Chocolate cranberry bread

I know I have tried to make chocolate breads in the past.  They usually are more of a sweet bread.  I will say my arthritis has not been kind to me for awhile.  There is a lot of inflammation and many days I wake up with stiff swollen hands.  I watched a documentary, The Game Changers, about the pros of a plant based diet.  One of the things was how much inflammation lowered.  So, could I make a chocolate cherry bread with no dairy?  I then had someone else's sourdough chocolate cherry bread.  I had to try.

I would say this is my current go to sweet.  I have found a frozen dessert I like too but this is my favorite.  I actually eat it for lunch a lot of times, fried in avocado or olive oil with salt and pepper.  It makes me happy.

I did have small boys help with the making so there were times it was not perfect but so good!  I had white streaks in the dough.  Flat loaves because shaping with Blue's hands is an adventure!  Everyone tastes lovely though!

sourdough chocolate cherry bread

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sourdough starter (I normally use a heaping 1 cup measure)

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup sifted cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cold brew, espresso, or extra strong coffee

1 1/8 tablespoon salt

3 cups flour (I sometimes use 1 cup whole wheat and the rest unbleached)

4 to 8 ounces dried sweet cherries

4 to 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use allergen free chips)

In a large bowl, mix the starter, water, salt, coffee, and cocoa.  Remember to refresh the rest of your starter.  Mix well.

Add two cups flour.  Mix well.  At this point I start working the dough with a dough scraper because I am trying to even out the color.  Add enough of the rest of the flour to make a soft stiff dough.  Start to knead until the gluten develops well.  It may take a bit more flour.

Cover and let rise until double.

When double, take the dough out of the bowl and flatten an a flat surface.  Fold in the cherries and chocolate.  Once the cherries and chocolate are well incorporated, shape into a ball.  

I then put parchment paper in my cast iron porridge pot and let it rise there until double.  Last night, I refrigerated the dough in a plastic bag and put it in the porridge pot this morning.  I am working a market and it will be ready to bake when I get home.

Put in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven.  Bake one hour.  I have done it with a lid and without a lid.  I have not noticed a large difference.

Soooo good.

By the way, I am trying to post with my phone so I really hope this works well.  Let me know if it does not!

celestial sweater

I feel like I have not been home.  Because I have not.  My Dad's surgeries are done but he is healing slowly.  I spent an extra week with him.  When I am there, I walk when I can but he needed someone just to be there.  I did run an errand for my Beloved's business, went to a museum exhibit, and looked for yarn.

I was running out of yarn to work with because I finished this sweater while I was there.  It is a Lion's Brand kit for the celestial sweater.  Arcylic yarn which I usually do not work in.  It was very splitty and I cannot compost it.  But this is a great sweater to travel in.  I flew in it home and was warm.  I also had silk on underneath it.

I will say I do not read crochet patterns well.  I do not think I pay attention enough.  But then I really do not follow patterns when I sew anymore.  I use the pattern shapes but do not read the process.  So this is the celestial pattern but it is not at the same time.  I used a different size hook.  I made up the counts.  It did make me realize I need to take out another sweater I am working on and make the arm holes smaller.  That sweater will then fit better and be more the length I want.  

I am at the point of leaving yarn at my Dad's.  I will put a lace weight shawl in my bag but I will always have a project there.  I took the extra yarn and started to play with granny squares.  I am going to make those into lined bags and put them on my Etsy site just for fun.  It has been awhile since I have done that.

I actually washed a bit of fleece today.  I want to make more ribbon.  I am coaching a friend once a week.  I just want to be home more.  Maybe soon.

Killer zebras

Honestly, I read a lot and I have comfort books.  I even have comfort authors.  But my comfort is not everyone else's.

One of my favorite comfort books is Sunshine by Robin McKinely.  A baker and tea drinker who is a wizard who has her whole life upended by vampires.  What more can you ask for in a comfort book?  Okay, crochet or spinning but that is a bit much to ask.

Her description of cinnamon rolls has made me up my game when it came to mine.  Actually, her description of wrangling dough after it being refrigerated for 36 hours reminds my of my Dad's stories about my Grandma.  But I kept wanting to eat her Killer Zebras.  I figured, why not?

I took my shortbread recipes as the starting points.  Vanilla for the white part.  Chocolate for the dark part.  I took a bit of each and rolled them together.  My version of Killer Zebras happened.  They really make me smile.

Killer Zebras

2 cups butter

1  cup granulated sugar

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 ounces baking chocolate, melted

granulated sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream butter and sugar together in a medium bowl.  Mix in vanilla.  Mix in flour.  Separate the dough into two halves.  Add the melted chocolate to one half.  Mix well.

Take a teaspoon of the vanilla dough and a teaspoon of the chocolate dough and roll together.  Let the dough look marbled.  Roll the dough ball in the granulated sugar.  Place on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Enjoy with tea.  The boyos ate a plate right up!  CAL thought they were divine.

still making face masks

I have a friend who teases me slightly that I have the longest commute he knows.  With all the traveling I have been doing to go to doctor appointments with my Dad, I can see this.  All my travel is done in a face mask.

I may like to wear earth tones and black but for some reason, I like bright face masks.  I also like bright soft hats and shawls.  I guess I just feel comfortable in the black but when I brighten it up, I want it to be something I can take off easily.

I am have realized that I will probably wear a face mask out most of my life from now on.  It helps my allergies. I have not gotten as ill as I used.  Fuss at me all you wish but when I find something this simple that helps me feel better, why not?  I would rather not take anymore pills.

There is a little time before I am traveling again.  Now, if I could find the sweater I work on at my Dad's house.  The great relocator moved it while I was unpacking last time.  I work on it at Dad's because I have a better chance of counting rows with out getting distracted.  Notice the better chance, I still get interrupted frequently there too.

it went well

I do not feel like I have been home for most of the month of March.  Mostly because I have not.  My Dad's valve replacement went very well.  There is one more appointment to wrap that up and then we get to start the appointments for the surgery that found he needed a valve replacement. 

The cardiologist was very pleased with how everything went with my Dad.  He did better then many younger people.  And he does not need to do cardiologic rehab.  The cardiologist was impressed with how well he moved before the TAVR and it did not change after the TAVR.

I found a new place to walk fairly near my Dad's.  The streets close to his house do not feel safe but there is a conservatory area that has trails that is not too far away.  It feels very woodsy and there are a few micro climates that feel like the rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula.  The trail, even though there is a lot of elevation change, is easier on my joints.

I am just getting ready for the next batch of appointments.  I hope to get another couple beds dug in my garden even though they well be seeded late.  I need more flowers in my life and more time with soil on my hands.  I have lettuce growing.  Some broccoli hopefully. 

Volunteering means I get to do a lot of weeding which I like.  Blue sits on my so I pulled something in my left hip.  Moving has been interesting.  But I got a lot of time with my hands in soil.  I would just like to have that at home too.