Things

Today I took a page out of Steph's book:

I dusted off the old Schwinn and went for a ride.

Yes, that says 4 and a half miles. I decided to bike to the bank, which is 2 miles away.
On the way home I spotted a path I had driven by for the last 5 years and never noticed, so I decided to follow it. It meandered along a cute little stream and I enjoyed listening to the happy birds chirping away and the busy humming of the insects. All in all, a LOVELY ride.
I got home just in time- a big, black cloud is dumping a lovely little spring shower and now everything is drenched.

This was my schoolwork for the week:
Baking rolls.
We were to learn about leavening and kneading and why both are important in bread making.
The photo above is part 1 of my lab. The roll on the far left didn't get kneaded at all, the 2nd one was kneaded then punched down and not kneaded, the 3rd, no first kneading but got the second round and the last one was kneaded both before and after rising. You can tell the difference, can't you? That first one tasted okay, but was awful doughy and yeasty.

This batch got kneaded before and after rising, but for different lengths of time. Starting from the left: 1 minute, 3 minutes, 7 minutes and 9 minutes. The far right one in the first batch was kneaded for 5 minutes each time, so I didn't want to repeat that.
The 3 minute, 5 minute and 7 minute rolls turned out the best. The 9 minute roll was TOUGH to chew.
Now I just need to finish writing up the lab and submit it!!!


Corkie-
what a ham!!
He seems to know what a camera is, because when I pull it out, he starts posing.
SEE?!?!


I've had people asking me about my compost bin. Here it is....
Just an old garbage can. And I mean OLD. It has our address from Lynnwood written on it. That was from 1995 to 2001!!

Just dump in your kitchen scraps, some shredded up newspaper (no glossy paper), coffee grounds, water if needed (should be like a damp sponge)....

...put the lid on, roll it around a few times...

...sprinkle on some dirt to keep the bugs to a minimum, put on the lid and you're done.