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Hey folks! Thank you for all reading along with me! I DO appreciate comments, so don't be shy! I'm tired...just plain tired. Tis the season for that. I apologize for not being better at keeping up with the blog! So, a funny thing happened on the way to preparing a demo I was doing on grinding wheat and making bread. I have been stocking up on wheat for a while. It lasts for 30 years if packed right and regular flour is lucky to make it past 3 years, so I figured it would be a wise thing to do. Then one day, I said "how am I going to grind it?". So I researched and bought a hand cranked grain mill (the WonderMill Jr) and it came and since I had flour, I put it up and didn't think much more about it, except that I had it for when I needed it. One day, I had a request to do a demo on grinding the wheat...so I thought to myself "hey! great chance to put the grain mill to work and get a feel for things!". So, I set it up, went and hauled up a bucket of wheat and started grinding. Well, the wheat went everywhere...didn't think that was right, so I checked the stones that were grinding and discovered that they weren't seated just right. Fixed that and started all over again. OH MY GOD!!!! Now, I realize several things: now I know why folks with hand crank grain mills talk so much about how they've semi motorized them with bikes. I also know (without a doubt) why our forefathers settled near a grist mill! I was seriously worried that I would end up looking like Popeye! However, I ran out of steam way before that happened...and had less than a cup of flour to show for it! So, being the wise woman I am, I waited (like a spider) for hubby and a friend to come home. Big manly men that they are, I figured it was just ME, being out of shape. They attacked the handle and cranked, frequently saying "this isn't bad!" then looking at the other one and saying "you try!". It wasn't long before they retired to the basement and came back up with a giant powered screw driver thingy and it's chargers....much better, but before long I was hearing "my finger is getting sore". *snicker* I know now what I am getting for Christmas...an electric powered grain mill, and an inverter for a solar panel we have so that I don't have to worry about the power it's using. I heard a lot of grunting coming from the guys (a la Tim the Toolman Taylor)and figure it will be a "Binford 5000" model. I urge everyone to give grain grinding a try...it will open your eyes to the whole proccess. I have to say though, the bread was delcious! The grain smelled so much better ground than any flour you can buy off the shelf, that I believe this is a good thing to do! I also made notes on costs and a loaf of home made bread can be made for HALF of what a regular loaf goes for in the store (average loaf/average price). I know the health benefits are well worth it too. I suggest that if you start making your own bread, that you do a "baking day" in the old tradition and make several batches and store them for the week ahead. It was a fun, zany and great experiment with lots learned by all! I'm using a new version of the google blogger and can't find any of the usual buttons I use, so I apologies for any errors in spelling and typing! I'll post pictures of the mill and bread IF I ever figure out how! Join me tomorrow for my weekly radio show! We'll be talking about safety in the home during long time crisis and things you can do now to mitigate those issues. Also, more on the depression era mindset. Thursdays @ 8.pm. eastern time on shtfradio.com