My new cunning plan (shhhh, don't tell the kids!)

A couple of Sundays ago, after Jeff's birthday celebration (including the usual dinner and cake) and feeling quite exhausted, I nonchalantly said, Oh, it's Easter next Sunday. Who's hosting dinner?

Jon volunteered. 

Awesome.

So Sunday afternoon found us all at Jon and Jenny's house. 

I did not have to clean.

I made a few of the dishes, but Bethany has become roll-baker extraordinaire and Jon and Jenny took care of most of the dinner.

Here is Jenny, sauteeing sauteing (okay, that spelling was unexpected) cauliflower. 

In bacon fat. Yummmm.

Jon, adventurously stir-frying green beans and red peppers.

Not sure what the baleful look was about.

Notice Thomy at the piano in the background.

The little darling was tickling the ivories as we cooked. 

Squeaker was often to be found underfoot or being cuddled...

...or trying to nibble baby Madelyn's toes.

What is it with small dogs and their fascination with small people?

I love men in the kitchen, don't you?

Jon was suffering from sleep deprivation, as usual. 

I think he did smile a couple of times, but I never managed to catch it on camera.

Our angel's mother (who shall remain nameless at this time) forgot about the connection between sun exposure and sunburn and sunstroke. The unexpected sunshine on Saturday was the babe's undoing. Our fair skin has caused a case of sunstroke for almost every child at one time or another.

Jenny and Madelyn having a good conversation. This baby loves to babble.

Bethany and Chris managed the Easter egg hunt.

Chris was very innovative in his choices of hiding places.

I'm afraid that this has set a dangerous precedent.

Thanksgiving, anyone?

Sue's Killer Bread

One of my favourite snacks, while growing up in New Zealand, was a slice of buttered Vogel's bread. It was a dense, grainy bread that went mouldy if it wasn't eaten within about three days, so you know it was pure. They still sell it, but like most things, the recipe has changed and it's not as good. Once in a while, by a lucky accident, one of my whole wheat loaves from my bread machine will turn out with a similar consistency, but I can never do it purposely.

Last night, I started the process of a recipe that I thought might be the one. 

It is a long process, but simple.

Being me, I changed the recipe so much that I think I can now call it my own.

And I'm sharing it with you.

It is so chock-full of healthy stuff that you can eat it without shame.

I stole the name from our local ex-con's bread line.

Don't tell him.

He might snuff me out while I sleep.

You need to start this bread about 12 or 13 hours (or longer) before you want to eat it. I started mine in the evening and baked it at lunchtime the next day.

Sue's Killer Bread

2 c white bread flour

2 1/2 c wheat flour

1 tsp chia seed

1/4 c flax meal

1/3 tsp yeast

2 tsp salt

1 tbs honey

2 1/3 c water

Mix all together in a bowl and cover with a wet cloth. Leave on the counter for at least 12 hours. It will be slightly risen and bubbly when ready.

In another bowl or pot, mix 3/4 c coarse grains with 1 c boiling water. I used a mixture of 10 grain cereal and grits, but you could use cracked wheat or oat groats, or any other grains. Cook for a couple of minutes till water is absorbed. Cover and leave for 12 hours.

After the waiting period, mix the two together (I usually do this with my hands) and add 1/4c rolled oats and 1/2 c of any other seeds that you like. Spray another bowl with oil and gently place the dough in it. Cover and leave for another two hours. When it is almost ready, put a Dutch oven (or other heavy, covered casserole dish) into the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. 

Take the dish out of the oven and remove the lid. Spray the heated dish with non-stick spray and gently ease the ball of dough into it and replace the lid. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, to brown the top. Tip onto a cooling rack, cover with a tea towel, and don't cut till cooled.

No matter how much you are tempted.

You don't want the steam to escape.

Mmm-m!

There it is, all crusty and brown.

The inside is chewy and moist, just how I like it.

A slice of heaven with butter on it.

Can't argue with that.

Some notes on the recipe:
The original recipe called for 2 tbs of gluten. I no longer add gluten to my bread; I prefer the texture of added chia. I think it would be okay without either.
The mixture of grains and seeds is purely preference. A few chopped nuts would be yummy too.
Next time, I might lower the temperature to 400 degrees, as the bottom crust was a tad too brown for me. Which hasn't stopped me from eating it.
And I am going to gradually increase the percentage of whole wheat flour, or other whole grain flours. Buckwheat may be in my future.

