For the Record (Just in Case)

While I’m grateful for the extraordinary efforts my municipality provided during the recent blizzard conditions, I need to record the overzealous results of last Wednesday’s clearing of my street:

City Snow Plow Finds My Yard

The driver apologized to me personally since I was in my driveway shoveling the twelve inches of drifted snow at the time.  He assured me the City would come back in the Spring and fix it.

We’ll see.

I’ll take more photos as the snow melts and when the sun is not setting so there’s better lighting.  Stay tuned!

Welcome to the Deadly Ice Planet of Death AKA February (via Whatever)

Scalzi welcomes us to February

Welcome to the Deadly Ice Planet of Death AKA February It's not much to look at, admittedly. It's the mundane ice planet of death. But those apparent bald patches of lawn there are actually encased in ice, thick enough that Krissy and the dog both had difficulty  walking across the lawn this morning. The roads are a mess, school is canceled and Krissy is staying home. And of course more mess is on the way, with snow, sleet and ice trading places as the day goes by, and a winter storm warning that doe … Read More

via Whatever

Blizzard Baking Bonaza

Telecommuting lets me multitask to the aroma of baking breads all day.  I’ve already baked a Vermont Maple Oat scone mix from King Arthur Flour, which is cooling on the rack as I type this blog.

Next up, I’ve started my own version of the Harvest Wheat Bread recipe (also courtesy King Arthur), which I call Harvest Cracked Wheat Bread.  I’ve boiled the water and have the cracked wheat and water cooling down in the bread machine bread pan.

Later today, after feeding the sourdough starter, I’ll make a couple of loaves of some sourdough variety, probably of the Italian persuasion.

I’ll update this blog with photos later as the results come out of the oven.  I just pray the power remains on long enough for me to finish all this baking.

Mid Afternoon Update:  The scones mix turned out well.  The Harvest Cracked Wheat bread looks scrumptious:

Harvest Cracked Wheat Bread
Harvest Cracked Wheat Bread

And I’ve got Rustic Sourdough Kaiser Rolls rising for the next hour or so:

Rustic Sourdough Kaiser Rolls Rising
Rustic Sourdough Kaiser Rolls Rising

Sadly, my bread machine has reached the end of its useful life.  As I was proofing the yeast in the bread pan for the Rustic Sourdough, I noticed a puddle forming on the counter under the bread pan.  Once a bread pan starts leaking, it’s time to trade up or trade in or whatever you do with old bread machines.  This will be my fifth bread machine.

And, of course, I’d like to move way, way up on the fashion scale, from my Chevy model that I bought at Wal-Mart a couple of years ago, to this Cadillac model offered and highly recommended by King Arthur Flour:

Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine - Stainless Steel