Friday, April 30, 2010

My Hooch is Starting to Smell

... and this is a good thing! I wish this blog had smell-o-vision! My sourdough starter has a nice sour smell and has developed the frothy bubbly layer. I am going to leave it out today and then move it to the refrigerator tonight!




I am also doing some container gardening this year - the idea of a big in ground garden is overwhelming! So why not do seeds in small pots on the deck??

My mixed lettuce salad container:


My cilantro, lavender, basil!


Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Sourdough Starter

In the past 16 months or so I have been on a mission to make bread, bagels, soft pretzels, etc from scratch - no machine.

I have been successful so far. And now the "final frontier" dun dun dun. SOURDOUGH! For some reason it has seemed like such a big thing to tackle. You have to make a starter, you have to think about it weeks in advance. And then I actually started reading up on it. I read my Betty Crocker cookbook, web sites etc. All say the same thing. One cup of flour and one cup of water to make your "pet"... then just feed it, care for it, let it grow. Well, 2 lovely children prove I can do that, right?

So 48 hours in, here is what I have:


Apparently Baby Barbie and duckie wanted to swim at the "pool".

By Mother's Day I hope to provide the sourdough rolls or bread for brunch with the family, will keep you posted!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

PSA

This is a Public Service Announcement.

If your 5 year old and your 3 year old are racing to see who can get their PJ's on fastest, and the 5 year old wins and rubs it in your 3 year olds face AND the 3 year old is over tired from a very busy weekend, the result will be a FULL ON melt down.

Melt Down will include high pitched screaming which you and your husband will immediately think means someone is mortally injured and you will both jump and SPRINT to the stairs.

At that point your heart will be racing and you will be winded from the scare. You will want to grab your 3 year old and hug her to you - even though she is screaming - just because she didn't crash down the stairs.

But the screaming - the intense, unbelievable, wracking sobs, screaming - will be so involved that your child will loose her ability to hold in her urine. This will soak both you and the screaming child in said urine.

You will drop your child on the floor and walk away. Calmly walk away. Your husband can handle bedtime. You must cancel any plans you had, change your clothes, get into your own bed, knit and veg in front of the TV.

Please be sure to communicate this to all those that could be affected.

Good Luck and God Speed.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Rock Star Soft Pretzels

Today the girls and I made these:

1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1 dash salt
1 1/2 cups 110 degree water

Combine 4 ingredients above, let sit for at least 5 minutes.

4 cups bread flour

Stir flour into above mixture and KNEAD for 5 minutes!

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour

Divide dough into 8-12 equal-size pieces; roll each piece into a rope; shape each rope into whatever you want!


1 Tbls. baking soda
1/4 cup warm water


In a shallow dish, stir baking soda into warm water; dip shapes into mixture; lay coated pretzel onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.


Bake in a 550 degree oven for 8 minutes, or until golden brown.

When pretzels come out of the oven you have lots of choices!

Today, we mixed a melted 1/2 stick butter with some honey, and for half of our pretzels we brushed the honey butter on the pretzels and then sprinkled cinnamon sugar.

For the other half, we used 1/2 stick of butter melted, and then kosher salt.

Enjoy :)

I usually freeze half of what we bake, then when we are in the mood pop one into the microwave for 30-45 seconds and they are perfect!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Easter Egg Hunt 2010


At Grandy and Grandad's