Chicken Patrol

Making Olga Bread

I made OLGA bread today.  Just like Olga's.  I  googled the recipe and almost all were identical.   I let the dough rest over night in the frig (actually it was about 20 hours).  It still was really stretchy and when the recipe said "roll out", it was more like a pizza dough so using my hands to finish it by stretching and twirling in the air helped to get it a little bigger and thinner.  Now that I've dipped my fingers into this recipe, I will look at the book "Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois to see what they suggest.  This should make an awesome sandwich this afternoon.

CONQUERING "FEAR OF PIE CRUST"

My friend and baker extraordinaire, Melissa, came over on Friday to give me ANOTHER pie baking lesson.  I think I can safely say I conquered my fear of pie crust phobia.  The pie crust recipe was from Cooks Illustrated (the no-fail one with vodka) and we used Melissa's delicious home canned peaches, some fresh blueberries and some frozen raspberries.  Things I would do different next time: - a little less juice or a little more thickening and remember to take the pie out of the oven RIGHT WHEN THE TIMER GOES OFF.  It got just a wee bit brown.  Also, I need to buy some of that big crystal baking sugar for the top.  We used raw sugar crystals but it just wasn't right.  On the upside - it was delicious!!  No doubt about that.  Thanks, Melissa.  You have won a special place in this baker's heart.

Spied Saturday a.m in Ann Arbor

Back to the important things in life....

"People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel."- Maya Angelou


I know, right?   

I laid Holly to rest this afternoon.  She was in a lot of pain it was the only thing I could do to fix it.  It was only going to get worse and I loved her too much to ask her to go through that just to stay a few more days with me.
She was my best pal.  Goodbye, my love.  xoxo

Holly's Osteosarcoma Update

Holly, after a great night of partying with the  knitting club
Holly is having a good day today.  I went to MSU yesterday and talked to Dr. Annear.  I listened to all he said and then told him that I would go with pain relief, eye lubrication, and watching until her bad days start to increase.  He suggested that at that point I could try oral corticosteroids to increase her appetite and energy again for a while longer.  He said if it was his dog, he would have made the same decision.  So we didn't even do the chest -xray because it wouldn't have changed the course of her treatment.  Right now, she will eat anything in sight and can make it up the stairs faster than me because she knows I have treats stashed upstairs (LOL- sorta like the candy bowl).  She has up to 6 months and it wasn't that much longer if I would have chosen chemo/radiation.  Some of my knitting group came over last night so she got to sniff in all the knitting bags and everyone fed her a little from their plates (cuz thats ok for her to do now).  Actually, she's having the time of her life, which is as it should be.  Holly and I are eating, drinking and being merry until further notice.

Tatted Butterfly

This is from my first tatting lesson.  Its supposed to be a butterfly though I suppose the color and the antennae are a little off.  But all in all, I'm pretty pleased.

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Knitting Podcast

Knitting Podcast: is a really cool blog that keeps track of all the knitting and fiber related podcasts available.
She also keeps track of whether they are active or inactive.  Wow!  I could spend my whole day listening to podcasts.  This is a wonderful thing!!  Check it out.  M

'via Blog this'

I MADE RUGELACH WITH JULIA!!!

Yesterday and today, I made rugelach from Baking With Julia.  We are making recipes from this book in our bake-along on www.tuesdayswithdorie.com   Here are some of the highlights:

Sour Dough Cheddar Crackers

Well, here they are.   My second batch of sour dough cheddar crackers.  The first batch I made with my rye starter and forgot to take a picture.  This one I made with my white flour starter and they turned out beautifully.  I have my friend, Melissa, to thank for the recipe, the initial starter, and the personal lesson when we were at Luann's.  Ok, I'm off to nibble.

Sour Dough Onion Rye Bread

Got the "sour" part right!

Oh, my goodness.  My friend, Melissa, gave me some sour dough starter about a month ago.  I've been nurturing it along and finally decided to make bread this week., inspired by her recipe.   It was definitely sour!!! Almost like vinegar.  I toasted it and added some jam to sweeten it up.  It didn't raise very much.  I had cut the recipe in half to make enough for one loaf but then put the dough in two smaller loaf tins.  I will have to figure out how to make it a little less tart next time.  Wow!