. 

OK, focus! 

I always loved homemade bread, but the thought of all that kneading turned me off to the process. One Christmas my son bought me a bread making machine that was better...just not the same as my childhood memories. But I used it for a few years. Then my friend, Debbie, found a magazine called Grit - Rural America Know How (www.grit.com). And it had recipes for No Knead Bread!

One of my favorite types of bread is Sourdough. I love the San Francisco REAL sourdough the best. So once I was making white and wheat bread on a regular bases and they turned out nicely, I knew I wanted to focus on Sourdough (and Rye, but that's another story). 

Starter that needs to be stirred

Healthy Starter (I know the pot looks gross!)

Luke 6:31
"And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them."

Keep your starter Happy and Healthy

To begin, you need a good Sourdough starter. You can get it from a friend, or purchase it, or you can order it for free from Carl. Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough can be gotten for free, with just a self-addressed stamped envelope (www.carlsfriends.net)

Oregon Trail Sourdough 
P. O. Box 321 
Jefferson, MD 21755 USA

I was lucky, my friends at Adobe-farm.com had some nice starter and I was off and baking. Now let me tell you the recipe for these NO KNEAD bread is a slow process. It takes 12 -18 hours to start and that is without baking time. But trust me, it is worth it!

There is a lot to be said about SLOW FOOD. You can research it yourself, if you’re interested. It seems to me every time I begin to relax about our food source a new recall comes into effect. Let’s recall hamburger, as it makes your brain practically melt, recalls on chicken...was God telling me to be a vegetarian? I guess not, because then they recall spinach because it had human waste. Gross!
Can you smell it already? Order your starter, if you don't have one already...

Tonight, before I go to sleep, I will put together the ingredients to make my bread, and allow it to work its magic until tomorrow. It takes 12-18 hours...I will update the blog with everything you need to do to make your own NO KNEAD bread. 

Can you smell it already? Order your starter, if you don't have one already...

Vodka Cleaner - No More Chemicals?!

Marketers have gotten all of to believe we NEED several household cleaners to maintain a clean house. I have to admit, for a while I really believed them. I had a window cleaner, counter top cleaner, floor cleaner, five different bathroom cleaners, just to name a few! And talk about expensive!! 


When I was working full time, I had the luxury of having a maid come every two weeks to help keep the house up. OK, I admit it, I MISS HER! I digress...her first day I came home from work and the house was sparkling clean...but I was accosted by the smell! Granted it was a "clean" smell but WAY too strong for me. I looked at my African Gray Parrot, Sweet Pea, and KNEW it was unhealthy for her too!

Sweet Pea, the naughty African Gray Parrot

Heb 11:1

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."






We looked on-line for some good household cleaners that we could make at home, that would really clean the house. I had been 'playing' with vinegar cleaners, and baking soda...but the smell was not very nice, they cleaned just fine but I couldn't get past the vinegar smell. 

Smells Heavely!

Anyway...Vodka Cleaner. Its easy to make, smells great and has other important values, as noted below. Place all the ingredients in a bottle with a top, shake daily. Within a few days the items will infuse into the vodka and it is ready to use. You can pour into a spray bottle, while maintaining the other ingredients to make more. 

Vodka - insecticide, antibacterial, kills mold and mildew
Lemon Peel - solvent, insect repellent
Cinnamon Sticks - fragrant, kills mosquito larvae
Vanilla Beans - fragrant, insect repellent

Vodka Cleaner - Finished Product

You can use any cheep Vodka you have on hand, or want to purchase. I liked the vanilla flavored one, the price ($6.35 a liter) was the same and it smelled nice too. 

The vodka does evaporate quickly so it is fine to use with sensitive animals, like birds and chickens. I do however, remove my bird while cleaning, just in case!

Note: A manufacturer can omit any ingredient that it considers a secret formula from its label, and many of these ‘secret’ ingredients are toxic and carcinogenic. Vodka cleaner does not have any of this nonsense! And it smells lovely!

I am thinking to make the other cleaner that seems to be 'hot' on the Internet, which is orange based. I'll let you know how that goes. I also have some great recipes using essential oils, which I will blog about soon. 

Tonight I am making a NO KNEAD bread, that is wonderful, and easy. So please come back soon....

I liked this website for the Vodka recipe http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com

Soft Cheese Making 101

Saturday was a great day at Adobe Farm in Weatherford, Texas (www.adobe-farm.com and www.adobefarm.wordpress.com). To begin our day Ken reviewed some of his favorite books on Cheese making. He has been making cheese for more than five years, and makes numerous types of cheeses. Although he started cheese making as "just another hobby", he now makes all types of cheeses, and has a dedicated fridge for his aging collection! Today we would be making Chèvre, also known as Goat Cheese, Mozzarella, Ricotta and Butter! 

