My bread got "over riz"...

Hahahahah.... it broke though the plastic wrap and overlapped the edges of my big bowl... while I was busy forgetting about it and doing other things.

Then, it happened again after I got it into the pans...and the loaves looked a bit wonky and turned out funny shapes.  But, it still tastes the same.  Great@!  so who cares?

Well, it is a bit awkward for putting into the toaster..and they are pretty big slices... but, then again.. who really cares when it tastes so good?

I love home made bread.

I love the little 18 year old guy whose blog I visited waaaayyy back when and who encouraged me to give it a try... Still baking Lewis!  thanks for all the encouragement.  I often wonder where he is today......

Not a long post...

...just wanted to let you all know I updated my other blog... which seems not to happen very often anymore..... my bad!  Or lazy .... or...both....

Anyway... I posted my brother's great bread recipe over there and a couple pics...

I hope some of you that love to bake will give it a try... add or subtract ingredients as you like once you've tried it as is..... we love it and it does make great toast!

We call it Mountain Man Bread...cuz he is ...and he bakes it... but, it's real name is Multigrain Bread... kind of boring by comparison..hahahah...

Check it out..

Happy Valentine's Day

Not much exciting to show that looks like it belongs to the day though....so I give you, instead.... flowers from my garden last summer.  I love peonies .. they look like fluffy pink clouds.

I gave away my heart cookie cutters a couple of years ago to another blogger... silly me.... and haven't come across a new set yet.

 I didn't always use them just for cookies either....they were handy for all sorts of things.  See how cute they look as part of my table decorating on another Valentine's Day?

So, no cookies..but, I did bake a cute little loaf of bread yesterday... and we had a slice of it hot ...slathered with lovely butter.  And...I declared it was our "day before Valentine's Day treat" ... does that count?

Actually the recipe, which is Carson's, from over at The 7 MSN Ranch, makes two cute little "couple" sized loaves (or one bigger loaf), but I took the other to a neighbour.  Bread is so lovely hot and fresh.  And, the husband of the couple wants to learn to make bread...so this is the very simplest of loaves to make ...and,....it tastes great!  I'm encouraging him.

It finally looks like winter here this morning....we had a few inches of snow yesterday........

-16C .....

... and another 8 inches of snow.  Sigh.....my blog has turned into a weather report.
It's hard to get motivated to do much else it seems when I'm having to spend hours shovelling and more hours trying to get readjusted to doing my exercise routine. I even opted out of doing my weights and most of my exercise routine today.  I figured I did enough weight lifting just scooping and shoving and tossing the white stuff.  The main piles are now over 4 feet deep at the corners of the property.

There is a skating rink under the snow where the alleyway meets the sidewalk....I sure hope the mailman or a dog walker or any other unsuspecting passerby doesn't have a nasty accident.... it's tough to know where to walk for safety's sake.   We had some lovely warm days...and then... pow!... pummeled by Mother Nature.  Temperatures plummeted and the snow flakes swirled.  Again.  This is a pretty big snow year compared to the past few.  Last year I hardly had to shovel at all.  And... snow shovels?  (they are really wide scoops .. but, we call them shovels.. I had Judi worried for a bit there..she thought I was only using a little shovel..hahhaha nope...) Somebody is getting rich on what I call planned obsolescence  ..worn one out already and it's only February.   We're not nearly out of the woods yet as far as snow is concerned around here.  Ridiculous.  Don't dare buy the kind that has a metal strip on the sharp edge either... if ya hit a bump in the sidewalk you could do yourself an injury midsection.... or wreck a wrist... forget that.  Too much uneven pavement or pavers to shovel.

The youngish male neighbour across the street has anger management issues.... there was a lot of swearing coming from his quarter.... even with his ancient mother out there.  What a wimp and lazy ass that guy is.  The 83 year old fella 3 houses over was out there shovelling.  Whistling.  Suck it up baby boy....

Another day or two of this... and the weatherman is talking about plus numbers once again.  Yo yo weather.  We are sort of used to it...but, still...each time it begins to melt and you can sort of see bare pavement in spots... it seems hopeful.  But, again...waaaay to early for any springtime stuff.

