10 things for which i'm thankful

Haven't done one of these in too long. Rules haven't changed. They are listed in no particular order:

1. Excedrin Migraine
2. Direct flights on Alaska Airlines from the left coast to the right...see number 3
3. Mr. BikeMan is comin' home this afternoon!
4. Streaming Netflix has added The Munsters and Flipper
5. Our church
6. Starbucks Italian Roast at 0630 on a Saturday morning
7. That I can re-watch last night's Fringe epi on Fox.com -- I actually fell asleep, not because I was bored, but because I was overcome by exhaustion
8. An amazing new recipe for Dutch Babies
9. Blue and white fingernail polish on little thumbs
10. Snow days and school cancellations

Dutch Baby of my dreams...

"Look Mama, she's wearing a dress!"

blender pancakes

This hearty pancake recipe is great on a cold, blustery day. We never get those, so I just make 'em when I have a craving.

1 c. milk (or 1 cup plain yogurt, or a combination of the two totaling 1 cup)
3/4 c. whole wheat berries, NOT flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. oil (I use olive oil)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract

• Blend the milk/yogurt and wheat berries about 4 minutes
• Add the rest of the ingredients, blending just a few seconds until thoroughly blended
• Pour batter onto well-oiled, hot griddle or well-oiled hot non-stick skillet, and cook until bubbles are clearly breaking the surface. Turn and cook until steaming nearly subsides. Don't overcook!
• Serve hot with butter and real maple syrup. Mmmmmmm......
  

a good pizza crust recipe

Found a pretty good crust recipe at King Arthur Flour - halfway crispy/chewy. Chad still is not convinced that this is the Holy Grail of crusts. He continues his quest (well, cheers me on) for the perfect crust. He really loves the frozen California Pizza Kitchen uber-thin crust style which he claims is chewy, not crispy. I just haven't been able to duplicate this delicate balance: super thin yet chewy, not crispy.

Not to brag, but the fresh basil and Italian parsley were from our garden, as were the chopped tomatoes. No, I did not make the fresh mozzarella (although I have a recipe for it and would love to try it!).

a happy mistake

This lovely loaf started out as baguette dough. Long story that I won't bore you with, but let's just say I was way off on my timing, and it is a timing-sensitive method. I didn't want to throw out the sponge, so I decided to wing it and do a sort-of no-knead that ended up being hand kneaded for about 10 minutes!

It smells heavenly, and has the best rise I've ever gotten out of the dutch-oven inside of the oven method of bread baking.

Hurry home, Chad, I want to crack open this baby!

1st sourdough

Saturday: 11:00 am - shaped rise...going to do a boule - have it rising in my frying pan and will transfer to preheated dutch oven to bake using the "oven within an oven" method.

This is the thing: I chose this recipe it at 12:00 midnight. That explains a lot. I honestly didn't read through the whole recipe. It called for 1 cup of starter mixed with 2 cups of water to proof overnight. Did that. Got up this morning...nice and bubbly and pleasantly sour.

Read through the recipe for real -- called for two cups of milk, butter, 2 1/4 tsp of ADDITIONAL yeast, 1/4 c of honey, 2 tbs sugar...huh? Plus wheat germ? Bran???? I left the honey and sugar out -- milk has enough sugar. Forget the wheat germ and bran...if I want fiber, I'll make my favorite whole wheat recipe. What kind of sourdough is this??? I like the chewy, holey, crunchy crust kind. All of that milk will make this thing soft and mushy.

Then I read how much flour it called for: 7 CUPS! I couldn't even mix this mess in my stand mixer. So I stood at the counter for half an hour and worked in the flour to this gloppy, sticky, messy dough. I did produce a nice kneaded dough, but I cut it in half and put half in the fridge for another day. The fridge rest should add more flavor complexity.

Next time I do a sourdough, it's going to be a traditional no additional yeast kind.

carbs

Found this recipe on recipezaar: http://www.recipezaar.com/118067

They were delicious... WERE being the key word.... Also perfect for a weeknight given no fancy shaping or overnight chill.

Warning: they are NOT low-cal. Lots and lotsa buttah! :)