New Ingredient

I think I'm getting this baguette thing down pretty well now.  My latest bread-related purchases were heavy duty reusable bread bags and of course the diastatic malt powder, and I tried them both out this weekend.

Yesterday, with diastatic malt powder added.

I wanted some kind of bread bags for freezing and for transporting, like taking bread down to my Mom, since I was using so much plastic wrap.  I think what I got will work well, but I may try to make the loaves a bit shorter as the standard bag length seems to be 18" and the baguette is about 16".  They fit, but barely enough left to twist and tie well.  

I tried the malt powder for the first time yesterday and it did seem to make the crust more golden and, well, crustier.  It is very good bread and we couldn't help but snack on a whole one yesterday.  The other two are in the freezer in one of the new bags along with the last loaf from what I made a week ago.  The malt powder package called for 1/2 to 1 teaspoon for every 3 cups of flour, and this recipe calls for about 3 1/2 cups so I used a full teaspoon, but I may try using just a half next time.  On a side note, I much prefer recipes in grams and weigh my flour and water, plus the other ingredients when I can, but I do use the teaspoon and tablespoon for smaller amounts.  Overall, I am very pleased with the results and it has me wondering what other bread I could make and use this in.  I'm open to suggestions!

Last weekend's bread.

I don't have a baker's lame but I'm finding a sharp serrated blade works well.  You can see how I've been trying different cuts.  I've found that the longer cuts tend to flatten the loaf a bit and I should try to keep the cuts above the 'shoulder,' as well.  The shorter cuts in the middle loaf of the top picture are less dramatic looking but seems to work out the best

I've also decided I'm not going to spend my time on hamburger or hot dog buns as what we get from the bakery is good so I just don't think it's worth my time and effort.  I've been making baguette almost every weekend recently and can still make other breads when I feel like it, and that's enough for now.  Cheers, everyone.

Weather, Baking and Work

Today's weather report is seasonable temperatures and mostly cloudy, still long pants and jacket weather.  On Sunday we had very light snow flurries at times, still.  But the plants know what time of year it is and are coming in well.  I've even seen signs of mowing around town the last couple days.  Our lawn is getting green but always begins getting longest around the edges, so I will be strimming before mowing, but not until the weekend, maybe.

I've been baking baguette lots, even took some down to my Mom the other day along with some jam swirl bread that I made with orange marmalade this time.  I'll be making more baguette this weekend, almost a weekly thing now, but I ordered some diastatic malt powder to try adding this time.  It's supposed to help the rise, crust and flavor.  If you've baked with it let me know what you thought!  I'm hoping to keep improving and I hope this helps.

Here are our red tulips, flowering amidst tiger lilies in front and alium in back, both coming in nicely.  I took yesterday and today off to get away from work.  Things have not been going well and I have been looking at other jobs.  I just hate to have to start over somewhere else but I can't see staying where I am, either.  Not sure what will happen, only time will tell.

Have a good week, everyone.

Sun, Wind, Snow, Now Hail

No matter what the month, the weather this spring has certainly been interesting.  This was the start of the hail about 11 this morning.  It went on for a few more minutes but it was cold and I was getting wet!

I know I've been mentioning the weather a lot lately, including 4 days in a row now, but it seems it's been more noteworthy for us than normal this year.  We don't often have 12 inches of snow in a day any time of year, let alone in March, and hot summer days in April are just as rare.  Tornado season is coming soon, let's hope we don't get one of those.

Has your spring seemed pretty normal where you are?  Have you had anything like these extremes?

Garden Trail Camera Video

I brought in the trail camera from the garden area to see what it may have captured, and it did capture a few interesting shots.  I changed the setting to just video hoping it would trigger better and it seemed to work.  So here's a few shots from the past week or so of critters small and big and other minor activity.

The squirrel at the beginning is just being very still, it seems the camera must make some small sound when activated as I've seen all animals notice before.  It didn't capture any of the snow the other day and the sun angle gives it a funky hue in the afternoons.  I didn't take any pictures of the firepit last Friday night, but the trail camera did.  The large flames are when I throw the black walnut leaf twigs on the fire, the same stuff I was raking up earlier in the video.  And it ends with an unknown cat on the prowl in the back yard early this morning.  I don't really like the background music, it seems to jump a bit for some reason between clips. But I'm no editor and don't want to spend any more time so it is what it is.

Now, where to place the trail camera next?

Snow Lately

This is what we woke up to this morning.  It started snowing yesterday afternoon off and on, not sticking until overnight, and it continued until about midday when it also started melting faster.  It's almost all melted by now, but still a very chilly day out there today.  It will get more reasonable starting tomorrow, but it may be some time again until we see real nice weather like we had.

