Thanks Teresa. terrapots - It sounds like you used the correct yeast, but you may have: a. Over-proofed the dough (allowed it to rise more than double) during the first rise (bulk fermentation) and it didn't have any "umph" left for the final proof after it was panned - especially since you didn't have any oven spring to the loaves. If the dough is under-proofed, you generally get oven-spring but the sides will shred (crack open). b. Allowed the dough to rise in a temperature that was too warm, thereby killing some of the yeast. Do you pre-heat the oven for a bit and then put the dough in the oven to rise during the 1st rise? It's easy to have the warmed oven TOO hot when using this method. Most people don't check the internal temperature of the oven. When you place the dough into the oven, the yeast on the outside of the dough will quickly die if the ambient temperature 140°F or hotter. The temperature should be below 90°F. If you use your oven for a proofing box, just use the light in the oven for warmth (turn it on to warm the oven when you first start making your bread) and check the temperature. In my oven, it's between 80°-85°F on the opposite side of the oven from the light - which is a great temperature for dough rising. c. Your yeast may not be active. I once purchased a new package of SAF-Instant Yeast that was well before the use-by date that wouldn't rise at all. When you use bulk yeast, it's good to test it. Especially if you don't use it very often and it's in storage a long time. To test yeast: In a 1-cup glass measuring cup place 1/4 c. warm water, 1 t. sugar, 1-1/2 t. yeast. Wait 10 minutes. If the yeast is active, the mixture should be up to the 1/2 c. line. If the rise isn't to the 1/2-cup line, then you know the yeast isn't active enough to raise dough to double. Helpful hint: when proofing yeast in water/sweetener, add the yeast to the water, not the water to the yeast. The activity of water being dumped on the yeast can actually kill some of them. If you vigorously stir the mixture, you can kill some of the yeast. If you're like most people you use a slant-sided bowl for the dough to rise in. The slanting sides is an inaccurate way to judge when the dough has doubled. It's much smaller on the bottom of the bowl and gets larger as it goes up. It's easy to under- and over-proof dough in a slant sided bowl because you're not exactly sure what or where "double" is. And once again, dough doesn't know how to tell time, so the instructions in the recipe for rising times is just a good (or bad) guess. I'd suggest using a dough rising bucket to help gauge when dough has doubled in the first rise. You can find them at restaurant supply stores or on-line from King Arthur Flour or other on-line sources. They call them food storage containers at restaurant supply stores. They come in both square and round models at the restaurant supply stores - I have some of both. I normally use a round 2-quart size (usually 2-1/2# dough), but I have them in several sizes for larger amounts of dough. As long as it has a tight fitting lid and straight sides, you're in business for a dough rising bucket. It's the perfect environment for dough rising. No drafts, hold and provides it's own moisture, etc. If you happen to have an empty plastic ice cream bucket, that would work. The dough rising buckets/food storage containers have graduated measurements on the side, which makes it nice to use. If you use another type of straight-sided plastic container that doesn't have measurements on it, just use a ruler to measure the dough. Handle the dough with oiled hands. Pat it into the bottom of the plastic container and put on the lid. Measure where the dough is up the side of the container with a ruler. Take that measure and double it and place a piece of masking tape there - make sure you remember (or mark) whether the top of the tape, or the bottom of the tape, is where the dough will be double. When the dough rises to that mark, that means the dough has doubled in bulk. If the dough measures 1-1/2-inches, then it's double at 3-inches - if it measures 2-inches, then it's double at 4-inches, and so on. You can place the dough in the dough rising bucket in the oven with the light on, as a nice warm spot for the dough to rise. Start checking the dough to see how much it's risen after 20-25 minutes. It may only take 30-minutes to double. -Grainlady

For back stock I use food-safe plastic 3, 4 and 5 gallon tightly-sealed, long-term storage containers stored in a cold (50-32F, depending on season) storage room, not in the kitchen. One pail for each kind is stored in pantry off corner of kitchen. These live on floor-level of pantry shelving so I can pull them out, scoop out what I need for grinding and then scoot them back. I have a large grain scoop that lives right there and a plastic bucket that's just for transporting grain to the mill. After grinding, any excess is then stored in large glass (half-gallon) jars in the pantry. I buy my AP flour, and a few specialty flours so I don't grind as much as I have in the past. HTH L.

