tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31689408039599055402024-03-13T13:51:23.552-04:00Petalz and FinzI am a thirty-something mother of two girls and a boy ranging from 9 months to 10 years. My husband and I are trying to find ways to raise our family healthier. We've recently been able to buy the land we're living on and are working on getting our little homestead up and running.Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-75280806643399804032010-05-16T23:33:00.005-04:002010-05-21T20:24:42.930-04:00HBinFive: Whole Grain Garlic Knots<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" border="0" /></a>Our assignment for this bread braid was to make a batch of the master dough recipe and use it to make several of the different finished bread variations. I made a whole batch of the dough using a little over half regular whole wheat flour and the rest white wheat flour. I didn't grind my own for this batch of bread since I mixed it up while everyone was napping and didn't want to risk losing my baking time by waking up grumpy little nappers! I had some whey left from some cheese I made the day before and used it in place of the water in the dough. I tried another time to use whey in baking bread, but it didn't rise right. It didn't dawn on me until much later that it was because I hadn't thought to warm the whey, and it went right into the dough chilled from the fridge. This time I set the whey out for a few hours before I mixed the dough, and I gave the dough extra time to rise since the liquids were cooler than usual being room temperature to start with. But it did rise eventually with the extra time I gave it, and the loaf of bread I made didn't even require as much time as the book said to give it before it was done with the second rise.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It had been a while since I had made this one up and because we can always use a loaf of bread for sandwiches and what-not, I made the Hearty Whole Wheat Sandwich loaf first. I find the dough pretty sticky to handle before it has been refrigerated, but also find it rises better before refrigeration as well. So if I'm just going to stick the dough into a pan, I can generally get it shaped enough to make a loaf to go in the pan. This one rose so quickly being fresh, unrefrigerated dough that I think it actually over-rose a little. The top looked pretty flat and deflated and dare I say overdone. I was worried for my loaf when I took it out of the oven and Paul commented on my burning it. After it cooled overnight, I sliced into it and was quite pleased with it. Since I've been using the white winter wheat for flour, I haven't had any dark whole wheat bread for a while and this was a pleasant change both visually and taste-wise. I'm not sure that I can really tell any difference using the whey instead of water, but I guess that could be a plus too because it packs some extra goodies into the bread without really affecting how it turns out. Whey is supposed to be very nutritious and good for you--normally I just give it to the chickens and figure I'll get it back through the eggs!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I passed on the pita bread variation because I had no idea where to get black sesame seeds locally and didn't feel like ordering something to finish this bread braid--trying to ease up on the budget a little since some of these breads can run a little pricey when you have to buy unique ingredients for each dough. I was out of regular sesame seeds, and just skimmed right past this recipe. I see on the schedule that a different pita bread recipe is coming up in June, and I will be sure to give that one a try since I've never done a pita bread at home before.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_2qM3hwjdHL2mb4W4SIKe0tz15YwQZEgt_NbS5DemHi7zFfLhinFrnujmKkWiFsWCIwX3Rvl5Dp4nCTRkYPqQpuQY3O2Rnh-UIWamtTXuTC5lms4L2zvLbTmPmVBxii5q2shGeWlomY/s1600/wholegrainknots.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_2qM3hwjdHL2mb4W4SIKe0tz15YwQZEgt_NbS5DemHi7zFfLhinFrnujmKkWiFsWCIwX3Rvl5Dp4nCTRkYPqQpuQY3O2Rnh-UIWamtTXuTC5lms4L2zvLbTmPmVBxii5q2shGeWlomY/s400/wholegrainknots.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473882715800305170" border="0" /></a>I'm glad I didn't pass on the garlic knots, though, because they were delicious! I didn't even have anything fresh to use with them. I used chopped garlic from a jar and dried parsley and grated Parmesan from the can. I wished I had fresh in all of these, but I didn't; so I went ahead with what I had on hand. I even heated the olive oil too hot before I put my garlic into it and burned the garlic instead of just browning it. They still turned out so yummy. I got a couple silicone baking sheets and this was the first time I used one. It made it a breeze to clean up the olive oil mixture that was all over the place from the rolls. The olive oil drizzled over the rolls made them so crispy and crunchy when they were warm from the oven that I really had to round up my willpower to stop with just one. I have a feeling they won't be as good when they have cooled off and aren't quite as oven-fresh, but I'm sure they will still be yummy. This was one of my favorite recipes from the book so far, I think. The crispy outside of the rolls was just incredibly good!<br /></div><br />You can check out what others did using this dough by visiting the <a href="http://bigblackdogs.net/welcome-to-the-11th-hbinfive-bread-braid/">HBin5 bread braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-20417809148226465002010-05-12T10:35:00.001-04:002010-05-12T16:08:41.058-04:00Wordless Wednesday #17<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 125px;" src="http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/images/wordless2.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEianptvWqAvojqV7YigmzDQZVd5OU32Ad5CqTIbtXYBI-bKMjV5e2MYi8gBZ-E0VQsT8pjo2xTKSwIc1yeNajKWoIkVmjTF9HJpouE5Gq2SqOc3yrujWkZqwkW-iI6ug4dwbNw7HWmFT7g/s1600/springholly.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEianptvWqAvojqV7YigmzDQZVd5OU32Ad5CqTIbtXYBI-bKMjV5e2MYi8gBZ-E0VQsT8pjo2xTKSwIc1yeNajKWoIkVmjTF9HJpouE5Gq2SqOc3yrujWkZqwkW-iI6ug4dwbNw7HWmFT7g/s400/springholly.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470477635658840066" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-58951628529501749252010-05-05T18:30:00.003-04:002010-05-05T19:11:36.897-04:00HBinFive: Milk and Honey Raisin Bread<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" border="0" /></a>This challenge for the HBinFive baking group had two different doughs assigned, but I only did one of them. One of the doughs was the Chocolate Espresso Whole Wheat bread that we had also made mid-February. Although I found that bread particularly tasty, I didn't need the temptation of having it hanging around the house for my to polish off. I'm down almost 25 pounds since January thanks to Weight Watchers and decided not to blow the diet with it!<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjXgKBdVYrNR-iPLU91W3v9r-EXE8nEPbDC0ywYkmKuOlyU4IcJJnbn8OyS3sdOQvq60wf7JNYAuYQCfLViRgAhVdhyphenhyphenkEDZx2RJyaJLV9gtUBtt359jqAABhjnJNootMZ4T-rxYEZfCo/s1600/Misc+spring+2010+015.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjXgKBdVYrNR-iPLU91W3v9r-EXE8nEPbDC0ywYkmKuOlyU4IcJJnbn8OyS3sdOQvq60wf7JNYAuYQCfLViRgAhVdhyphenhyphenkEDZx2RJyaJLV9gtUBtt359jqAABhjnJNootMZ4T-rxYEZfCo/s400/Misc+spring+2010+015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467926031397634658" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">The milk and honey bread turned out very good, and definitely could have been a diet-breaker if I hadn't manage to muster up some self-control. Recently at the bulk foods store, I picked up a couple different kinds of wheat grains to try out with my grain mill. I looked them up online after I bought them to see how people liked to use them, and it turned out one (Prairie Gold) is used by lots of folks as an all-purpose flour. So I used that for my all-purpose flour in the recipe, and my white winter wheat for the whole wheat flour portion. Also, since everyone in my family seems to complain when I put raisins into baked goods, I subbed with a dried berry blend containing blueberries, cranberries and cherries. But in retrospect, I think I have eaten most of this loaf anyhow and I think the raisins would have had a bolder taste in it and wish I would have just gone with them. The blueberries are pretty tasty to get in a slice, though. And it made a delicious French toast that was definitely worth repeating!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCrjdARMBHfbUIfXxdm-e28pRZ_JzrOf-UPz36fYBtT_pknS8ukOFcCUE4fv2gwXxLaROk1Qid0EoG6Ke6MBSNT56cIrPDIGTXqi6dk4fnAhmtge0yoCDStvsGPGwd4swulKbpBv3gOk/s1600/Misc+spring+2010+014.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCrjdARMBHfbUIfXxdm-e28pRZ_JzrOf-UPz36fYBtT_pknS8ukOFcCUE4fv2gwXxLaROk1Qid0EoG6Ke6MBSNT56cIrPDIGTXqi6dk4fnAhmtge0yoCDStvsGPGwd4swulKbpBv3gOk/s400/Misc+spring+2010+014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467926028173314754" border="0" /></a>I got a new toy that I was able to use for the first time on this bread--an electric knife. It's amazing! I can't recommend it enough if you are thinking of getting one. I noticed they were marked down to $9 when I was doing my grocery shopping, so I slipped one into the cart. Now that I've tried it, I would have paid twice that price for it! I gave it a trial run with my warm, just baked loaf because I had heard that an electric knife will neatly slice warm bread. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical and not sure what to expect. So to really test it out, I cut off a really thin slice of the warm loaf. It sliced beautifully without tearing up the bread in the least. I can't even slice cooled bread that nicely with my old bread knife. I restrained myself from slicing the whole loaf up then and there (barely!) I was able to cut myself very thin slices of this bread which were quite yummy when covered in the apple jelly that I also made last week.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCrjdARMBHfbUIfXxdm-e28pRZ_JzrOf-UPz36fYBtT_pknS8ukOFcCUE4fv2gwXxLaROk1Qid0EoG6Ke6MBSNT56cIrPDIGTXqi6dk4fnAhmtge0yoCDStvsGPGwd4swulKbpBv3gOk/s1600/Misc+spring+2010+014.JPG"><br /></a>See what others made this go around by visiting the <a href="http://bigblackdogs.net/welcome-to-the-10th-hbinfive-bread-braid/" target="new">HBin5 Bread Braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>. </div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-13094224020876235362010-04-27T22:27:00.005-04:002010-04-27T22:55:04.058-04:00Sustainable Food 101: Week One, Food, Inc.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivltQmqGlPtcB__HGfZVhVaaKIsZOMjRXmmhcbHsVuN_a1XYICEapX77zjmotm1D6gJwqFwogUxlYfScbXfVmM5Ya1Zt-b7vGe3MUvC87VlgBmPzAZ8yiqXAZxY0DGoFbuRFYR3k2560M/s1600/foodinc.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivltQmqGlPtcB__HGfZVhVaaKIsZOMjRXmmhcbHsVuN_a1XYICEapX77zjmotm1D6gJwqFwogUxlYfScbXfVmM5Ya1Zt-b7vGe3MUvC87VlgBmPzAZ8yiqXAZxY0DGoFbuRFYR3k2560M/s400/foodinc.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465013965353512866" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">We just had a chance to watch Food, Inc. this evening and let me just say it was a real eye-opener. Am I ever glad that we are able to raise a good bit of our own meat, eggs, milk and even some produce!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I stumbled across "<a href="http://food.change.org/blog/view/a_five_week_crash_course_in_sustainable_food">A Five Week Crash Course in Sustainable Food</a>" over at <a href="http://www.change.org/">change.org</a> and think I'll work my way through their suggested Sustainable Food 101 syllabus. I've got the first week done and was pleased to see on the online catalog for my local library that they have <em>In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto</em> available.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Have you seen this movie yet? I'd love to hear what you thought of it.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-33722854950142159702010-04-21T11:13:00.000-04:002010-04-21T11:13:23.315-04:00Wordless Wednesday #16<a href="http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/images/wordless2.gif" style="display: block; height: 125px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 100px;" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7KLVaRDBiCmqHbdzbxY5b9f10eGIESDpuKZT92j4Bw6YVXFXHPsv_y_JcUpRn5gx1WaNmdzn_-njWog5J9KGteY_YZM_k3snSJD-XPIrqZ8XCa5KHugtq19jMc22VfGYgX4Y6m3Fh3W4/s1600/Eggs+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7KLVaRDBiCmqHbdzbxY5b9f10eGIESDpuKZT92j4Bw6YVXFXHPsv_y_JcUpRn5gx1WaNmdzn_-njWog5J9KGteY_YZM_k3snSJD-XPIrqZ8XCa5KHugtq19jMc22VfGYgX4Y6m3Fh3W4/s320/Eggs+004.