No Snow Lately, Anyway

It was another beautiful day yesterday, enough for us to do a few spring things outside.  First off, the gnome has been put out again on the decaying tree stump.  I'm not sure that will be his home for the summer yet, but he signifies the belief that winter will be gone and the hope that comes with spring.

I had a friend over on Friday night for the first fire pit of the year.  I didn't take any pictures, but fire is fire.  I did notice that I hadn't cleaned out the fire pit at the end of last year, I'm not even sure if I had another fire or not after getting another face cord of wood late last year, the way the weather went.  So no pictures of Friday night's fire but I cleaned it up nicely yesterday.  It still has some loose blocks that I haven't done anything about yet.  They haven't been a problem, but there seems to be more so I should probably try another adhesive and get it done this year.

I also took the cover off the garlic and got most of the straw out that covered them over winter.  We still have to do that to the strawberry bed, but there is time.  The raspberries are coming back well, and already escaping the garden so will have to keep them in check.  And Kate got the bed with the monster oregano plant cleaned up after this picture.  That oregano plant got moved when we remade the gardens and didn't even get replanted but just set down on the dirt in that garden.  It has gotten huge but Kate has talked about cutting it down to a reasonable size this year.  In the top middle of the picture you can see where the trail cam is set up currently, attached to the fence and overlooking the gardens.

Lastly, the skies were interesting on Friday night as the conditions must have been optimal for contrails, shown here across much of the sky.  At least two more were being created at the time of this picture, and a plane had just taken off, upper left, to join in, it would seem.

Today is much cooler and getting colder as the day goes on.  It's been raining off and on, but will turn to snow soon and continue through tomorrow morning so we'll see how much we have when we wake up.  And the foreseeable forecast after tomorrow is seasonable with high temperatures in the fifties.  So the last several days were real nice for us, but also unusual for this time of year.  Okay, time to turn the heat back on...

Spring Weather, Prescribed Burn

The weather is absolutely beautiful, sunny and clear with temperatures in the upper 70's (about 25ºC).  All week looks like we'll be nice until more seasonable again this weekend with temps in the 50's and rain.  But for today, the windows are open and I'm finally in bare feet, shorts and a tee shirt again!  If you want a reminder, just over two weeks ago we had this.

I was able to call in to a meeting during work today so I could walk about the neighborhood for a while, and I discovered that they were in the process of burning off the dead brush along the creek.  I couldn't stick around and watch it all, but I did get a few pictures of the process.   We couldn't even smell it from here, as close as we are, as the wind was blowing the other way, but it is now all blackened and ready for the new crop of wildflowers and other plants to grow.

I'm eager to plant sunflowers, but must wait still until the threat of frost is finally passed, so depending on the weather that may be late this month or sometime in May yet.  But I have plenty of seeds so if I plant early and lose some I can still plant more.  

For now, I'll take these nice spring days when we get them, but I'm so looking forward to more.

Spring Blogday This-And-Thats

It's starting to really feel like Spring around here.  Plants are coming up, trees are budding, and there is a new green hue starting in the lawn.  Even some crocus have survived the foot of snow and hungry rabbits.  I should really have been outside last night having the first fire pit of the year.  I can touch upon that in a bit, but I think there's a few different things in my head to come out.

• Allergy season is upon us, and after years of escalating allergies I'm using Flonase this year.  I started on it about a month ago and it seems to be working as my wife has mentioned her allergies several times recently and so far and I haven't noticed anything, really.  When I think of how miserable I got at times the last few years, well, I really hope this works well for me.
• A month or two ago I was notified by Google that I was halfway to my free storage limit.  A lot of storage left, but it has drastically changed how I take pictures.  I take much fewer and take the time to delete the bad ones now, when I just snapped away without a care before.  But I think my worry may be misplaced.  I'm years away from the current limit at this rate, and my time is finite.
• Okay, weather.  We've taken a turn for the best and will have temperatures up into the seventies later next week.  Yesterday was alternately clouds and sun and got into the fifties, today should be similar.  I considered having the first fire of the year last night but I was tired, it's still pretty damp out in the yard and firepit, and the wind was pushing my limit for a fire.  This evening looks to be better, but I might make other plans on the fly today.
• Also this morning, I'll be making baguette for the 3rd weekend in a row.  Good practice, and really good bread.  If time allows I'm considering making a second kind of bread, as well.  But it being early on Saturday morning it may not happen, honestly.
• And THIS was interesting recently.  First time that's happened to me, has it happened to you?

