Slow Work Day Means Kitchen Time

Work was slow today, so rather than bill hours for work I wasn't doing, I spent time in the kitchen. Among other things, I made the above Eisenhower strawberry pie and some cinnamon rolls with the left-over pie crust. The pie tastes much better than it looks. I'm terrible at crimping pie crusts, but since this was only the third pie I've made, I can use the excuse that I need more practice. If you want to try it yourself, you can find the recipe here. The recipe is provided by the nice folks from whom we bought the berries. They have a very nice pick-your-own farm the next town over. We took the kids out Wednesday after work/daycare and had a merry old time. If you're in Central OH, stop by their place and pick some fresh berries. If you're farther afield, find your local berry farm and pick enough for your own pie!

When Faith Meets Hockey

One of our little morning rituals with Poet is to sing "Rise and Shine" to get her out of bed. It's something we've done for years, and both kids have picked up on the words. Sort of. Poet's version sounds like somthing a hockey fan might say:

Rise and shine, and give God your goalie, goalie...

We've never had the heart to correct her :)

My New Favorite Food Trick

Got a microwave, a potato and a mandolin (or v-slicer)? Congrats, you've got potato chips! I really, really like this idea because a) it's very cheap, b) it's very quick c) there's no grease/oil so they gotta be healthier, amirite? and d) you can control what goes on your chips. For instance, my mom is trying to avoid salt, so she can make hers with little or no salt. I happen to like vinegar on my chips, but I don't keep salt & vinegar chips in the house since Amy doesn't care for them, but now I can make them on demand. A few notes before you try:

• Don't get greedy and try to make too many all at once by crowding the tray. Leave some space between the potato slices.
• You don't have to use russets. I used a waxy-ish red and my chips came out fine. Others who commented on the article used sweet potatoes.
• I salted my chips before I nuked them, I think that worked out pretty well
• Don't slice the chips too thin. They'll shrink a fair amount during cooking.
• Yes, you really do need to use parchment paper. I tried other surfaces, and I had problems with sticking. The nice thing is that you can reuse the parchment paper for a couple of batches.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make another batch or two.

... or ten.

A First for BMT

In all the years I've been going to baseball games, I'd never before gotten hold of a game ball. Several years ago, Amy managed to snag a ball used in batting practice before an Indians game, but that's as close as I'd gotten until last night. My friends, Carl and Sally, had been comped a game in a loge at an Akron Aeros game, and they invited me to join them. Late in the game, a foul ball was lined back our way, and I got my hand on it. No, I didn't catch it outright, it was going about 90MPH at the time, and the bugger stung! Fortunately for me, a nice person in the loge next to me flipped the ball back to me. So, yay! I'm in a possession of a game ball!

What's the Bald Man Up To?

Yeah, I kinda went dark there again, didn't I? Well, I've been busy with my work for Brand Thunder, working on something very, very exciting that I couldn't talk about. I think I can now, so have a look at what we've been working on. I am super, super excited about this! Not only did I get a chance to work on a set of themes for something I love dearly, this is a HUGE opportunity for Brand Thunder. Good times!

Oh, and if that set of themes isn't to your liking, check out some of our other themes, and if you still don't see anything you like, create one for yourself!

Simple White Bread

I mentioned a while ago that I've got a bit of free time, and have been trying things in the kitchen. Bread seems to be the constant thing for me. I make a lot, and don't buy from the store any more. In addition to the two loaves I mentioned previously, I bake a third that is ridiculously easy. Here's my recipe.

The Ingredients

• 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1-1/4 c luke-warm water
• 3 c flour, plus additional flour for dusting and kneading
• 1-1/2 tsp kosher salt (or 1-1/4 tsp table salt)
• 1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
• 2 1tsp pats of butter

The Hardware

• 1 or 2 large bowls
• 1 tea towel
• large-ish wooden or plastic spoon
• 1 bread pan
• a nice flat surface for kneading
• a wire cooling rack

The Method

Add the active dry yeast, sugar and water to a large bowl, stir to dissolve the yeast and sugar, then let sit for 5 minutes. Then add 3 c flour and the salt, and stir to combine. Once everything comes together, dust your hands and work surface with flour, dump the dough onto the dusted surface, and knead for 2-3 minutes. Dust additional flour on your hands or work surface if the dough sticks. After kneading, form the dough into a ball. Spread the oil thinly around the inside of a large bowl (or wash your original bowl in really hot water and dry thoroughly, the heat will help with the bread rising), removing excess with a napkin or paper towel. Put the dough ball in the oiled bowl, roll the ball around a few times to coat, then cover the bowl with the tea towel and park in a warm place for an hour. After the hour has passed, uncover the dough, punch it down a little, then cover and place back in a warm spot for another 30 minutes.

Now, use 1 tbsp butter to grease the inside of your bread pan. Dust your hands and work surface once again, and dump out the now-risen dough. Using your hands, stretch the dough into roughly a rectangle as wide as your pan, and 1-1/2 times as long, trying to keep the thickness of the dough as even as you can. Starting with the near end, roll the dough into a log, crimp both ends, then put the dough log into the bread pan. Cover and place in a warm spot for another 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your oven rack about in the middle of your oven. Bake your loaf for 40 minutes. After you pull out your loaf, immediately take the bread out of the pan and place on a cooling rack. Spread the remaning 1 tbsp butter over your piping hot loaf and allow to cool.

Notes

I never said it’d be quick, but it really isn’t hard. The hard part is resisting the temptation to immediately cut your bread. The interior needs time to set, so be patient. It’d be best to give it an hour before cutting, but you might be able to get away with 45 minutes. Whatever you do, make sure your loaf is completely cool before storing, especially if you’re storing in a plastic bag.

Remember that fresh bread will not keep as long as store-bought bread, since you’re not adding a bunch of preservatives. It usually doesn’t last more than a day or two around here, anyway. Oh, and if you’re not a fan of eating the bread heels, pop them into a plastic bag and freeze them. Then when you come across a recipe that calls for bread crumbs, grab them and run them through your food processor. You’ll never need to bread crumbs from the store again.

Oh, and the best thing to put on the bread is your own homemade butter. Yum....

My Son, the Gourmand

Our kids love to pretend cook. Ever since Poet could walk, she'd bring us stuff from her little kitchen to "eat," be it "soup" or "noodles" or "milk" or whatnot. When Happy got big enough and learned enough words, he joined in, offering "beef stew" or "cold peas" or "hot dog sammiches." Which brings me to today's story.

After picking up the kids from daycare, Amy and I took them to one of our many local parks. Beneath the main playset is a little shelf which is reminiscent of a counter in a restaraunt, think McDonalds or Skyline or something along that order. When we go to this playground, the kids will invariably catch sight of this shelf and strike up a rousing game of "food service." Today, Happy emerged from behind the shelf to take my order:

Happy: Daddy! What can I make you?

Me: Hmmm... I think I'll have a hot dog sammich.

Happy: <turns to go> OK, I'll be right back!

Me: Oh, can I get some mustard on it?

Happy: Yeah! What kinda mustard do you want?

Yep, that's right. Happy was concerned about the kind of mustard I wanted. How many three year olds know more than plain ol' yellow mustard? Happy and Poet both know and enjoy yellow, spicy brown and dijon. They also know that I eat "hot" mustard at our local greasy wok. I might let them try it, then I might get offered hot mustard for my hot dog, too!