Snow Day!

I've learned an interesting process here in the south.  I always had heard that whenever there was a forecast for snow, all good Southerners hit the grocery stores (FACT!); however, I was unprepared for the school situation.  There are two kinds of counties: those who seem to close school at the mention of snow. . .and others who actually wait for the first flakes to appear.  Mine is the later . . .thankfully.  But they all seemed to jump the gun.  I had no idea why until I started working in the schools.

There are actually two factors to a snow day.  There is the actual snow/ice factor, but there is also a phone call factor.  In fact, the longer the school board waits to close school, the more phone calls they get.  For example, on Wednesday, the snow was supposed  to get here about 3:00 PM.  I started getting a few "is there going to be school tomorrow" phone calls on Tuesday afternoon.  On Wednesday, we probably had 20 extra phone calls per hour from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM.  And yes, we did close early. . .although the snow didn't get there until 3:00 PM. :)

Anyway.  There was no school today; and the roads looked pretty yucky, so I didn't chance driving the 30 miles one way. . . so I had a beautiful lazy, hobby day.

We woke up late, had coffee, and I cleaned the kitchen.  While I cleaned, I reminded myself that I hadn't made bread or bagels in a long. . .make that really long . . .time.  I decided to mix some doughs, put the heater on in my room (we have our thermostat set on 62! AHHH) so the dough can rise, then watch Price is Right.  I mixed the bagel dough and machine-kneaded for 3/4 of the time, then hand kneaded the rest of the time to incorporate the ingredients.  I must admit that I would have enjoyed taking pictures during the process, but kept forgetting until I was done. . .oops.

Today, I made Oat Whole Wheat Bread (that didn't last as long as I had hoped), Asiago Bagels, and Chocolate Chip Bagels (for my husband who cleaned the inner workings of my dishwasher so that I could clean my kitchen. :) ).

Oat Whole Wheat Bread

Bagel Production (after the fact)

Bagels in the oven (during the fact)

Bagels about to be eaten

Dough Rising Buckets

Last Thursday,  I was checking my blogs like I do most mornings.  When I pulled up www.kingarthurflour.com, I saw the word "Alabama."  Huh. . .Alabama is pretty close.  The next thing that I noticed was that day's date, the 26th of January.  My curiosity was piqued. . .I had planned that night to be at home putting together some Junior Church lessons. . .but I could do that on Saturday.  I clicked on the link and found out that there was a sweet bread baking demo taking place in Huntsville (about an hour and a half away) - and there were DOOR PRIZES (I don't normally win things like that, but the chance to have anything KAF was too good to pass up)!  I texted my husband about it.  I wanted to go, but it was almost too good to be true.  King Arthur Flour (KAF) is the epitome of great recipes and superior products.  I actually wanted to go to Vermont one day (in the fall) to see it.  I still would like to; however, they were coming to me!

To make a long, drawn-out story slightly shorter, my husband was kind enough to go on an impromptu "date" to Huntsville, AL with me - no prompting needed!  After work, I took care of my puppy, then we got gas and supper and started driving.  I was so excited.

It was a nice trip, and we DID get door prizes.  We each won a bag of flour (which doesn't sound like much, but it was KAF flour!).  They had cooler prizes, but I didn't care.  I was content with my flour.  We also got Cabot cheese samples, cocoa and chocolate chip coupons, bowl scrapers, recipes, and coupon cards with which to purchase KAF products online.

But here is the thing I really wanted to talk about - dough rising buckets.  I have seen them many times in KAF's blog whenever someone was having dough rise.  I wanted one, but they are a little on the pricey side for a plastic bucket with measurements on the side.  I never put one on my amazon.com wishlist, but I kept the thought in my head.  You know, like whenever I was at a restaurant supply store, I would look for a cheap one.  Never happened.  They were even pricey in the restaurant supply store.