Oh, and as of today when this posts I've been blogging for 14 years.  In some ways it feels like longer, in others not so much.  I'm glad I still do it, I enjoy the outlet of writing and being somewhat creative at times, and I'm thankful for the few connections I've made that encourage and support what I do here.  After all, it wouldn't really be worth it if no one read or provided occasional feedback.  Thank you.

Snow Removal Time Lapse

I've been pretty frustrated with the trail camera recently, it seems to pick up only what is immediately in front of it and not all the time.  The critters eating the pumpkin worked out well, but several others I tried haven't.  I watched a couple videos on the subject so will have to keep in mind some hints, like not having something closer in the frame than where I want it to look, and I was reminded this trail camera has a time lapse option that I've never used.

I didn't consider using it for the snowfall the other day since we were only expecting a few inches and it started about 3 in the morning, but I did think about it when it came time to clearing that snow.  I didn't post the video earlier because I couldn't figure out how to blur the license plate when I pulled my wife's van into the driveway, but last night I sat down and edited the video to cut off before you can see it, slowed it down a bit, and added some free music in the background.  I know I made a similar video before, but it wasn't quite this much snow - at all.

I placed the trail camera on its little tripod on top of my car in the garage, sorry it's at an angle.  I also just brought it outside so don't believe the temperature - but do see it go down quickly as it acclimates.

You can see I wasn't trying to get it perfect, since I was expecting to have to do it again later.  And when I disappear out front I'm shoveling the walk to the front door, then knocking the snow off the heavily weighed-down arborvitae and clearing the snow off the van which was parked right in front of the house.  It would have been in the driveway to begin with if we knew we were getting this much, but it wasn't so I wanted to get it in the driveway before a snow plow came by.  It took several attempts of forward and reverse to get it back far enough (slightly uphill and through all that snow) to turn into the driveway, but I did it.

About 80% of it is melted already but we are expecting some more overnight as we sleep.  Not sure how much, but it will melt soon from the temperatures and the rain coming in the days ahead.  Out like a lamb, hopefully.

Here We Go Again

There was no snow on the ground when I went to bed last night, and I woke up this morning to heavy snowfall.  The last I heard was to expect 1-4 inches, but we were on the edge so hard to predict.  I mentioned recently that we average 7 inches of snow in March, but it has been an above average year.  We got that in one snowstorm earlier this month, then a few more inches here and there, now about another 9 or 10 inches on top of that.  That's as high as the opening on my snow blower.

This picture was taken just after 8 this morning.  I went out to clear snow about 9, and it finally stopped falling about noon.  Thankfully the ground is warm enough that it's melting now on the pavement so I don't have anything more to clean up.  I expect all of it will be gone in a few days, but as for today, it's a good day to stay in and bake bread.

My last attempt at making baguette was a different recipe and did not turn out that well, it was bland bread shaped like a baguette, so I went back to the recipe I used the first couple times.  My technique has improved in that when I split the dough I weighed it to get it more even between the 3, and my dough handling and shaping technique I feel has also gotten better.  

But I think the biggest improvement is that I had bought a spray bottle so I could mist the loaves and the inside of the oven at the start of baking.  Between that and the pan of boiling water in the bottom it seems I finally got enough steam in the oven to get the golden crispy crust that I've been striving for.  We've just been snacking on one of the loaves, and I should wrap the others and put them in the freezer now.  I'll put a couple more baguette pictures after the break.

*Edit:  Officially, we had 12.1 inches of snow in 9 hours, a new record here for a day in March.

Badgers And Harmony

The Badgers men's basketball team is still playing, even if it is just the NIT, and they played today at 11 a.m.  Today is sunny and finally supposed to get above freezing again after another temperature plunge, so I thought I'd get out of the house and go watch the game at The Harmony Bar and Grill, that I've mentioned here in the past.  A good neighborhood bar, and not too busy during the daytimes, usually.

It was cold when I set out, 25ºF/-4ºC, and I wasn't even actually positive I was going to walk at first, but I didn't do the treadmill yesterday and I felt this was a good alternative today.  A brisk walk, with what breeze there was coming straight down the bike path at me, but in less than 20 minutes I was there.  It was early yet, they open at 11 and the game started immediately at 11.  There were no other customers until at least quarter past noon, and I wasn't even a paying customer until just after 12 when I got food and drink.  The Badgers were up a couple points at halftime by that point, but it was a back and forth game.

