bread by zen

for the first time in years i have a reasonably sized kitchen and bread pans at the same time.
so i got some yeast and made a half loaf.
it's an intentional half loaf so it doesn't go stale before i get to finish it












it's a very wet dough intentionally. i wanted lots of steam for crustiness.
i proofed the yeast in advance in warm water with a little sugar. flour, salt, water, yeast - mix.

let it rise three times on the warmer on my stove, double boiler style.























then i poured it into a greased pan [had just finished a stick of butter so i just used that to wipe the pan, i use unsalted butter]

425 for something under an hourish until the crust was golden brown






super soft inside with lots of medium and small bubbles, crusty outside like a loaf of french bread. it tastes exactly like the most perfect pizza crust i ever ate.



there's only one problem.
i didn't use a recipe and i didn't write it down.
hehe, this should be interesting to try to repeat.

house modding - maximum function, zero aesthetic

what i ended up doing with the area over my kitchen sink. this is the result of the broomstick found in the shed on the last house modding post. the grundtal rack didn't completely fit over the broomstick, but that's what vice grips are for, right?

for details on what each item is, check the original flickr photo and mouse over the pic for pop up notes

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catastrophegirl/4285351995/

this is how i store my ziplocs, foil, etc. i take my own food everywhere so i always need something to put it in. this was it's always right at hand.
that little lazy susan used to go in my fridge but there's no good place for it in the current fridge and it doesn't fit in the cabinets. haven't found a permanent home for it yet. may eventually go in the pantry?



and this is the hallway.

in the middle of this pic is the linen/diabetes closet.
on the right is a magnetic tool bar from harbor freight tools with various things i reach for all the time and want close at hand.
on the left is an ikea bag holder. there are three trash cans and a litterbox in the surrounding rooms. i have a hard time keeping enough bags on hand to use, actually

again, for more details [if you REALLY need to know what's on the tool holder] notes are on the original photo, here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catastrophegirl/4285363861/in/photostream

fridge features

i don't actually love my fridge. it came with the house.
it's a side by side and i honestly loathe that. i prefer either a top or bottom freezer.
but as long as it's in good working order and i have other things to spend my money on, it stays.
in the meantime, i am thoroughly enjoying the fact that it's a dry erase compatible surface.

gives me LOTS of room to split out my shopping list.

and the side of it is good for a to do list.

my sister has a nice super fancy steel french door fridge. it's lovely. spacious, interior is remarkably usable.
but she had to give up the magnetic properties of the front
and she could never write directly on it.

i guess by the time i am in the market for a new fridge, i'll have a giant list of want and do-not-want features.