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; border: medium none;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-17591696232932029342010-04-16T13:50:00.000-04:002010-04-16T13:50:38.145-04:00HBinFive: Gluten-Free Olive Oil Bread<a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 289px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This challenge for HBin5 had me trying something I don't think I would ever have bothered with except for trying to stick with the group--gluten-free bread! It's hard not to have noticed the increase of gluten-free products at the store and attention being given to eating gluten-free for various health reasons. Among my friends, I only know one person who is following a gluten-free diet, so I really haven't had much experience with it. I had to do a bit of shopping to make this bread. Thankfully, last week I had a chance to stop at the bulk foods store that is out of town and picked up some soy flour. I should have looked for tapioca pearls there too, but forgot and thought I could get them in town. Turns out they only had Minute Tapioca in town and I thought maybe I could get that ground smaller with the little chopper attachment to my blender, but it really didn't seem to get any finer. I subbed plain gelatin for the xanthum gum since I didn't feel like paying $10 to get any shipped to me when I really doubted it would be used again. I used my grain mill to grind some brown rice flour. Brown rice being an ingredient I do keep on hand, but I've never tried it as flour yet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">The <strike>dough</strike> batter was very, very wet and runny when I mixed it up. I double checked the recipe to see if I'd gotten my ingredients completely out of whack somehow, but couldn't see that I had gone wrong. It would have been helpful if the book noted that this was going to be drastically different than regular dough, but there was no mention in the book. I'm not sure if this was how it was supposed to turn out or not--nobody else seems to have made mention of this in their posts. It rose beautifully in the container, but I had to go out for a while before it was completely done rising. Not sure if I should have stuck it in the fridge then, but I left it out. So it was probably out 3-4 hours instead of the recommended 2 hours. Overnight, it fell a lot in the fridge, but most doughs do seem to go down some.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfwiqJfeaaNP4TmJl7uL_9H1FS2tbZw5HFYZIZyhLO-ivNraU40EcUau8bazi7wAQJHRZ2PaG8hyphenhyphenhYNhiH9ghWDpacDYrTl2CIWQYx47gyYr-dRJo3wE2y6axVTV-viVLzEckqyRYYdM/s1600/noglutendough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfwiqJfeaaNP4TmJl7uL_9H1FS2tbZw5HFYZIZyhLO-ivNraU40EcUau8bazi7wAQJHRZ2PaG8hyphenhyphenhYNhiH9ghWDpacDYrTl2CIWQYx47gyYr-dRJo3wE2y6axVTV-viVLzEckqyRYYdM/s320/noglutendough.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When I took it out this morning to try baking it, the dough had a really strange texture. The book said it wouldn't have any stretch because of the lack of gluten, but it was just some odd looking dough. Sort of reminded me of cornmeal mush or something. I pressed it into a loaf pan, but wasn't holding out much hope for it. The dough didn't rise at all during the 90 minutes I let it sit before baking. It didn't rise at all during baking. So this bread was pretty much a complete fail. I tasted it and it's crunchy on the outside and it doesn't taste terrible. But what to do with such a skinny loaf? Guess the chickens get a treat.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE37gVYO3ehhZ0QYxzBnet1f1XILzNCdvUpe7_O26O0_9BcIAdU8wgcoYXh8buBa5K6zheTXzl6UnkIKeHJC0KBq7YshoV78nj699pqYE-aY59nBBo42otsYkSwANR5eE-XjjUOUYzu-A/s1600/noglutenbread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE37gVYO3ehhZ0QYxzBnet1f1XILzNCdvUpe7_O26O0_9BcIAdU8wgcoYXh8buBa5K6zheTXzl6UnkIKeHJC0KBq7YshoV78nj699pqYE-aY59nBBo42otsYkSwANR5eE-XjjUOUYzu-A/s320/noglutenbread.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm not sure what to do with the remaining dough. I wonder if it would turn into anything usable if I made little patties of the dough and fried it in the skillet. I can't see that it would be worth wasting pizza ingredients to try it as a pizza crust because obviously something didn't come together right with this bread. Either the tapioca or the gelatin substitutions or I totally mismeasured something. Win some, lose some. Not going to bother trying this one again, though. I do have to figure out something to do with the rest of the soy flour I bought for this. I'm not sure if there are more recipes in the book for soy flour or not.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">A lot of people in the group seem to have avoided making this bread, but one of the reasons I joined this group was to get a chance to try all the recipes that I normally would skip over. So even if I don't think it will be a huge hit, I still like to try out the recipes. I figure many of them I will probably never make again, but that's okay because even trying it once has broadened our eating horizons just a little bit. And any complete failures can always be fed to the chickens who will appreciate them, so I don't ever have to throw away anything our family didn't like.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can check out what others did with this dough by visiting the <a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/04/welcome-to-9th-hbinfive-bread-braid.html" target="new">HBin5 Bread Braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; border: medium none;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-42387466390004695672010-04-15T10:04:00.000-04:002010-04-15T10:04:48.212-04:00The Cosa Verde Earth Day Giveaway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.modishblog.com/modish/2010/04/the-cosa-verde-earth-day-giveaway.html"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglBkDUN33qYqqgQZEdh2GcMnOnaw1Oo2PnAdpJI6LCwMIxh71c-9MnRRWM3ZdWnEYr8COrT_2PQx9tWuj_3oyPQ23F7V3nfr8pXP2QohDY2X9wVy6xygyMdNDdQt81amXS0b6mpSG3k8/s200/modishearthday.gif" width="188" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<a href="http://www.modishblog.com/">Modish</a> is having a huge <a href="http://www.modishblog.com/modish/2010/04/the-cosa-verde-earth-day-giveaway.html">Earth Day giveaway</a> with four prize packages full of great handmade goodies. You can get multiple entries to the contest by visiting the shops offering prizes and picking your favorite items to comment about. The giveaway is running through Earth Day, April 22nd. Check it out--there are some really great things to score!<br />
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</div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; border: medium none;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-432867882597703362010-04-12T08:16:00.000-04:002010-04-12T08:16:04.268-04:00Sea Salt vs Table Salt<center><a href="http://www.amazon.com/THE-GOURMET-SEA-SALT-SAMPLER/dp/B002NO2ITC?ie=UTF8&tag=petandfin-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="THE GOURMET SEA SALT SAMPLER" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B002NO2ITC&tag=petandfin-20" /></a></center><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Just a quick post with a couple links to some well-written articles about sea salt that have given me something to think about recently. Paul parents are in from England for a visit right now, so it's harder to find time to post, but I'm hoping to get a post up soon about our trip to the WV State Wildlife Center. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Somewhere along the way, I must have heard that sea salt is better for you than regular table salt. I knew this so I've bought sea salt the last couple times I was able to visit a bulk foods store. But I really wasn't sure why it was different--the stuff I buy looks just like table salt. Then there's Kosher salt, and I've got some cheese salt in the cupboard for making my cheeses. There's also a box of salt to use for canning foods. It all gets a bit confusing.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This weekend, we stopped at the bulk foods store on our way home from the Wildlife Center. I love poking around there and picking up things I can't get in town, but I don't get there frequently because it's over an hour from home in a direction that I normally don't have reason to travel. So when we do pass that direction, I generally try to stop there. This time, I picked up some whole grains to use with my grain mill and some soy flour to use in the next HBin5 bread which is gluten free. Then I remembered we were very low on sea salt, so I went to get some more of it. I noticed a funny colored salt labeled sea salt next to the little tub of white salt that looked just like table salt, but labeled sea salt. I wondered what the difference was between the sea salts and even between the table salt and sea salt, but didn't have any answers. The funny colored stuff was more expensive and looked kind of dirty. I went for the white stuff, but still wondered about it. Then this morning I came across a couple of articles about sea salt and its benefits. Interesting reads!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">As it turns out, I should have tried the more expensive stuff. The reason it looks "dirty" is that it is full of the natural minerals salt is made of before it is stripped and refined to the stuff we are used to seeing on the table. Sea salts come in a rainbow of colors as illustrated by the sea salt sampler pictured at the top of this post. The processing of salt removes all the good stuff that it comes with to the point that iodine has to be reintroduced to the salt. Sea salt has iodine naturally occurring in the minute bits of sea life that are left intact with sun-drying. It seems clumpy because it doesn't have additives to help it pour smoothly. Some sea salts have been processed almost as much as regular table salt, so the benefits of sea salt are essentially gone--like the stuff I bought!<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=petandfin-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002NO2ITC" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Check out these links to read a bit more about it. I'm going to be doing some more reading on this subject myself and would love to hear your take on the salt issue. Do you take a side in the sea salt vs. table salt debate?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://simpleorganic.net/the-healthful-benefits-of-sea-salt/">The Health Benefits of Sea Salt</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.simplebites.net/finding-the-best-salt/">A Guidemap for Finding Real Salt</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.celticseasaltblog.com/articles/salt-articles/salt-your-way-to-health/">Salt Your Way to Health</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; border: medium none;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-19845840434011271902010-04-03T22:22:00.000-04:002010-04-03T22:22:45.338-04:00HBinFive: Carrot Bread and Olive Spelt Bread<a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 289px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 250px;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This time around our HBin5 mission were two breads with veggies included-carrot bread and olive spelt bread. I still have spelt flour hanging around from the red beet buns, so I knew I was going to be making the olive spelt one. And the carrot bread sounded tasty as well, so I got on board with both breads. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl8MC4MWz0ib4kjb-H3MJ4Noh2yojMxgmjAhynd8_R1nvk_00JqnKqkcfilNeAMSf5vF7bRZ9G6rAXgn5rKNxPmibqhd4XXYgCTFVRVolEnDv-MITMT_dpkzvn-VAYT8p2CATx1fdF24/s1600/carrotbread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl8MC4MWz0ib4kjb-H3MJ4Noh2yojMxgmjAhynd8_R1nvk_00JqnKqkcfilNeAMSf5vF7bRZ9G6rAXgn5rKNxPmibqhd4XXYgCTFVRVolEnDv-MITMT_dpkzvn-VAYT8p2CATx1fdF24/s400/carrotbread.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I only made half a recipe of the carrot bread because I wasn't sure how the family would like it and I didn't want to put myself through the temptation of having to finish it all myself! The carrot bread calls for dried fruit to be added, so I used dates and apples. I had read several comments that the included coconut didn't show up strongly in the finished product, so I doubled the amount called for, and while it could be detected, it was still pretty light in coconut flavor. I also used all freshly milled white wheat flour for this bread instead of half wheat and half all-purpose. I wanted to make mine into a braid, so I refrigerated the dough before using it. I used half to form a braid and put the other half into some muffin pans I have with heart designs on the bottom. I wasn't impressed with how the breads looked after baking--they were definitely not the prettiest breads I have made. The braid turned out flat-looking, and the muffins didn't really show the designs from the bottom of the pan well. I decided to use the cream cheese honey cream cheese icing to top the breads with and the icing hid all the unprettiness, and they turned out looking fairly appetizing after all. Everyone said they tasted good, and I really liked this bread. The icing topping was pretty tasty as well. I read several comments from others who baked this bread and said it wasn't very sweet, but you couldn't tell with the icing. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I wasn't sure what kind of olives to get for my olive spelt bread, but found a jar of assorted olives marinated in some kind of wine and herbs combination. Unfortunately for me, the olives weren't pitted and let's just say, it takes quite a while pit a jar of olives! I had fresh yogurt from our goats' milk to use for this dough. I had the spelt flour, as I said, but again instead of using all-purpose flour, I just used some of my own flour ground from the white winter wheat. It's a lot lighter than whole wheat along the lines of the white wheat flour. I thought this dough sounded like a great base for a pizza, so I used about a fourth of it for making a pizza for lunch the other day. I topped it with pizza sauce, mozzarella, and turkey pepperoni. It was a bit hard to roll out because of the olives in the dough and I kept ripping holes in the crust, but managed to pinch it all together. Paul and I enjoyed it, and I loved the mix of olives in the dough. Ivy commented on why I couldn't just make something normal, but this didn't stop her from eating more pizza than either Paul or I did! She just said it would have been better without the olives. I still have some of this dough left and think I will probably wind up with a couple more pizzas from it, but think I might make a little round loaf from it to really see how the bread tastes on its own. If I make this one again, I'm definitely going with pitted olives!! (And I didn't get a picture of the pizza, because we really all were pretty hungry when it came out of the oven, but it looked pretty tasty--you'll have to trust me on that one!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tribest-Yolife-Yogurt-Maker-YL%252d210/dp/B001DZ8S5U?ie=UTF8&tag=petandfin-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Tribest Yolife Yogurt Maker - YL-210" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B001DZ8S5U&tag=petandfin-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=petandfin-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001DZ8S5U" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As there has been some discussion in the HBin5 group about making yogurt, I wanted to comment a little about it. I started making yogurt before we were getting milk from our goats, but now I make our yogurt from our own fresh milk and it's so tasty! I started out with just making it by adding a couple bottles of hot water wrapped in towels to the cooler with the warm innoculated milk and leaving it in the cooler all day to set up, but this year I bought a yogurt maker (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tribest-Yolife-Yogurt-Maker-YL%252d210/dp/B001DZ8S5U?ie=UTF8&tag=petandfin-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">here</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=petandfin-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001DZ8S5U" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />) and I love how easy it makes the incubation period of the yogurt making. You still have to heat your milk and let it cool off before you add your yogurt in. But once it is ready, you can just put your containers right into the yogurt maker and let it keep your milk at the right temperature until it is yogurt. It's not a necessity for making yogurt, but it sure makes things easier. My yogurt maker came with 7 little cups for making individual servings of yogurt and a lid that fits over the little cups, but it also came with a tall lid that lets you use larger containers in your maker. I usually make two quart jars of yogurt at a time, but it could easily fit three and maybe four, I just haven't tried that many. This latest time that I made yogurt, I made a quart of plain to have some to use in my bread and a quart of strawberry. I hadn't added fruit to the yogurt before incubating it before, but the booklet with my maker had a few recipes to try. You have to cook the fruit first before adding it to the milk, and you add some sugar to the fruit while it cooks. All the fruit sank to the bottom while the yogurt incubated, but I strained the yogurt when it was done to make it a little thicker and creamier and then stirred the fruit through the yogurt, and it was so yummy! I'm looking forward to trying other flavors of fruit yogurts now that I saw how well that turned out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can check out what others did with these doughs by visiting the <a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/03/welcome-to-8th-hbinfive-bread-braid.html" target="new">HBin5 Bread Braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; border: medium none;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-81891038384352690832010-03-31T08:34:00.000-04:002010-03-31T08:34:15.681-04:00Rick & Bubba's Big Honkin' Book of Grub by Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey<div style="text-align: justify;"><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=petandfin-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1401604021&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Even if you (like myself) hadn’t heard of the Rick and Bubba show before, you can still enjoy their southern wisdom and humor in this latest offering from them. This book offers a tongue-in-cheek diet plan, the “Hey, You Gotta Live” diet, with no fussy counting of calories, points, or fat grams. With all the diet plans that tell you what foods to avoid, let me just warn you that Rick and Bubba find very few reasons to say “no” to food, but what did you honestly expect from this pair dubbed “America‘s sexiest fat men”?</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">This book made me laugh. I enjoyed their coverage of topics ranging from Spam to casseroles to peanut butter to dressing. Their style is humorous and easy to read. Although there aren’t many recipes in this book, the smattering of included recipes look fairly tasty and easy to fix. What’s not to love about recipes called Rick and Bubba‘s World-Famous “Goat Drop Cookies” or Peanut Butter Bars of Joy ? And I feel much better knowing that choosy sexy fat people choose Jif since that’s the brand I reach for as well (and I thought it was because I was a choosy mom!)</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <<a href="http://booksneeze.com/">http://BookSneeze.com</a>> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <<a href="http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html">http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html</a>> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”</i></span></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; border: medium none;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-29428183874650817112010-03-25T20:36:00.003-04:002010-03-25T21:09:35.350-04:00Baby Binky Bunny<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLU0eM_DRCD5ZDvmZFBAkTXIrOsTazbua-FlK9hG-g0m-Dp0AyZIsPOMqgX-cht289_6A4ZKi_CKlElwFA5r8fmLyWzne5Z4MCdh6mXZQ7lCLgspIHKVb7PNivxyhk5VqTDL9SEewzkAU/s1600/binkybunny2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLU0eM_DRCD5ZDvmZFBAkTXIrOsTazbua-FlK9hG-g0m-Dp0AyZIsPOMqgX-cht289_6A4ZKi_CKlElwFA5r8fmLyWzne5Z4MCdh6mXZQ7lCLgspIHKVb7PNivxyhk5VqTDL9SEewzkAU/s400/binkybunny2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452738447353310114" border="0" /></a>Been meaning to make this cute pattern from <a href="http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/">mmmcrafts</a> for quite a while and had the perfect excuse this week--a baby shower. I made the bunny and a matching blanket for the gift. I decided to try it in denim, lifting my years old ban of denim in my sewing room after a frustrating round of broken needles way back when I tried to sew a skirt for myself as a young teenager. I think it turned out very cute, and it got a lot of "I want ones" at the shower. My mom walked Holly out of the room while the gift was opened because she immediately claimed the bunny as hers when I brought it out of the sewing room yesterday. It took about 3-4 hours for me to sew up, so I didn't have time to run back into the sewing room to make her one.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The pattern is even on sale thru April 3 for 20% bringing the price to $8.00. Visit <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/mmmcrafts">mmmcrafts Etsy shop</a> to check out this and other cute patterns.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMgoqFDPOeswJi9GP_yFEymW2Q14If4Pd2DHdpgIrpcnT5WloZCW4Fy5MoQzG7g1mcSaXt42USrx8lWCudvSQSA8nKXJWywDyaauB8Rhflw9UG1eRrsixaUcaLkVeHZR7zg9BggL2Tgk/s1600/stainedglass.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMgoqFDPOeswJi9GP_yFEymW2Q14If4Pd2DHdpgIrpcnT5WloZCW4Fy5MoQzG7g1mcSaXt42USrx8lWCudvSQSA8nKXJWywDyaauB8Rhflw9UG1eRrsixaUcaLkVeHZR7zg9BggL2Tgk/s400/stainedglass.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452743042567422290" border="0" /></a>And not to hog the whole post to myself, I've been meaning to share this stained glass picture that I recently had "commissioned" for my kitchen. It's the first big picture that Paul has made from a design picked specifically by me and for me, and I think it turned out rather nice!<br /></div><br /></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-36718092883728273272010-03-20T15:17:00.005-04:002010-03-20T15:40:55.528-04:00Hello old friend!<div style="text-align: center;">Can it be?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfRapmk0i_2RmCNYN4M5hh87XcxNhvosHJjE5TlLcsKwWHiIMvc4uiHx24h4VUaDiz67AgxsDhPM2ejYI3FzCBO40sAJKepBwxArxmxySP7NUdbkWprrgVWEWKJdYCbNsQovYw-pWUIw/s1600-h/SANY2248.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfRapmk0i_2RmCNYN4M5hh87XcxNhvosHJjE5TlLcsKwWHiIMvc4uiHx24h4VUaDiz67AgxsDhPM2ejYI3FzCBO40sAJKepBwxArxmxySP7NUdbkWprrgVWEWKJdYCbNsQovYw-pWUIw/s320/SANY2248.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450802039152806082" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I think it is!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_d6Lo9OS5XGx9XgUSdGixO1mX8W2FbBixEJjoVc43EmRF_LZ7bdCHE-f_nnGpKVFxEpJCbKC1orrneDW_QMf7KNIN0f6mUi0FKtwlWyztsA7lU3MC2MyeewVHecp8WSAlSmbUmwS10og/s1600-h/SANY2249.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_d6Lo9OS5XGx9XgUSdGixO1mX8W2FbBixEJjoVc43EmRF_LZ7bdCHE-f_nnGpKVFxEpJCbKC1orrneDW_QMf7KNIN0f6mUi0FKtwlWyztsA7lU3MC2MyeewVHecp8WSAlSmbUmwS10og/s320/SANY2249.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450801110571267426" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Spring has sprung!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">After what has seemed like one of the longest winters since our family moved to WV almost 20 years ago, it's finally behind us. I do feel wary saying that too loud as it may be tempting the fates to give us one final round of the winter, but the calendar and the weather outside are both in agreement that it is officially spring. I even saw my first robins for the year this week.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcvL89SiK5oMX8Ag81icmwiF0YUfvMUQ5mIGBdmWuEaFPUQJJbbtl0zCfAyhEpiKRMlIQB3azTVIdMAo_VjAXCQseB9Rytqhx-UnB1LbB0vo16B_JChl0-QmQhj6d7KdztdJFohJM68E/s1600-h/Spring+pictures.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcvL89SiK5oMX8Ag81icmwiF0YUfvMUQ5mIGBdmWuEaFPUQJJbbtl0zCfAyhEpiKRMlIQB3azTVIdMAo_VjAXCQseB9Rytqhx-UnB1LbB0vo16B_JChl0-QmQhj6d7KdztdJFohJM68E/s400/Spring+pictures.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450799334449541698" border="0" /></a>Today was absolutely gorgeous, and we took advantage of it with a little playtime outside.<br /></div><br /></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-49810282134634377292010-03-19T08:56:00.010-04:002010-03-19T10:13:11.263-04:00Going for Broke!<div style="text-align: justify;">I think they are trying to break me! A couple e-pattern designers that I happen to really like have both put their patterns on sale at the same time. I'm not sure my budget can sustain this kind of temptation.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_OW7VEbVxULWjPgALBLv2lASJJQbj7P6NsDjUXxQrV4fIX5yxJzidTZn2nH-D1d-6S7PTuyQK5n8-FkdK1dHhhKuvkWoeQKX2MpCqdrktlC8-rwZTqnXHBljSV_7UC1b_0PpTMPy1wU/s1600-h/il_430xN.131201534.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_OW7VEbVxULWjPgALBLv2lASJJQbj7P6NsDjUXxQrV4fIX5yxJzidTZn2nH-D1d-6S7PTuyQK5n8-FkdK1dHhhKuvkWoeQKX2MpCqdrktlC8-rwZTqnXHBljSV_7UC1b_0PpTMPy1wU/s320/il_430xN.131201534.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450329253149390066" border="0" /></a>I've had my eye on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ohsewdollin">Oh Sew Dollin's</a> patterns for quite a while, but hadn't taken the plunge to buy one yet. But she ran a quicky sale last week and I snagged a pattern while they were on sale. I had a chance to look it over and found it clear and well written. So when she put her patterns on sale this week, I couldn't help but gather a few more into my collection, right? Stay tuned for some Oh Sew Dollin' cuteness coming soon from yours truly!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6d1_npHIdcVVnE1Ykl-_3D9vjTeXEYj56WUtiahLRVVDfy70F_PO1LuqeRJGJ_ItEfLi6Ux1KWK8rD0KHFBXuK06aO_8AaGpro0St1lQdnj1-kVwEGLo8_dwos8Bp3eiwfp7RgPTjq4/s1600-h/New+pics.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6d1_npHIdcVVnE1Ykl-_3D9vjTeXEYj56WUtiahLRVVDfy70F_PO1LuqeRJGJ_ItEfLi6Ux1KWK8rD0KHFBXuK06aO_8AaGpro0St1lQdnj1-kVwEGLo8_dwos8Bp3eiwfp7RgPTjq4/s200/New+pics.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450332746329090754" border="0" /></a>About the sale: She's got her patterns on sale right now for $5.50 each,(regularly $7.95) but only until 9pm central standard time this evening! So get right over there if you want to check out her patterns. According to her blog, this is going to be the last sale for a while, so don't miss out! She has tons of cute, cute raggedy dolls and bunnies and kitties and bear patterns to choose from, and she's right on top of emailing them out quickly after you pay for your purchase. Here are links to Oh Sew Dollin's <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ohsewdollin">shop</a> and her <a href="http://www.ohsewdollinblog.com/">blog</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguknuGHMT1CmKno5KJtwKeRQ5wM3Bv5NbKVK-MCZVlVmSKf5taommu14CnkQ3M-fCfIHW3b5_ixsIuPFWaS_HbEDBW0dzzIWcRqlmaI9pg9ghxouf6ViLd0Gl5zr1_Pjvb6nteZ-ydZNw/s1600-h/il_430xN.131034754.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguknuGHMT1CmKno5KJtwKeRQ5wM3Bv5NbKVK-MCZVlVmSKf5taommu14CnkQ3M-fCfIHW3b5_ixsIuPFWaS_HbEDBW0dzzIWcRqlmaI9pg9ghxouf6ViLd0Gl5zr1_Pjvb6nteZ-ydZNw/s320/il_430xN.131034754.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450335923132150034" border="0" /></a>That wasn't enough for my poor pocketbook, though. Yesterday I saw that <a href="http://www.keykaloupatterns.com/">Keyka Lou</a> is running a sale on her patterns. The City Tote pattern (pictured below on left) has been in my sights for quite a while, and I'm afraid that budget or not, this pattern will soon become mine! I recently bought the Easy Grocery Bag pattern pictured above and have had a chance to sew a couple up. It's a steal at $5 even without a sale. I've been meaning to post about them, but haven't had a chance to get decent pictures yet! Her patterns are well written and easy to follow and turn out beautiful. I also love the Lots of Pockets Tote (below top right) and the Belted Tote (below bottom right) patterns. Decisions, decisions...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJ0KeHutLEBOV0Lms8p6ttVVa-w9eNv0_dI_ENg4Jc5xOs-FUjfcVm2ZEupbkzuqSXBGicLR1FI9zVLAJoZHgIzsUkI28Kx586uaLkQmerXy7gZYexQg7OIcVtNMOyPtoqhpP8T4ouf0/s1600-h/keykaloucollage.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRJ0KeHutLEBOV0Lms8p6ttVVa-w9eNv0_dI_ENg4Jc5xOs-FUjfcVm2ZEupbkzuqSXBGicLR1FI9zVLAJoZHgIzsUkI28Kx586uaLkQmerXy7gZYexQg7OIcVtNMOyPtoqhpP8T4ouf0/s400/keykaloucollage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450341841355558178" border="0" /></a>About the sale: Keyka Lou has started her anniversary sale early this year. (I'm not sure when this is running until.) She's offering individual patterns for $5.00 from her shop or 2/$10 from her Etsy shop. (My suggestion--use her shop and you can download them instantly!) Her bag patterns normally range from $5-$8 each. So this is a great chance to grab up a couple of really sweet bag patterns. She's also got a couple finished items for sale in her Etsy shop as well. Here are links to Keyka Lou's <a href="http://www.keykaloupatterns.com/">pattern shop</a>, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/keykalou">Etsy shop</a> and <a href="http://keyka.typepad.com/">blog</a>.<br /><br />If you haven't tried a PDF pattern before, they great because you print out the pieces on your own printer. If the pattern piece is larger than one piece of paper, you tape them together along the markings on the pattern. If you buy patterns from Etsy, you will receive an email from the seller with the PDF file attached. Some patterns you can even download as soon as you pay for them for instant gratification. No waiting for patterns to show up in the snail mail! Pay, print, sew. The file stays on your computer, and you can reprint the pieces if you lose them or wear them out. These two sellers are very generous in allowing their patterns to be used in making items offered for sale. Not everyone allows commercial profit from items made from their patterns, so be sure to check that out if you think you might like to offer items for sale.<br /><br />Here's hoping that <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5062394">Bit of Whimsy</a> doesn't decide to put her patterns on sale because I'm quite sure I've already documented my weakness for her cute designs!<br /><br /></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-13599995781374958252010-03-14T20:08:00.006-04:002010-03-14T21:47:49.570-04:00HBinFive: Pesto Pine Nut Bread<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" border="0" /></a>This time for our breads, we were given the assignments of Avocado-Guacamole Bread and Pesto Pine Nut Bread.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">When I first got the book, the avocado-guacamole bread caught my eye right away. I love avocado and wanted to give this bread a try. It was the first or second bread I made from <u>Healthy Breads in Five</u>. I'm just going to work from memory on this one because I didn't make the dough again for the group. I thought the bread was pretty tasty myself and liked the chunks of tomato that you could see when you sliced into the bread. The kids didn't like this bread, and Paul was pretty lukewarm about it as I recall. I tried freezing part of the dough to make a loaf another time from it, but I think the veggies didn't appreciate being frozen. It turned very weepy when I defrosted it and made a very flat, unappetizing loaf. I know some of the doughs say that you can freeze them and use later and this didn't happen to be one of the recipes that said that, so I should have paid more attention there. I suppose I would have been better off baking the dough and freezing the loaf. A whole batch of this dough was more than our family could really get through.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPfw65_I0OsZCKRoK5cjVeuyGpOKQe9-3_V8M7y4Cu20Kr6QNPri9hjWfsvoR18YiHrBJNKXyd5ygjCcOoKq3qbo8TItbyBIgh6iVAOv7A2VtM2QomcZYxjNP8ljyybBaaV1opEUPc80/s1600-h/SANY2238.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPfw65_I0OsZCKRoK5cjVeuyGpOKQe9-3_V8M7y4Cu20Kr6QNPri9hjWfsvoR18YiHrBJNKXyd5ygjCcOoKq3qbo8TItbyBIgh6iVAOv7A2VtM2QomcZYxjNP8ljyybBaaV1opEUPc80/s400/SANY2238.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448668695608098370" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Our family loves the flavors in pesto, so I decided to make a whole batch of the pesto pine nut bread. When Ivy saw the jar of pesto, she wanted to know when we were having pesto and was disappointed that I was using it for bread. And the pine nuts barely made it to the bread since someone who will remain unnamed decided to snarf down a good deal of the bag without asking permission. <span style="font-style: italic;">(His name starts with P...)</span> So I was working with slightly less than 1/2 a cup of pine nuts, but I figured it wouldn't be a huge difference. I also used more wheat flour than the recipe called for and less all purpose flour. I had the spelt flour from the beet rolls and used it and about 3.5 cups of fresh-milled wheat flour and about 1.5 cups of a.p. flour. I mixed the dough this afternoon and decided I would make a loaf from the unrefrigerated dough since it seems to give a better rise for me most of the time. It was pretty sticky to work with and when I shaped the first loaf, I decided we'd probably need two loaves, so I made another one, too. The house smelled delicious while they baked.<br /><br />I wanted to serve the bread with fresh mozzarella and turkey burgers. I still don't know where I went wrong with the mozzarella, but it didn't come together like it should have. I wasn't paying attention when I started the mozzarella and was working from a different recipe than I normally use. It was more like a ricotta texture when I was done, and I couldn't stretch it at all like mozzarella is supposed to because it just was a gloppy mess. I still scooped a bit of the cheese onto my burger and popped it under the broiler. It didn't taste bad, just not what was expected. I was a bit annoyed to waste a gallon of milk on that. I know that the expression "Don't cry over spilled milk" originated with reference to someone who did their own milking because it's just more disappointing to waste the milk when you actually put in the labor to get it!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2s3HLxqK0uhrsPHh-hRfxvJNPc8_TWI_X76xT5dXoqS7mhOMsilZZUX7GP4vcdU78TPi1FuBQb77Yaz75ZFtAc-1ji9Rsg0Upmy48u_M_NqfIGEVTrZApU8dW7KhVQKUKFJtgUklIAbE/s1600-h/SANY2230.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2s3HLxqK0uhrsPHh-hRfxvJNPc8_TWI_X76xT5dXoqS7mhOMsilZZUX7GP4vcdU78TPi1FuBQb77Yaz75ZFtAc-1ji9Rsg0Upmy48u_M_NqfIGEVTrZApU8dW7KhVQKUKFJtgUklIAbE/s320/SANY2230.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448669017555812882" border="0" /></a>Despite the disappointing turnout of the cheese, we had the bread for dinner with turkey burgers still. Paul and Ivy both said the bread was good. As they didn't really care for the veggie side I made with dinner, I guess the bread was the best part of the meal. Didn't garner any raves this time around like the olive oil bread did. I'm going to use the leftover bread to make pizza, I think. Although this was a tasty bread, I think I would probably just go for a plain loaf and put the pesto on the pasta next time. Plus pine nuts are a little pricey to do very often. (As a side note, when I make pesto, I've found that walnuts are a very tasty and much less costly substitute for pine nuts.)<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">You can see what others did with this dough by visiting the <a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/03/welcome-to-7th-hbinfive-bread-braid.html" target="new">HBin5 Bread Braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-42172516677262607792010-03-12T17:09:00.004-05:002010-03-12T17:37:51.420-05:00My Owl Barn's Spring Giveaway!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Win this:</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKWiU2rxcupxhcPyqs_L24yInPdrg4OsS7NGr6WNBHXj5I_9Ct5U-D2X3xD21tgvo-wx0U8EPf3fhnOmQINYRmljGwJY1sx_iU0hm8ZMEU9n5aP621Kl9wYI1gqNHDCELVeHKasbcwg4/s1600-h/owlbag.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKWiU2rxcupxhcPyqs_L24yInPdrg4OsS7NGr6WNBHXj5I_9Ct5U-D2X3xD21tgvo-wx0U8EPf3fhnOmQINYRmljGwJY1sx_iU0hm8ZMEU9n5aP621Kl9wYI1gqNHDCELVeHKasbcwg4/s320/owlbag.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447874353365944338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;">Here:</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.myowlbarn.com/2008/03/spring-giveaway.html">My Owl Barn's Spring Giveaway!</a><br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-12315019544996873622010-03-05T20:13:00.007-05:002010-03-05T21:30:07.548-05:00How is a raven like a writing desk?<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cXQzvz33uZzj5zjbM8a2jC6kor5BhWMqiMEbr_aZn9gh7z2aJwqsaP116L8uHJtvX4o4lwIlxxMyaAVZZWh7sCoT43HAu1_05t19bYy0IOJXH1xa-uH33-rZNELq-EO6Tww5MSZskek/s1600-h/alicemadhatter.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cXQzvz33uZzj5zjbM8a2jC6kor5BhWMqiMEbr_aZn9gh7z2aJwqsaP116L8uHJtvX4o4lwIlxxMyaAVZZWh7sCoT43HAu1_05t19bYy0IOJXH1xa-uH33-rZNELq-EO6Tww5MSZskek/s400/alicemadhatter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445332989954004066" border="0" /></a>I have been looking forward to today for months. I informed Paul well ahead of time and reminded him regularly that he would be watching Holly and Finn for me while I went to watch the new Alice in Wonderland movie. I have loved this story since I was a young girl. In sixth grade, I even had the lead role of Alice in our class play. That this version was going to be presented in 3-d was a big drawing point, but the clincher was Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Having been a fan of Johnny Depp since his 21 Jump Street days, there certainly was no way I was going to miss this movie!<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5Mqc6DvKscsve_Lp86pFj_eqodwUgWeqittcGFQU5YZr_8JQBK-wg1RkI7UrlKW4yQV9lhO-r5pSPaJHiVMsPzfv3lOmuflqqwkIyoAGdohuDStkIDGxNfSaZLhk9dXhoTabtc05DDM/s1600-h/Alice+001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5Mqc6DvKscsve_Lp86pFj_eqodwUgWeqittcGFQU5YZr_8JQBK-wg1RkI7UrlKW4yQV9lhO-r5pSPaJHiVMsPzfv3lOmuflqqwkIyoAGdohuDStkIDGxNfSaZLhk9dXhoTabtc05DDM/s400/Alice+001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445335880652124754" border="0" /></a>So this morning, I set off to the city to watch the movie with my sister and Ivy. We went to the first showing--besides the midnight one. It actually wasn't very busy, but that wasn't too surprising considering it was a school day and too early for the kids to be out. The theater was playing it on about four screens, too.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It did not disappoint. It was a feast for the eyes in the usual way Tim Burton brings a story to life. His films are like costume shows. The costumes are always so rich and detailed they add a whole other layer to the story. Alice was big and little and big and little and littler and bigger. The Mad Hatter futter-whacked vigorously and the red queen screamed, "Heads off!" endlessly. The Cheshire Cat whisked in and out of view in swirls of smoke and grins. All the characters were really fabulous and I'm more than ready to watch it again and possibly again!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQyuBiQWhUqdbT2t-CedqwW9asItBQdCZt60y8PQppIJ2dt-fpQmzy0_7QW7b0-jT36MApzl03x1hlYDkQELfzGbN2a4J-jJiMdagTyTyMb6Scx8521-dLVEBmJuGpXNwvrZNWDYAt_Q/s1600-h/Alice+002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQyuBiQWhUqdbT2t-CedqwW9asItBQdCZt60y8PQppIJ2dt-fpQmzy0_7QW7b0-jT36MApzl03x1hlYDkQELfzGbN2a4J-jJiMdagTyTyMb6Scx8521-dLVEBmJuGpXNwvrZNWDYAt_Q/s200/Alice+002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445340994919726034" border="0" /></a>And if you feel like crafting or cooking up some "Alice" crafts or treats, <a href="http://family.go.com/entertainment/pkg-alice-in-wonderland/">click here</a> for a bit of inspiration. I had to print off a sheet of bookplates for the <u>Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass</u> book I picked up at the book store before we headed home. Fitting, no?<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-27378144880046578702010-03-05T00:03:00.005-05:002010-03-05T00:32:27.211-05:00HBinFive: 100% Whole Wheat with Olive Oil, part 2<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJY7qCA2qoES-Y6vMnEaRBHWxk5fTDEW41IndviDycl5gIAFAkAi6YtVYpmNCbxB_UG19fDOMf12Ks_ONsMPZU94viwF8uTfc8I5Ce9nUzRjHNYL3faUkRtDANmfsPF7uU-1ebJ49tYY0/s1600-h/foccacia+007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 366px; height: 366px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJY7qCA2qoES-Y6vMnEaRBHWxk5fTDEW41IndviDycl5gIAFAkAi6YtVYpmNCbxB_UG19fDOMf12Ks_ONsMPZU94viwF8uTfc8I5Ce9nUzRjHNYL3faUkRtDANmfsPF7uU-1ebJ49tYY0/s400/foccacia+007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445016914672408050" border="0" /></a>Tonight I had a chance to make the Southwestern Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese Foccacia. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure how this one was going to come out, but I couldn't pass up the chance to use some of the fresh goat cheese I made earlier this week. I didn't feel like bothering to roast ears of corn, so I just used frozen corn kernels. Also, I had planned to use the cooked chicken variation to make a meal of this, but I didn't have any chicken ready and decided to use black beans to bulk it up a little and add some protein to make it a main dish meal. As the book said, I had more sauce than I needed to use so I put some away to use another time. And there definitely will be another time. This bread just kept making the grade for our family. In making the sauce, I used two chili's-can't remember the type-Anaheim, maybe. It was a little spicy, so I didn't give any to the little ones, but Paul, Ivy and I shared the foccacia, and we all loved it. I thought while I was making it that it seemed very pizza like, just with fancier ingredients. I haven't had foccacia before, so I don't know how authentic it really was. The dough made a lovely crust for this and was chewy and delicious.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I just crumbled a bit of the plain goat cheese over this and probably used a bit more than the recipe called for, but I had plenty to work with! The cheese was a bit tangy on its own, but it really blended well with the flavors of the foccacia. I have requests already to make this one again. I'll definitely be revisiting the 100% whole wheat with olive oil dough. It made a nice bread on its own, but our family loved the variations of it even more. I bet it would make a great pizza crust with traditional pizza as well. Time to make some more mozzarella!<br /><br />I had been undecided over whether to add a second post for this dough, but this variation turned out so yummy that I decided to write it up also. You can see what others did with this dough by visiting the <a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/02/welcome-to-6th-hbinfive-bread-braid.html" target="new">HBin5 Bread Braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>.</div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-29995131120612954372010-03-02T08:23:00.014-05:002010-03-04T00:41:35.939-05:00HBinFive: 100% Whole Wheat with Olive Oil<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGaB-ygp-PpCUpmujb5JAVb8GGng9j4y6aJRv_C7AUwKJsAb7q8h-FGqinO9046pe0FVL_JsLQIxp8KDlvIHg-xeX5avBKqNmuK-mUeH8aWrCHdofDC0Sqn8TVVm4VP6Ym6tu9qvEG9M/s1600-h/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+016.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 346px; height: 346px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGaB-ygp-PpCUpmujb5JAVb8GGng9j4y6aJRv_C7AUwKJsAb7q8h-FGqinO9046pe0FVL_JsLQIxp8KDlvIHg-xeX5avBKqNmuK-mUeH8aWrCHdofDC0Sqn8TVVm4VP6Ym6tu9qvEG9M/s400/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444603223544579762" border="0" /></a>As usual, I am running behind on posting my experiences with the current bread assignment. We were challenged to make a regular loaf and two variations—Aloo Paratha and Southwestern Focaccia with Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1Q4__fdc-YlJ0tMYyF6QOHAM8uRfnB3r-rT_zyHYVRvpNMp_fyJqI8B5-NKMs9nqicZS1PTFGt0_kUZutUKqrl2yzeh1mAFtEjxDoAdXYF8-JzRa1afvxi9RwKoEdvokvn2M5aO8k9c/s1600-h/grainmill.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1Q4__fdc-YlJ0tMYyF6QOHAM8uRfnB3r-rT_zyHYVRvpNMp_fyJqI8B5-NKMs9nqicZS1PTFGt0_kUZutUKqrl2yzeh1mAFtEjxDoAdXYF8-JzRa1afvxi9RwKoEdvokvn2M5aO8k9c/s200/grainmill.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444053664894275282" border="0" /></a><br />In my last HBin5 post, I mentioned that I was considering a grain mill, and I'm happy to say that I went ahead and bought K-Tec kitchen mill. The best deal I could find was from <a href="http://www.harvestessentials.com/kteckitmil.html">Harvest Essentials</a> for $179, but they also have a coupon code that is valid for orders over $169 to save another $10 (code: HARVEST) bringing the price down to $169. It seems to grind pretty quickly. Grinding the grain before baking just adds a couple minutes to my overall time. It is a bit noisy so a couple times I've had to put off baking because the kids were napping. I also ordered a large bag of hard white wheat and have been making my bread from my very own freshly ground flour now. This is the first time I've made a recipe from one of the "in five" books with the flour, but I've played around with several other more traditional bread recipes and everything has come out quite delicious.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">This time I did something that I don't normally do with the recipes--I weighed my dough to make sure I was getting it in roughly one pound portions when I used it. I wanted to make sure I had the right amount of dough for each recipe. I just made a simple round loaf with some unrefrigerated dough for trying out the dough. It was quite sticky before being refrigerated, but with some flour and quick handling, I shaped it without problem. I still don't have a baking stone, so it just went into the oven on a cookie sheet. Ivy says it is one of the best breads I have made.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBglJIzUeV9vhJvMcsiuFDAafTUxPTreT8FC8t752Eq8DT_yJmZxDDnDWXdAjmMJrJdch2uKP6slElH99TD8L5FT18Yef4k14zW8L3Q5HgfyFH9S7SYYx_X8AkDB1R0OkovBwuyaWMHy8/s1600-h/2010-03-01+olive+oil+bread+and+cheese.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBglJIzUeV9vhJvMcsiuFDAafTUxPTreT8FC8t752Eq8DT_yJmZxDDnDWXdAjmMJrJdch2uKP6slElH99TD8L5FT18Yef4k14zW8L3Q5HgfyFH9S7SYYx_X8AkDB1R0OkovBwuyaWMHy8/s400/2010-03-01+olive+oil+bread+and+cheese.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444466661139821090" border="0" /></a>Next I made the Aloo Paratha. I skipped the peas because I don't like peas--at all! I can't get ghee in town and found the prices too dear on Amazon. So I figured I would make it myself.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhJCsStYyX23ARljJL9NDPQ8R_MRohEfoM68S4peZM_VGthOTIZU8tvRNTcaU9LIEY2QyNXqD2H174JBd0RGAvmCsM4Fu4Lc3n5kfM8UBKJj9fwtyowWRYPne3_KlshZvrT25hPp4MzA/s1600-h/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+011.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 124px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhJCsStYyX23ARljJL9NDPQ8R_MRohEfoM68S4peZM_VGthOTIZU8tvRNTcaU9LIEY2QyNXqD2H174JBd0RGAvmCsM4Fu4Lc3n5kfM8UBKJj9fwtyowWRYPne3_KlshZvrT25hPp4MzA/s200/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444468748805119634" border="0" /></a> Since I couldn't see myself needing a whole pound of it, I just used two sticks of unsalted butter to make mine. Good thing too since I badly burned the first batch and had to start again. Second time I cooked it at a lot lower heat for a lot longer, and it turned out okay. I think it was a bit darker than the pictures on the website that I was using for the directions, but it definitely wasn't the nasty burned mess of the first batch. And it was definitely worth it. This bread was delicious! I could seriously have polished off the whole thing by myself, but stoically resisted. Ivy was all for me making another loaf right then and there, plus extra potato mixture that she could just scarf by itself! I made a pork curry to go along with it from our pork that we raised. It was a delicious meal. My mouth is watering just recalling it!<br /><br />I haven't made the foccacia bread yet, but plan to tomorrow evening. I needed to pick up a couple things from the store for it. It sounds like it could be a dinner if you add meat to it, so that's what I have planned. Going to be using some of the fresh chevre I made a couple days ago to top it.<br /><br />Check out what others did with these doughs by visiting the <a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/02/welcome-to-6th-hbinfive-bread-braid.html" target="new">HBin5 Bread Braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-15398973653755997632010-03-01T18:06:00.011-05:002010-03-01T21:02:15.440-05:00Unmolding the Cheese<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4vYOYbV3t1usMpk7wRFCUr0-Be8SkgpS6HjWD77SJKBrXKQX0efhQIUbtYp-jkFjgsYI4YYS0KiLwdYzRxQklVRkSU4AwiVC1OoTFBshp_pWu5GG0GiE9DkGkX73u0F73KzW1e5Iz20/s1600-h/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+003.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 363px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4vYOYbV3t1usMpk7wRFCUr0-Be8SkgpS6HjWD77SJKBrXKQX0efhQIUbtYp-jkFjgsYI4YYS0KiLwdYzRxQklVRkSU4AwiVC1OoTFBshp_pWu5GG0GiE9DkGkX73u0F73KzW1e5Iz20/s400/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443848129812812674" border="0" /></a>Yesterday the cheese was ready to come out of the molds. Originally heaped over the top of the molds, it had settled down to about half the mold. It came out of the chevre molds in a little white pyramid. Unseasoned, it was very plain in taste with just a bit of tang. So I took the first cheese and mixed some Italian herb mix, salt, pepper and a clove of crushed garlic into the cheese. It turned out quite tasty. For the past two mornings, I have enjoyed one of our farm fresh eggs, scrambled with about a tablespoon of the herb cheese mixed in after the egg is cooked. Yummy!