The Fourth of July

Six months after moving to Parsons, Kansas I still feel like an outsider.  The houses, the trees, the people, the habits all seem so different from what I’m used to.  I think I’ll eventually get used to the differences between Parsons and everything that had been a part of my life before January, but it hasn’t happened yet.  The differences are subtle enough I never barely noticed them on my various visits to Southeast Kansas, and they are subtle enough I have a difficult time explaining them.  Life here is so different from life in Denver or even St. Francis but I find it hard to tell my friends why.

The Fourth of July is a holiday here in a way I never experienced in the West.  Both St. Francis and Denver are so dry that fireworks are usually banned because the risk of fire is so high.  Also, my family was almost always harvesting over the Fourth, so we were working from early in the morning until after dark.  Here, the Fourth of July is a time for huge parties, extravagant fireworks displays, spending time with family, and eating good food.  I had so much fun last year (that may have been partially due to seeing Sam after five weeks of separation), and this year will be even better!  This year, Katie, Abby, Abby’s four kids, Aunt Becky, Janessa, Alex, and Papa are all coming to celebrate with us.  

My parents have spent the night in Parsons, visited for a few hours, and then headed back on the road.  They were the first to see my house, but they haven’t yet had a chance to really see my life.  The family members coming this weekend are the first to spend several days with Sam and I.  They are the first people to see the differences first hand.  I am so excited to show them my home, my life, the places I go, introduce them to my friends, and I can’t wait to spend time with them!  Also, I am excited for them to experience a Southeast Kansas Fourth of July.  I am sure they will love it as much as I did.

We are almost ready for the chaos, but (because this is half a Parsons blog and half a cooking blog) I’ve been making a lot of food for the weekend.  I made 4 gallons of ice cream for the party at Phil and Julie’s on Sunday, and I’m making several loaves of bread for toast and sandwiches while the kids are here.  Maybe I’ll tell you my ice cream recipe sometime, but today I’ll tell you my bread recipe.  I’ve been baking in a toaster oven so I can only do one loaf at a time, but you can do several loaves at once and make your life easier.

1 C Warm water
⅓ C Sugar
1 T yeast
2 T oil
¾ t salt
2 ½-3 C bread flour

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water, let sit around 10 minutes until a creamy foam covers the entire top.   Here’s a picture so you can see what you’re looking for:


Stir in oil, salt, and 2 C flour.  Put 1 C flour on a clean counter top, dump dough onto the flour and knead until dough feels elastic and smooth.  Don’t clean up your flour mess. Spray mixing bowl with cooking spray or pour a small amount of oil in the bottom of the bowl.  Place dough in oiled mixing bowl, and completely cover dough with oil to prevent the dough from sticking as it rises.  Cover the bowl loosely with a towel, plastic wrap, or lid and let rise until doubled in size (about an hour--or less if you live in hot, humid Parsons).  Once dough has risen, dump it back on to your floured counter top and knead again.  Shape into a greased 9x5 loaf pan, cover again, and leave to rise.  You can clean up your flour mess now.  Once your loaf has risen to about ½ or 1 inch above the top of the pan, bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Bake until top is golden brown and when you push the top down it feels like bread, not dough.  Remove from pan and let cool.  Enjoy!


I’m off to go make some more bread.  I plan on having about 6 loaves for the weekend.  I should also get the beds made and sweep the floor. Our dogs produce more hair than I do, and that’s impressive!