Sunday, August 31, 2008
More on fixing bugs
Naomi proudly informed Michael the other day that she had fixed some bugs. Hannah felt the need to clarify, "She fixed some bugs, Dada, but not in Vista."
What does this mean
Naomi was singing through her bedtime songs after dinner today. She got Su La Li just right, as well as O Christmas Tree and The Little Drummer Boy. Hush Little Baby was sung like this:
Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
It turns out that Papa, in Naomi's version of the song, always buys the baby a diamond ring, no matter the circumstances or the rhyme scheme.
Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
It turns out that Papa, in Naomi's version of the song, always buys the baby a diamond ring, no matter the circumstances or the rhyme scheme.
Bread baking continues
Michael's baking was a wild success today. I actually was the one to bake the bread, but he'd done the mixing and then set the loaf up to put in the oven before he left on a bike ride with the kids. We ate the bread at dinner and were all very impressed. Hannah admitted that she hadn't thought she'd like the bread but liked it a whole lot. Naomi ate a couple of pieces. Michael and I agreed that the results were a lot like the artisan breads you can get at the store. MMMMM....
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Adventures in Baking
Monica took a book out of the library recently about bread baking, which I've been peeking at recently, and I decided to try my hand at it. Results were ... amusing.
The first recipe was 100% whole wheat. I made the dough, let it rise, let it rise a second time, made a dough ball as the book instructed, and put it into a loaf pan. The book said to grease the pan, but the pan was non-stick, so, that counts, right? Bake for one hour; remove. I tried to get the bread out onto the cooling rack. Nothing doing - it was stuck. I used a wooden spoon to pry around the sides, and then flipped it over and pounded on the bottom of the pan. Whoosh! Out came the middle of the bread, leaving the crust conveniently behind. It has since occurred to me that this is exactly what children across the country have been seeking for decades, and I really ought to go into business making crustless bread, but that was not actually my first thought. Instead, I removed the crust-hulk, and then stuffed the innards back into the bread. It was like taxidermy bread - not that I've ever been a taxidermist, mind you, but I've read about them. I called it "broken bread", and we had broken bread for snacks and sandwiches today. The kids liked it, and it actually tasted OK, but this was not the success I had hoped for.
So, this afternoon, I set out to make the dough for a white bread recipe. The book says to refrigerate the dough, so I haven't tried it yet, but I already had a good story. After mixing water, yeast and salt, I started adding flour. Hannah really wanted to help, so I let her stir. After adding several cups of flour, it becomes hard to stir, so I asked her if she needed help. "Oh, no, Dad, this is easy!" Really? I look over and she is stirring with all her might and the entire bowl is spinning around with her. The flour is quite still, but the whole apparatus was rotating rapidly, and she was as pleased as could be. I finished adding the flour, and then took back the bowl to do the (rather more boring) task of actually incorporating the flour. I'll try baking this batch tomorrow - hopefully no taxidermy required.
The first recipe was 100% whole wheat. I made the dough, let it rise, let it rise a second time, made a dough ball as the book instructed, and put it into a loaf pan. The book said to grease the pan, but the pan was non-stick, so, that counts, right? Bake for one hour; remove. I tried to get the bread out onto the cooling rack. Nothing doing - it was stuck. I used a wooden spoon to pry around the sides, and then flipped it over and pounded on the bottom of the pan. Whoosh! Out came the middle of the bread, leaving the crust conveniently behind. It has since occurred to me that this is exactly what children across the country have been seeking for decades, and I really ought to go into business making crustless bread, but that was not actually my first thought. Instead, I removed the crust-hulk, and then stuffed the innards back into the bread. It was like taxidermy bread - not that I've ever been a taxidermist, mind you, but I've read about them. I called it "broken bread", and we had broken bread for snacks and sandwiches today. The kids liked it, and it actually tasted OK, but this was not the success I had hoped for.
So, this afternoon, I set out to make the dough for a white bread recipe. The book says to refrigerate the dough, so I haven't tried it yet, but I already had a good story. After mixing water, yeast and salt, I started adding flour. Hannah really wanted to help, so I let her stir. After adding several cups of flour, it becomes hard to stir, so I asked her if she needed help. "Oh, no, Dad, this is easy!" Really? I look over and she is stirring with all her might and the entire bowl is spinning around with her. The flour is quite still, but the whole apparatus was rotating rapidly, and she was as pleased as could be. I finished adding the flour, and then took back the bowl to do the (rather more boring) task of actually incorporating the flour. I'll try baking this batch tomorrow - hopefully no taxidermy required.
Interesting choice
Me: Hannah, you'll need some protein with breakfast. Would you like yogurt or cottage cheese?
Hannah: I was wondering if I could have baked beans with breakfast.
Me: Um...sure.
Hannah: I was wondering if I could have baked beans with breakfast.
Me: Um...sure.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Fair
We went to the Evergreen State Fair today. We'll be going again on Monday with Michael, but we usually enjoy going a couple of times while the Fair is going on. The girls had a great time and both fell asleep in the car on the way home. They both enjoyed seeing the animals. Hannah loved the petting farm...Naomi liked petting the rabbit, but didn't want to touch any of the more intimidating animals. There were chicks that hatched on Hannah's birthday and piglets that were 2 weeks old. There were cows that scared Naomi by mooing (very amusing to be walking through the cattle barn with a little girl pressing her hands hard on her ears) and horses competing in a log-dragging contest. There was fair food, of course. And there was a pony ride for one 5-year-old. I think that was the highlight for her. You would think that a kid who didn't want to jump into the pool by herself (in the shallow end, same thing she'd been doing the previous week) would have been nervous about the pony rides, but you'd be wrong. She had on a face-splitting grin the whole time (not captured by her mother, who forgot the camera today...). As we were on the way home, she declared her intention to take horse-back riding lessons. I don't know where she gets it! :)
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