     

Ken's books on cheese making

Making Chèvre Cheese. It was so easy we were done in minutes! You warm up a gallon of unpasteurized goats milk in a stainless steel pot to 86 degrees, add the Chèvre starter, stir gently and leave at room temperature (68-72 degrees) for 12 hours, drain-with good cheese cloth and strainer over a stainless steel pot in the refrigerator. You can shape into a log, if you prefer. That's all there is to it! Amazingly simple. 

Making Mozzarella Cheese. Another fairly simple cheese is homemade Mozzarella. This cheese has several steps so I won't get into all the details, but if you want the recipes please leave me a comment below and I will get them to you. Basically we added citric acid powder to the cold milk, heated it to 88 degrees, removed from heat, added liquid vegetable rennet. We let it rest for about 30 minutes until a white curd formed and separated from the whey. [Do not discard the whey!] See the firmness in the photo below.

The milk is warmed to 88 degrees and adding rennet

We reheated the curds and whey to 140 degrees (from a childhood verse). Then we separated the cheese into two even balls. The next step is to begin stretching the warm cheese, pressing the whey out of cheese and pulling it into 2 inch thick ropes and replacing back into the whey. When the cheese won't pull easily, it is too cold - so place back into the warm whey for a minute or two, and then remove it and begin squeezing it and pulling it again. This process took about 10-15 minutes. Your cheese is done when we have a shiny, smooth, soft ball of cheese. 

Once the cheese was ready, we removed the balls of mozzarella from the warm whey and rolled them into special cheese making salt, see providers on bottom of blog. If the cheese gets too cold it will not hold the salt. You may need to replace into the warm whey for the salt to fully mix into the cheese. 

The mozzarella can be enjoyed warm, or placed into a plastic container in the refrigerator to be chilled. It should be consumed within a week. 

Making Ricotta Cheese. One thing I love about making mozzarella cheese is that the left over whey can be used immediately and made into Ricotta cheese. Please note: You can not wait for this process, it must be done right after your mozzarella cheese is removed. Place the warm whey into your stainless steal pot and bring to a boil, add 1/3 cup vinegar (white or apple-cider), remove from heat and pour into a strainer lined with GOOD cheese cloth (one that does not have a large weave). If your cheese cloth does have a large weave, double it over the strainer, and place over a stainless steel pot to drain completely. Place in the refrigerator overnight and allow to fully drain. Toss the liquid and place cheese into a clean plastic container with a top. You now have Ricotta cheese as well!

Shiny, smooth, soft ball of Cheese

Separating out the whey

2 Cor 5:7

"We live by Faith, not by site"

Straining the Ricotta Cheese

Making Butter. Angela literally placed chilled goat cream into her food processor for 7-11 minutes. Once it formed a butter ball, she drained off the liquid and we had homemade butter! Who knew this stuff was so easy?

It was a wonderful day at the goat farm. We learned a lot, ate a lot, and laughed a lot. I am certain to be making more cheeses at home very soon. Next Saturday, Ken will be teaching us how to make a few hard cheeses! Please check back with us as our journey continues.....

NOTE: New England Cheese Making Supply Company offers starters, pots, molds and everything you will need to begin making your own cheese at home! www.cheesemaking.com another good cheese supplier can be found here http://glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca/

Basket Weaving 101

Wednesday was a perfect day for learning how to weave baskets in north central Texas. The weather was cold and rainy. The clouds were so unique...almost like the sea.

8 am 2/20/13 Fort Worth,TX

Psalms 46:10
"Be Still, 
and know that I am God"

We met at Adobe farms  (www.adobe-farm.com and www.adobefarm.wordpress.com )
in Weatherford to work with Angela. This was our first basket weaving class, and I was excited to learn a new skill! We started at 9:15 and worked until about 4:30 creating our first handmade baskets. As usual, Angela is a wonderful hostess and offered some homemade cheeses from the farm that she and her husband, Ken, had made. We enjoyed Camembert cheese and some lovely brie! 

Handmade baskets are beautiful and can be time consuming for the beginner, but that did not discourage us. I am sure with time I will improve on my time and ability. 

Weaving the bottom

Building up the sides

Not bad for my first attempt! That is what a  good teacher can do!

The finished product!

We will be making baskets and offering them on the website before you know it. Please keep a look out!

Saturday we are learning how to make homemade soft cheeses, and then the following Saturday will be hard cheese class. I love learning all these skills and look forward to sharing the adventure!

