There's no good excuse for why this is not a knit heavy post. Both of us have made significant progress on our items, especially Ava. But I'm in a slumpy mood. It usually happens when Ava leaves. I mean, how can a girl get excited to drive to Cincinnati after spending 3.5 days with her sister? I've also put a pretty firm "No News" policy in place. Not that I don't care, but I need a break from natural disasters, food shortages, soaring gas prices, & campaign promises. It really is starting to chip away at my "cheery" attitude.
Here are a couple of our favorites from Ava's visit. I'll give you some links, because we firmly believe that you'll add them to your List as well. And if you don't, SHAME on you.
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: Holy shit this an excellent book! I've seen it floating around the Blog World, but I love my bread machine. I almost felt like I'd be cheating on her if I gave into temptation. Since our library had a copy, I requested it. The first batch didn't work. I was halving the recipe and I added the whole amount of water. I tried to scoop it out, but that was a ridiculous attempt. The next time I made it while the Boys were awake. I was knuckle deep into the sticky dough when SK asked what I was doing. "Just leave me alone for a couple more minutes," I begged. An hour an half later, SK told me it was worth all the mess. Best part was that I had another 3 loaves in the fridge. Ava had some for breakfast and told me that she pays a lot for bread that taste this good. We made an olive loaf for Mother's Day & she wanted to watch the process because she couldn't believe it was that easy. Mix, rest and bake. That easy and beyond delicious. I've only made the basic loaf, but today I'm going to try out the Light Wheat recipe. I'll post results.
Saint Bridget's Porter: I grabbed this for two reason: the chick on the box and the name. We wanted Other Sister with us in spirit. On Monday, we popped the caps & experienced true beer love. Ava took a sip and said, "Mmm, chocolaty." I took a sip and said, "Mmm, coffee." I'm horrible at tasting the hints and undertones of a beer. I'll read the bottles and search for lemons and oranges, but I usually take the brewer's word. This time it was really easy to spot those ingredients. I'll look for this beer again and again.
Honey Roasted Peanut Butter at Whole Foods: This is a true treat! I only get this when Ava comes to town. For as long as I can remember, she's always eaten peanut butter from the jar. I enjoy peanut butter, but not like she does. Enter this fresh peanut butter. Smooth, delicious, heavenly, gotta-be-like-heroin.
Sea-Salt Brownies from Trader Joe's: The angels start to sing when the top is popped on this babies. SK saw these and turned his nose up. We both said, "More for us." And we finished them in record time. Want a good recipe? Vanilla ice cream topped with the honey roasted peanut butter and cram the bowl full of Sea-Salt brownies.
Do some searching and find these goodies. You won't be upset. If you are, email us and we'll take the left-overs off your hands.
Lola
Um, it is just me, or is your brownie container *empty* in that picture???????
;>
Eat first, document later, 'ay?
Posted by: Susan B | May 15, 2008 at 09:08 AM
We make specific trips to WF just for the peanut butter. We eat it everyday here. It's our splurge. Gotta look for that beer, sounds yummy.
Posted by: gonzomama | May 15, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Went to my library website to check out the bread book. Would you believe 18 libraries in our consortium hold copies of this book and all but one are checked out (some overdue, I might add). You know I requested it. Let's see how fast they can get it too me. Bread is yummy!
Posted by: cath | May 15, 2008 at 03:30 PM
I have had some Great Divide beer, but I can't remember where I bought it and haven't been able to find it since. Must work on that. I need that book too. Mmmmmm...bread....
Posted by: Chelsea | May 15, 2008 at 04:15 PM
Just wanted to let you know I told husband who was picking up dinner at WF tonight to look for that beer. No luck. They did recommend Highland Brewing Co. Black Mocha Stout. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Posted by: gonzomama | May 15, 2008 at 11:18 PM
Hi. Thanks for giving the bread a try. My bread machine also has lived a lonely life in the basement for years.
You may want to check out the errata sheet at our websites while you make your way through the book. As hard as we tried to edit there are still some mistakes in the book!
www.zoebakes.com and www.artisanbreadinfive.com
Thanks for sharing with your readers.
Zoë Francois
Posted by: Zoe Francois | May 16, 2008 at 08:12 AM
I am so buying that bread book for Travis for his birthday! Never heard of it before this post, but it's going to be absolutely perfect for him (he's been into baking bread lately).
Also glad to hear I missed the weird sewage-y-ness at Jeni's on Saturday. We were there early, around 10:30 or 11:00. All I know is if the sewage is the magic ingredient in the Pear Reisling Sorbet or the Cherry Lambic ice cream, sign me up, because that shit is tasty! Nom nom.
Posted by: Jacki | May 16, 2008 at 08:30 AM