I took advantage of no other patrons and got about a 240º or so panorama of the place.  I was first here about 30 years ago, but more often in the last half of that since we've lived nearby.  I won't say his name here, but I don't think the bartender will mind me posting him in this picture.  It continued to be a close game until the end when the Badgers held on to a slim lead to win and extend their season by at least one more game.

On the walk back it was a bit warmer, 35ºF/2ºC, and there were lots of people out and about, on and off the bike path.  Still cold, but we're used to it and I'm sure most have spring fever like me.  Still too early for any activity in the community gardens, which were covered in several inches of snow just a week ago and some dustings since.  The seeds I saved from some type of tall wildflower around here last fall went moldy, so I bought some sunflower seeds I plan on growing this year for the first time and hope to document here.

The rest of this Sunday looks to be a lazy day, relaxing and catching up on reading, videos, or whatever.  I hope you're having a nice weekend, too.

March In Pictures

The day before yesterday I noticed one of the first telltale signs of Spring - crocus coming up all over the back yard.

Spring Thaw?

We had a good rain yesterday until about midday, melting some of the snow we had, but we had water in the basement that afternoon.  This is what it looks like by the drain when this happens.  Water gets in all around where the foundation walls meet the floor, and trickles toward the drain.  There is one area on the other side of the basement where it does pool a bit, and that was the last area still wet today.  I spread it around so it would evaporate, pushing it to the drain would be the same thing.  The dehumidifier has been running ever since yesterday and will probably continue for a few days, at least.  But we are very wet right now with more rain to snow coming tonight.

A pretty rare occurrence, overall, thankfully, but it does happen.  And not unusual for the neighborhood, from what I can gather.  We've prepared the basement for this, but we do have to remember to get the rugs up in time.

February This-And-Thats

We are in the throes of winter, stretches of sun and temperatures leading to thoughts of spring then snow, ice and cold again.  The local groundhog, Jimmy, predicted 6 more weeks of winter for us on February 2nd, Groundhog Day, and so far it has been proving accurate.  Snow will arrive here in probably a couple hours and for the next almost two days will be off and on with wintry mix and ice mixed in for good measure.  Well, at least the days are getting longer and, overall, the weather is getting better, right?

Still not a whole lot going on around here to write about except the weather, but I can think of a few different things to touch upon...

• During a recent nice stretch of weather my thoughts turned to walking outside, before the weather again said no.  I have been back in the habit of getting on the treadmill for a time almost every day, but outside would be better.  Yesterday I got in my first official outside walk of the year, going to the vet's office to pick up Basil's medicine.  Hopefully more outside walks soon, they are certainly preferable to the treadmill.
• Good motivation for keeping it up is to try to lose weight.  I lost 10 pounds from having Covid in December and so far have kept it off.  But I've only maintained that and I'd like to lose a stone or two this year.
• I've still been using the trail camera in various places, but nothing interesting to share.  It seems to get triggered easily for things up to about 8 feet away from it, but anything past that doesn't seem to trigger the camera.  I'm not too fond of that, at all, but I didn't spend a whole lot on it.
• 
  Not much breadmaking here recently, just pizza crust and pre-made white bread.  I tried a different pizza crust and it turned out well, nice and crispy enough.  This time I made the pre-made white bread in the slightly larger, metal loaf pan and it turned out very good.  Also, I think I decided to try a different baguette recipe the next time I make it, I'm just not sure which one yet.  Bread, buns and all but one baguette are gone now, so I'll surely be baking something soon.
• Neighbor Dave's kids have been cleaning out the house the last couple weeks, off and on.  Most of it seems to be going in the dumpster though I'm sure they're keeping what is important.  I haven't spoken to any of them since I talked to one of his sons before the funeral.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the house.  I know it's in pretty rough shape right now.
• I won $400 on a Super Bowl pool I forgot I was on at a bar and grill we frequent.  I was on a different pool there and took a picture so knew my numbers had lost on that one, but had forgotten about this bigger pool I got on a few weeks earlier.  I went into the bar for lunch on Saturday and had a very nice surprise waiting for me!

We get several three day weekends in the beginning of the year now, including President's Day, yesterday, but now we don't get another paid holiday until Memorial Day at the end of May.  But at least the days are getting longer.  Wait, I already mentioned that.

More Bread Stuff

Still cold and snowy, but at least it will get above freezing this coming week so everything should melt.  Until I have other things to write about, here's more of this.  At least it beats more writing about cold and snow.  Breadmaking has made these mundane winter days more bearable.