Yogurt Update

Three hours later the yogurt is complete. Nice and thick!

Solidified yogurt

The longer you keep your yogurt in your ice chest the thicker the yogurt, so you may want to "play" with the time you leave in there. I have left it there up to eight hours.

Now that the yogurt is done, place in the refrigerator for up to four weeks. Enjoy plain, or with fruit and honey!

1 Corinthians 13:4

"Love is patient,
Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast,
It is not proud"

Homemade Yogurt - Pretty Simple!

Making homemade yogurt is pretty simple. I was paying about $5.35 a week for Greek yogurt and with my cost cutting measures I wanted to see if I could reduce that cost. As a child I recalled my mom had made homemade yogurt. However, she did use some unique machine. I looked on-line and found a simple process that didn't really have any special tools required. So I tried it, and it worked just fine. I've been making it for a while and have taught others. Ours has turned out quite nicely! This process takes about 40-45 minutes and then a few hours in the ice chest. I typically make yogurt when I am doing the dishes, or something around the house...because it really only takes about 10-15 minutes hands-on time, if that.

Instead of paying about $23 a month for yogurt I now pay about $3, the price of a gallon of milk! Saving $250 a year, not bad. However, I do like using organic milk, if I can. 

Homemade Yogurt

The basic items you will need are:
A large stainless steel pot
4-5 large sterilized glass jars and lids*
A thermometer 
An ice chest
A gallon of milk
A cup of yogurt (starter)

* I use four 32oz mason jars and one 8oz jar, but any glass jar with a lid would be fine. If you want to recycle salsa or pickle jars that is fine, but make sure all the smell is out and perhaps leave in the sun for the day to ensure you don't end up with pickle favored yogurt!  

Sterilizing the jars and lids. Fill a large pot with hot water, large enough to hold your glass jars. Turn the heat on high, and place your jars carefully in the water. Ensure the water is an inch over the tops of your jars. Bring to a gentle boil, and keep them boiling for about 10 minutes. You can also sterilize your jars in the dishwasher (but use them immediately - while hot), or you can also use the oven and/or microwave.

I typically use the water method, noted above or the dishwasher. 

Making the yogurt. Place a gallon of milk (whole, low-fat, non-fat, or goats milk) in a large stainless steel pot and turn heat to medium. Stirring occasionally, if you turn the milk on too high it will create a film - just remove the film and continue to heat but at a little lower temperature. 

Bring the milk to 185-195 degrees. Remove from heat. 

Create an ice bath for your hot pot of milk. I use my sink, see photos. Place the stainless steel pot gently into the cool water, ensuring no water gets into the pot. Bring the milk down to 120 degrees. 

Whisk into the pot of 120 degree milk a cup of yogurt. I suggest you use a good brand of yogurt as this is your live active cultures. I like plain Greek yogurt so I started my first batch with a nice, tart, low-fat yogurt. If you like vanilla you could use that favor. I try to stay away from favored yogurts as they are full of chemicals and stabilizers. If I want fruit in my yogurt I cut it up fresh and add local honey, that is if I want it any sweeter. 

Warming the milk on medium heat

The ice bath. Bring milk down to 120 degrees

Remove the bubbles from the top

Isis - watching the process, awaiting Yogurt

NOTE: You will need to place the lids into a small pan and sterilize them prior to use. Secondly, you will also need to warm a gallon of water up to 120 degrees for your ice chest. That is why I find it easier to use the water sterilization method. After the jars are removed and filled, I keep the hot water for the ice chest. 

After you have whisked in the yogurt, ensuring its really stirred in well, pour into your jars. I like to pour the milk into a 4 cup Pyrex, as I find it easier to get into the jars without a total mess!

Remove any foam from the top of the jars. Place the sterilized tops on the jars and place in an ice chest. Carefully pour a gallon of 120 degree water into the ice chest without knocking over your filled jars. 

Close ice chest and place somewhere free from drafts and allow yogurt to sit for a minimum of 3 hours. At the end of three hours check to see if your yogurt is set. You can tell by gently tilting the jar and it should NOT move at all. If for some reason your yogurt has not set, you can place back into ice chest for several more hours. However,if this happens to me, I like to gently remove the water and replace with a gallon of 120 degree water to ensure the yogurt is in a nice warm place. Recheck in a few more hours. Once set, place in the refrigerator for up to one month. 

As I make 4 large jars and one small jar, I save the small jar of yogurt to serve as my starter for the next batch. If for some reason you don't make yogurt within the next month, just go back to store and buy a small cup of yogurt and use as your starter. 

Please let me know if you have any questions and/or comments. 

