Odds and Ends

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

I think that today was my first day to get to sleep as long as I wanted since A was born 5 years ago--I was up before 8:00. Nick however, slept until almost 10:00 and only woke up when I ground the beans to make coffee.*

I finished "Home Tweet Home" and it is listed on Etsy. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. Part of me wants to keep it. I hope that it is loved, wherever it goes. While making it, I was thinking of my friend M's little boy, as he is a real nature lover. I am thinking about doing a more masculine version (or at least less girly) that someone like him would enjoy. I do have plans to make another one, as there's a few things that I would change.

My next project is a farm. I'm working out how to make corn out of felt in minature in my head right now. That may take a few tries. I'm also thinking about felt soy beans, but I don't think that most kids would know what those are.

For the odds and ends part: I got the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois from the liberay on Saturday. If you like baking bread, I think that it's worth checking out. (I'm a big fan of using the library before you buy, espically for cookbooks.) I made our first batch of dough yesterday and baked the first loaf today--this is as close to bakery perfection as I have ever come. I started with French Boule (a white flour French round loaf with a soft inside and crunchy crust) and it is soooooooooooooo good. The book does seem to live up to it's name. It took me less than 15 minutes to make the dough yesterday (no kneading required) and today was less than 5 minutes of hands-on time. The loaves are small and the dough can be frozen, so I have plans to try out many things. Olive Bread with Tuscan White Bean Dip may be next. It also tells you how to make your own bagels, which is so crazy that I may have to try it.

Because I'm in a baking frenzy, I also made the Buttermilk Blueberry Scones (or Stones, as A would call them if she were here) from the June issue of Martha Stewart Living. This is the blueberry issue and it looks like most of the recipes are avaiable on line. Scones are yummy!

The green beans that I planted are starting to take over the world--I should probably thin them out today.

I hope that you all have a great long weekend! Make something fun or dig in the dirt!

*I can do a lot of things, but I have issues with the coffee/water ratio. Mine is always too weak or too strong.