a silk shirt

I had a friend show up at work with a shirt I really liked.  She spoiled herself at Christmas and tried a new style.  I thought it was a success.  

She let me borrow it so i could take the pattern from it.  The original shirt was about $200 and in velvet.  Lovely, but a little heavy for home.  A little more expensive that I like to pay for ready made since I can sew unless it is something extra special.  I have a cashmere Ralph Lauren dress like that.  Fell in love with the picture.  Love wearing it even more.  Again, a bit warm for home.

I decided to make it in a sky blue silk shantung with sparkly buttons.  

I like it for a first pass.  Now I have to find something to wear on the bottom since I do not wear leggings for anything but skating anymore.  And I do not own a pair of skinny jeans like my sister.  I was thinking a skirt.  Much more me.  To bad it the skirt is not ready for my very long day tomorrow.  Hopefully, there will be time to blog.  I may not get home until MUCH too late!

kouign amann (old fashioned breton cake)

I will not say it has gotten any easier.  I just do the things I need to do to keep me sane.  I put my hands in dough.  But because I have so much bread already I decided to make cake.  This is my type of cake.  It is kind of a sweet bread cake.  But then we had sweet rolls for our wedding dessert since I really do not like most cake.  This should tell you something.  

I have actually made this cake twice.  The first time, I flubbed it a bit and then we lost the hard drive.  This time, the process was easier.  It tasted the same both times.  The bit of sanity helped.  Next time, I will put Small Mister on a chair so he can help knead.  He and I are learning that we work well with him on a chair next to me in the kitchen.  This is a new development.  He is also my garden sprite/helper.  Between dough and dirt, my head is a little straighter.

Do not expect American cake here.  Just be warned.  I like ti though.  

kouign amann (old fashioned breton cake)

Note:  Modified from Manger.  I figured out how to use sourdough.  I also think this would be quite good (but probably very non-traditional) with cinnamon or orange added.

The last time I made this, the bake took twice as long as it should.  It jiggled at 25 minutes.  Stick a sharp knife in it and make sure it comes out clean.

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 water

1 1/2 cup flour

pinch of salt

3/4 cup butter, room temperature but not runny

about 1 cup sugar

The night before, mix the sourdough, 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup water together in a bowl.  Cover and let get bubbly, about 8 hours.  Take a bit out for next time right before you wish to start mixing.

Add 1 cup flour and the pinch of salt.  Mix well.  It should come together into a soft dough.  Knead until smooth.  Use the extra flour to keep it from sticking to the counter.  Better to err on the soft side.

Cover and let rise for three hours or nicely double.

Butter a cake pan, about 8 inches in diameter.  NOT a  spring form pan.

Roll the dough out to about 1 cm (about a quarter inch thick).  Spread  a scant 1/4 cup of butter over it. Sprinkle with about rounded 1/4 cup sugar.  Fold into thirds toward the center.  Then into thirds again from the ends so you have a square.  

Roll out the same twice more.  You may wish to refrigerate the dough between the second and third roll to let the butter set up again.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Press into the cake pan.  You should have a bit of sugar and butter left over.  Spread the butter on top.  Sprinkle the sugar over it.  Bake for 22 -25 minutes or until golden.  There should be no jiggling of the cake when you take it out.  Start checking at 17 minutes and cover if it starts to burn.  If it is golden, it is time to take out.

Wait to cut into this for 15 minutes.  It is really easier to cut.

Cinnamon next time....

having difficulties

I am having real difficulties coming back from the mountain this time.  So are Small Mister and my Beloved.  We lived outside while we were there and now we are back in the city.  Dealing with people, traffic, noise.  It does not help that we now have a trailer that sits on the mountain.  We do not have to worry about where to stay or how to get it to the top of the mountain.  I also now know we can take a rental car to the top if it is dry.  Craziness.  

I would have to say the best I have been these days back is when I was in the garden with Small Mister.  He was helping me with my fork.  I have plants and weeds to take out.  I found him a shovel his size.  He dug and fought plants and just had a gay old time.  When I am out there, he does not wander far.  He wishes to help and sometimes he does.  But there are other times there are battles to be fought or music to be played.  The noises that shovel makes!  I just wish I knew what he was imagining.

Today should be a day at the computer and errands.  There is not much to eat in the house.  But I am thinking it may be sewing, dough, dirt, mud, and libraries.  Things that help being in the city. 

I would make such a great hermit!

pocketbook rolls

The day we started traveling for our land we did a mad thing.  We had a cookie decorating party.  It had actually been planned before we found out our trailer was ready and needed to be picked up and that my Mother's retirement party was happening.  We chose not to cancel and still had friends over.

I made a large pot of bean soup and tried a new bread recipe.  Lucullian Delights had done a Baking Babes challenge awhile back for pocketbook rolls and I thought they looked interesting.  Then I totally screwed up the recipe.  I was told they were the best rolls that my Beloved had ever had and I needed to make them again.  Others agreed.  It is a good thing I remembered how I screwed up!

pocketbook rolls

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water 

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup room temperature butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1egg

6 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

8 tablespoons melted butter

The night before, mix the sourdough starter, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup flour together.  Cover and let become bubbly overnight.  Remove a couple tablespoons of starter for next time.

To the starter add 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and 4 tablespoons olive oil.  Mix well.  Add 2 cups flour and mix.  Cover and let sit for a couple hours covered until bubbly and like pancake batter.

Mix in 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup water.  Add sugar, butter, egg, and salt.  Mix in the rest of the flour a cup at a time until you have a soft dough.  Turn out and knead until smooth.  Let rise until double.

Cover baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.  Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch.  Cut 2 1/2 inch rounds.  Dip in the melted butter.  Put on the baking sheet and fold in half.  You may need to mash it a bit.  Cover and let rise until double and puffy, about 45 minutes to a hour.

Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake the rolls for about 10 minutes.  They need to be golden.

Like I said, I royally screwed up the recipe but they were well liked.  Maybe sometime I should try the actual recipe!

But like always.

There was much fun had and many cookies eaten!

lumber jacking

We spent a week on our land.  Somehow, we hit the only time it has been dry since Thanksgiving.  There was no precipitation the week before we got there and the week we were there.  My Beloved took down 60 plus trees.  We are hoping there was still no rain yesterday and today.  If so, our neighbor is taking a bulldozer up and moving the trees and working on the road for us.  We are, hopefully, come back to something very different.  He said he would send pictures.

I did everything in a long dress.  What else is new!

Small Mister had to help My Beloved every step of the way.  Even if that meant me holding him from a distance because he did not like the chain saw.  I did not mind him not liking the chain saw.  We are the Tall Short Person's child care so we took Small Mister with us.

After a day of lumber jacking (and  bit of log rolling), this is where the boys usually ended up.  It made me smile.