Why We Do The Things We do

I believe many of us are looking for ways to live a more peaceful life. Trained as a Master Naturalist, I look to maintain the quality of our native ecosystems through training designed to help "read" the landscape. This includes understanding the underlying geology, specific inhabitant's (birds, plants, mammals, etc), ecology and the impact of humans on the landscape, including how we conserve our natural environment.

I enjoy taking people on quiet walks in nature, and encourage them to look around and notice all the natural beauty God has created. We notice animal tracks (footprints) so we know who lives there. We discuss the impact humans have on the environment, and some ideas on how they can be good stewards of the land.

This training has inspired me to learn ways to reduce my waste, recycle anything I can, make more of my own food, as well as other products in my home. It's better for me, the environment, and our earth as a whole. Every little change helps, they all add up. Several ways I am going about making these changes are through learning about sustainable living techniques, and permaculture (I will talk more about that on another blog).

Sustainable living is defined as a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's use of the Earth's natural and personal resources. Sustainability has the potential for long-term health benefits as well as environmental, economic, and social advantages. 

I like sharing all that we are learning. Working together we can create a more peaceful and beautiful place for ourselves, our children, and generations to come. Please join me in this journey, as journeys taken together are always more enjoyable!

Water lily.  San Angelo, TX

Soap Making 101

Yesterday was a LONG day but we learned a lot! Who knew you could take an all day soap making class? Who knew some soap was made with tallow (aka beef fat?, or goat fat, sheep...)

The Finished Product

All soap has to contain lye, a very water soluble, and caustic basic solution. That didn't sound so good to me, but if you like to stay clean you use soap! The folks we learned from make most of their soap outside as the fumes are very dangerous. Bad for you, your children and pets. So we used safety equipment and mixed the lye outdoors, as you will see in the photos. My first question was, then why are we using on our skin? This soap process takes about 6-8 weeks to cure and by then the lye has neutralized. It turns into a mild soap containing natural glycerin. 

Safety first!

Rendering the beef fat - creating Tallow

Making soap the old fashioned way. It's a time honored process that the pioneers used. 

Our second batch is thankfully made without animal byproducts!

In a few months, our website SimplyFaithTX.com will be selling our homemade soaps. I am working on a variety of organic soaps; non-scented, mildly scented, kitchen soaps, soaps for your dog, a gardeners friend, shampoo bar soap, and lovely botanical blends. 

Some processes are easier than others; like the dish or laundry soap (see prior blog posts). Good homemade bar soap is NOT a simple, easy or inexpensive process! I always wondered why it was so high priced at craft fairs, farmers markets, etc. Now I know! 

But, like I said before, I really analyzed my shopping receipts and was determined to GREATLY reduce it. In the coming weeks I will blog on how to make your own yogurt, breads, jellies and jams, dog food, and other fairly simple things we can do ourselves to reduce expenses, and really KNOW what is in our your food. 

Today is a beautiful day in Texas, so I want to go out and work in the garden. I've already started herbs in small pots, they are in the windowsill and the cinnamon basil from Debbie has already sprouted. 

Inside I have started: basil, lemon balm, dill, garlic chives, catnip, sweet basil, spearmint and the cinnamon basil. I also have a few avocado trees started and looking good. Tomatoes are in the greenhouse. Swiss chard, and onions in the ground. I planted a little peach tree that already has blossoms! 

Today I think I will make a spot for the potatoes, and plant the carrots, cucumbers, peppers, beets, lettuce, spinach, kale, broccoli.

I ordered a few fruit trees on-line that should be arriving in a few weeks. A miniature apple tree, another peach tree, thornless black berries and an ARONIA
bush. If you haven't heard of ARONIA before, you should check it out. It is fairly easy to grow and has 3x's the antioxidants of blueberries! 

The garden is calling....

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

Dishwasher soap is basically the same as the laundry soap. it will be easy to make your own environmentally friendly, and inexpensive dishwasher detergent too. About a penny a load.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

1) 1 cup Washing soda  (Arm & Hammer) 
2) 1 cup Borax
3) 1/2 cup food grade Citrus acid (fruit fresh or you could use a packet of unsweetened lemonade)
4) 1/2 cup Kosher salt 

Mix together and place in an air tight jar, like a mason jar or recycle your glass mayo jar, salsa, or pickle jars. For best results put vinegar in your rinse dispenser. 

Tomorrow is our soap making class in Waco! I can't wait until we can make our own bar soap, shampoo, dog soap, and gift soaps like pretty lavender, or refreshing spearmint. 

I want to make a "gardeners friend" soap. I love working in my garden without gloves, I know some people say you should always wear gloves but I like the feel of the cool earth between my fingers! But my hands sure get dirty and extra dry with all the hand washing. 

Cuticle cream is a must for me! When we went to the faire in November I got a good recipe for that...something else to blog about later.

I've been making my own dog & cat food...which reminds me suppers almost ready. More to follow...

Homemade Laundry Soap

I like the idea of reducing my monthly living costs and my footprint on our planet. One thing I started doing was looking at the items I buy at the grocery store and analyzing what was costing me the most each month. One area that I found most expensive was related to cleaning supplies, and laundry soap. 

Borax, Washing Soda, Lye Soap, and Baking Soda

Homemade laundry soap is easy and inexpensive to make.  There are a lot of recipes on the Internet and this one was simple and quick. You only need a few items, and most of them can be found at Walmart. I haven't sat down with a calculator but the cost seems to be just pennies a load. 

Homemade Laundry Soap

You will need these items to begin;
1)   A large bucket with a lid ($5 at the local tractor supply)*
2)   1 cup grated lye soap (Cracker Barrell offers them)
3)   1/4 cup borax
4)   1/4 cup baking soda 
5)   1/4 cup washing soda 
6)   1-2 gallons of water - if making liquid soap

Using a cheese grater grate the lye soap. Then spread the lye on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper to dry overnight. Mix all the ingredients together. If you want want to use the laundry soap in the dry form use 1-2 tablespoons per load.
*You won't need the large bucket if your making dry laundry soap. 

If you want to make a liquid laundry soap place ingredients and a gallon of water into a large pot. While stiring, warm up the batch until all items have blended together. Pour into the large bucket and add another gallon of warm water. Stir well. You could add a few drops of essential oil if you wanted scented soap. 

Note: About once or twice per month you may want to add a cup a vinegar to your wash. I know it is very good for your blankets, sheets, and cleans your machine, and it does not make your laundry smell like vinegar.

I recycled my empty liquid laundry soap dispenser. I refill it as needed.

A New Beginning

Where do I begin a new blog? I recently purchased a new website, www.simplyfaithtx.com . I am building it now and will publish it once I have something decent out there to share.

Simply Faith is based on the concept of working as hard as you can, doing all you can to be successful and then Simply have Faith in God that it goes well. I make natural products, using simple recipes that I can offer to my friends, family and hopefully customers. We are in the beginning stages of this new venture, and I thought a blog logging our journey may be interesting. 

We began with making homemade soap. We gathered supplies from the craft store, Michael's, and some essential oils from Sunflower. In no time we had made an oatmeal & honey soap with oats to help remove dry skin. We made lavender glycerin soap with lavender buds too. However, after using them I was not satisfied, nor was I willing to put my name on the product! Back to the drawing board. I wanted to create our own soap base, not purchase it. After much research, we decided to sign up for a class based in north Waco. They had an old recipe and taught a day long class in soap making. Bingo!

Saturday, we take the much awaited class. I am really looking forward to it even if I have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive almost two hours! 

More on that later.

My friend, Debbie, and I been learning, reading, and taking classes on many topics. In general, how to become self sustaining. Learning how to grow our own produce, canning jams, preserves and jellies. We are working on Cheese making, making our own bread, laundry soap, and learning how to make our own baskets. I am considering buying land in the Texas Hill Country (beautiful!) and moving out so we can really become self sustaining. Researching various farm animals, visiting local farms...how far can two women from Chicago take this interesting life challenge?

Debbie and I met in an serendipitous way. I had recently been RIF'ed from SuperMedia, the old GTE yellow pages. I knew I didn't want to go back to corporate America, but where would I find work? I was on unemployment, and searching. I had worked for GTE more than 21 years...I love animals, nature, art, and working with children. Could I really make an income with any of that? I began volunteering at places I thought I may want to work. The Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, Fort Worth Nature Center and looking for other opportunities. In googling wildlife in North central Texas, I found, Metro Wildlife Rehabbers. I called and before you know it I was speaking to various women who rehabilitated bunnies, squirrels, opossums...they were interesting but not quite what my heart wanted. Bonnie suggested, I speak to Debbie, she rehabilitates raccoons. Perfect! I had a lot of interest in those smart, curious creatures!

The day we met, we realized we had a bunch of things in common. We are both from Chicago suburbs, both raised Catholic, her ex-husband worked at SuperMedia too, and yes, I knew him. So much in common, it had to be a sign! Neither of us believed in coincidence...so came the beginning of a new friendship. She was holding, well they were climbing all over her, three baby raccoons. I KNEW I wanted to do this!

My babies: Willie, Diana, & Kate