I got a haircut today. It’s cute.
I think I look like Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the Wicked Little Town scene.
OK, really the only thing in common is the dual color. You can’t even really see it in these photos, but there’s pink under there, and it looks ubercute. UBERCUTE.
I first posted about the recipe earlier, but didn’t re-link when I mentioned it a week ago. My apologies. Wadsbone and I are churning out loaf after loaf, for our friends and ourselves. We’ve altered our grocery list to encompass delicious things to eat with this bread. Fantastic cheeses, hummus, and jam are the top favorites right now. We also burnt our first loaf last night. We were both more upset that we were willing to admit.
The best bread ever recipe is here. It’s highly probable that I’ll get in trouble for posting the exact recipe, cut and pasted, but because not everyone wants to subscribe to NYT online, I’m going to do it anyway. Viva la Anarchist Librarians.
There’s also an article written about the bread, and the video showing how to do it. Unfortunately, I believe you need to have more than the free registration. Forget that: here’s the recipe:
Recipe: No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
After the meal is over, my family always talks about how this was the best meal ever. I agree, of course, but this year had a few fantastic extras.
1. El Chipps
2. El Chipps’ cranberry sauce and chocolate-chip-zucchini bread
3. No babies
4. John Edwards. Yes, he was there.
5. El Chipps learned to knit
6. My mom, grandmother, and aunt all took pity on me and re-rolled a particularly tangled ball of yarn.
7. The best weather yet since nigh 1987.
Jason and I went a-bike shoppin’ yesterday, and I think we both fell in love with bikes. The one I’m looking at is powder blue. Jason’s is robin’s egg blue. Totally different.
Alls well that ends well. Rogue travelled a looooong time,
and safely made it to Japan, where it is being worn every day.
This is Al. Al is a superhero and a spy and a poker player. She hails from the bowels of eastern Iowa,
and is doing … you know … spy stuff. And teaching preschoolers how to count in English. And playing the mellophone.
Theeeeeeeeeend.
After the meal is over, my family always talks about how this was the best meal ever. I agree, of course, but this year had a few fantastic extras.
1. El Chipps
2. El Chipps’ cranberry sauce and chocolate-chip-zucchini bread
3. No babies
4. John Edwards. Yes, he was there.
5. El Chipps learned to knit
6. My mom, grandmother, and aunt all took pity on me and re-rolled a particularly tangled ball of yarn.
7. The best weather yet since nigh 1987.
Jason and I went a-bike shoppin’ yesterday, and I think we both fell in love with bikes. The one I’m looking at is powder blue. Jason’s is robin’s egg blue. Totally different.
Wadsbone and I chose to eat at Perkins tonight after looking at bikes, and it reminded me of a recent Perkins faux pas.
So, I’m at Perkins a few weeks ago, because my good friends Angie and Chris were in town, and this was the brunch that sent them on their way. We’re wrapping up, and I go to the women’s room before we all leave.
My actual personal experience with the terlet was average, but what happened next left me embarrassed and giggling for a few hours. I didn’t want to miss Angie and Chris’ exit, so I was rushing. I went to the sink to wash my hands, where another woman was also performing ablution. As I finished, I went over to the paper towel dispenser. There was only one dispenser, and apparently the other woman had pushed the little lever to give herself a foot and a half of paper towel before she washed her hands. In my rush, I didn’t let the situation (excuse the pun) sink in, and in my rush, decided the best course of action was to rip off the amount of paper towel I needed (enough to not have soaking wet hands that leave prints on my friends’ backs) and leave the rest.
As I got back to the table, the situation became clear. This woman hand purposely chosen to dispense the paper towel length she needed before washing her hands so she wouldn’t have to touch the lever with her newly-clean hand. It makes perfect sense, especially if you’re a surgeon or fearful of germs, and I totally ruined her day. I left a soggy half of her desired amount of paper towel and fled the scene.
As I look back, I’m not sure what I could have done differently (other than wait for her to finish scrubbing her hands for the full 30 seconds) to avoid the situation. I didn’t want soppy hands for the farewell, and I believe I was wearing clothing that weren’t up for impromptu wicking.
Now, when I think about it I giggle and feel kind of bad.
OMG. Jason and I just made our first loaf of bread with the new ingenious recipe. It is the most delicious loaf of bread I’ve ever eaten. I’m so glad we purchased a dutch oven. The $15 is totally worth it for this loaf of bread. Hm. Moving it may not be as fun (it is as heavy as John Edwards) but since it takes minimal effort (just well scheduled attendance) we could be eating fresh, homemade bread every day.
I’m finally home from my week of interviews. I’m tired, and at the same time recharged. My ability to make decisions has returned, which I’m grateful for.
After leaving Kate y Ade, I had a two-hour delay at the airport, which ate up all the precious time I had between landing and getting to the library where I was interviewing. I had to forgo the bus option (and I was all prepared with printouts of each route available) and go with a taxi. Boo.
The interview was the most rigorous questioning I’ve experienced with an interview, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I performed a story time for two grown adults who did not work in children’s services (awwwwkward!) but managed it.
The whole thing took just over an hour. I changed out of my professional wear, and into utilitarian gear. I was to be picked up by one of my best friend’s boy friend – a guy I have known about for five years, but never met. Luckily, he’s rad, so there was very little of the adjustment needed to meeting someone you should have meet years ago. It’s not my fault – he’s a Kiwi, and always in exotic places like Texas.
Dr. Kim (to differentiate from Librarian Kim) had to work during the evenings I was there, so it was up to Steve to be my Seattle guide. We walked down a long hill to a happy hour, then blissfully stumbled up it back home. I’d been feeling like I wanted to get rip-roaring drunk ever since I finished The Devil in the White City, and Steve helped obligingly. We ate happy-hour-priced appetizers, and he explained the rules of rugby. I immediately forgot.
Kim and I haven’t seen each other in at least a year and a half, and I didn’t know I was going to Seattle with enough time for her to change her schedule. I feel like we’ve managed to catch up, but it’s going to take more hanging out – and soon – to get the satisfying feeling of a close friendship going again. That’s another pretty good reason to want the job in Seattle.
I’ll know whether or not I made the preliminary cut for Seattle and LA soon after Thanksgiving. By then I should also know whether or not I got the job in Fairhaven. You’ll be impressed to know that I haven’t tried figuring out what to do before I know what I have to work with. I can’t wait to find out who wants me – and then choose a place to start being a librarian. This is so so satisfying.
Here’s the best thing I’ve seen in a while – Karla sent it to me:
Kidding. It’s cold and dreary. My plane got the mopes, and my flight has been delayed. That’s why I’m posting at 6 AM. I’m eating waffles and peanut butter (a culinary trick Aden taught me – don’t think of them as waffles. Think of them as … exciting bread.) and getting ready to brave Chicago public transportation to O’Hare.
It’s nice to think about all my friends are asleep right now in their beds. (Except Allison. She’s in Japan. Oh, and [Librarian] Kim. She’s on her way to China.)
Jason and I bought a dutch oven. That may not seem very exciting, BUT IT IS.
First off, the whole dutch-oven requirement came from a conversation with Sasha about this recipe he tried, which is a revolutionary way of making delicious crusty bread. Instead of the usual 3-hour breadathon, complete with kneading, you mix the ingredients together, then let them sit for 18 hours. Letting it sit that long lets the glutens attach nicely (which gives you airy bread) and you don’t have to knead it. Secondly, fancy-schmancy bakers have steam-injection ovens, which adds steam to the oven so the bread gets crispy on top. This is where the dutch oven comes in. The dough is extra wet, and you bake it inside the dutch oven. With the lid on, you effectively create a steam oven.
We’ve found that the dutch oven is heavy, metal, and the lid has pointy bits. We recommend not putting it on your head.
P.S. I’m off to more interviews, so if the posting is erratic, it’s because this is the Week of Interviews. Three interviews in four days – and only one of them is via phone. Good thing I have a knockout suit now.
A photo sent to me by the famous artist Anton Green.