Saturday, July 14, 2007
No Summer but Blogs = Salvation
I have missed summer so far this year. I read Amy's blog about hiking and kayaking and I get sentimental about when I,me, used to spend the summer weekends with Gary camping and hiking and exploring wild Wyoming. Maggie's Lazy Vacazy was like reading the most scintillating novel ! Bubba has the most amazing looking garden and canoeing with Leigh had me in tears !Cody has all kinds of adventures. Zack and Jenny have close encounters with bears. And Colin and Lori have the best summer of all with the Adventures of an Almost Two Year Old Jason " Me, I allow myself 3 or 4 hours to clean my house on Saturday mornings and then its "Hit the Books". You can ask Gary, he has become a college student widow. Being the saint that he is he cheerfully cooks for me, does the laundry, weeds my flower gardens and props me up when I am so discouraged about school. (Its only 6 more months,he said to which I replied, I can't take 6 more months!!....typical Nursing School melt down I am told by others who have gone through this torture!)I haven't run in months,I haven't baked bread in months either, forget quilting or making homemade cards for all the special people in my life . Nothing except work and school !!!!So.... keep the blogs coming !!! I am living vicariously through all the rest of you. They are my salvation and reward after studying and writing stupid papers for Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, ( I have had ALL the psychiatric problems we have studied so far ! Definitely depressed,bipolar, schziophrenic, disassociated,obsessive compulsive... need I go on?).I have 3 more weeks this summer semester then 17 days off until fall semester starts. I plan on squeezing all my summer into those 17 days and then hopefully MY blog will be full of summer adventures like all of yours !
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
What's so funny about Peace,Love and Understanding
Title of an old song, written by Nick Lowe I believe and made popular by one of Gary's favorites, Elvis Costello. Its 40 years since the Summer of Love and I am sitting here at work listening to Jimi Hendrix singing Foxy Lady on the hospital musac thing. That's pretty freaky!!Who would have thought back in 1967 that I would be listening to that here ! Its almost 4th of July and I think about peace,love and understanding and wonder where all of it has gone in the world !!! Enough seriousness!!!!!
I should have titled this blog "Its Miller Time"! For those of you who have never experienced the invasion of the Miller Moths....They are little creatures who I think are the flying metamorphisis of the Army Cut Worm ( are there any entolmologists out there ??). What nips corn and other plants at ground level in the East and Midwest turn into moths that migrate to the high elevations in the West. You wake up to them buzzing around any light you have left on during the night. No matter how carefully you have closed everything up, they can squeeze through the tiniest cracks !! And when they die, they leave a powdery dust .... HOWEVER! They are one of the finest delicacies of the Grizzly Bear. These little winged inconveniences fly to the tops of the mountains and seek out talus slopes, the shale type, and hide under them. There the bears go and and its like the biggest bear buffet ever ! I have seen tapes of up to 10-12 bears at a "Moth Site" all turning over rocks and scooping up these protein packed morsels. And then in the fall, any moths that haven't been turned into Grizzly Bear fat come back and invade houses again on their way back to turn into Army Cut Worms and devastate the cornfields of Iowa,Illinois, Indiana, Ohio... the "I" states. The East has blackflies and mosquitos but WE have Millers!!! Its Miller Time!
I should have titled this blog "Its Miller Time"! For those of you who have never experienced the invasion of the Miller Moths....They are little creatures who I think are the flying metamorphisis of the Army Cut Worm ( are there any entolmologists out there ??). What nips corn and other plants at ground level in the East and Midwest turn into moths that migrate to the high elevations in the West. You wake up to them buzzing around any light you have left on during the night. No matter how carefully you have closed everything up, they can squeeze through the tiniest cracks !! And when they die, they leave a powdery dust .... HOWEVER! They are one of the finest delicacies of the Grizzly Bear. These little winged inconveniences fly to the tops of the mountains and seek out talus slopes, the shale type, and hide under them. There the bears go and and its like the biggest bear buffet ever ! I have seen tapes of up to 10-12 bears at a "Moth Site" all turning over rocks and scooping up these protein packed morsels. And then in the fall, any moths that haven't been turned into Grizzly Bear fat come back and invade houses again on their way back to turn into Army Cut Worms and devastate the cornfields of Iowa,Illinois, Indiana, Ohio... the "I" states. The East has blackflies and mosquitos but WE have Millers!!! Its Miller Time!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Its about time!!
It IS about time. Time for me to start my blog, although without a digital camera, mine won't be as entertaining as all of yours! And its about my LACK of time trying to be a fulltime student and work fulltime! SO... my blogs will probably very,very short. But I will still try to make bread on Saturdays. Its therapy for me.
About memories... remember in Hightown I used to make 6 loaves at a time ! We were big eaters then. So.... for the bread recipe...I recommend trying it when you need something to occupy your mind and your hands. This is an old ,old recipe from an old,old Joy of Cooking cookbook. The recipe is not found in new versions.
2 1/2 cups of water
1 1/2 TB dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar(white or brown) or honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup oil
7 - 8 cups of flour: I use approximately 4 cups of unbleached white
1 to 1 1/2 cup whole wheat
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup wheatgerm
1/4 cup cracked wheat
2 TB flax seed
You can use all white flour or any combination of flours, but you need to have
at least 4 cups of white flour for this bread to rise.
Warm 1 cup of water to bath temperature. Add a tsp or so of sugar or honey and the yeast and let rest for 10 minutes. ( I heat up my tea water in the microwave and then pop my yeast mixture in there with the door closed and its nice and warm and steamy in there!)
Meanwhile melt the butter in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water. Add this to a big bowl with your sweetener,salt ,egg and oil. When the yeast is nice and bubbly, add it also. Then begin adding the flour, starting with 2-3 cups of white. Mix well, adding the other flour until it gets too stiff to mix with a spoon. Now is the time to start kneading.... the best part ! Turn onto a floured surface and start kneading...pushing with heels of your hands and turning. The dough will be sticky....that means just adding a little flour at a time so you can knead it some more. Knead for 15 minutes. At some point it won't need very much flour at all, it will be nice and elastic! Don't worry if you don't add all 7-8 cups of flour: weather, humidity and alignment of the planets make every batch different and some doughs accept more flour then others. After you have kneaded for 15 minutes, find a bowl that will accomodate your dough x 2 because it needs to double in size while it is rising. Again, I make another cup of tea in my microwave, and then pop in my bowl, which I have greased before putting in the dough, and I cover it with a damp towel. It rises for about 1 1/2 hours or so until it doubles. Then you deflate it by punching it down and turning it out and kneading it for just a minute or two.Repeat the rising process for a second time. This time will be shorter, but again let it double in bulk. Punch it down and let it rest now for 10 minutes. Divide in 3 equal parts. Make each part a rectangle and roll it up width wise and place in a greased bread pan. Maggie and I have found that glass or ceramic bread pans are the best! Now let all 3 loaves rise in a warm place until they reach the top of the pans. Place in a COLD oven. Turn the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 350 and bake 20-25 minutes more. The loaves are done when they are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. Cover the loaves with a towel while they cool. You can use this recipe to make rolls( just let them rise and don't bake them so long) or cinnamon bread( after you make the rectangle of dough, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon and roll up). They keep well in the freezer and make great gifts...
OK! Time to get back to work. Let me know if you have trouble with the recipe. For GREAT
French bread you will have to ask The Beermaker because he is the expert at that!
About memories... remember in Hightown I used to make 6 loaves at a time ! We were big eaters then. So.... for the bread recipe...I recommend trying it when you need something to occupy your mind and your hands. This is an old ,old recipe from an old,old Joy of Cooking cookbook. The recipe is not found in new versions.
2 1/2 cups of water
1 1/2 TB dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar(white or brown) or honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup oil
7 - 8 cups of flour: I use approximately 4 cups of unbleached white
1 to 1 1/2 cup whole wheat
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup wheatgerm
1/4 cup cracked wheat
2 TB flax seed
You can use all white flour or any combination of flours, but you need to have
at least 4 cups of white flour for this bread to rise.
Warm 1 cup of water to bath temperature. Add a tsp or so of sugar or honey and the yeast and let rest for 10 minutes. ( I heat up my tea water in the microwave and then pop my yeast mixture in there with the door closed and its nice and warm and steamy in there!)
Meanwhile melt the butter in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water. Add this to a big bowl with your sweetener,salt ,egg and oil. When the yeast is nice and bubbly, add it also. Then begin adding the flour, starting with 2-3 cups of white. Mix well, adding the other flour until it gets too stiff to mix with a spoon. Now is the time to start kneading.... the best part ! Turn onto a floured surface and start kneading...pushing with heels of your hands and turning. The dough will be sticky....that means just adding a little flour at a time so you can knead it some more. Knead for 15 minutes. At some point it won't need very much flour at all, it will be nice and elastic! Don't worry if you don't add all 7-8 cups of flour: weather, humidity and alignment of the planets make every batch different and some doughs accept more flour then others. After you have kneaded for 15 minutes, find a bowl that will accomodate your dough x 2 because it needs to double in size while it is rising. Again, I make another cup of tea in my microwave, and then pop in my bowl, which I have greased before putting in the dough, and I cover it with a damp towel. It rises for about 1 1/2 hours or so until it doubles. Then you deflate it by punching it down and turning it out and kneading it for just a minute or two.Repeat the rising process for a second time. This time will be shorter, but again let it double in bulk. Punch it down and let it rest now for 10 minutes. Divide in 3 equal parts. Make each part a rectangle and roll it up width wise and place in a greased bread pan. Maggie and I have found that glass or ceramic bread pans are the best! Now let all 3 loaves rise in a warm place until they reach the top of the pans. Place in a COLD oven. Turn the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 350 and bake 20-25 minutes more. The loaves are done when they are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack. Cover the loaves with a towel while they cool. You can use this recipe to make rolls( just let them rise and don't bake them so long) or cinnamon bread( after you make the rectangle of dough, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon and roll up). They keep well in the freezer and make great gifts...
OK! Time to get back to work. Let me know if you have trouble with the recipe. For GREAT
French bread you will have to ask The Beermaker because he is the expert at that!
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