So last week, as the teacher was telling us about kneading and letting dough rise, he plopped his lump of dough into a bowl and said something like (I can't remember exactly what he said), "Most recipes say to let the dough rise until it is doubled in size.  I would give money to the person who could tell me when a spherical lump of dough inside of an inverted sphere has doubled in size."  I wanted to raise my hand and say that I could.  I truly feel that I can since I've done it so many times and can picture (somehow) in my mind what the lump would look like if doubled.  I don't know how I can, but I feel that I have that ability.  Anyway.  I chuckled.  I love it when people confidently recite seemingly scientific phrases.

I expected that he would use that opportunity to tell us about these wonderful products that KAF has. . .dough rising buckets.  To my pleasant surprise, he said nothing of that sort.  Instead, with a flourish, he pulled a tea towel off of a regular drink pitcher full of risen dough.  It was one of those "duh" moments.  Why didn't I think of that!  What an obvious idea.  I have plenty of extra drink pitchers at home.  And who is to say that if I put measurements on the side with a Sharpie® that I couldn't use it for drinks again?  Of course, I could.

So, here it is.  My "aha" moment.  The dough rising bucket.

If you look really carefully, you can see my Sharpie® markings.  I did every inch.  My dough rising bucket was used this past Sunday morning.  I look forward to using it again.

Here is my quick illustration of dough in the bucket. . . I quickly plopped a lump of frozen pizza dough in to show you what it looks like.

I am still in amazement that I didn't think of such a simple thing. . . ;)

From my home to yours. . .

What a difference between the meaning of the words "house" and "home."  When I think of the word "house,"  I think of things like buying, selling, improving, brick, carpet, and furnishings.  Upon hearing the word "home," I think of a loving, quiet, hard-working mother.  I think of a good smell and a clean environment.  I think of happiness and love.  I always want my house to be a home.  I want my family to want to be there. . .and even enjoy being there.

So far, my husband and I have lived in two houses.  One was a little, yellow, 800 square foot, two bedroom, one bathroom house.  We rented it for a year upon moving to Lewisburg, TN.  It was a cute house that we knew was going to be temporary.  We named it "The Harwell."

You see, before moving to Tennessee, I lived in the city.  My family lived outside of Detroit, Michigan, and I went to college and lived outside of Chicago, Illinois.  I had been used to having multiple restaurants, grocery stores, and shops at my disposal.  I never really would have had to travel outside of my 2-3 mile "comfort zone" if I didn't want to.  Then I moved to Lewisburg.  I admit that there are many places more obscure; however, I about had a conniption.  My only grocery options (that I saw) were Kroger and Wal-mart.  My only restaurant options were greasy, fast food.  The closest coffee shop, "mall", and store that I liked (Ross and TJ Maxx) were 30 miles away. . .one way.  What was I going to do?  I was also unemployed.  I had been looking for a job for months before moving there, but still nothing.  Thankfully there was a library. (I won't get into those issues!)  I saw a book from Williams-Sonoma about baking bread.  There was a bagel recipe. I craved bagels.  The only previous option I had was to eat a refrigerated one from Wal-mart or drive a minimum of 60 miles.  I wanted a Panera bagel - a good one.  Then it occured to me. . .I could make the bagels myself.  I had flour and cheese.  I had a pot and an oven.  Let me just say, "Love at first bite."  I had stumbled upon something wonderful. Thus it was born, "The Harwell" (we lived on Harwell Avenue).  Where are we eating tonight?  The Harwell.  Where are we going to stay?  The Harwell. The name brought a fond, familiar feeling. The Harwell.  It sounded like a fancy hotel with a nice restaurant. . .but we didn't care to continue to rent.  We wanted to own.

When we found a house to purchase, it was on a road named "Highway  40."  In my opinion, there were no comforting or warm feelings to the name "Highway 40."  So we came up with the name "Cafe 40."  Our new house that was to become our home.

In this blog, I would like to share my thoughts and feelings about our homes, families, and selves. . .from my home to yours.