Crazy in the Kitchen

Last Wednesday evening we were getting ready to head out of town for a long weekend. Mom had requested that I make some bread and I got a little carried away with that task. I have used the basic recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day numerous times. I had borrowed the second book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and wanted to try out the whole wheat bread. I had previously tried adding whole wheat into the basic recipe but that was a big fat fail. I realized after looking at the book that you have to use Vital Wheat Gluten with whole wheat flour to help your dough rise. In addition to the plain dough and the wheat dough I found a recipe on the website for a Brioche dough for danishes and I wanted to make a pizza for dinner. So I got to mixing and had four bowls of dough rising at once.

After our pizza dinner I got to work on my loaves.

For the basic recipe I divided the dough in two and added monterey jack cheese and roasted pablano peppers to one. To the second loaf I added mozzarella and roasted tomatoes.

The cheese oozed out of the loaves a bit, but turned out delicous!

The danish recipe looked pretty complicated, but wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I did one with caramalized apples and almond frangipane and the second with cream cheese and strawberries (the hands down winner!).

I thought the Brioche dough looked yummy even before it was baked.

The frangipane sprung a leak, but didn't affect the danish too badly.

The final result. It is looking like a bakery around here!
Probably not great for the waistline, but it sure was yummy and I don't bake like this too often.

Model shots

In preparation to start listing more of my one of a kind pieces on etsy I have been taking some modeled shots this morning. I'm pretty happy with the outcome and I think they really pop. I think showing the jewelry, especially a necklace, on the body really helps to understand the scale of a piece. What do you think of these shots?

New project....shhhh

Here is a sneak peek of something I am working on. I can't say too much about it right now because it is a surprise for someone special. If you figure it out or already know who it is for please don't tell. I am in love with this yarn! It is Crayon from Knit Picks and is super soft and squishy and soooo light weight. The Granny Ripple pattern is perfect for this yarn. I found that with the twistiness of the yarn I couldn't see my stitches, so I chose this granny stitch and it is saving me so much time and agony.

In Full Bloom

My clematis vine was in full bloom last week and it always makes me so happy when it blooms. I had heard that clematis was finicky but this one is a real trooper. I got this plant when I worked at Home to Garden and have probably had it planted for 6 years or more. It doesn't even die back in the winter, the leaves die off, but the vine stays in place. So when it is time for spring it seems to have a head start and just bursts into bloom. There may have been even more blooms shortly before I finally took a picture. I thought you would enjoy it as much as I did.

Mom's Rose Garden

I snapped these shots of my mom's gardens last week when I was helping her prepare for the sale. Ms. Meowgi followed me around while I checked everything out. I'm really going to miss this place. We moved here when I was in the sixth grade, twenty three years ago. The new place is beautiful too, but Frank and I were married here so there are a lot of memories in this backyard.

My parent's plan to travel a lot once they move, so there won't be much gardening going on. All of these roses are gorgeous and make me really happy.

My Pawpaw rooted this red rose for my mom from a plant that he had in Houston. I wish I had learned that skill from him because I would like to have rootings from all of these roses. These aren't all the ones she has, there are quite a few more that I didn't photograph. One that my great grandmother brought from Germany, at least I think that is how the story goes. Mom?





Don't forget about the poppies, I love those too!

The blackberries will be ripe soon and it will be time to make cobbler. Yum!

New Work, New Photos

I took these photos of some new pieces to apply for a couple of fall shows. Fingers crossed!

Rolling on down the road

Laura and Russ rolled out this morning the same way they arrived last week. We hosted them and really enjoyed the experience. I snapped these shots right before they hit the road this morning. They are heading up to Denton for a couple of days before they head east out of Texas. I have a lot more to share and say about their visit, but right now I'm just trying to catch up on my to do list. So more to come about these guys, for now just these two shots.