Honey Oatmeal Bread: Bread of the Week 2

This week I made honey oatmeal bread. The recipe was in the Kitchen Aid book that came with my mixer. It was easy to make and looked beautiful.

Looks are great, but when it comes down to it I want bread to taste good too. This bread was delicious. It was even better than the challah. It was perfect toasted with a bit of jam. This may be my new sandwich bread. I won't be able to go back to grocery store bread after this.

Flat Tire and Friendly People

On my drive to work this morning in what seems like balmy 7 degree weather I got a flat tire. Not a low tire, but a poof all of the air is out of my tire right now flat tire. Not in Beaverdale or downtown where there were places I could walk for help either; on MLK by Marteniz auto (which was not open).

I didn't know where to go for help. I forgot my cell phone, so I couldn't call John to cry for help. I wasn't close to any businesses I knew I could get help at. I had to learn how to change a tire.

So I got out the book from my glove compartment, opened my trunk, and tried to figure it all out. I got the tire and jack out and tried to get to work. I didn't get very far. The book with the car doesn't really have directions. One of the directions was to jack the car up. It didn't tell you how to do it. It was pretty frustrating.

I was staring at the tire cursing myself for forgetting my cell phone and not paying attention when Derek changed my tire for me in the fall of 2002 when a car stopped. A very nice man got out and offered to help. This wasn't just any helpful guy, this was an angel mechanic. He had a real jack in his trunk. And one of those metal x things that takes lug nuts off. He changed my tire in fewer than 5 minutes. It would have taken me 45 minutes, at least.

I am so thankful for the man who was willing to get out of his warm car when it is 7 degrees out to help you change a tire. Not only did he help me out of a tough situation, he reminded me that even though it is easier to drive by and ignore problems, five minutes of your time can make a difference to someone. This year I hope I stop rushing so much. I want to take time to help out my community and make Des Moines a better place.

Maker Monday: week one

In addition to becoming an excellent baker I've decided to keep track of my knitting more this year. I have a tendency to start projects or buy yarn and put them aside, only to discover them months later. In order to avoid that this year I'm going to start posting finished projects every Monday. I'm also going to note where I'm at with projects that are currently on the needles. Hopefully this motivates me to be more productive.

This week I knit fingerless mits for Ann (green) and Mary (yellow). On Christmas I discovered that John's mom & sister work in cold offices like I do. In the winter I wear fingerless mits at my desk all day and they help a lot. I hope they are kept warm by my handiwork.

I finished Ellie's legwarmers. They ended up cuter than I would have imagined and I can't wait to give them to her.

I made myself a cowl out of bulky hand spun wool I picked up at a stand at the last indoor farmer's market. It adds a lot of warmth and looks pretty cute too. I had been coveting the yarn all summer, so I finally decided to go for it. I'm glad I did. It's a cold winter and I'll get a lot of use out of a cowl.

On the needles I have a snowshoeing hat for myself. I finally frogged my first attempt at a sweater, so I should have the second attempt OTN in time to watch the Hawkeye game tomorrow night.

In addition to the other projects, I am making Mom a lace ribbon scarf. That project will be on the needles a long time, so I will give a weekly update. The scarf is currently twelve inches long.

Halla for Challah: bread of the week 1

This year I'm going to improve my baking. I'm going to bake bread once a week. Any way you slice it, I won't be loafing around this year. I kneaded to make a resolution.

This means you will see a lot of pictures of bread. I was inspired by Sara who said she was looking forward to reading about what I'm making. I think this means she'll be getting a loaf of bread the next time I see her.

I started with my favorite bread to eat: challah.

Challah turned out to be much easier to make than I thought it would be. I do need to work on evenly braiding (it slipped a bit to one side). I started with the America's Test Kitchen recipe. I think I'll try the Smitten Kitchen recipe the next time I make challah, as it has a variation that involves raisins.

I am looking for recipes to try, so if you have a favorite bread recipe please let me know. If it turns out to be a favorite you might just get a loaf from me.

Happy New Year!

Last night was the busiest New Years Eve I can remember. For once I actually had plans. Not just one party to show up at, not just a bar to hand out at, but several plans. We actually had to stick to a schedule to get it all accomplished.

First up was Sbrocco for dinner with Sarah and Jeff. It was a fancy pants meal. We had champagne and three delicious courses.

My favorite course was the dessert. I got chocolate soup. It was like eating warm brownie batter with a spoon. John got a chocolate torte made with Templeton Rye. It was delicious too. We tried Choco Vine with dessert, it's a mixture of red wine, cream, and chocolate. I need to remember to pick up a bottle the next time I'm at the store.

After the fancy dinner we headed to the Bash at the Des Moines Social Club. It was a crowded party filled with performance art and bands. It was fun, but very surreal. There were people everywhere. We were there to see Ann perform. She was between a belly dancer and a Victorian burlesque troupe. She was by far the best. The video doesn't capture how great of a job she did, but you do get some idea with it.

At the Bash we spent time talking to Ann's friend Colorado John, John's uncle Maurice, and Ann. We also ran into my friend Tara and my old roommate Heath (who is still a dork that is too good to talk to me...what a loser).

After watching the show at the Bash we headed to our last party at Hot Toddy's. It was nice to end the night with with such a good friend.

I hope you had a wonderful New Years Eve and I wish you happiness in 2010.

Wheat Bread

I have decided to bake something once a week. This week it was whole wheat bread.

I should have let the bread rise a little longer, as it was a bit shorter than I prefer for sandwich bread. It does have good flavor and I like it a lot more than the grocery store bread currently on my counter. As an added bonus, my house still smells like fresh baked bread. You really can't top that.

Snowshoeing

For Christmas I got John and me snowshoes. Today we were able to try them out. We headed to the Sycamore Access area of the bike path to get started. There were a lot of tracks from cross country skiers, but we were the first snowshoe tracks. It was very quiet, we only met two other people the hour and a half we were out.

John is much more coordinated on the snowshoes. He can actually jump. I almost fell over after posing with one foot in the air.

I really enjoyed snowshoeing. I'm looking forward to spending a few hours a weekend in the woods getting some sunshine. I think it will make winter suck just a little bit less, and that is a darn good thing.