I love the 5 minute a day bread! I can't knead bread any more and this has enabled me to have fresh bread at my finger tips without making them ache. I sort of can't believe how many say it lacks salt, has no flavor, etc. This from people who for any other recipe wouldn't hesitate to tweak it. I add more salt than called for and find it has quite a good taste. I do prefer it after it has been in the fridge for at least four or five days. It lasts for up to two weeks with no problem. I often will make the first loaf after only two days but then I try to wait for several more days before using it again. I've never had a problem with it rising and I keep my heat set at 58 degrees [have to remember the code for the degree symbol]. Sure, it takes longer, but as has been said.. dough rises on it's own schedule. I tend to err a little on the over proofing so usually get quite puffy loaves. I have used my enameled cast iron too with good success but the stone seems to do fine with the water in the oven. I made a mistake when using the enameled and heat the lid too... oops.. it chipped off a hunk of the enamel inside the lid. Oh well. How many times have I heard on here that ... it's bread... flour, yeast, salt, water... it makes itself. Well, this bread is that way too. Add some salt or herbs or whatever. Let it sit longer if you like a stronger flavor. It's wonderful for those of us that can't knead any longer, don't have an expensive machine to do the work, or those who like to be able to grab a hunk out and make rolls or a small fresh loaf. Five day dough wouldn't go for crackers unless I really wanted some of those great looking crackers. Five days is primo dough for me. I'd wait until the two week mark looms. Smiles.

Hi yes I have used the Bread Machine Yeast in the Challah. They call it rapid rise but it is more like Acitve Dry. Yeast is SO confusing !! This will make 3 braids. There are lots of great YouTube videos of braids. Your DD will love looking at some of them for ideas :) Challah is the perfect bread for grilled cheese sandwiches...never will you find better ! It is also wonderful for French toast and croutons when it gets stale. Bread pudding also. Can't go wrong with Challah. I do have a good whole wheat . I will get it out and type it in. You really need to get your starter going and then make SD with a soaker...that means you take the whole grains and soak them overnight. It accomplishes several things. The most important is that the grains are way more digestible and also you get so much more nutrition from the flours and grains when they interact with the enzymes in the SD and you retard the loaves overnight for the bake the next day. The price for Bob's Red Mill on Amazon is great ! You can also sign up for the regular shipments to save even more. They have the bulk yeast too and all is free shipping. Walmart has the best buttermilk. It is called Bulgarian Buttermilk and has more good bacteria in it . Very thick and wonderful. You can use the powdered or just add vinegar or lemon to milk but it isn't nearly as tasty or thick. I have some great rye breads. Will add those too. Please take a look at Wild Yeast Blog..she has a lot of breads that aren't sourdough also . c

So you can get an idea of what brown w/ dark trim may offer you here are 2 browns that I used yrs. ago and really liked w/ my dark trim. Clearly you can see that I lean towards most anything w/ a green tone. I won't list the names as I just wanted to give you a general idea.: On a dreary day & flash: The next lighter shade on the strip: Brown could work very well w/ the greyer tones that you are trying to work w/. If I might make a few color suggestions to give you some ideas of greyed colors that could be close to some of those Farrow and Ball colors that could look so nice w/ your wood - not sure about the windows: Really Greyed colors BM Imperial Gray #1571 BM Cheyenne Green #1502 or 1512 - can't read my writing SW Svelte Sage SW Softened Green #6177 BM Mesquite #0501 Clearer colors that are similar to some F&B colors: BM Healing Aloe #1562 SW Mountain Air Valspar Field of Pines #5004-4A BM Blue Grass #CC-640 Valspar April Thicket #5003-3C BM Wythe Blue #HC-143 BM Florentine Plaster #520 SW Naturel #2080 Also don't think that using a rich cream/ neutral color is a cop out. Sometimes that is a beautiful way to pull all of the others colors together and have a subtle yet rich palette that flows so well. Remember - if that window can be seen from other rms. the wall colors in those other rms. can raelly help draw the color of the window out and totally unify everything around it. Have you thought about painting the parlor another color instead of Rich Cream? Maybe paint the entry rm. Rich Cream instead. My thought process is that when you would walk into your home you would see the beautiful window w/ no hard visual color pulling away from it and then all of the subtle greyed tones all around. Although I do see your point - Rich Cream would really look lovely w/ that white in that rm. Personally I do not regret for an instant deciding to go neutral in my hallway.

I like what you did with the matchstick blinds and curtains, better than the roman shades. I wouldn't order those blinds if the shipping is high (I had bamboo ones in my old apartment that I bought at target for decently cheap). Not sure how to post links, as I'm to all this but try these: http://www.target.com/Bamboo-Roman-Shade-Spice/dp/B000KUCEI6/ref=br_1_5?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&searchView=grid5&searchNodeID=15751241&node=15751241&searchRank=salesrank&searchPage=1&searchSize=30&id=Bamboo%20Roman%20Shade%20Spice My one suggestion would be use a more colorful curtain than the white long ones. It makes the room look modern, but a bit to stark and plain. Maybe even just white with a delicate print? Maybe like these from ikea.. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00135551 or these from target http://www.target.com/Home-Damask-Window-Collection/dp/B001J215Y8/ref=br_1_1?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&searchView=grid5&searchNodeID=596480011&node=596480011&searchRank=salesrank&searchPage=1&searchSize=30&id=Home%20Damask%20Window%20Collection (and they're on clearance for super cheap!) As for paint colors, I'm sorry I'm no help. I'm having a mini breakdown trying to decide on a palette for my house as well.. Good luck! And happy decorating! Megan