I'm on a kick, like so many of you, to eat more whole-and-healthy foods and less junk. This bread will be a regular at my house from now on. I hope it helps your cooking repertoire too.
Thanks for reading.
And don't judge me for the thick slathering of butter.
By Thursday, I need butter!

Farewell Piknik

Piknik is closing its doors in a couple of weeks. I haven't used it in a long time, so I thought I would have a little fun with some pictures I took of a hailstorm this afternoon.

Then Blogger got a little feisty with me and wouldn't let me upload the last photo. It kept telling me I had used up all of my free storage space in my Picasa Web album. Which I couldn't understand, because I don't use Picasa any more for that very reason. Too cheap to pay for web storage. It took me over an hour, but I finally beat Google, which now owns Picnik and made the decision to close it down.

The short story is that the first photo was originally cropped to a skinny 3494 x 1496 pixels. I thought it was lovely in its skinniness. But anything with dimensions under 2094 x 2094 pixels does not count towards the free 1G of storage space, so this lovely photo was putting me over the top.

Who knew? 

So here it is, my short tribute to Piknik.

And a couple of photos of the kiddos from last summer that I was playing around with.

Feel free to bow down to my awesomeness.

Not a post about Jeff's birthday

It is his birthday.

I took him out to dinner at a new buffet restaurant in town.

We both ate too much and now we're vegging (what an ugly word) in front of our respective laptops.

Yes folks, these Osbornes know how to have a good time!

My blogging friend Mari  linked to this website on her blog today and you know I couldn't resist taking a peek.

Oh. My. 

Just what I need: something else to lure me to my laptop.

Just as well the pantry got sorted a few days ago.

I took these pics with my webcam, using the webcam toy. 

It's my favourite page on the site. 

Scary times four.

Slightly underwater.

Just like the US economy.

Stars in my eyes. Not in a good way.

I like this one. Not too much detail.

Learning to love myself.

Nope. You're not sweet sixteen any more, my dear.

But that's okay.

We'll take what we are.

All 64 of us.

Some of these would make cool internet avatars.

Andy Warhol, move over!

Hahaha! These make me laugh!

I can't wait to show these to the grandkids.

What fun we shall have!

P.S. You can install the Webcam Toy as a free Chrome app.

P.P.S You know I did!

Two-word Tuesday

He's home!

Have you ever seen a dino-boat?

Well, now you have!

Daniel was rather proud of his creation, especially the flight of stairs that leads to the boat.

I've been having the grandkids over, one at a time, to spend the night. Josh was first, on Thursday night and Friday, and Daniel was next. 

Papa nobly took him to see The Lorax on Friday night while Dolly and I caught The Hunger Games at the Cameo. 

I suppose he (Jeff) thinks I owe him one now.

Not even close.

[As for The Hunger Games, it was okay, but not brilliant. It wasn't helped by the crowd of junior high kids who went ballistic every time Katniss and Peeta came even close to having an emotional moment. I would have spoken sharply to them, except they were up front and I was towards the back and I couldn't tell who was making noise until they all trooped out at the end. They must have been on some kind of field trip because there was a school bus waiting for them outside. I am planning on being a real tartar and finding out what school they were from so that I can complain. 

Yup.

Grumpy old woman, that's me.]

Saturday dawned sunny and warm, so Daniel helped me weed for a couple of hours. Last year was the war on dandelions. This year seems to be the war on hairy bittercress.  All you northwest gardeners will know this weed on sight, but I'll bet you didn't know the name! 

Google is my friend.

After we waged a good battle and Daniel had eaten his small tub of rewardly ice cream, he talked Jeff and I into going to the park. We rode our bikes, as I was feeling the ill effects of unaccustomed exercise, and he scootered. The sky had become mostly covered with dark, ominous clouds, but the sun still shone on the south side of the trees that border the park.

I sat on a bench, feeling old and bedraggled, reading my book while Jeff and Daniel explored.

There they go!

When we got home, Daniel helped me plant seeds in milk bottles. I've seen a couple of tutorials for this around the blogosphere and it seems like a fortuitous idea.
First, you cut around the bottles about three inches from the bottom.
Poke holes in the bottom section. Daniel enjoyed this bit.
Fill with dirt and plant your chosen seeds. We planted roma, beefsteak, and yellow hillbilly tomatoes, and marigolds.

Water well and wedge the tops back over the bottom sections. The tutorials all say to join with duct tape, but I'm pretty sure this will work just as well.
Don't forget to label the bottles.

The premise is that the milk bottles act as a miniature greenhouse and give your little seeds an early start.
We shall see.