I Knead Bread

2008 was the year of bread-baking for me. I had always wanted to try it, but it seemed like a huge time commitment and mucho planning. It took me until last spring to get there. It all started with the No-Knead Bread recipe from the NY Times. Mix up the ingredients and then just let it all sit. What could be easier? It came out so great and looked professional, I think it may have been the first food item I felt compelled to be document with a photo (though I wish I had taken a photo of the inside—next time):

With the move to Ann Arbor, I have had some time on my hands while job-searching, and have delved whole-heartedly into the bread-baking world. The boy really wanted to try making bagels (No, not some clever euphemism. Really, making bagels)—so we did. It was a trial of nerves as I am one to follow the recipe to a T on the first go round; he is not.
I had also been reading what we have come to call the Nazi bread book. I complete guide to whole wheat bread making that is uber-strict to say the least. You MUST do this, and heaven-forbid you do NOT do this… etc etc. I took it all a little too much to heart and was whipped into a perfectionist frenzy. That soon passed. What the heck do I care if the coloration of the bread isn't exactly even over the whole loaf — it tastes good? Great. That's enough for me. Regardless, the bagels turned out pretty rockin' in the end — I wish I had taken a few pix. Next time.

Then, on to baguettes. Yum. Much easier than I thought they would be (perhaps it was my overzealous book training) though I don't think my subsequent efforts have been quite as good as that very first one (you know what they say…).




I had been buying King Arthur flour and started noticing the recipes on the back of the bags. I tried their Oatmeal Bread and loved it so much that I've gone on to try a bunch of their recipes. This bread smells so good with the best ting of sweetness and perfect density for toast or a super-hearty sandwich. Yum!!



What shall I try next…

Trial and error

I've been working on needlepoint bracelets. After much trial and error, I'm not sure if it's right. I can't seem to get the edges sewn so that they look clean/professional. Bits of the canvas show through. The last sample I made (the brown one below) has a better form to it thanks to a special insert, and I hand-stitched the edges, but still not sure… I am having fun with the colors and experimenting with different stitches. Maybe I'll post them soon…

Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside!

Here's another recipe I had tried last spring and had been meaning to make again. They were part of a Food & Wine Easter menu. I had remembered them as being a ton of work, but I cut recipe in half and it took no time at all. Well worth the effort — even on a weeknight. Yummy crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside! The gourmet answer to tater tots. Try it!

What's in a name?

If I had known when I set up this blog that I would actually use it as a place to write, I might have called it the Bashful Blogger or the Reluctant Blogger. I set it up so that I would have a place to post my Illustration Friday drawings. It didn't cross my mind for a minute that I might actually one day want to use it for anything else, and yet here we are.

At the time, I was constantly listening to Loretta Lynn's album, Van Lear Rose — in particular the song "Portland Oregon." It's a duet with Jack White of White Stripes fame (he produced the album, too). The whole album has such a great sound, but I loved this song in particular and while I hadn't had a sloe gin fizz yet, I loved the expression. Sloe(w) makes me think of the south in a great Loretta Lynn kinda way, gin is my drink of choice and fizz just sounds celebratory. Put it all together, what's not to love?

Loretta Lynn and Jack White sing:

Well Portland Oregon and sloe gin fizz
If that ain't love then tell me what is…
… Well sloe gin fizz works mighty fast
When you drink it by the pitcher and not by the glass
Hey bartender before you close
Pour us one more drink and a pitcher to go
And a pitcher to go

What's cooking?

One of the things I've been meaning to write about here is what's happening in the kitchen. The boy and I keep talking about doing some serious menu planning and keeping track of all the tasty things we've tried, so that when we ask "what's for dinner?" there's a go-to list. Basic, right? We've had some half-hearted attempts, but what better time to start with a full-blown attempt than January 1st? So being the geeks that we are, we now have a shared google doc spreadsheet with our daily menu with links to the recipes and all!

MEYER-LEMON GNOCCHI
I had been meaning to make gnocchi for the boy since moving here. He loves it and I had tried it out on my family last spring to rave reviews. So on New Year's Day we had a marathon gnocchi-making session—Meyer-lemon gnocchi. Well, sort of. After one too many glasses of champagne I proceeded to add the zest of the specially purchased meyer lemons to the egg whites, instead of the egg yolks necessary for the dough. Oops! Ah well, zested some regular old lemons and had zesty Meyer lemon french toast the next day! All rocked in the end! While I don't have snaps of that venture, below is our Jan. 2nd dinner: the boy's creation of a yummy layered concoction of rice, refried beans, leftover steak, jalapenos, sour cream, cucumbers and cheese, all dipped into with tortilla chips -- Yummy!

More eating adventures to follow shortly.

Crafty gifts

I wanted to make as many of Christmas gifts as possible this year -- since I had some extra time and NEED to save money! I decided to go with a cooking theme, since it's something my family enjoys doing together and that I've been doing a lot of these days. I made my own recipe books with my favorite recipes from 2008 and packaged them with felted potholders that I knit. Yippeee! They turned out pretty well, though these pictures are quite crappy.

Baby blanket knitting completed—finally!

I am pleased to say that I finally finished knitting a baby blanket I started more than a year ago (said baby is now 1 1/2 years old—oops!) I think I actually finished the knitting in November, but it took December to get the finishing details. In the end, I'm very happy with it and still like the pattern. Have a look at left.

Wooly mammoth

The wool for my next knitting project has arrived after much anticipation – it's gorgeous! It came wrapped like a gift and I can't wait to get started on a sweater for the boy. This will be my first sweater, so I chose a simple pattern with super-chunky yarn so that it will go quickly.

Here's a look:

Like it's my job

Well, this was supposed to be a venue for my drawing-a-day way back when I set it up, but after two attempts, I don't think that's gonna fly… SO, let's start fresh. I read today about Jim Harbison in ReadyMade magazine. He started his blog as a virtual scrapbook because he was good at finding things and wanted a way to keep track. I want a way to keep track. I hope to post here anything that strikes my fancy or anything I'm doing at the moment because I don't want to forget those moments. I just made a major move a couple of months ago and have discovered so much in that time, that I'd like to have a place to both record those changes and adventures, and to share them with those I haven't been good about keeping in touch with. So there. That's me. And my new, new intro. I'm gonna blog like it's my job… 'til I get a job at least!! Plenty of pix to follow…

Illustration Friday: REPAIR

I was always sad that the whole boot didn't fit in my sketch book, so I decided to do some shoe repair for IF.

Illustration Friday: STRINGS

09.28.2008

NO. 20 - AUG 18

NO. 19 - AUG 17

NO. 18 - AUG 16

NO. 17 - AUG 15

NO. 16 - AUG 14

NO. 15 - AUG 13

NO. 14 - AUG 12

NO. 13 - AUG 11