As stated last post, I made baguette again last weekend.  I think I did better shaping them the first time, though, and I need to work on dividing the dough evenly.  But this time I had the new cast iron pan for the boiling water on the low oven rack and before putting them in the oven I brushed the loaves with water.  I also cautiously baked them 10ºF lower than the recipe called for and I may have taken them out a bit early, but they are fully baked.  They remind me of the take-and-bake baguette we can get from the store, so can be warmed in the oven for several minutes to be like fresh baked.  I like the color a lot better and it tastes very good still, but I promise I will get better at this yet.

I also noticed my wife had put buns in our online grocery cart, so rather than buy those buns I baked some on Monday evening.  This is the recipe I used, and they turned out really very good.  Like the baguette, though, room for improvement.  First, I think I flattened them just a bit too much as they are a bit bigger around than I'd like, and while the recipe calls for brushing them with butter just before and just after baking, I think I'll just do it before baking next time.  The recipe also said you could divide into 6 and use the bun pan instead of the 8 shown here, but I'm sure they would have crested the rim and looked like muffins, like the cheesy burger buns I made earlier.  I think I will continue to use this recipe for when we want buns, and I may even try to shape them differently for brats and hot dogs when we need those.  Start to finish in less than three hours is pretty good, too.

We picked up that same grocery order mentioned above on Tuesday afternoon, so on Wednesday I made one of the store-bought frozen loaves of white bread dough.  If they had wheat I would have tried that, but this white bread is still really good.  Again, maybe a bit underdone, it is very soft, so I may be being too careful in not wanting things to get overdone now.  The directions called for an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan and the one we have is pyrex, which may be why the sides and bottom were less done, but we also have 9.5 x 5 metal non-stick loaf pans and they may work better for this so I'll use one of those next time and we'll see.

More bread related purchases recently, a container for a loaf of bread to keep the sandwich bread protected and fresh, and a pastry mat that can be used as a work surface for bread dough.  I've also previously bought an 8" cast iron pan, bun pan, dough scrapers, and oven and food thermometers.  So, not including ingredients, I've spent just about 100 bucks on these items specifically related to my new breadmaking hobby.  Not too bad, actually, I expected more.  I wonder what I'll think I need next?  

This weekend I'll be making no bread, for a change.  At least I'm not planning on it.  We have baguette, buns and sandwich bread so my work is done for the moment.

Of course, with new buns made there is another double smash burger pic after the break!  ;)

And no, we don't have these quite as much as it may seem, but we had to test the new buns out!

My Breadmaking Beginnings

So much for moderation, I've been baking some kind of bread every weekend recently.  We had the last baguette out of the freezer with dinner last night and, being a bit more removed from making them, they actually are really good so I will be making them again next.  Baguette is the bread we normally bought more than any other bread.  This will be the first good bread I'll be making for a second time.

I started my breadmaking late last fall with a couple different, simple no-knead recipes.  Quick and easy seemed a good way to start.  This is the first recipe I tried, Peasant bread, but if I do it again I think I'll try this version from King Arthur Baking Company, where I got all the rest of my bread recipes ever since.  The second recipe  I made was also a no-knead, but crusty and baked in a Dutch oven.  Better than the first, but still kind of a gummy texture.  Not sure why, but I have no pictures of these.

Plain White Sandwich Bread

The next recipe I tried was called 'the easiest loaf of bread you'll ever make,' so, of course, I tried it.  It was good, but I wanted better.  It's the first picture on this post from earlier this month.  After that my sweet tooth got the better of me and I tried another no-knead, a brioche swirled with jam.  The second picture from that same post.  The sweetness and swirl of jam covered up any gumminess of the no-knead bread and this loaf did not last long.

After that, I veered away from regular bread again and made cornbread muffins.  We had all the ingredients and they turned out very good.  Again, no pictures taken, but they're just corn muffins.

Next recipe was for baguette, and turned out to be the best thing I'd made so far, and probably since.  You can read more about what I wrote about that here.  Having done it once now, I'm hoping to improve on that first attempt this weekend with both technique and having a proper pan for the boiling water.

Cheesy No Knead Burger Buns

So, let's see, that's up to 6 different breads I'd made so far.  And I'm not counting the pizza crust my wife and I made together.  I'll be trying different pizza crust recipes in the future, but that's a different category.  On with the breads.

Having enjoyed the baguette so much, my wife asked that I make a sandwich bread.  We had sandwich ingredients but didn't have any sandwich bread at the time, so basically I was asked to either make one or buy one.  Well, I had all-purpose and bread flour, and there's not as many recipes out there for white bread as there is for wheat bread, and many of them called for dry milk so my choices were limited.  I wound up trying this recipe and it was okay, maybe a bit more dense than I'd like, but good.  Picture number one on this post for the 7th made bread.  I want to try a different sandwich bread recipe next time but haven't found it yet.  I may end up buying wheat flour, and that would be good, too.

