Homemade Bread

I found this fabulous recipe on Allrecipes.com. The original recipe from the website makes 6 loaves. Since my electric mixer isn't big enough to make that much dough, I cut the recipe in half and make 3 loaves.

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, stir together:

1/4 cup warm water
1/2 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast
1/8 cup bread flour

Let it grow for about 5 minutes. It will bubble almost immediately.

Next, combine the following ingredients with the yeast mixture from above:

1 cup quick cooking oats
2 1/4 cups warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tbs salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Mix on low speed with a dough hook for 1 to 2 minutes.

Increase speed slightly and begin adding:

4 1/2 - 5 cups bread flour (white or wheat)

Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. (Humidity will determine the amount of flour that's needed. I only needed 4 1/2 cups.) It is normal for the dough to be sticky.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour or until doubled in size.




Divide dough into 3 pieces. Shape loaves and place in greased 8 x 4 inch pans. Let rise until dough is 1 inch above the rim of the pans, about 1 hour.


Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until tops are browned. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes and then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Slice and enjoy!

Homemade Biscuits

These biscuits turned out fantastic! The recipe came from a blog called Homesick Texan. Apparently these are Texas biscuits. I'm not sure what the difference is, but all I can say is "Yum!"

Ingredients:
Two cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of sugar (can add more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 stick of butter, cold (8 tablespoons)
3/4 cup of buttermilk, cream or half-and-half (I use buttermilk)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Mix all the dry ingredients together.
Cut the stick of butter into pieces, and work into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs.
Add the liquid, mixing until a bit loose and sticky.
Pour dough out on a floured surface, and knead for a minute. Dough should be smooth and no longer wet. You can sprinkle more flour on the surface if you find it’s sticking.
Take dough into a ball, and hit it with a rolling pin, turning it and folding it in half every few whacks. Do this for a couple of minutes.
Roll out dough until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick, and then fold it in half.
Using a round cutter (can use a glass or a cup if don’t have a biscuit cutter) cut out your biscuits from folded dough.
Place on a greased baking sheet close together (so they rise up not out), and bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Makes 10-12 biscuits.

If you don’t want to roll and cut them out, after kneading and beating the dough you can drop the dough onto the baking sheet with a spoon.

This weekend I used these homemade biscuits to make breakfast sandwiches. They were delicious!

Sight-Seeing in San Diego

After 16 hours, 550 miles and a short detour to Hollywood, we arrived at my aunt's house in San Diego. A fold out couch never looked so good. We were asleep the minute our heads hit the pillow and we awoke rested and ready for an adventure. Since this was John's first visit to San Diego, we decided to go on a sight-seeing tour led by non other than my mom and her sister. So we piled into my aunt's convertible Mercedes and hit the road.

Point of Interest #1: Downtown San Diego

Point of Interest #2: USS Midway

Point of Interest #3: Veteran's Memorial, complete with panoramic view of the city and the Pacific Ocean

San Diego Wildlife

San Diego Art

We also visited Balboa Park, which was a major part of my childhood. I would go visit my aunt and grandparents in San Diego and they would take me to Balboa Park to ride the Carousel. I loved that Carousel.

For lunch, we ate a fabulous Mexican restaurant in La Jolla. My mom and my aunt told us stories of their childhood when they spent summers with their grandma in La Jolla. It was so fun that John got to experience so many places that are so meaningful to my family. And my aunt was so sweet to be our tour guide.

Thanks Auntie!

3 Hours in Hollywood

The day after my sister's high school graduation, we piled into this...

...and made the 7 hour trek to Southern California. Mom and John in the front; me and Tanner in the back. (Tanner is one of my sister's best friends. He hitched a ride with us so he could spend some time hanging out with my sister in Hollywood.) My sister had to catch an early flight because she had to get back for a class. The 7 hour drive down the middle of California is....well, pretty uneventful. Lots of crops and cows. But once we made it over the Grapevine, it was only a few more miles to....

We dropped Tanner off at my sister's apartment, said hi to my sister, and then went to explore the town. Here's some snapshots of the 3 hours we spent on Hollywood Blvd.

Furry Friends

We spent last week house-sitting and dog-sitting for our friends. Layla was so excited to spend a whole week with her best friends, Nigel and Griffin....she loved every minute of it!

I Have Sprouts!

Day 7

Day 9

Our Porch Garden

I love plants. However, in our family, John definitely has the green thumb. I don't know what it is, but I just have a hard time keeping plants alive. After our vacation to Ball Ground, GA and Chatanooga, TN we decided to start a garden, and I'm going to try extra hard to remember to water. :) We've started slow, but just wait until all our plans come together. There will be large, custom built planter boxes filled with flowers, herbs and vegetables lining our porch.

This is the newest addition to our garden....sweet peas. I just planted them this week so it'll be a while before they start showing off. We snagged this sweet pea kit at Target.

And it was on clearance. Only $3.24 for the pot, the soil and the seeds!

This interesting looking plant is called a flap-jack. John's aunt and uncle gave us this plant when we stayed with them during our vacation. I love it! It's so unique. The best part about flap-jacks is that they can survive with minimal water. Now that's my kind of plant!

This palm actually has a name....David. David is our second palm. Our first palm, Palmer, met an untimely death a few months after it came to live with me. So now we have David. Is our obsession with 24 obvious?

What's in your garden?

Beautiful Blossoms

I was so excited when Camila from High-Heeled Foot in the Door blogged about the Boston Public Library flickr account. The library has hundreds, maybe thousands, of prints that can be downloaded for free. I found these gorgeous blossoms that I think would add just the right touch of chic-ness to my bathroom. I'll probably put them in white frames to make them look seamless against the wall.