Kate made olive parmesan bread on Sunday morning. It was a first try making it and it turned out very good. She thawed the frozen white bread dough in the fridge overnight, then let it rise a bit more before cutting it into pieces, then mixing it with various sliced olives, shredded parmesan cheese and olive oil. I suggested the square baking dish but next time I think she'll try it on a tray with parchment paper.
When I told my Mom some time ago that we were getting these loaves of frozen bread dough she reminded me of when I was young she'd make cinnamon rolls out of it. I'm sure they were yummy so we may try that in the future.
Once Kate was done in the kitchen I began making baguette. It was a couple hours before the Packer game at noon so I knew it would overlap but I can still hear the television from the kitchen. And I often text with my Mom during the games so I texted her pics and kept her up with the process. So, since I already have the pictures, I'll put that baguette process after the break with some narrative on the changes I made to my technique.
It's been awhile since I've written much of anything online since I last posted here. It was nothing I planned but just turned into a bit of a break, anyway. Since then, I've had a vacation and a birthday, and, well, life just continues to happen whether we write about it or not. Nothing bad, mind you, but I did want to break the seal and catch up with writing this weekend. But now the weekend is almost over and truthfully I don't feel like much like writing much at the moment.
The Packers just won with a fourth quarter comeback, and you can probably tell from the picture that I was much more attentive to the game than Hamish.
My wife and I both did some baking today, and often my Mom and I text during the games so I was sending her pictures as I made baguettes. They turned out pretty good though I've been experimenting with my technique, so I may share that here soon. Otherwise, back to the grind in the morning and fiscal year is just a week away so the headaches are coming.
We did go out for a fancy dinner with friends Terry and Becky last night. The parking lot was between the restaurant and the lake, so we parked right up to the lake and I got pictures of when we arrived and when we left that we found interesting, if not quite level. I'll put those after the break. Cheers, everyone.
The sunflower looks exhausted. This holiday weekend is the second heatwave since it was at peak bloom, here, and still not much for rain chances in the extended forecast.
I haven't mowed the front in a month, since August 4, but I have mowed the back since then, on the 17th. There is still green in the lawn, though starting to tend brown in areas.
Otherwise, I worked a 12 hour day on Thursday to get some mandated overtime hours in so I didn't have to work on Saturday, only to have overtime canceled on Friday. I still hate my job - my employer, to be accurate. But, it is what it is for now.
I made baguette yesterday but inadvertently preheated the wrong oven, top instead of bottom, so it didn't turn out quite the same due to the missing steam. Instead of 3 baguettes I made 6 demi baguettes to give some away, but we'll keep these. They're still real good and I'll give it another go tomorrow morning. It's hard to keep them short, and short enough for two per row on the tray, so the practice will be good for me.
I'm not sure what the official numbers were, but I saw 100ºF actual temperature and 117ºF as the 'feels like' temperature on Wednesday. It was over 90% humidity in the morning but was down to mid-40's at the hottest part of the day, which is still more than enough to be very palpable at that temperature. It was our first 100 degree day since July 2012, in a worse drought that year. Thursday was much the same, just a few degrees less. Kate dug up an old pan to put out with water for the critters so we did that and I threw some peanuts on the stump area to help bring them in so I could put out the trail camera to see what happened.
This new trail camera shows the temperature on the pictures but not the video, which is disappointing. I've searched through the settings a few times, but the option just isn't there. The video below is clips with pictures here and there, all in timeline order, of that time of the week so you can take a moment to consider the temperature and time of day. The water pan wasn't used a whole lot yet, but it was a new thing, too.
Other than that, last post was the sunflower at its peak. I now have a bungee cord helping stabilize it as it appeared to be leaning more, and with the heat and heaviness of the bloom the top is looking a bit more droopy. And if you look close, the small one does have an odd, small attempt at a bloom.
You can't tell, but yes, I've been watering.
I also did some baking today, trying a new recipe for the second time. It's a very versatile French bread recipe and a full batch makes a lot of dough. This batch I made into 4 burger buns with 4 pepperoni and cheese rolls below those, and hot dog buns and a baguette on the right.
Oh, I was off work for an appointment today, so I had the time. Have a great weekend, everyone!
We made our way to the Eken Park Festival for a couple hours yesterday. Had a few drinks and tried to keep to the shade as it was pretty hot out. Today is even hotter (currently 91ºF but feels like 100º with the humidity) so if it was today we wouldn't have gone. In fact, most people at the festival were parked on the hillside in the shade, content to watch the band and other happenings.
Much smaller than Atwoodfest, but a nice local gathering, nevertheless. It was within walking distance but because of the heat we decided to drive to a friends house a few blocks away then walk down to the festival together.
We're going to be pretty hot this week, up to 100ºF (~38ºC) actual temperature possibly, so I don't expect to be outdoors much, including my walks. And while we had a couple rains recently there is nothing in the extended forecast.
But the sunflower is starting to bloom. The two in the corner are dead and the one by the house may still get a small bloom, but I've loved watching this last growth spurt of the big one. Vertically, it is just shy of 10 feet tall, but if you measure at the angle of the stem it is 10 feet tall, so I'm calling it a 10 foot sunflower. Yes, only this one successful plant out of many seeds, but I've learned lots and the entertainment it's given me this summer is well worth it. I look forward to next year.
San Damiano has been a Friary on the shores of Lake Monona since the late 1800's until 2001 when it was bought by the City of Monona. Young seminarians stayed here to pray, study and recreate while attending the University of Wisconsin. It sits on about 10 acres including Indian burial mounds and what is probably the largest undeveloped lakefront left on the Madison lakes. It's interesting to look into, but I'll just leave this link and this link for you to see for yourself, if you wish.
I've been trying to get us outside for lunch on Sundays, whether it be al fresco at a restaurant or take-out food in a park, preferably on the water but not required. Sunday we stopped and got some sub sandwiches and headed to San Damiano, a place we've driven by thousands of times but hadn't yet visited since the city opened it as a park while they figure out exactly what they're going to do with the property.
It was overcast, and sprinkling very lightly when we arrived but not enough to spoil lunch and a short walk around. Eventually the rain got heavier, so we went on our way with our day but we do want to go back when it's a little nicer out.
I hope they keep it much as it is. It's a very nice oasis in the middle of the city. More after the break.
The creek is well grown over, on the banks and in the creek itself as canoeists find as they go up the low, weedy creek. Interestingly, the brown grass on the banks died early in the year from the drought. Some of the first things to grow after the prescribed burn and before everything else filled in.
And I like the new baguette baking tray that I was originally hesitant to buy because of the rounded bottom (it flattens a bit on the cooling tray and is not an issue). The tray seems to minimize the hot spot toward the back of the oven with the last row empty. I'm foregoing any pointy ends and trying to make the baguettes more 14-15 inches instead of 16 so they can more easily fit in the bread bags I bought for freezing, as 18 inch bags appear to be standard.
After the break is a preview of what I plan to post about next. ;)
I was this close to capturing the biggest poo bag I've ever seen. From the horse, of course...
We took a walk through the Dixon Greenway on the way to try a new place for lunch on Sunday, but the mounted police picture is from a day or so later on another walk. The native plant restoration project is coming along nicely with many beautiful wildflowers. I'll put a couple pics after the break.
The big sunflower is over 8 1/2 feet tall now, almost as tall as me standing on the landing outside the back door. Certainly taller than my lovely 5 foot 4 inch wife who kindly agreed to pose next to it for scale.
All of the sunflower plants, even the smaller ones and the barely alive one behind the one in the corner, are finally starting to grow their flowers. Whether they all come to fruition we'll find out, but I expect at least the big one to bloom eventually. This has been an interesting experiment, and I look forward to growing sunflowers again next year, though maybe a different type.
I'm over 50, married and child-free. My wife and I have a home not far from downtown Madison, Wisconsin, since 2009. I like music, taking pictures and good humor - plus writing about it all here. I am still not on farcebook or other social media, only Blogger and YouTube. Email me at scoakatsblog@gmail.com. I check it every so often.