That same weekend I made a no-knead cheesy burger bun recipe that had caught my eye.  The recipe offered a choice of cheeses, powder or finely shredded, and I went with finely shredded parmesan.  Picture number 2 here, of the number 8 bread.  These were good buns and you couldn't really tell they were no-knead, but a lot of flavor.  They really rose more then I expected, too, up and over the bun pan to look like muffins.  We had them with my homemade smash burgers and it was a lot of flavors competing with each other, so while I know I will make buns again I will be trying a different recipe.

Pan de Cristal (Glass Bread)

Then another bread caught my attention that I wanted to try, Pan de Cristal, or glass bread.  It looked like a nice outer crust but had very large air bubbles inside that I found very interesting.  And the recipe was a bit of a surprise, it's a 100% hydration bread, 500g water to 500g bread flour.  I read up on it and watched the videos, but actually found it easy to make and, again, was surprised at how much it rose for me compared to the recipe pictures and video.  Too well done and it wasn't in the oven as long as it was called for, but I've ordered an oven thermometer to check that and will go more by what I see than what the recipes say in the future.  But this is a good, novel snack bread, maybe good as part of a charcuterie board or something but not for everyday.  Bread 9, last picture here.

And that'll be the last of counting them, I think.  I also think I'm kind of good at this breadmaking thing, so far anyway.  Eventually I expect I may tire of trying so many different things just for the sake of it, but I also expect I'll be making the good ones consistently.  

Bonus double smash burger pic after the break!

Cold, Cold Nights.. Again

Temperatures are about the same as around 1 year ago when I posted this originally, but more snow and icicles now.  At least the sun is out, but that's part of the reason we're so cold.  Anyway, this seemed appropriate to post again today. 

I took the rest of the day off today due to headache/mental health.  My counterpart at work has driven me nuts for years now, and after all this time I still just don't know what the hell they're thinking or why they do what they do much of the time.  Sometimes I just have to excuse myself from their company.  Despite the weather, I think I'll bundle up and go out for lunch today, and I may have a few drinks, too.

Snow and Hardly Workin'

After a deep freeze blast in December it's been a relatively mild January regarding snow and temperature, but also mostly lacking sun.  Last night we got our first bigger snow of the season.  I'm not sure the official total, but it left about 8-10 inches or more on the driveway and walks.  I'm sure the official total is lower, but unless you watch and catch it on the morning news it's hard to find, even with the internet.  (If anyone knows where to find this kind of local, recent-past information, I'd appreciate the tip.)  At least it was a lighter snow and easy to move, but the snow piles are established now.  We are in the depths of winter.  Temperature-wise it has been cold and will be frigid the next couple days, but otherwise look to return to seasonable and we might even get above freezing in a week or so.

It's January, what can you do?  Same thing different year, but at least the days are slowly getting longer now so soon it will be better. 

Aside from my gripes about the weather, here's a video to enjoy.  I came across this awhile ago and have watched it now and again for a smile, so such enjoyment justifies sharing here.  I worked construction when younger, and while not so much home construction, I still enjoy this.  This creator has other similarly entertaining videos, too.  An interesting type of animation, and a good sense of humor!

*Well, I tried to embed and it said video not available, and when I look at his channel it's not listed.  My link works still, so see it while you can here or his other stuff at the link above.

Drunk Angry Jesus

 

Well, it takes all kinds.  What there is of this story from last weekend is at this link.  This show is in town tonight at the Sylvee -  Anthrax and Black Label Society with Exodus.  While I'm very familiar with who all the bands are, I mostly know and would mainly be interested in the headliner, Anthrax, on their 40th anniversary tour.  During the summer of 2021 I bought a ticket and watched their livestream 40th anniversary show, which last year was released on DVD.  And here I see they're only playing 13 songs on this tour, but with 3 bands that have been around a long time they must be giving everyone a good amount of time, I hope.  Anyway, I thought about going to this show for a long time, but there's just not enough there for me to get me to go out through the snow and cold, crowds, parking queues and outrageously priced drinks.  I admit, it gets harder to do these things as I get older, but I'm still willing.  This show just wasn't it.

I love that picture.  Wish I knew the whole story.