I've cooked many a meal for large family gatherings. It is so wonderful to have everyone together. Most important thing is to relax and enjoy the day. With that many folk any mishaps will go unnoticed!! There are two ways to approach this. One is to have lots of people bring different dishes, whatever they want from certain categories, ie dessert, veggies, casseroles, pickles, breads etc. The advantage of this is that you end of with a wide variety and people get to bring a favourite dish. The downside is that there is only a little of each thing and some dishes will be gobbled up by the firt 10 people through the line! The other way is to set a menu and then ask people to bring a dish from the menu. The advantage of this is you can control the amount and variety of the food. Must admit this is my preferred method for example here is a menu and ideas on quantities. This is just an example, you can adjust the numbers as you wish, depending on the numbers contributing. People can choose to bring what they want from the menu. Baked Beans, 1 people brings enough for 40 people Squash casserole 4 people bring enough for 10 (fearlessem's recipe is amazing) Green Bean casserole 4 people each bring enough for 10 Dressing, 2 people each bring enough for 20 Rolls, 1 person brings enough for 40 Pickles and cranberry sauce 1 person brings enough for 40 Mashed potatoes and gravy might be best done by the hostess or give that one out too and you do things like pickles and rolls that will take no time and allow you focus on other things. Butternut Squash Gratin With Rosemary Breadcrumbs (fearlessem) Servings 10 1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 4 Cup thinly sliced onions (about 1 pound) 2 1/2 Lb butternut squash peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 Tsp sugar 1/2 Tsp salt 1/2 Tsp ground black pepper 3/4 Cup canned low-salt chicken broth 2 Cup fresh breadcrumbs made from soft whitebread 2 Cup (packed) grated sharp white cheddar cheese 1 1/2 Tbl chopped fresh rosemary 1/2 Tsp dried thyme Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; saute until onions are light golden, about 8 minutes. Add squash; saut 4 minutes. Sprinkle sugar, salt and pepper over vegetables; saut until onions and squash begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes.~ Spread vegetable mixture in prepared dish. Pour chicken broth over. Cover tightly with foil and bake 45 minutes. (Squash mixture can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Reheat in 350F oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.) Increase oven temperature to 400F. Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, rosemary and thyme in medium bowl. Sprinkle over gratin. Bake uncovered until top is golden brown and crisp, about 30 minutes. Makes 10 servings. Emily~ NOTE: Can use sour dough bread cubes instead of crums, and Gruyere instead of cheddar, add some diced apples too Here are my "cheater" baked beans , fast and easy but good, especially with the ham. Baked Beans Servings 12 - 15 1 Can kidney beans drained 1 Can lima beans drained 2 Can Brown Beans (like Bush beans) 1 1/2 Cup of chili sauce 2 Tbl brown sugar 1 Tbl Dijon mustard 1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbl molasses 3 Slice bacon cut in half Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium baking dish, mix kidney beans, lima beans, brown beanas, chili sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and molasses. Top with bacon. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until thick and bubbly.

caavonldy- That's a great plan... It took me 18-months to get a full year of food in storage on a $200/month food budget, plus I have 3-years worth of the "Seven Survival Foods". Now my food budget is $125/month, so that's one of the benefits from having home food storage (this amount is for two adults). I talked with my best friend about this very subject just last night because she's diabetic and very carb sensitive and can't eat soy either. These are sources of protein I have in storage. You probably already have many of them. 1. Protein powders, especially whey protein. Whey has the highest BV (Biological Value) and you will assimilate more protein from whey than any other source of protein. The next highest are eggs, then beef, chicken, fish and legumes - on down the scale. 2. Powdered whole eggs. I get mine from Honeyville Grain in #10 cans. When powdered eggs are less expensive per egg than shell eggs I use powdered eggs. About the only shell eggs I use these days are when the store sends me a coupon for a dozen eggs - free. There are approximately 80-90 eggs per #10 can. I love powdered eggs when I want to make 6-muffins and I need 1/2 an egg. Many foods we make don't need a whole egg, so using 1/2 an egg in pancakes, for instance, it also saves some money. 3. If you have a pressure canner you can home-can all kinds of meat. (see link below) 4. Canned meat from the store. When I was a child back in the mid-50's we had a refrigerator that had a freezer about 12-inches square, and for a family of 6 who only got groceries once-a-month, there wasn't enough room for much meat in it, so mom served all kinds of canned salmon, tuna, Chicken A la King, Spam, Ham Spread, Chunk Ham, Roast Beef, Chicken, Dried Beef for you-know-what on a shingle....;-) I remember whole stewed chickens coming in cans and made wonderful chicken noodle soup. Now I make White Chili with a 10-oz. can of chicken, can of white beans (or home-cooked beans), cup of water and some McCormick White Chicken Chili Seasoning Mix - all are pantry foods. I have many of those same foods in storage and most of them have very long storage times. When you start looking at the store you'll find a good assortment of meat in cans. I even have Yoder Bacon in cans. 5. Most expensive... Freeze-dried meats which reconstitute in a few minutes in hot water. I have freeze-dried ground beef, sausage crumbles, white turkey, chicken, beef roast, and diced ham (I've also noticed freeze-dried shrimp and pork chops recently...). Check Mountain House, Emergency Essentials, Honeyville Grain, Nitro-Pak, Augason Farms. There is freeze-dried cheese and cheese powder in storage. Shredded Colby or Mozzarella will rehydrate in a few minutes in warm water and will feel, taste, and melt just like freshly-grated cheese. 6. I also keep Vital Wheat Gluten in #10 cans in storage to use as a meat extender or meat substitute and make "wheat meat" (aka fake meat, seitan or gluten) with it. There is nearly as much protein in ground "wheat meat" as there is in ground beef. I mix it 50/50 with any kind of ground meat I'm using to get more protein for my money - I also cut fat and cholesterol. I can make this from whole wheat flour, but it's easier to make it from Vital Wheat Gluten. Ground gluten can also be used as a high-protein granola-like "cereal". For more information: "The Amazing Wheat Book" by LeArta Moulton or http://www.livingwithbasics.com/documents/awb-recipes/pdf/wheatgluten.pdf 7. Lesser amounts of protein from powdered milk, peanut butter, beans/seeds/grains/nuts. The bulk of the milk in storage is a whey-based milk substitute - Morning Moo's - www.augasonfarms.com. And I also use another non-fat dry milk product - Country Cream - http://www.grandmascountryfoods.com/ Morning Moo's is less expensive and makes 22-quarts per #10 can while Country Cream makes 20-quarts. Both of these milk products come in bulk amounts for a real savings on milk if you are going to use it on a regular basis, or for storage - #10 cans. Both taste as good as regular store bought milk. We only use powdered milk. Good luck. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation