Bread Baking

I've been snowbound, icebound and housebound. I am not complaining. It has not been bad. No, I have not been knitting. I'm not sure what I have been doing. Oh, I remember now. I've been shopping online, baking and reading. Yeah, that's it. That's what I've been doing.

I have a bunch of pictures on all my "i" devices (iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini) and my camera. Each time I took a set of pictures it was for a blog entry, mostly snow related.  Weather talk and forecasts, snow and ice, freezing temperatures? I became sooooo inured that I settled down with some good books. I became immersed in reading and buying cookbooks and kitchen gadgets. Amazon and UPS love me, USPS too.

I learned a lot. I can bake artisan bread in five minutes a day! "The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoe Francois is a wonderful cookbook! It's about dough. It's about bread and beyond. It's about baking bread from scratch using four simple ingredients: water, yeast, salt and flour--without proofing, punching or playing around. If you like bread, you'll love this method and the book.

As usual I'm late to the game. This wonderful no knead bread making method from long ago had a resurgence and became very popular in 2007 after a NY Times article spotlighting Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery who was baking bread this way. It was not a new concept, but Lahey and then Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois and others brought it to the forefront.

In January 2014 I stumbled upon it via a food blog I follow that had a recipe for pumpkin bread bowls for serving soup and the rest is history--or in this case "my story."

Here is my first no knead bread. They are my pumpkin bread bowls resting before baking.

 One baked pumpkin bowl full of pumpkin soup.

My fascination led me to many books and You Tube videos. Ultimately I bought the Hertzberg/Francois book.

Yesterday I made half the basic recipe,  let it rise for two hours and refrigerated it overnight.

 

When I was ready to bake bread for lunch I took a grapefruit-sized hunk off,

"cloaked" it, shaped it, let it rest, while the oven heated. Then I floured it, scored it and baked it.

Once it had cooled enough I sliced it, buttered it and had two slices with lunch. So good!

Although I even take my book to bed with me, you don't have to buy the book. Visit breadinfive.com and find out everything you need to know to make your first loaves of no knead bread.

Bona Fide Knitter

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Welcome on in 2014. I'm glad to see you.

Last year was so full of trials and tribulations, sickness and sadness for my little family that I was glad to see it end. Out with the old. In with the new.

Let's start with knitting. Surprise, surprise, I'm on topic! When I was searching for my Kotcha-Kotcha (row counter) to get started on the knitting project in my Christmas Eve Box, I remembered it was in one of my sock knitting totes. Lo and behold the other thing in that tote was not one of my basic socks in progress as I expected, but my first attempt at the Turkish Bed Socks! Yes, I had already started a pair. I think it was right after I came to my senses and frogged the two toe-up on one circular some time around Labor Day. No wonder I couldn't find the one orphan skein of Koigu in my Koigu Stash. I was already knitting with it.

Confession time: I stooped and bought an orphan skein from eBay to make up the kit for my Christmas Eve Box. shame.shame.shame Please don't remember how much Koigu I have from the old days at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festivals. I have it all divided and weighed out for making pairs of socks. I didn't want to bust any bundles. shame.shame.shame

Anyway, here is how much I had accomplished:

And here is how much I have accomplished to date:

If it looks the same it is because it is. I have not taken the first additional stitch yet although I take it everywhere I go including upstairs to bed and back downstairs in the morning. But can you see I had already turned the heel? Whoop-de-doooo!

Okay, My New Year's Eve: I did a repeat of Christmas dinner, using leftovers, right down to dessert and champagne. Spouse and I clinked glasses and gave toasts to a better year to come. I was in sequins, my Ugg-like black boots with glitz. There were no noise-makers or ball dropping at the count down because it was New Year's Eve afternoon. Yes, afternoon celebrations are our time of day. At midnight we woke up long enough to again wish each other a "Happy New Year!" with enthusiasm . . . and then went back to sleep.  y.a.w.n. It has become a tradition.

Bona Fide Knitter
getting ready to knit

Merry Christmas

I hope your day was wonderful, full of the spirit, family, friends and whatever you love. My day was nice and perfectly suited to me. I cooked a full turkey dinner with all the usual accrutremonts, served   two plates with dessert and champagne on the side and it was lovely.

The high point of my Christmas gifts was my Christmas Eve Box. Remember, I mentioned it before? I also made a box for the spouse. Here they are:

For the spouse I included things he likes at the moment which was not an easy task. I had to think small . . .

First is a sleep shirt in lieu of pajamas. He likes PJ tops. The long pants bottoms not so much. Thus, the sleep shirt. Longer than a PJ top and maintains some modesty. 

Then a one year subscription to Esquire magazine.

Next: Okay, if you must, chewing gum in three throwback iconic flavors. And diet soda for the non-coffee/tea/hot chocolate drinker.

And then the fun stuff: two decks of cards--one Pinochle, one standard.

And underneath, the Cheez-Its he's currently addicted to.

On the bottom is an electronic game called FlashPad.

Fun on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

My Box

The dark red pajama top has coordinating dotted pants.

Tucked in the neck is my current favorite CD and the DVD. It's Andrea Bocelli's concert in Portofino, Italy. Love it!

  There are hot chocolate K-cups for the Keurig coffee maker: Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate and just in case, one for Chai Tea. And microwave popcorn to eat while watching a movie. There's my Roku streaming device remote control in the box. I watched Love Actually. And the new knitting project making the final cut is . . . . . . Turkish Bed Socks! The yarn is Koigu, a favorite of mine for knitting socks. I kept you in suspense, but I'm sure some guessed it would be the socks instead of a hat. After all, my other blog is The Sock Lady. 

One small confession: The things for my Christmas Eve Box continued to increase after the lid was closed. I also got the electronic game FlashPad. 

And a new cookbook.

Christmas Day is over. I am H O M E bathed in the ambience of candlelight and having a final reflection on the day. And remembering a Christmas Day past . . .

Bona Fide Knitter

Snow, Snow, Snow, NO!

Hey everybody! It has snowed here three times in a week! Is this an indication of the winter we are going to have? Is Mother Nature out for vindication after not mustering up any snow last winter?

I didn't think of taking pictures of the winter wonderland until a day after the last snow/ice storm.

View of backyard
with a little electronic enhancement

without enhancement

Right outside my front door I found some interesting footprints. What are they?

At first I thought the mailman had taken a tumble and those were his handprints.

On closer inspection they are definitely animal prints. And they are neither dog nor cat prints. I'm glad I didn't walk out and frighten whatever it was. I would have been the frightened one!

During this transitional season I've spent some time knitting Beach Socks 2013. At the rate I'm going, I might get them done before it's time to start Beach Socks 2014. I've spent more time making donuts and most of the time missing my Bichon babies. Oh gee, don't get me started on that.

I want to bake, but I don't want to eat the carbs or calories of baked goods. What to do? Don't bake! But I couldn't resist making my favorite apple cake. Actually it's my only apple cake. It's the only one I make. I adore it!

I've always loved a well made Jewish apple cake. I tried many recipes, but none measured up to slices I used to get from a cafeteria downtown, The Colonnade, no longer in existence, and from a neighborhood Jewish bakery I've lost track of. There was even a tolerable one sold at my neighborhood Acme Super Market. And then there wasn't. One day while searching for something to watch on a TV-not-hooked-up-to cable, I stumbled upon the Y Arts channel and Deborah Dal Fovo making her Nonna's Homemade Italian Apple Cake. I could hardly wait to make one. I've written about it before. It's not Jewish. It's Italian and it is THE apple cake! Just the way I like it: enough apples, moist, not too sweet and pretty to look at as well. Always a feast for the eyes and the tummy. Yum, yum, delicious!

It calls for just a few ingredients. Buy five Golden Delicious apples. I'm sure you have the rest of the ingredients on hand. A spring form pan, a couple of bowls, a wire whisk, peel, core, slice and arrange, bake in a 350 degree oven, and the best apple cake ever will be yours each time you bake one. And you will make it again and again. Easy, peasy, delicioso. Trust me.

When it's hot out of the oven my figural measuring cup set and measuring spoon set check it out.

Plated, Golden and Delicious

Cut

Can you see the moistness? Can you see the apple slices inside?

Perfection!

I have completed my Christmas Eve box. I can just lift the lid and save the box for next year. No ribbon, not bow, no tag . . . yet. I still have over a week to go. Something else might need to go inside. As for the tag, I won't need one. I know whose box it is.

I had to do some editing of the contents before I put the lid on. There were three knitting projects vying for a place in the box: (1) a free Ravelry download of a slouchy beret Springtime in Philadelphia,  (2) American Girl Doll Beret and (3) Turkish Bed Socks. How much can a person do on Christmas Eve while looking at a movie, eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate?  I changed my mind many times, but the final decision has been made. Which one, you ask? You will find out after it is a fait accompli. Stay tuned.

Still a
Bona Fide Knitter

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey, another holiday, another post. Yes, it's Thanksgiving. Can you believe it? Where did this year go?!!!

Thanksgiving for us has been scaled down over the years. We have a good traditional meal and delicious dessert(s) and try not to overindulge in either. We've taken care of the eating part already. Time to move on to the next thing. My Christmas Cacti (two plants) which I have had for over 25 years as near as I can calculate based on pictures in which they appear in the background, have already bloomed themselves almost to death. Over the years their biological clocks reset and they bloom for Thanksgiving every year. They think it's Christmas. Here's this year's display.

Last Week

Today, Thanksgiving, November 28, 2013

So, moving right along . . . 

Time to think Christmas. I mentioned in the last post "the Christmas Eve Box." I saw the idea on Facebook. I liked it so much I decided to make one for myself. The idea is to make a box to be opened on Christmas Eve after dinner, in the evening. Open the box, get ready for bed, don the new PJs and settle in to enjoy the other contents of the box. Ideas for the contents include new PJs, (The PJs or other sleep attire are a must!) new socks, favorite treats like popcorn, chocolate, pretzels, fixings for hot cocoa including marshmallows, a book, a game, Christmas movie or other DVD. Let your imagination be your guide.

So far in my box I have new PJs, popcorn, pretzels, K-cups of chai tea and hot chocolate, the remote control for the Roku (I haven't decided on a movie yet.) and a new knitting pattern with yarn and needles. I have two patterns in contention.

I'm going to make a box for my spouse as well. So far in his box I have a new sleep shirt, chewing gum (Wrigley's Doublemint, Spearment and Juicy Fruit), Cheez-It crackers and diet ginger ale. I'm stuck on providing entertainment for him. A book? A game? Not sure yet. Part of the fun is picking the right items for the person. I'm sure both boxes will go through a few additions and subtractions before December 24.

My contending knitting patterns are berets. Shall I start one for myself or one for an American Girl doll. I'm leaning toward the doll beret. I could get a lot done while watching the movie and I could finish on Christmas Day. Patterns for both can be found on Ravelry.

I'm so gung ho on this Christmas Eve Box idea I've convinced my cousin to make one for herself. How about you? Make one for yourself and family members you spend the night with Christmas Eve.  I think it's a great tradition to start.  Singles, young marrieds, families with children, empty nesters--Christmas Eve Boxes for everybody!

Time for another piece of pie.

BonaFide Knitter

Another Holiday

Well, of sorts . . .

Today is the anniversary of the day I was born. I won't say which anniversary. Suffice it to say it is a MONUMENTAL one. And that's enough about that.

What I want to go on and on about is what the younger generation(s) have missed out on. The electronic age has robbed them of so many things! I sometimes wish I was younger, but I never wish I had not lived in the years I experienced.

I learned to read and write. I learned to use my imagination, visualize, improvise, add, subtract, multiply and divide. Technicolor musicals at the movie around the corner from home made me appreciate Broadway musicals before I ever went to New York and saw one.

Don't get me wrong. I also love modern technology. I am amazed at it. I think my computer, laptop, netbook, MP3 players, e-readers, iPhone, iPod, iPad, iPad Mini (a birthday gift today) MacBook Pro (an anniversary gift back in June) are wonderful. I can't get enough of them. What a far cry from my Texas Instrument calculator of the 1970's! It was all unimaginable back when Dick Tracy had a two-way wrist radio. "Dick Tracy?" Two-way wrist radio?" Let me try another reference . . . The Jetsons! We are living beyond even what the Jetsons had.

I am as sorry for my relatives and friends closer to my age who know nothing about modern technology. Especially those who write it off as something they want to know nothing about. Well, other than having a cell phone. They don't know what they're missing. They are being left in the previous millennium! And that is as sad as not knowing how to hold a pen or pencil correctly, write in cursive and know the multiplication table.

And on that note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Selfie taken this morning

November 19, 2013

Okay, the rant is over. I love my iPad Mini. It's an iPad, Kindle and Nook all in one little sleek, handy body. I had my usual celebratory meal: Chinese take-out and champagne. This celebration called for a cake and that was good too.

Bona Fide Knitter . . . older

Veterans Day

I hate to miss a holiday post. I'm sorry to be so late in the day with this one. All year I thank, donate to and say prayers for all the men and women who have served and those currently serving the United States of America in the armed forces.

In their honor I was determined to start and finish the little knitting project that should have only taken about an hour. It took me about an hour of actual knitting and about an hour of frogging and knitting again over a period of a few days, grabbing knitting time when I could.  I'd start, get halfway through and forget what I was doing. I'd start again and begin talking and or get interrupted and could not remember what I was doing. I could not look at it and tell what to do next or what I had done wrong on the row below or how to fix it. Holey moley I'd lost my knitting know how! And believe me,"holey" was the operative word when I went wrong. The perfectionist in me made me ripit, ripit, ripit. I thought I'd turn into a frog!

On Veterans Day I started and made it to the end. Yaaaaay!!! I'm pleased with it and it goes with the coat I had in mind when I picked the yarn colorway. And I would make another if I wanted to invest in another hank of the yarn. It's a little pricey. Maybe when it goes on clearance . . .

Yarn: Link by Berroco, 1 hank (200 grams)

Colorway:  #3241 Earthen

Pattern:  Wink (included on the band of the hank)

Needles:  Size 35 (19.00 mm)

Heeeeere's Wink:

A good representation of the colors in daylight

With the coat

With the coat reversed

What happened to the flash? This is what can happen when phone pictures 

are taken after dark.

Anyway, it was fun to do once I got my knitting bona fides back. Now I need to gather some photography bona fides. Maybe I'll stop with the iPad and iPhone go back to using a CAMERA. I think I'll go off now and see what other colorways are still available and possibly at a reduced price. I could add it to my Christmas Eve Box. Does "Christmas Eve Box" pique your interest? More about that in another post.

I am happy to say I am still a

Bona Fide Knitter