Bake & Kate

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my baguette, including my wife who has been very encouraging.  We had some more last night and yes, it is pretty good if I say so myself.  But there's always room for improvement.  I've made baguette once now so will know better how to do things the second time around.  And I've ordered an 8 inch cast iron pan for the purpose of adding boiling water when I cook baguette again or other breads that call for it.  Just the latest baking purchase, aside from more expensive flour, different yeast and other ingredients, I've gotten new liquid measuring cups, dough scrapers, a bun pan and now the cast iron pan.  I'll have to bake more just to get back what I've spent so far!  Not sure if I'll bake anything this weekend, but we are out of buns so that is planned to be next.

I have no plans for this to turn into a baking blog, but I write about what I enjoy so you can expect more.  At least until I get tired of it, but I don't see that happening soon.  Everything in moderation.

My lovely wife Kate is 29 again today, though she hates having a birthday in January.  I can see why, we got 1.7 inches of snow early today for our first snow in 27 days.  Just her luck, I guess.  We went out and celebrated with friends last weekend, and she opened her present a couple days ago, so just a quiet night in tonight with her birthday wine.  Happy birthday, Kate. 🧡

I guess I thought I had more to say, but we have no real limits around here.  Cheers!

Making Baguette

The process went well, I thought, but I had too much flour on the board for the last part.  It called for 24-28 minutes of baking, and as called for I put 1.5 cups of boiling water in a pan beneath.  I safely set the timer for 20 minutes and when I checked them I was surprised at how dark they were, with the middle of the back one almost burnt, so I took them out.  They are done but actually not overdone, so I'm wondering if the steam is what darkened the crust, not sure.  They are all cool by now and two of them are already in the freezer, ready to eat even from frozen with a few minutes in the oven.  The larger, darkest one was left out to sample and make something with later.  The texture is good though I'd like to see larger bubbles, and you can taste the sourdough especially in the crust.  Overall, a good first try, I think.  And I will be doing this again in the future.  Recipe here.

I don't have any pictures of actually making the bread until the last stages, but I can put those after the break.

January This-And-Thats

Okay, it's high time I finally break the 2023 seal here on the blog.  Busy, didn't feel like it, not much to say, pick what you want, all are true to some extent.  Winter hit us hard and early this season, so there is that, too.  What matters is I'm here, now, writing.  So let's see if I have anything to say, shall we?

• Covid sucked, and right before Christmas.  It was a really miserable time, but my wife reminded me of how bad it could be and actually was for me the first time around back in 2020.  I seemed to have forgotten, or blocked it out.  So while very bad this time, yes, that was very much worse and serious.  I could breathe this time whereas last time just breathing was laborious for quite some time.  Yes, don't wish that upon anyone.  (This one, however...  ;))
• 
  I had last tested positive the Wednesday before Christmas, and had already decided it was just too close in time to see my Mom on Saturday.  Instead, I went down to see her after work on the following Tuesday to watch the late-starting Badger bowl game.  We enjoyed some barbecue takeout and enjoyed watching the game and other videos while talking until almost 2 in the morning.  I got a little tipsy but had a great time, and I think she did, too.  Better than Christmas any day.
• New Years Eve, as I mentioned last post, was spent getting all cleaned and dressed up for a fancy dinner out with friends.  It was a good time, then a quiet night in after that.  My wife's birthday is coming up fast, so we'll be doing something for her soon.
• Since this last bout of Covid I've gotten out of the habit of jumping on the treadmill after work every day.  I was doing 15 minutes or more at 3 mph at the time, now I've been on it just a couple times in the last week for about 10 minutes each time, I think for two reasons.  One, my knees haven't been the best lately, been pretty sore, especially since I was on my feet much more than normal one day recently and I do need to upgrade my leg pillow for sleeping.  And two, I have to start over with the balance issues I've had with walking on the treadmill.  Even though it got better the more I used it, it's never gone away.  I think I've said before, like slipping on a rug on ice!
• 
  I have a bunch of albums that I haven't even looked at in a long time, let alone played.  I keep saving leads on where I could sell them but I never follow up on it.  Is it laziness or not wanting to let go?
• I've been interested in making homemade bread for a while now, and I've finally started.  First with simple, no-knead recipes and working on getting to make what I want confidently.  I thought I took pictures of the earlier ones, but I only have pictures of my last two breads here.  They both tasted good, but my technique still needs improvement.  We have a stand mixer to help with the recipes that are needing kneading (I couldn't resist!).  I've also ordered a bun pan so I will make buns for when we make my 'famous' homemade smashburgers, but this weekend I will attempt to make baguette.  

I hope the new year is treating everyone well.  Overall, it's just a continuation of the same thing, isn't it?  But that's not a good attitude, they tell me.  Have I become more cynical with age?  I guess it's almost impossible not to.  Oh well, have a great week, everyone.

