Our Trip East

Home after 11 days of Manhattan, Swampscott, Amherst, Boston, Plainfield, & Quonochontaug, it's nice to be back, but we wish we could do it again. Thanks to both our families for such a wonderful trip! And to our fabulous friends - it was so great to see you all.

Below are a few of our favorite pics from the trip (until our camera busted after a trip in my pocket along with some cold, fresh-picked, wet and sandy mussels. Oops.)

"These magnets are cool."

On the beach with Rye


Sweet, sweet Kale in his new artichoke hat.

Also, a scenario from a cold, rainy late night in Quonochontaug:

JP: "Psst! Julie, are you awake?"
"Yeah."
"There's a leak in the basement. It looks like we're in a submarine and water's pouring in and down the wall. What should we do?"
"Should we wake up Dad?"

We trek down to the basement where he's right, there's an impressive leak coming in.
[White arrow: "submarine line" of water outside the window. Brown arrow: water inside the house.]

JP: "I think we should go outside [in the cold pouring rain at 12:30 am] and dig trenches in the mud."
"Great idea. Let me put on this floppy sun hat as my only protection against the rain and grab a shovel."
[30 minutes of bailing water and digging later.]
"Looks like we did a decent job but it's still coming in. Do you think we'll have to call someone?"
"I really think we should wake up Dad and let him know."
[Two minutes later.]
"Psst! Dad!"
"Whoa, wha, wha, what is it?"
"There's a leak in the basement."
"Where?"
"In the basement! It's small. Sort of."
"By the window in the corner?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, that's okay. I know about that. We don't need to do anything about it."

The End

Virtual Home

Do you ever feel like you want to be able to float above a building, pop its roof off and look inside?

I do.

Presto:

Winter bread

So much of my time has been in the kitchen since I've been unemployed! And I think I'm happier for it. Bread, beets, Battlestar Galactica.... But seriously, I've been pulled into the camp of "Bread is easy!" (I fought it for years.) It's true, some are more time consuming than others. But I found a knead-once, don't-have-to-let-it-rise, crunchy and delicious loaf that's worth the recipe.

9 or 7 or 10 Grain/Seed/Nut Bread

In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup warm-hot water with 1.5 tbsps yeast. Let sit and grow for 5-10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, mix together:

2 c hot water
1 c multigrain cereal (Kashi GoLean or mixed-grain hot cereal)
1/3 cup millet

1/3 cup each of any 3 of the following:
- sunflower seeds
- sliced almonds
- pecans
- sesame seeds
- any other nuts/seeds you have on hand

1/3 c honey
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp applesauce
1 tbsp salt
1 c whole wheat flour

Add the yeast/water combination to all of the above and mix well.

Add enough white or whole wheat flour to form a dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl (approx 3-4 cups flour). Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elasticky, about 10 minutes.

Break dough into two loaves. Place on a greased pan and cook for 45-50 minutes or until top is crispy and brown.

Bread & Beets Extravaganza

Belatedly: We had a beautiful and absolutely delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Tim & Laura's. Complete with 20 guests, food to kill for, and a nice game of charades.

Our day started and middled with bread-making and beet-roasting.

Nothing says holiday like kneading dough in your pajamas!