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLDwBbS6dbwn0rwEwah4fkNsz2kohT_T-FsLGYe8j2rgSYTQG9qgbrGH6LNj2wzY_zZM-OXhWMGMyNda24g8YJuFdXbXgWZdtlclVcH0AGSThG80NHguyp2Vw3l_uCl2-Ho_99pnCn10/s1600-h/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLDwBbS6dbwn0rwEwah4fkNsz2kohT_T-FsLGYe8j2rgSYTQG9qgbrGH6LNj2wzY_zZM-OXhWMGMyNda24g8YJuFdXbXgWZdtlclVcH0AGSThG80NHguyp2Vw3l_uCl2-Ho_99pnCn10/s400/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443849234803617138" border="0" /></a>I split the next cheese into two portions, each about eight ounces. Into the first, I mixed two packets of cheese powder from boxed mac and cheese and 4 tablespoons of grated horseradish. I shaped the cheese into a log and rolled it in parsley. It was pretty soft at room temperature, but after being refrigerated, it is a pretty firm little log and can be easily slice. This cheese is very good as well. I sliced a piece of it last night and enjoyed it broiled on top of a turkey burger. Yum again!<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqR96JoVZLkwXtvaPD_KXa49m3m73sHpWcdwaFgrm80MCVDXzwrSiSIDkxj949rB_BkayDjbKlHaaLo2ObpYhLYwCJ3fL216sTUPnj0fYr5ASjKWHk52IyLXcg6U2Hhm0em8RL-_iG8q0/s1600-h/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqR96JoVZLkwXtvaPD_KXa49m3m73sHpWcdwaFgrm80MCVDXzwrSiSIDkxj949rB_BkayDjbKlHaaLo2ObpYhLYwCJ3fL216sTUPnj0fYr5ASjKWHk52IyLXcg6U2Hhm0em8RL-_iG8q0/s320/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443849523159475458" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">The last part of the cheese that I seasoned yesterday, I decided to try as a pineapple walnut cheese. The recipe called for crushed pineapple, chopped walnuts, and salt. I wondered about the salt but didn't question it enough. This one turned out predictably salty which seemed odd for the flavors of the cheese. I think a teaspoon of sugar would have been a better addition than the salt. It reminds me of a flavored cream cheese; I'm just sorry it's salty because it seems like it should have been sweet.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I put some aside for the next baking for my HBin5 group assignment which includes a foccacia with goat cheese and froze the rest for using another time. According to the cheese making book, it will keep for six months in the freezer. There's a taco cheese recipe that looks good to me, but Ivy has claimed the right to pick the flavor of one. So I guess we'll have to see what she thinks sounds tasty.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">What's next in our cheese-making adventure? Hard cheeses! I placed an order from <a href="http://www.cheesemaking.com/">New England Cheesemaking</a> for the several things I would need to proceed with making some hard cheeses. I showed Paul several plans online for making your own cheese press, and this morning, he prese<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjdvJ36QYypidELf97RLJfyp89m2TghFzaZusUtfOvKvd-_erBHYu-zhFtBc-ytX-Yf0zNydv0l0DWFaXyYGl_y4x9DXC6e6WIF8t9T3kS4o8B9op9qsiBlJ025zDcD7cgnsa8j11-rQ/s1600-h/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+026.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjdvJ36QYypidELf97RLJfyp89m2TghFzaZusUtfOvKvd-_erBHYu-zhFtBc-ytX-Yf0zNydv0l0DWFaXyYGl_y4x9DXC6e6WIF8t9T3kS4o8B9op9qsiBlJ025zDcD7cgnsa8j11-rQ/s320/olive+oil+bread+and+cheese+026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443850256476738722" border="0" /></a>nted me with my very own cheese press at a fraction of the price of anything we could have bought. It cost us $6 for the dowels, and everything else we already had around. We will use bricks for the weights to press the cheese. I'm going to start with a farmhouse cheese. I ordered <span class="CategoryProductLongDescription"><a href="http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/p/268-Cheesemaking-101-VHS.html">Ricki's Cheesemaking 101 video </a>for a steal of only $2 because they are clearing out the VHS tapes in favor of DVD's</span>. (The DVD runs $24.95.) It's a very informative video that takes you through several different kinds of cheese. I learned quite a bit from watching it once and plan to watch it again very soon. I would recommend it for anyone interested in learning to make cheese. Every cheese she makes in the video, she just uses regular store bought milk. Of course, you can use whatever you have available, but she does that to show that anyone can make cheese. As long as you still have a VCR, you just can't beat that price. And I have only good things to say about the <a href="http://www.cheesemaking.com/">New England Cheesemaking</a> company. They had the best prices I found and customer service was friendly and very quick to respond to and rectify a problem with the order.<br /><br /></div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-1649905826222961342010-02-27T15:23:00.013-05:002010-02-27T16:28:29.907-05:00Making Goat Milk Soap<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jMeXvtKRnhvIdSWfs_3dSa4YZYLo4aPshOm9lcmnthzckLk_NYUQWGP7LuBmsfBrEgA74Q8EMNStFSr61JPdHAsujfZ8xsCeAkizGPU3xQQjFdbuCI9DlrHB9VkoctFhqYpv954TVXk/s1600-h/soap+002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jMeXvtKRnhvIdSWfs_3dSa4YZYLo4aPshOm9lcmnthzckLk_NYUQWGP7LuBmsfBrEgA74Q8EMNStFSr61JPdHAsujfZ8xsCeAkizGPU3xQQjFdbuCI9DlrHB9VkoctFhqYpv954TVXk/s400/soap+002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443023323972464242" border="0" /></a>Paul and I turned his shop into a soap factory today. We've been preparing for making soap for ages. We have had the equipment and the lye for months and months. The book we used for a how-to said to allow three hours for your first batch, so we kept putting it off. It's not always easy to find three hours of time when you don't have to worry about kids. Finally we just decided to let Ivy babysit while we ran between the house and shop to check occasionally. But when it came to it, it didn't take anywhere near three hours! Even with setup and cleanup. It wasn't terribly hard or scary or anything like that. We felt terribly accomplished when it seemed to come together like it should, but now the next six weeks or so that the soap has to cure is really stretching out in front of us...<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlGtDduSu_GnzgJRs-Embs0Odg9F7fNkEI8sfd7YnQ9CfNPAqbHqNCVCjooWq1SPPFz-_5VzBBdW93up9d8PjQAwyQsOaNFKytrghDSgZXTg5lHaIhcoVrZaDn1-Km6gJFnGesbYW6fc/s1600-h/soap+004.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgabAQA3GbdkP34lCfg7olNSWM3eL-onITRE5ncxWXoFWzCks1CuGvxqb2hM8I4lv53paf9d25MUK3lOMcs7_HYZ92oKqEWL0tPhZz2FTRkesSGOaVuJpNsbxrBm6NDqyqQ0POwC79Lw/s1600-h/soap+004.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgabAQA3GbdkP34lCfg7olNSWM3eL-onITRE5ncxWXoFWzCks1CuGvxqb2hM8I4lv53paf9d25MUK3lOMcs7_HYZ92oKqEWL0tPhZz2FTRkesSGOaVuJpNsbxrBm6NDqyqQ0POwC79Lw/s200/soap+004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443027128799377570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnucHumu638Oyw3ha3Ba0rV9sbbZCyGFu5h45bTTC33Kkr8_JpjfIhoURd_ks0V7LBfwyRMG-b15FhMiPy6-YgS_NfcwzghTeh6anE6ptuHTXbX4KpOKfxYiJFxKJ1pLcg4AkSwUSBbUM/s1600-h/soap+005.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnucHumu638Oyw3ha3Ba0rV9sbbZCyGFu5h45bTTC33Kkr8_JpjfIhoURd_ks0V7LBfwyRMG-b15FhMiPy6-YgS_NfcwzghTeh6anE6ptuHTXbX4KpOKfxYiJFxKJ1pLcg4AkSwUSBbUM/s200/soap+005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443027130010334306" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOlPciV4z75b5ITWDIZ1BXkOvXRAl0mmUl0m2C3irxoH3YjqVd_F_77yIw-nN067H5Y_66V1_E1QJQyfySCkgiUkkqTWLlqroL6xPNZZ9wjt1dwodd1izHaXWfBMmgP92wZCoPCwzYDE/s1600-h/soap+005.JPG"></a><br /><br /></div>First, you have to melt your fats. We used shortening, canola oil, safflower oil, and olive oil. The shortening is obviously the only oil that needs to be melted since the others are already liquid at room temperature. So you melt the shortening and add the other oils and leave them sitting while you move to the next step which is adding the lye to the milk. You have to put the milk in a cold water bath in the sink and add the lye very slowly so it doesn't heat the milk too rapidly and scorch it. The book recommends taking 15 minutes to add 12 ounces of lye to the milk. Paul added the lye while I stirred.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXlT5dKTQNOfdyodDfTqiBRzvrGAIEuQj1xvygZklDyGJUPYTGkpusD7IxnevzSi0GLl4E0OGzdU806-sD_nrWtB_zbtnpJjBEBLrtGlJ82gfWeWwxXT-JXWqMQheLeyOU8rMb2WHt-I/s1600-h/2010-02-27+soap.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXlT5dKTQNOfdyodDfTqiBRzvrGAIEuQj1xvygZklDyGJUPYTGkpusD7IxnevzSi0GLl4E0OGzdU806-sD_nrWtB_zbtnpJjBEBLrtGlJ82gfWeWwxXT-JXWqMQheLeyOU8rMb2WHt-I/s400/2010-02-27+soap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443031520008950722" border="0" /></a>Then you heat the oils up slightly again and add a little sugar, glycerin, and Borax and get all that stirred up. The lye/milk mixture gets added to the oils now and the stirring begins. And the stirring continues and continues and continues until you blow the breaker, and your stick blender explodes in your hand. Actually, that part was just a little something we added for a little extra excitement that wasn't in the book. Thankfully, it conked out right as the mixture came to trace. We're hoping it doesn't cost us a blender every time we make a batch of soap.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3PYLeEvfXJJhB5kb5nArxgmekstkChusytypIZuSztkZcUaOF9dnfVoExJQC-9Dg3ZXx-wzfZYPojrSArnqi8PoyabkIaM4Qabb_D_3VkkOPbeB0lGjH92uIqJjDp3a7DQuPUqPB2Q6U/s1600-h/soap+013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3PYLeEvfXJJhB5kb5nArxgmekstkChusytypIZuSztkZcUaOF9dnfVoExJQC-9Dg3ZXx-wzfZYPojrSArnqi8PoyabkIaM4Qabb_D_3VkkOPbeB0lGjH92uIqJjDp3a7DQuPUqPB2Q6U/s320/soap+013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443031960493779058" border="0" /></a>After the mixture has come to trace and looks about like this, you put it into your molds and then leave it for about 24 hours. Then you unmold it and cut it into bars while it is still soft enough to slice up easily, but hard enough to hold its shape. Then you can begin your waiting in earnest as it takes about 4-6 weeks for it to mellow out and cure so it can be used.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xgwYJsH0oTstHEGc9csUPukkC_7WFicoYEa4mhiVLHn0oYsp4PdisuI6ChV2AalN6knltbiKuZPCoifHT3j7dnap4WD-d599COW6Qhrc3_goDy2VvS-PeYOcGQgHEpHWdjjMZahoRjA/s1600-h/soap+016.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xgwYJsH0oTstHEGc9csUPukkC_7WFicoYEa4mhiVLHn0oYsp4PdisuI6ChV2AalN6knltbiKuZPCoifHT3j7dnap4WD-d599COW6Qhrc3_goDy2VvS-PeYOcGQgHEpHWdjjMZahoRjA/s200/soap+016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443035417848066722" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">We used a square mold that cuts into eight bars and says Goat's Milk on the bars and a long piece of plastic that comes packaged with new windows for the molds.<br /><br />As it takes such a long time for the soap to cure, we're looking into doing a batch of hot process soap which follows the same basic process as cold process, but is cooked before molding and is ready to use in just a couple days. Better for when you're eager to test your new creations!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-89157678021005958142010-02-26T20:58:00.009-05:002010-02-26T22:02:19.720-05:00DIY Cheese Molds<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4OuTfQaSbHWIJKeoo7bC0ataOjcF_k3HOVemP2ISJNviTz2q4Q1qEy2GI1MvZgUZJSI9A9uZYVGNOOvetYCnRmeLcqeXosWhZId3YmhIgORA5084wtr64k41stCZNOKo_9cQGENBQQ3U/s1600-h/cheese+001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4OuTfQaSbHWIJKeoo7bC0ataOjcF_k3HOVemP2ISJNviTz2q4Q1qEy2GI1MvZgUZJSI9A9uZYVGNOOvetYCnRmeLcqeXosWhZId3YmhIgORA5084wtr64k41stCZNOKo_9cQGENBQQ3U/s400/cheese+001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442752539532572066" border="0" /></a>Yesterday, Ivy and I started making French Chevre goat cheese. It's a several day process. On the first day, we heated the milk, then added buttermilk (for cultures) and rennet, then let it sit overnight. This morning, we scooped the curds into cheese molds. Here I ran into a slight snag because I only had two molds and far more curds than molds. I temporarily put the extra cheese curds into a colander lined with cheesecloth until I could get to the store. At Walmart, I found some Rubbermaid to-go containers that looked roughly the same capacity as my cheese molds. When I got home with the containers, I heated up a screw using one of the gas burners on my stove. Then I melted oodles of small holes into the container from the very bottom up to the top. I spooned the curds from the colander into my two new "molds," and the whey started weeping out the holes immediately. Success!<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlV_zWwy0lghBXlrOBJuNv1q3YvZ2i2TX6EoMXf2bcR0teebRyqUxsYqO1R8V7gs2YRKvqrY7MDY8IgY9a82NDgAe2QW7ZoLnS2Z7Ly8x3jctSamL_-6DUUSZiRFhagIcLQuAIaXavuQ/s1600-h/cheese+008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlV_zWwy0lghBXlrOBJuNv1q3YvZ2i2TX6EoMXf2bcR0teebRyqUxsYqO1R8V7gs2YRKvqrY7MDY8IgY9a82NDgAe2QW7ZoLnS2Z7Ly8x3jctSamL_-6DUUSZiRFhagIcLQuAIaXavuQ/s320/cheese+008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442749855987511874" border="0" /></a><br />And the best part? It cost barely over $2 for both of my two new molds, compared to over $5/each plus shipping if I ordered them online. Plus they have lids to stick over the top so I don't have to drape them with foil while they drain. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />The cheese has to drain another day, but I had a little nibble already and it's pretty tasty! You can see how much has already drained by comparing the top and bottom pictures. The square containers were heaped over the top when I first scooped the curds into them.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuS3UTks_m6uYuS08_0Hcpk_SEeii8KZ8wHvMMxCPddB7sGZ0l-z-x-NRPBNmqASf2XUXBh9yx_u9TuW24Lkl-BPn0D7C2d0snICqP-33iTP24yFCJcmBqoFUk56qw3c7Gmkd20OMVsk/s1600-h/cheese+007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuS3UTks_m6uYuS08_0Hcpk_SEeii8KZ8wHvMMxCPddB7sGZ0l-z-x-NRPBNmqASf2XUXBh9yx_u9TuW24Lkl-BPn0D7C2d0snICqP-33iTP24yFCJcmBqoFUk56qw3c7Gmkd20OMVsk/s200/cheese+007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442751379259326610" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-2956516036011433102010-02-22T09:00:00.000-05:002010-02-22T09:17:28.757-05:00The easiest thing I have ever made!<div style="text-align: justify;">You know, I've wanted to make myself an apron for ages and ages. Why don't I see<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8tkn2PSLMwrIbvZtDELO75c5BQx5js_9F9NPOOCPoKoZ_SNucexQonp1BL-ABEwgucuvvryWsPB5WmFH5qoIiR2XVqdCnZr8rFgk1DN1cRMt_pFUzl7hsMlS6mtRYoZWxHsPYgamrjQ/s400/apronpatterns.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8tkn2PSLMwrIbvZtDELO75c5BQx5js_9F9NPOOCPoKoZ_SNucexQonp1BL-ABEwgucuvvryWsPB5WmFH5qoIiR2XVqdCnZr8rFgk1DN1cRMt_pFUzl7hsMlS6mtRYoZWxHsPYgamrjQ/s400/apronpatterns.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>m to find time to make things for myself? I do have a couple bags I've made for myself, but an apron seemed like a bigger project to tackle. I have oodles of apron patterns because I can't seem to resist buying them when they go on sale for 99 cents. I've yet to make anything from one of them! <span style="font-style: italic;">I dug this picture out of the <a href="http://www.petalzandfinz.com/2009/01/cover-up.html">archives</a> from last year and I have to confess that my apron pattern collection has only grown since then.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The other day I went shopping <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenZ0pzl05GkX2Lb8lKoy08sOzazXFywMJmh3s9kjV1bCf9JGijLW_NCcHPmH7VBGefMnB35OX9525UKQz6-3UrP_LR_XLEPv-diRyDAkoPlfswkOyV6LBK2HMyy87pWesjPnCFh0MDMs/s1600-h/apron.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphenZ0pzl05GkX2Lb8lKoy08sOzazXFywMJmh3s9kjV1bCf9JGijLW_NCcHPmH7VBGefMnB35OX9525UKQz6-3UrP_LR_XLEPv-diRyDAkoPlfswkOyV6LBK2HMyy87pWesjPnCFh0MDMs/s400/apron.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441069848885775186" border="0" /></a>with Ivy and found some very cute dish towels at the Dollar Tree. I got them home and was surprised to see one had a label still attached from Crate and Barrel. They were nice quality towels of a pleasant weight and generous size. My plan was to turn these into aprons since I could remember seeing more than one tutorial on the subject. When I got home, I found inspiration from several different tutorials and then I just looked at the apron I already have and went with it. I cut off the top corners using my old apron as the guide, although it was a little wider than the dish towels so I had to adjust just a teensy bit. Then I grabbed a pack of double bias tape that I'd picked up on clearance at Walmart just because it was on clearance and I <span style="font-style: italic;">knew </span>I'd have a use for it someday. I pinned it in place and then sewed all along the whole length of the bias tape. And I had an apron in about ten minutes! It was amazingly simple. Not being one to leave well enough alone, though, my apron needed a pocket. I knew that if I didn't get a pocket on it right away, it most likely would never get a pocket. So I found some little squares of fabric that were already cut and sewed them into a nine-patch, but decided it would be too big. I trimmed it down a little and backed it with white muslin and attached it to my apron with a little rick rack trim along the top and called my apron done! It was so easy, and it seems funny to me that the pocket actually took longer than the apron. The whole project was done in next to no time, though.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I bought a couple more towels in different prints and am going to make a half-apron for Ivy that I'll be able to post soon, hopefully.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-34892949158288156782010-02-17T21:30:00.011-05:002010-02-17T22:40:41.338-05:00HBinFive: Red Beet Rolls and Chocolate Espresso WW Bread<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggi3sHbLRoa81yvStaAeMPzV56irJOpn4eAN1x2nyhabU_NKe1L4lQXURTba5lP64zkKWQGyazFwnpH2zxwBxBsL-2IO0fWWauI3t2TUijUXA1RobtaXeTY4uzCslF6YujXKPY-jkHI9s/s400/hbin5logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404077638481901122" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR063Raxcx-FU2Jdj3WuAWfIOrxUHZ3wleWGZrM4Cu4dg2Grfhzo0PKYFcdTysuoQBKzUNEYxz49TMkpPee39sAh3dXKyBxmtd1FrytFU_OoyK6gJDslUPVm3zCI4k9OypvN62XbvxYT4/s1600-h/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+003.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR063Raxcx-FU2Jdj3WuAWfIOrxUHZ3wleWGZrM4Cu4dg2Grfhzo0PKYFcdTysuoQBKzUNEYxz49TMkpPee39sAh3dXKyBxmtd1FrytFU_OoyK6gJDslUPVm3zCI4k9OypvN62XbvxYT4/s200/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439412971521569186" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiBGIRGu5KV2r6RRCCs3aZLPcG70bJh1zqf9IIGPZ9i30z2fTz3wDcessU4T_N78U4VV5Z82oP7FsVEEogQvdrsqxN9Xfk4SK9FH-CHs-psHS0HG6kbDux8_G8rOOLB6ExsQOXvpsUVE/s1600-h/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+004.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiBGIRGu5KV2r6RRCCs3aZLPcG70bJh1zqf9IIGPZ9i30z2fTz3wDcessU4T_N78U4VV5Z82oP7FsVEEogQvdrsqxN9Xfk4SK9FH-CHs-psHS0HG6kbDux8_G8rOOLB6ExsQOXvpsUVE/s200/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439412964413606754" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This time for HBinFive, we were assigned two different dough recipes: Red Beet Buns and Chocolate Espresso White Wheat Bread. There were several ingredients that I didn't have on hand. For example, the main ingredients of beets and chocolate! And I also ordered some spelt flour from Amazon because one of the recipes called for spelt flour and being as I can't even get white wheat flour in town, there's no way I could get spelt flour within any sort of reasonable distance from town. I made them both the same evening, but didn't use the dough until the next day. I hadn't read the recipes through enough ahead of time as usual. The chocolate bread said not to use before refrigerating at least two hours. So I made up my chocolate bread the following morning. The beet dough recommended letting it age at least twenty four hours for the best taste. So I had it in the fridge several days before I managed to get back to it. These produced two very colorfully striking doughs. I was curious to know how the breads would turn out.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnTJH9BcZUTPLMzK9kjAMH70Y9g5gJfFi-vtqeikYRxJIVDFHJ04MWe-A5OMKWzRJ3aCDBG5kVgInM4iWw51nF5UpypUHwLAN_jP8bLv6eKpqOSnw0QtLanFS-8_4YGmx2LMjwIQBQIk/s1600-h/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 324px; height: 324px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnTJH9BcZUTPLMzK9kjAMH70Y9g5gJfFi-vtqeikYRxJIVDFHJ04MWe-A5OMKWzRJ3aCDBG5kVgInM4iWw51nF5UpypUHwLAN_jP8bLv6eKpqOSnw0QtLanFS-8_4YGmx2LMjwIQBQIk/s400/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439413405635957378" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> I have to be honest, the chocolate espresso bread had caught my eye from the first time I opened the book. I planned to make it and bought some black cocoa powder to try with it. Then when I saw how soon it was on the baking schedule, I just waited until it was time to post it. I didn't get around to making the tangerine bar variation with this dough, but made "cupcakes" with it. I just formed the dough into small balls and put it into my muffin pan. I made twelve large muffins and sixteen mini-muffins. I loved them--especially the almost bite-sized mini's. They were had a delicious crunchy outside texture and the inside was just a bit of sweetness and plenty of chocolatey-ness. Paul was disappointed with this bread, though, because I think he was expecting something more cake-like. So it wasn't sweet enough for his expectations. Everyone else seemed to like it--especially Holly and Finn. The only thing I did different was cut the honey back just a smidge when I halved the recipe. The whole recipe called for 3/4 cup of honey, and I only added 1/4 cup to the halved recipe.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And we discovered if you give Holly a muffin, she's going to call it a moose. And she'll want <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8eSpb5CXdk32GME3QMisszuEscWdaTPWEX-we0csKYCVU01Dvj9_moCeig6U21GnUbndkcGHKH4CyVPQ8tL4qECG-MCTlJ7NCiRrgemR4XXtRMMTVhpaSlVYeunURNZcqOuqmYjNnc4/s1600-h/moosemuffin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 110px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8eSpb5CXdk32GME3QMisszuEscWdaTPWEX-we0csKYCVU01Dvj9_moCeig6U21GnUbndkcGHKH4CyVPQ8tL4qECG-MCTlJ7NCiRrgemR4XXtRMMTVhpaSlVYeunURNZcqOuqmYjNnc4/s400/moosemuffin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439412456117814850" border="0" /></a>another and another and another and finally she'll cry when you tell her there aren't any more. Have you seen this cute story? <u>If You Give a Moose a Muffin</u> by <span class="h3color">Laura Joffe Numeroff</span><b class="h3color"> </b>is a darling little kids story book. It's actually part of a series of books with this sort of theme. The story follows from one point to the next, eventually winding around right back to the starting point. Apparently Holly isn't quite sure on the difference between mooses and muffins, though, as she asked for a moose every time she wanted another muffin.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The dough for the red beet rolls was met with initial skepticism. Nobody aside from myself seemed to think much of the color of the dough. And telling them it was from beets didn't do anything to allay their qualms. I opted only to make a half recipe of this because they barely had beets at the store in town. And what they did were little and puny and expensive. And I was a little bit concerned that nobody would eat it anyhow.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29Gcqk30R29_63E0RFsjf88W9mma3U-5votArQM4wLAQuhftyf5NAy7z6sRqcBUu8mK_15K3a-Vt-2-ElJFcPrgopgjlEVpW0bNbJqg0z9haEDI3UNX11v9EJYJI2aVL_oud14uxszc8/s1600-h/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+014.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29Gcqk30R29_63E0RFsjf88W9mma3U-5votArQM4wLAQuhftyf5NAy7z6sRqcBUu8mK_15K3a-Vt-2-ElJFcPrgopgjlEVpW0bNbJqg0z9haEDI3UNX11v9EJYJI2aVL_oud14uxszc8/s320/Beet+and+chocolate+breads+014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439416963700247074" border="0" /></a>I unfortunately got sidetracked after I shaped the dough into portions and it had much more time than the forty minutes the recipe called for. I think it just gave them more time to spread way out. They came out looking like some kind of over-sized cookies. They spread way out from the picture you see here. And then they were the victims of neglect again because I happened to be out of the room when the oven timer went off and nobody informed me. I don't think they were in very much more than a couple minutes over the recipe time. For the most part, the bottoms didn't get too browned. They had a lovely aroma as they cooked like a deli or something from the onions in the dough, I think. I split a roll in half to share with Paul because I had a feeling he would have refused a whole one. He took a bite of it and said it was different. After another bite, he handed me the rest of the roll and said he didn't think he'd finish it. Ivy wasn't interested in trying one, but Holly carried one around and snacked on it. The onion flavor was the flavor that carried through the rolls and they weren't bad, but I'm not sure what to do with the rest of the dough if nobody really wants to eat it. I'm sure the chickens wouldn't turn their noses up at fresh bread!<br /><br />Check out what others did with these doughs by visiting the <a href="http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/02/welcome-to-5th-hbinfive-bread-braid.html" target="new">HBin5 Bread Braid</a> hosted at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Black</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>.