Happy New Year 2023

Happy New Year, everyone!  I wanted to have something ready to post, something poignant about the last year and hopeful for the new year, but, truthfully, I don't feel like writing at the moment.  We dressed up and went out for a fancy dinner with friends earlier tonight, now there's a good football game on and I'm tired.  I'll set this to publish around midnight so if I think of something then I have a few hours to come back to it.  If not, I hope you're enjoying the holiday and are safe and warm.  Cheers!

Merry Christmas 2022

Merry Christmas, everyone.  A quiet day around here with plans for watching football and basketball on tv.  I finally tested negative for Covid yesterday, last tested positive on Wednesday, so I'll be going down to see Mom later this week to watch the late Badgers bowl game and have some bitchin' barbecue ribs from a local barbecue restaurant that seems to be a very popular place in her town.  I'd heard of the food for some time, so I'm looking forward to it.

Otherwise, it's just been really frigid around here lately, but we should warm up enough to get above freezing by mid-week.  

I hope everyone is having a good holiday, stay safe and warm!

Winter Solstice 2022

Happy solstice, everyone.  It's cold here, with a large snowstorm at our doorstep.  Snow will start here in a couple hours and go all day tomorrow with wind expected to create blizzard conditions on Friday.  Been a few years since we had a bona fide blizzard, so a good time to stay in.  The state department of transportation is asking people not to travel unless absolutely necessary, but it's the holidays so people will do what they will and disasters will happen, of course.

My sister was supposed to come up to Mom's, but that won't happen now.  And we're still testing positive for Covid even though we feel pretty much back to normal, so not sure if we'll make it.  If not, we'll have to try for the next weekend, but surely before she flees south for the winter.  She has my cordless drill and I want it back before spring!

This is as high as the sun gets here now.  I got this pic about noon today before it completely disappeared in the overcast sky.

Covid and Dave Updates

We still tested positive for Covid this morning.  I woke up on Friday without a fever, finally, but overwhelming fatigue, which lessened over the weekend and up to now.  I think we both may have a little tiredness and sinus left, but are feeling sooo much better than last week.  Thank you everyone for your concern and well-wishes.  It's been a hardship not being able to do what we normally do, mostly and especially for my wife, but she's managed by directing others.  Her family had their holiday celebration over the weekend and we're planning to go see my Mom upcoming, though we may be masked.

Also thanks for Dave, but I'm just a neighbor.  I hadn't even been inside his house until several weeks ago.  Been all around it and even on it a few times, but not in it.  The services are on Wednesday, but I don't think I'd feel right going since I'll be just testing negative - hopefully.  I told his son I had Covid to stop him from coming closer on that day (I was on our property on the front walk to the door, he stopped at the property line, so maybe 20 feet), so he knows I have or just had it.  I would be uncomfortable though masked, and I don't want to make them uncomfortable or even sick.  He texted me the details and later a link to the obituary.  I thanked him, gave him my sympathies again and offered my help with anything he needed, but haven't heard anything back.  That's okay, and I shan't text him again.

In a cold spell here, no chance to see above freezing for the near future.  No fire pits, and none since the last.  Hasn't been a good year for that, either.

RIP Neighbor Dave

I was clearing snow the other morning and ran into neighbor Dave's granddaughter who stepped outside for a smoke.  I asked how Dave was, she said not good, he spent most of the last two days sleeping and time was short so if I wanted to see him I should do it soon.  I apologized and told her I was sick, she said it wouldn't matter.

This morning I was clearing more snow and saw one of Dave's sons coming out of the house,  Again I asked about Dave and he told me Dave passed last night.  As he was saying this he was walking toward me to talk and I had to stop him so I told him I had covid.  So, from a distance he told me that Dave passed peacefully and rather quickly.  He discussed how his mom lingered for years, and I nodded as Dave had told me the story a few times.  I wished him and his family well, he got my contact info, and we parted.  I do hope I'm well enough to pay my respects when the time is determined.

RIP Neighbor Dave.  You were a great neighbor to have and we will miss you.

Covid II

Thank you for the well-wishes.  Sorry, I've been sick enough that I've had no desire to sit in front of the computer.  The last few days have been completely miserable for us.  All I've heard lately is how Covid is just like a bad cold now.  Well, obviously my definition of a cold is different than most people's.

I consider a cold as unpleasant with sniffles/cough and head/body aches, mostly.  Once you get a fever and even more on top of that, especially for multiple days, I consider it something more than a cold.  I just call it a nasty virus or something like that.

What is your opinion?  When does a cold stop being a cold and become something more?