Wednesday, November 7, 2007

We're back!

Saturday, at Grandmom's Women's Club pancake breakfast:



So Las Vegas has come and gone, and we're back in the saddle again! The trip was too short, but it's good to be home. We went out for one of the heaviest dinners I've ever had in my life (all prime rib and cream and butter... even the salad was heavy with bacon, croutons and a dressing with grated hard-boiled egg in it. Tasty, but too much! Monday was a quiet day, mostly hanging out in the hotel room with a food hangover and reading, knitting and watching Veronica Mars dvds. The perfect day of downtime. In the afternoon, Daddyman and I went to the Star Trek experience (third time's a charm). It was pretty fun, and I have to admit that it is somewhat disconcerting to see borg drones walking around even when you know it's some guy named Brad from Poughkeepsie. (And yes, I know that ALL borg drones are some guy named Brad from Poughkeepsie.)





Monday night we went to see Mystere from Cirque de Soleil, which was impressive, though I was having the HARDEST time staying awake... the time change really caught up with me! Then Tuesday we spent most of the day travelling, and now we are settling back in to the inevitable post-trip piles of laundry and post-daylight-saving-time toddlers. Isn't it crazy how difference a simple hour makes to a one year old?

Friday, November 2, 2007

A post a day?

Though I haven't actually joined NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month, where you are supposed to post a blog every day in November), I've decided to take on the challenge (which might be extra challenging this weekend in Vegas, but we'll see!).

So on the days when I don't have super cool kid pictures or knitting content, etc. I've decided that my theme for the month of November is food. I've just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about her family's year of eating locally only, and found it quite inspirational. So I'm trying to be more aware of where my food comes from, and also of feeding my family more healthily.

My recipe for today is fast becoming my "go-to" easy bread recipe. It can be used for making quick yummy breakfast flatbread, pizzas, calzones, soft pretzels, etc. Yesterday for breakfast, we rolled out small balls of the dough and cooked some of them on a hot griddle (kind of like a pancake out of soft pizza dough). Yummy. The rest of the dough I rolled out into thin circles and froze between layers of plastic wrap to be used in the future, most likely for quick individual pizza dinners and lunchbox calzones (one of Thomas' new favorite lunches).

One of my favorite uses for this dough is to slice apples really thinly, sprinkle with a little cinnamon/sugar/cornstarch and fold into the dough like a calzone. It's a yummy, healthier option to a flaky-crusted apple turnover.

Basic Yeasted Dough
3 cups flour (I use a mix of white and whole wheat)
1 t yeast
1 t sugar
1 ¼ t salt
1 T butter (plus some for bowl)
1 ¼ cups lukewarm water

Mix together and knead until supple (however you want; standing mixer, food processor, by hand, etc.). Put in a plastic wrap-covered bowl to rise double. Punch down and use it right away or put in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it (up to a couple of days... I usually wait at least 8 hours or so for better flavor development).

I actually don't remember my baking temp and times... Probably 350 or 375, maybe for 15-20 minutes for the calzones?

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Oops, I forgot...




In the land of finished objects, here is the felted trick or treat bag I made for Miss G. The pattern is "Jack" by Kate Gilbert, and I used Lion Brand Wool (I forgot the names of the colorways, but they are a rusty orange and eggplant purple). Kind of a pain to make, because I don't like intarsia, but the errors in tension, etc. were erased by the felting, which I did in our front loading washing machine, and it went just fine.

A little Halloween-y


The Doctor demonstrates use of his sonic screwdriver.
("Doctor of what?" "Of everything!" -- Doctor Who, for those not in the know!)


Kids ready for fun!

A few too many pictures of Little Mister (and these are just the ones I posted) because I think he was perhaps the cutest one year old on the planet in this costume!







With friends, ready to hit the town!
That' all folks!