listen to my february fantasies

fridays definitely need to have a soundtrack

like this one!

to celebrate the weekend!

since it is so awesome and amazing that it is finally here!!!

currently sitting in my kitchen, waiting for ciabatta to rise...

i never realized how time consuming this recipe would be.

i kind of thought i could leave the house today

you know, it being friday and all...

nope.

gotta watch the dough.

[the only thing i can say is that this better be some pretty

freakin fantastic bread!]

more details to come.

ahhhhhhhhh....

i love my yoga.

after doing absolutely NOTHING all week long, it decided that enough was enough and i had to get out of the house.

you ever have those days?

i just go crazy

and run two miles.

[don't laugh... i'm a work in progress]

and then go lift weights

and then come home and do some yoga.

and although my back is gonna be sore tomorrow -

it feels so good!

don't you love it?

the rest of the day was fairly chill...

waitin for the bread,

went and (attempted is the key word here) to play basketball.

i say attempted because playing with guys basically means you don't get the ball. like ever.

it's kinda irritating.

yes, it makes me want to pull out my suffragette flag and wave it all over the place.

or maybe start singing"anything you can do i can do better!"

gotta love annie oakley.

i think she was my favorite person growing up.

[her, and davy crockett... that says something about me, huh?]

oh yeah.

and i dominated at pool.

and the literal translation for "dominated" here means that the guys i played with were laughing at the way i held the stick.

or cue.

or whatever the darn thing is called.

[but]

i did get a few ooh's and ahh's

despite the funky way i held it

take that mr. macho man!

i actually still have no idea what i did wrong.

but i hit the ball! so it doesn't even matter to me.

and update on the bread.

oh. my. goodness.

wow.

yum???

i am a lazy cook.

and to spend that much time on anything kills me a little inside.

but it was definitely definitely worth it!

crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside.......

i think i'm going to dream about lovely dancing ciabattas tonight.

and i'm going to eat them for lunch tomorrow.

i just have to decide on the perfect thing to go in the middle.

can't waste a good ciabatta on an unworthy sandwich now...

this weekend is gonna rock!

and not because of v-day

or s.a.d.

[for you married/engaged/ball-and-chain people this is code for single awareness day]

we're having brunch tomorrow. :)

oh how i love breakfast!

especially on the weekends,

when you can plan all sorts of good yummy sumptuous-ness...

oh goody!

i need to get to bed so that i can get up early and decide what i am going to make...

i think that either coffee cake or apple muffins (round II) might do the trick!

have i told you about my amazing apple muffins yet?

i will check on that...

if i haven't, i will definitely clue you in on this deliciousness.

if i already have, you must try them!

i'm not kidding, they might just change your life.

sweet dreams!

[dream of many wonderful foods!!!]

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loving the pain that i know i'm gonna feel tomorrow...

but remembering that it is good for me!!!

(mr. yoga-man on my video kept sayin...

"this is so healthy...")

and in my mind i'm screaming... "but it hurts!!!"

hopefully i'll do a little better tomorrow. ;)

There is a first time for everything...

I'm going to admit it.

I have an addiction.

To food.

They really need to have an FA meeting for people like me...

(foodaholics annonymous)

So today, I had a craving for sourdough bread.

I decided to make some.

Unfortunately, making sourdough bread takes a little longer than I thought.

So I have to wait 3 days for my sourdough to be ready.

SQUIRREL!

(no seriously... there was just a squirrel outside my apartment window.)

Here's the bread.

Well... the start of the bread.

(I figured out the hard way that when they said medium sized bowl...

they really meant it!

My start tried to escape over the sides of the bowl.

And intervention was needed... :P)

At least I know that the yeast was working right? haha.

Here's the recipe I used.

It comes from The Breadman's Healthy Breadbook... I don't have that kind of bread maker, but I found the book at a thrift store and since I can't get enough of recipes... I had to buy it.

Sourdough Starter

(makes 2 cups)

2 cups warm water (100 degrees)

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Put the water, yeast and honey in a medium mixing bowl. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes. Stir until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the flour and beat until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 2 to 5 days, stirring occasionally. The longer the starter stands, the stronger the flavor. The starter will bubble and a sour smelling liquid may form on top. This is normal for a healthy starter, so simply pour the liquid off and discard.

To store the starter, pour it into a sterilized crock or jar. (To sterilize, pour boiling water into the container, let stand 5 minutes, drain and dry well.) Cover and refrigerate the starter in a jar until ready to use.

To use the starter, stir and pour off as much as required.

To feed the starter, use or remove and discard 1 cup of starter. Add equal amounts (about 1 cup each) of flour (the same kind as originally used) and warm water. Stir and let stand at room temperature until it bubbles again, about 30 minutes, then cover and refrigerate.

To keep the starter from turning rancid, use, or discard, at least 1 cup of the starter every week, then feed it as described above. The starter may be frozen. Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using. After thawing, pour off as much as required and feed the remainder as described above.

I want to try this recipe: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/san-francisco-sourdough-bread/Detail.aspx and this one looks like it has some very yummy recipes too! http://www.sourdoughhome.com/recipes.html

I have a sourdough coffee cake recipe... which is really good!

I won't get you too excited just yet though.

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Today I am thankful for my hair.

Even though it is not cooperating with me.

And I am still thankful for the snow.

Even though it makes my hair all frizzy.