Making Bread Pt. 1

In college, a friend gave Matthew some potato/sourdough starter. He made the most amazing bread, and I did not understand the process at the time.

Fast forward 9 years....

A friend has given us more starter! Matthew made the bread the first few times, but then I had to make the bread (I can't remember why). Matthew claimed it was better than the bread he makes. I am not a baker, and I never have been. But here is my version of making sourdough bread.

I start with 5 cups of unsifted bread flour, 1/2 C. sugar, and 1 tbs. salt. We prefer Gold Medal Brand Unbleached Flour. On the left you can see my wet ingredients (1 1/4 C. warm water, 1 C. starter, 1/3 C. vegetable oil), and I am getting ready to put the starter back in the fridge. Even if you don't make bread, you must feed the starter at least once a week!

Here I am mixing the wet into the dry ingredients.

I stir it with the wooden spoon (NOT metal) until it begins to get sticky. Then I start to mix it with my hands, and I add more flour until I get a consistency that is still a little sticky but not dry either. I usually flip it onto the counter to finish kneading it, and I wash and dry the bowl.

I add oil to the bowl, then put the dough in and flip it over to coat all sides with the oil.

I cover it, and then it sits in the microwave (it can go on top of the fridge if you have space) to rise for 12 hours. See you at 10am tomorrow!!!

Curtains

When we built the house, we knew curtains were needed to help protect all the wood trim and floors from the sun. I wanted to make curtains, because I haven't seen any for sale that suit this house. This summer I found a fabric that was perfect, and then it sat all summer because I could not decided how to make the curtains. Should I make tabs, or just an opening?
Matthew and I went to the store and figured it out. We purchased some plain curtains for his office (temporary, I hope), and decided to buy rings that clip to a panel. A simple panel! Why didn't I think of that? I made one complete curtain that afternoon. I made 2 more (4 panels) yesterday. It took ALL day. I am lining them which is difficult. Each panel was re-pinned at least once, but I think they look nice. Matthew thinks they help accentuate the trim around the windows.

Pinning and ironing was part of the problem. I don't have a large, flat surface on which to iron my panel. Matthew just had a great idea to lower the ironing board to the level of the table so the panel will stay flat. Great. Now he tells me. Haha!

It did feel good to get out the sewing machine. :)

Kitten Update

My goodness it has been awhile, and the boys have been growing! They are almost tall enough to knock over the trash can. Miles and Dizzy have recently discovered they can run up and down the stairs, and Miles almost figured out how to go through the cat door. I locked it so he could not get into the basement. Here's a pic of the boys chasing each other up the stairs.

My friend, Beth, gave me this box for toys.

Moldy is doing about the same. She hisses and growls at them. Apparently, I have a nice little head cold that kept me up last night. At one point the kittens were outside the bedroom door, and Moldy, curled up in the bed with us, hissed and growled when she heard them. Oh well... I am going to make her have some forced family time in the same room with the kittens today.

This Time, the Great Smokies!

It has been another beautiful weekend in WNC! Mom and dad came to visit, and we tried to take them to Cataloochee. Off we go to Maggie Valley, follow the signs, and BOOM! We get cannot continue because an 18-wheel moving truck got stuck in a switchback. Someone had some very bad directions... Dad and Matthew checked it out, and we were not going to wait around because... well... it was going to be awhile.

Matthew decided that we should go see the Mingus Mill. It is a working, turbine gris mill.

After the wheat has been ground, it goes back upstairs to be turned into to 4 different grades of flour, and it is sent back downstairs in these shoots.

The turbine is hydro powered. Unfortunately, the mill was out-of-order. Matthew and I have been when it was working, and it is very loud. You can buy corn meal or whole wheat flour ground at the mill.

This the water flue which turns the water wheel, which turns the turbine. (That's a whole lotta turnin'!)


We had a great day hanging with mom and dad!

Craggy Gardens

The past few weekends have been perfect weather! Matthew and I decided to take advantage of our beautiful mountains. He had been talking about going to Craggy Gardens for the past month, and we had the perfect opportunity last weekend.

So we set off down our back roads through Gerton, Fairview, and Asheville where we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Following the brown park signs, we found the Craggy Gardens picnic area and a trail. We began walking up, and up, and up... We found a shelter at the top. From there you have three choices: 1) Go back; 2) Continue through the meadow; 3) Continue past the shelter. We chose #2 and found a beautiful view at the end. Matthew is a geography buff and can usually name one or two of the mountains we see. From the end of the meadows, you come back to the shelter where we were back to choices #1 and #3, so we chose #3 this time. We weren't sure where this trail would take us, but it was a pleasant little hike through the woods with various signs describing the high elevation environment (a little over 5,000 ft).

We hiked for several minutes and debated about turning back. We could hear road noise (which I thought was taking us back to the parking lot, Matthew knew that it was the parkway), so we found the end of the trail... at the Visitor's Center!

The view from the Visitor's Center.

This is the view from the top of the first trail near the shelter (taken with my panoramic option).

It was the perfect hike. The weather was a little overcast and cool, but I didn't mind a bit!

It was time for lunch, and thanks to my nifty, little Blackberry we found a restaurant on the way home. Folks in the Asheville area, or folks visiting the area, I HIGHLY recommend Pomodoro's. Matthew had a delicious frittata with sausage and red peppers. I had shrimp and polenta with sausage and goat cheese (per suggestion from our server). It was a great way to end our Blue Ridge excursion!

No Need for Fancy Toys

Matthew has a 9̊0̊ degree PVC elbow that has been left by the front door. (Probably with hopes of returning it to Lowe's). It has since become a source of play for the kittens.

6 Week Check-Up

So it's just another day in the King house... It started to rain, and Moldy came inside. Much to her dismay, the kittens were playing. Here she is trying to pretend she isn't looking at Miles.

Here is how she REALLY looked...

Every morning is filled with the sounds of the kittens wrestling. Dizzy just loves to play on and around the dining room chairs.


Dizzy throws a paw through the slats...

"I'm going to get you!!!!", says Dizzy.

"Ha ha! You missed me!", says Miles.

Then they roll around play fighting on the floor.

Sing it with me now, "Everybody was kungfu fighting... "

It is so much fun watching them and hearing them play! I took them for their first vaccination on Thursday. Miles cried out when the vet stuck the needle in him. :( Dizzy didn't get the chance because I put my hand over his face. I gave them their first pill last night for worms, and I am working on picking the fleas off of them. They are too little for flea medicine, so I may try to bathe them. I consulted the vet about it, and he said I could.

So it's just been fun and games here! I ordered something called "Feliway" which is a plug-in diffuser which will hopefully help Moldy adjust to the kitten smell. I'll let you know if it works!