One Track Mind

There are times when I really need to stop the multi tasking and just do one thing at a time. This weekend was Kaileigh's dance recital so I was busy making a bouquet for her. Which turned out pretty darn nice I might add. So anyhow, someone in our house mentioned that egg nog really sounded nice so I grabbed Alton's recipe. Always a good place to start imo.

Tides turned when I began to cook the custardy mixture. *sigh* The smell was awesome and then I began to wonder why I smelled scrambled eggs? Lets just say that if you cook your mixture too hard and fast that it will turn to scrambled egg nog. Nothing can be done at this point except dump it. I am thankful that I did not use the Makers though. I would not be able to look Whitaker in the eye ever again.

Please step AWAY from the bag!

Excuse me while I get my rant on. WTF is up with the cashiers that get snippy when you refuse a plastic bag? I am pretty good about taking my reusable bags into the store with me but when I only need one or 2 items then why bother? I really am not a purse carrier so one of the tiny fold and take reusable bags that you toss in your purse does not work for me. I just keep my bags in the trunk and grab whatever I need before I go in. (and no, I am not sticking one in my pocket. My arse is big enough as it is thankyouverymuch)

On Friday, I went into an unnamed store (starts with K, ends in ls and has an OH in the center) just to get a pair of regular ol jeans for Chuck. No need for one of my bags from the trunk right? At checkout, the young plastic pushing clerk decides to get snippy when I inform her that I do not need a bag. I swear I smiled all nice and everything. She tells me that she is not allowed to. Then she shoves the jeans into a plastic bag and hands it to me. I smile again to show that I am a nice person and I understand her minimum wage plight but no way was I taking the damned bag. Three times we went over it.

Finally we ended our conversation when I slipped the jeans out of the bag and walked out the door with my receipt in hand.

I will stop now.

Skinny Arse Dog

Poor Jessie has zero intestinal fortitude. The last tummy rot had her down right scrawny before we could turn her around. She has since gained back a good amount of weight but she is still too skinny.

What to do for a skinny arse dog that has very little hair? Make her a coat out of an old fleece blanket of course! No pattern required. Just went free form. Pinned it on her and sewed around her giant schnauzer chest and scrawny belly. I even worked one of the corners into a wee hood.

She looks super cute and seemed pleased with being warm again. Now if only I had a remedy for a deranged kitten that won't leave her alone.

For the Love of Bread: Part II

This round of bread did not go well. As in, it looked pretty but was not anything that I want to sit down and eat unless I am starving. The birds are currently eating it though. So it was not a total waste.

All seemed to go well until I was ready for the sponge to rest in the fridge over night. I lifted the plastic wrap to see if I could smell some yeasty goodness. OH how big of a mistake was that. It smelled like what my grandfather use to make out in the smoke house with his buddies. Then I had to prove what a fool I am by taking another nosehair burning whiff. Then I followed up that stupidity by trying to get Chuck to join in on the madness. Smart man that he is, he declined.

I did not give up. I was hopeful that the alcohol-ness would burn off over night which it did for the most part. However, a faint alcohol whiff was present all through the second rise. Bread baked up and looked good but I won't be going that route again.

I do have another spent grain recipe brewing in my mind so after next brew I will give it a go.

For the Love of Bread

Normally I love to bake and cook but the last six months or so my love of the culinary arts has been on an extended vacation. At the top of my list of food favs is bread. Especially of the homemade sort. At times, I eat enough carbs to make a South Beach dieter pass out with envy (or maybe it is fear). I am getting my groove back on though.

Watching Chuck pitch two tons of spent beer grains in the compost woke something up in my mind. He had already dashed my hopes and dreams of using the leftover yeast cake for bread. Turns out that the beer yeast and the bread yeast are different. Go figure. But the grains! The grains are still usable, right? We shall see.

I took a basic bread sponge recipe from "Baking with Julia" and altered it a bit. The sponge will rise on the counter for 4-5 hours and then rest overnight in the fridge. Hopefully by tomorrow it will smell yummy, yeasty and much less like a feed bucket.

Sponge Recipe
1c spent grains
1c water
1c fresh ground Golden 86 wheat flour
2t sugar
2.5tsp yeast
-add water and spent grains to the blender until they are as smooth as you wish.
-dump into a big honkin bowl and stir in the rest of the items by hand.
-give it a good sniff because you know you wanna see what horse grains smell like
-cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise on the counter

Insomnimomma

I am a bed snob. There I have said it. I like sleeping in my insanely comfy bed that is wrapped in 10 million thread count sheets. Unless I am camping cause that is a totally different mummy bag. Slipping between the cool sheets each night and snuggling down onto my 'forms to my own arse' memory foam mattress. Ah yeah, that is goodness. Acres upon acres of king sized goodness.

I love my darn bed so why shouldn't I hop into it and quickly slip off into lala land? Not the case my friend. That is so not the case. I have never been that kind of girl. I need to read a few chapters, preferably alone. Nothing embarrasses me more than when I am reading a chapter or two of a great book and I get totally lost and snort from laughing. Then I hear movement next to me and it totally blows my literary moment cause chicks that snort when they laugh... not that cute.

I was having a bit of a problem going to sleep until I was absolutely exhausted then I forced myself into better sleeping health (I really hate that phrase) with a schedule. Looks like I am heading that way again. Yep, no more late nights watching Netflix or catching up on a little bloggy reading or trying to find ways to mutilate the orange gourds on my front porch into something tasty. *sigh*

Maybe I should just convince Chuck that it is perfectly normal to sleep in the camper while it is parked in the driveway. Always an excellent sleep there.