Oh Phil!

This is Phil sitting inside looking out the kitchen window.  Torture, pure torture.

1st Snowflakes!

It snowed in Minneapolis today.  Nothing substantial, but it instantly brings me indoors to the warmth of the oven.  We keep our apartment extremely cold, so anytime the air gets chilly outdoors, I pull out the recipes and bake.  Today I did just that!  I love how the heat of the kitchen brings people and cats towards it.  And then the bonus of delicious smells wading through the house.  I can smell the brown sugar and butter working magic as I type.   I can't deny that a little excitement ran through my body when I saw the fluffy flakes.  It means more baking days are ahead.  Well, I'm off to eat an obscene amount of cookies.  Happy almost weekend!

Chicken Bath

Ever wonder how a chicken stays so purty and clean?  Funny enough, they take dirt baths.  All the dirt that they get up in their feathers keeps them clean and mite or lice free.  Now, I realize I'm a little obsessed with my chickens, but I find this video of my backyard friends amazing.  This video is only of Skinny Lynnie (black and white) and Red Legs (the red one), George was in the nest working on an egg.  Enjoy!

 

An Addition to the Kitchen

Early last week, I finally sent out an email to close friends telling how my passion of bread baking is now accessible to them!  They can buy their very own loaf of bread I bake from my little yellow kitchen in my little orange house.  It's taken me at least two months to actually send the email.  Why?  Because in the back of my head there's this little voice that says things like, "Do you really think people will buy that?  Do you really think your bread is good enough?"  I finally had to slap it and just send the email.  What's the worst that could happen?  No one buys any.  Well, a couple of people responded and I was pumped!  Then the other worst happened...every single bread I made, failed.  I'm not joking...six loaves in a row.  Not done completely, over-proofed, looked butt ugly, just failures.  I kept telling myself this is a test, one of many I'm sure, to see if I will push through and I'm pushing through.  I collected myself and decided I was rushing it and needed to rethink my recipes and approach.  Therefore, I bought this:

 

It's a game changer.  My first scale!  I am now trying new recipes using weights as measurements and so far so good.  This was the first bread I did with the new love of my life (the scale). 

Since it's for my mother and father, I'm doing everything I can not to eat it.  Next up is beer bread!  

This is a link to a Ted Talk about shame, definitely check it out if you ever have that voice in your head telling you you can't.   After watching it...slap the voice.

I forgot...shocking.

Here is Phil's picture that should have been posted on Friday.  Oh well!  Even though he's wrapped in a blanket, he looks pretty surly.  Oh Phil.

 

It has hit freezing points over night here and I officially had to turn on the heat.  I guess it's time to put away my summer clothes!  Enjoy your Mondays!

The Knoll

Like everyone else living in Minnesota, I think fall is a season of magic.  There's no more excuses for looking longingly at those light weight sweaters in the back of my closet, I can pull them on now.  And I believe one of the best pairings of those coveted sweaters to be a picnic.  Ross and I have been pretty avid picnic-ers this summer because there are so many inviting spots in Minneapolis.  This is now one of our favorites, the knoll at Gold Medal Park by the Guthrie Theater.  

I loaded up the baskets of my bike with pumpkin curry soup, a travel mug of hot water for tea and a cupcake to share.  I like to make picnics as simple as possible so I won't be discouraged each time I want to go on them.  You can create a perfect picnic with just three little items: soup/sandwich, tea/wine, and a small dessert.  Throw in two bowls or plates with utensils and you're ready to go!

So, we laid about and daydreamed (shocking really) and watched as a bald eagle kept soaring right in front of us along the Mississippi River!  Magic!  

So, get out there and have yourself a picnic because it's time to celebrate fall!!