Steve Gets a Friend

(The cats are trying to scramble my brain with their eyes!)

His name is Mojo, and he'll be staying with us for an indeterminate period of time (he belongs to Sean's brother David). He's somewhere between 17 & 19 years old, but you wouldn't know it from his energy level. He's practically running Steve ragged with his youthful antics. We were worried that they wouldn't get along, but they're playing together quite well. I keep waiting for the moment when we catch them sleeping in a basket together. I guess I'll have to be patient.

If this was my own work...

I'd make it my personal manifesto. My heart sings.

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2010/01/rules-for-writing-well.php

Homemade Bread on a Weekday!

So, yeah, I totally whipped together a homemade loaf of bread last Thursday. I started the bread in the morning (literally stirred the ingredients together and walked out the door), then finished it when I got home. I had homemade bread on the table at 7pm. If you haven't heard of it already, "no-knead bread" is THE thing this year. It was quick (as far as hands-on time goes, less than 10 minutes), and it was delicious. I even substituted regular all-purpose flour for bread flour, with no discernible sacrifice in taste or texture. It also makes excellent toast, when it starts to go stale. Plus, something really neat is that you can cook it in a Dutch oven, a casserole dish, or any number of round-ish vessels of the right volume. It was so easy, I'm thinking of doing away with buying sandwich bread and instead making this every week. Here's one of many recipes available on the interwebs:

No-Knead Bread makes 1 loaf

3 cups bread flour

3/4 teaspoon regular yeast (not instant)

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups water

Mix all the ingredients in the morning before you go to work. This should take about 3 minutes and leave you with a thick, slightly goopy dough. Cover with a towel or some plastic wrap and leave it in the warmest spot in your kitchen. It should get a 6 to 8-hour rise.

When you come home from work, lightly mist a counter or baking sheet with spray oil and turn dough out on it. Shape it roughly into a ball (a bench scraper is useful here), mist with oil again, and cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Let proof for about an hour, or however long you have.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Put a Dutch oven (or an alternative vessel with similar volume) in the oven to heat. When the dough has doubled in size, put it in the pan. You may have to pour it, pry it off the baking sheet, or just roll it in - the dough is very wet. Don't worry if it looks a mess. Cover the pot with a lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes to let it brown.

You can be really sure that the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the side of the loaf reads 210-220°F.

New Year!

Just wanted to give a quick update:

Christmas was great this year; all of Sarah's decorations + 2 cartons of egg nog + lots of Christmas music at home + several "fun" trips to the mall= feeling like Christmas.

New Years Eve was spent with friends again and I won second place in the 80's attire contest; I was going for the Marty McFly outfit, but couldn't get a red sleeveless vest.

Lastly, the thing that I am most excited about right now (which is what actually prompted me to do this update) is that I got all my grades from this last semester; five A's and one B! Not too shabby. :) Five more classes next semester, two in the summer and I will be done (which is 213 days from today, but who's counting?)