Good thing I did some shopping on the weekend....
tomorrow... baking...hahahha...that's the other thing about this blog.  It has become my second food blog.  Somewhere I must find an hour and do something cfrafty...hahahha...look at that will ya?  I even forget how to spell it!!

Just for that....I'm gonna show and tell my latest wonderful focaccia bread.
with spices, olives.... sun dried tomatoes... and ... hmmm... forget already what else...oh, yeh...a bit of cheese.  More on Mr. BV's side of the loaf than on mine....

Ghosts of Christmas Past....

Thank goodness we've come a long way since then..... whew.....

Have a happy day everybuddy.....

I hope you have a fun tree to enjoy ...

and some yummies...

some chocolates ...goes without saying really....

.

Photo of the Week

"Favourite things" is the theme this week.     " favourite - something regarded with special favor or liking" .   That meaning (of several I found) seems to be a good one in my case.  Lots of little or pretty simple things in my life interest me ... make me smile ...give me a giggle, and it seems I tend to list them as favourite things. Where to begin?  I have lots ....      food (baking and cooking) ...  flowers.... bears.... dolls... golf ... ACEOs (art cards, editions and originals) .....

Sometimes it's not even necessary to say too much..... some photos speak for themselves...... however, let me just say something about these beautiful tiny pastels done by a Russian artist and friend that I met online several years ago.  She sent the pics to see which one I wanted...how could I not want both? ... The cat is her own.... she drew many pics of Czenia... and I now have both of these.  I'm sure you'll agree that they are pretty darn amazing.  Click to biggify and see the detail ....

Peonies from my garden...

Buttercup...needle felted from KoolAid dyed wool.  Beads for "dreds" ...

..of course, Scratty Eddy and his cute and interesting little face ...  and his tea drinking buddy Scruffy....

..speaking of tea.... how 'bout tea and scones?  The name of my other blog...and another favourite thing...baking....

...simple, yet very effective... for Christmas...my fav season just for the glitz; the glamour; the beautiful decorations .... the fun creating ...... the perfect way to break up the toooo many months of cold weather....

Let's not forget breads. Brother ....I could go on all day couldn't I?
I've just learned to bake breads the past few years...and oh, YUM....how I love home baked breads!  My very most "favourite-est" of favourites .... ..... lol....... and, now...I'm off to do some jumping jacks....hahahahha ........ NOT.......!!

Panettone anybody?

There you are.  I better stop.  Never just one for photo of the week with me...always several.  I should do something more organized with my photos some day...... I have hundreds...nope....I have thousands..... and I just can't hit the delete button..............

new hobby...

I'd like to share this recipe with you if you don't know about or don't often visit my food blog.
A very easy and very tasty cabbage soup... goes great with a chunk of toasted home made bread.... which I would also like to share with you. Well, not the actual bread... just the recipe...unless you are in the vicinity...then, by all means, please drop by for a taste. It's getting close to lunch time though...so hurry, or I'll have scoffed the last of it!












oh,....and, ... this bread!!











I made two lovely big loaves...one plain and one with fruits and nuts.... sorry, no pic of the plain! Hah! gone already.... it was ever so tasty.

Susan at 29 Black Street finds some of the best bread recipes. I'm fairly new to bread making. As a matter of fact, I just tried my first loaf a year ago, so was a bit tentative at first, but now, have almost decided that bread making is my new hobby. I've given several different types a go during the year; a fav was Tuscan Peasant Bread from a recipe that she linked to. Oh, is it good. ... I love that bread. A lovely chewy firm crust. I make it and tweak it (add fruit, or perhaps sun dried tomatoes, olives..etc) once or twice a month. When she posted this one... I was convinced it would be equally as good. It definitely is... and as usual...I can't figure out how come I was ever nervous to try bread making! It's easy and so much fun. Oh,... and did I mention tasty?











one of the reasons I must. do. the. treadmill.

...... daily........... and, who cares? especially if the reward is home made bread. Yep, old dogs can learn new tricks...especially for cookies...or, in my case... a slice of lovely bread.

Tuscan Peasant Bread....

with apricots, cranberries and Muesli

























Here is the recipe if you'd like to try baking one yourself... ...or two......