<br /><br />I like the opportunity HBinFive gives me to try out recipes that I might not get to on my own. I doubt I'll be using the beet roll dough again, but we did revisit the <a href="http://www.petalzandfinz.com/2010/02/hbinfive-soft-whole-wheat-sandwich.html">Soft Wheat Sandwich Bread </a>again from the last time. Paul asked specifically for me to make hamburger rolls from it again, and we had Boca burgers on them one night and turkey burgers another night. I hadn't been sure if we'd use that recipe again, but apparently it made an impression on Paul. As for the espresso bread, I can see that one again in my future, just not too often as the temptation to eat the entire batch myself was a bit strong.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I've found a recipe calculator that I have been using a lot to figure out the nutritional values of foods and be able to work out how they fit into the Weight Watchers program. I thought I'd post the link for it in case anybody else would be interested. It can be found <a href="http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp">here</a>. I like how you can input your own serving size for the recipes and then it gives you the nutritional information for one serving size. From my calculations, the big chocolate rolls were four points each and the minis were just a point each. The beet buns were about two points each for the size I made them.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-31808108119019832432010-02-10T19:51:00.016-05:002010-02-10T22:31:38.130-05:00Scrub a Dub<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF18HoYgrwDJnpekZOHbvd8T7LxCggzD-qgTqYC3MwxweWXJ2Uih1iCprghOhdKmwCkiPlVrq4IE7lwq9dMqRybwSRwVMM4M65jrGq574D051YLQBNJ6JpVt3XGxCiNJm-cguY9JwCpVc/s1600-h/Brown+sugar+scrub+020.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 399px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF18HoYgrwDJnpekZOHbvd8T7LxCggzD-qgTqYC3MwxweWXJ2Uih1iCprghOhdKmwCkiPlVrq4IE7lwq9dMqRybwSRwVMM4M65jrGq574D051YLQBNJ6JpVt3XGxCiNJm-cguY9JwCpVc/s400/Brown+sugar+scrub+020.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436818874774944194" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Today Ivy and I had fun making some brown sugar facial scrub. It's simple, quick and makes your skin feel so fabulously smooth!<br /><br />I found directions and a recipe at <a href="http://suzannemcminn.com/blog/2010/02/09/make-your-own-brown-sugar-scrub/">Chickens in the Road</a>. In just a few minutes of time, we had a nice little bowl of facial scrub. I think it took me more time to hunt for containers to store it in, but found a couple small margarine tubs tucked in the cupboard that worked marvelously. Of course a prettier container would have been nice, but sometimes you make do with what you have.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWnphFhNzOd0MIpn5_tZvBLI_8dJYZ5egpsc0GzLD4OIEBHnODT94Dxt_p2c1PgWpH_SzaXHH1xSrloU1klN6M00rvQPQK-jO5Jx52HvGdx8BXBHmCrl-_jcVhYOvTfaHDdsrZje8qvA/s1600-h/Brown+sugar+scrub+026.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWnphFhNzOd0MIpn5_tZvBLI_8dJYZ5egpsc0GzLD4OIEBHnODT94Dxt_p2c1PgWpH_SzaXHH1xSrloU1klN6M00rvQPQK-jO5Jx52HvGdx8BXBHmCrl-_jcVhYOvTfaHDdsrZje8qvA/s320/Brown+sugar+scrub+026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436821165917017938" border="0" /></a>I googled "brown sugar scrub" to see what else I might come up with and really started congratulating myself on making this when I clicked on the first link. Here's a cosmetics company that is charging $65 for 14 ounces of <a href="http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P7844&cm_mmc=us_search-_-GG-_-br%20fresh-_-S1265833242_ADOGOE_AGI3733584_CRE3069868607_TID332168441_RFDd3d3Lmdvb2dsZS5jb20%3d_RAWYnJvd24lMjBzdWdhciUyMHNjcnVi">brown sugar scrub</a>, but they call it polish instead of scrub because that does sound slightly pricier. Did I mention that you receive free shipping with this size? But seriously, could somebody come apply it for that price? Yikes! (She does look a little polished in this picture, I thought.)<br /><br />What's great about this <strike>scrub</strike> polish is that you probably have all the ingredients on hand already. I<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOJl_l0gyhdsmOfxkIZjkHltYSMHsoKvAxxj_1AWo8fOJ2vd6jyEr17IINSVlZtKPeYi5azcovNuuZHyhtkIu30r7QvioeCny0hNXa5TBkCXugjK7XxUSxt-sp3Lg9loX-qdOhdlm6yQ/s1600-h/Brown+sugar+scrub+006.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 136px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOJl_l0gyhdsmOfxkIZjkHltYSMHsoKvAxxj_1AWo8fOJ2vd6jyEr17IINSVlZtKPeYi5azcovNuuZHyhtkIu30r7QvioeCny0hNXa5TBkCXugjK7XxUSxt-sp3Lg9loX-qdOhdlm6yQ/s320/Brown+sugar+scrub+006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436820420537978370" border="0" /></a> almost did, but was short on the brown sugar. I could have just halved the recipe, but that didn't occur to me until after I bought a new bag. It only takes four ingredients: 2 cups of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of honey and a teaspoon vanilla. The vanilla is for making it smell yummy, so you could use essential oils or other extract for a different scent if you wanted. The mixture separates a little once it sits, but just keep something near the container to give it a little stir before you scoop a bit out for scrubbing your face. There's nothing bad for you in this recipe, so don't feel bad if you give it a little taste. We might have sampled it here, purely for research reasons.<br /><br />As a side note, I got this little brown sugar saver as a souvenir in Maine, hence the lighthouse motif. It works great keeping your sugar soft instead of turning to a rock solid lump. It's made of terracotta, and you just soak it in water for 5-10 minutes, dry off and pop it in with your brown sugar. It's great!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMEGnXs5Vtz-BmJ85ZKn4KgVMuHNUPitpr8j7d4Ae69dbvEtRU09lmvt2193JOM_Qhv2QRl4UOPWaB0E-dXzg7CUVsUbCvzOO3Z610_kS9emvvFmtI97lSan4S9DzhZMifv2baSz6Nyk/s1600-h/Brown+sugar+scrub+023.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMEGnXs5Vtz-BmJ85ZKn4KgVMuHNUPitpr8j7d4Ae69dbvEtRU09lmvt2193JOM_Qhv2QRl4UOPWaB0E-dXzg7CUVsUbCvzOO3Z610_kS9emvvFmtI97lSan4S9DzhZMifv2baSz6Nyk/s200/Brown+sugar+scrub+023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436821911962960210" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3168940803959905540.post-77603834367178028902010-02-03T22:07:00.007-05:002010-02-03T23:09:04.738-05:00Bowling until it hurts!<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><table align="center"><tbody><tr><td width="90"><br /></td><td> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Girl: I'd like a triple vanilla ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup, nuts, whipped cream, topped off with a slice of cucumber.<br /></i></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Waiter: Did I hear you right? Did you say top it off with a slice of cucumber?</i></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><i> </i></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Girl: Good heavens, you're right! forget the cucumber – I'm on a diet.</i></span></p></td><td width="90"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><p></p><br />This year we are taking some more steps towards being healthier. First, we are trying to lose some weight. To that end, I have started back up with Weight Watchers again. Paul isn't attending the meetings with me, but he is attempting to follow the program along with me so that we can both take some pounds off. Back when Ivy was a toddler, I managed to lose about 25 pounds and reach my goal weight and become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. Over the years, that and more has crept back on. Recently, it seemed to do more than creep and a recent step onto the scale after a period of neglect shocked me completely. I vowed immediately that I needed to lose some weight and was back at Weight Watchers within a fortnight. It seems like paying somebody else money so that I can stay motivated is the only way for me to take the pounds off. But I reasoned that my health was worth the expenditure. I've been following the program for a little over two weeks and the scale is moving in the right direction, so I'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWymktiZEtGcraWHfHC3gM0ESs2CvGo3kssAXCAqusgGygXrUUxa34qin1ZwtInC71UVZf2HPd5TLP1RAPJAr-nmEjjXqbfi3ZGH_3liN6c6NFRVNem5HMcUrwoWHxc74IrtGm7dRkBKY/s1600-h/314.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWymktiZEtGcraWHfHC3gM0ESs2CvGo3kssAXCAqusgGygXrUUxa34qin1ZwtInC71UVZf2HPd5TLP1RAPJAr-nmEjjXqbfi3ZGH_3liN6c6NFRVNem5HMcUrwoWHxc74IrtGm7dRkBKY/s200/314.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434233881531988338" border="0" /></a>m feeling happy. I can actually feel it in the most recent jeans that I bought. I was a bit depressed when I got them because they were the largest size I ever bought, but hopefully I won't be wearing them much longer!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">One thing that Weight Watchers stresses besides healthier eating habits is activity. Apparently the word "exercise" has negative connotations to many (myself included.) So they have decided the word "activity" is more user friendly. A couple months back, I told Paul that I wanted to get a Wii with our tax return money--specifically a Wii Fit. At the first WW meeting that I attended, the Wii was actually mentioned as a way to get more active. Ours was on order at that point, but not actually in hand. All during the holidays, I kept looking to see if Wii's were available because I figured that would be a time for them not to be in the store. However, they always seemed to be there, so I figured I wouldn't have any problem when I had the money to get mine in January or February. Boy, was I wrong! Amazon got some in stock and I ordered quickly. Getting a Wii Fit Plus was another story. Couldn't find it anywhere locally and every place online seemed to be sold out. Finally at the end of last week, Walmart got it in stock and I ordered as soon as I saw it. Glad I moved quickly on it because it was out of stock again within a day or two. The Wii Fit Plus arrived today (ahead of schedule, no less) and we've been getting familiar with it this afternoon and evening. It's fun and certainly does promote activity. It keeps track of how many minutes you have put in and how many calories you have burned. It takes your little Mii character and calculates your BMI and then chunks you up accordingly. Paul and I both had quite pudgy Mii's.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking of Paul, he wasn't really excited about getting another game system in the house. However, even he was impressed how it actually isn't another couch potato system, and he has become a rather large fan of the bowling game that came with the Wii. Which of course leads us to the title of my post. After an evening of intense bowling, I was in pain with every movement the next day. I was not to be outdone by the game, though, (and besides it's fun!) and kept at it the next night. The next day I hurt less, and now I can indulge in an evening of bowling with Paul and be good to go the next day!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPDVA_PbJDJo9xRcDpEa7wMrYmHS0TbVWI1UoLTcmtrC7foCHnoCLDUX8Kzlto2Zn-ALdzNNCeknmFZ50TNoQdajFKQT0q69mpuP2yRvIgqD6ci4A5xYzKKYgJKMHcnR03n9nINGO3Vo/s1600-h/eas-retail-box.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPDVA_PbJDJo9xRcDpEa7wMrYmHS0TbVWI1UoLTcmtrC7foCHnoCLDUX8Kzlto2Zn-ALdzNNCeknmFZ50TNoQdajFKQT0q69mpuP2yRvIgqD6ci4A5xYzKKYgJKMHcnR03n9nINGO3Vo/s320/eas-retail-box.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434225074786842114" border="0" /></a>There is a giveaway currently going on over at <a href="http://www.jollymom.com/">Jolly Mom</a> for EA SPORTS Active Personal Trainer which is another Wii exercise program that features a 30 day challenge with 20 minute daily workouts. I was considering getting this if the Wii Fit Plus hadn't become available when it did. It still sounds like a great exercise program and I'd love to have it. Plus I've read some great reviews of the follow up to this one--EA SPORTS Active More Workouts. If your interested in finding out more, head over to <a href="http://www.jollymom.com/2010/02/working-out-can-be-fun-effective-ea.html">Jolly Mom</a> for the giveaway and check out <a href="htt://www.EASportsActive.com">EA Sports</a> for more info specific to the program.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/348/ED7836F30273C2818680A6994022EA74.png" style="border: medium none ; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" /></a><br /><br /></div></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15095163378104526429noreply@blogger.com1