Serving Love

Well this was the making of my very first homemade bread from scratch!! Kate and I made them on Saturday the 24th as we were waiting for the loves of our lives to make it home from a long hard day at work.

The bread that we made was honey wheat (smile). It was tons of fun and I'm so glad I was able to do this with my new bosom buddy Kate (her picture can be found to the right of this page (smile)).

How we made it:

Pre-ferment
*125g bread flour (1C)
*125g water (.5C)
*1g instant yeast (.25t)

Final Dough
*251g pre-ferment (all of it)
*125g bread flour (1C)
*250g WW flour (2C)
*215g water(1C)
*50g honey (1.75T)
*30g wheat germ (.25C)
*9g kosher salt (1.5t)
*5g instant yeast (1.25t)

1.) Put all ingredients in mixing bowl and stir until it comes together. Mix on first speed for 3 minutes. Mix on second speed for 3 minutes. Dough should be a little sticky with noticeable gluten development.

2.) Pour dough onto a lightly floured surface. Fold once and cover with plastic. Allow to ferment for 2 hours, folding after the first hour.
Form into desired shape after fermentation (or place in loaf pan). Allow to rise for 1 hour. After 30 minutes, begin preheating oven to 450*.

3.) Slash loaf to allow for expansion during baking. Splash 1oz of water in oven right before loading bread and bake for 25-30 mins until the crust takes on a nicely dark color!

desired end result: Peanut butter and banana sandwhich!

I wanted to share this...I read it a while ago but wanted to post it as an FYI (grrrrr)
Sure, a turkey burger sounds healthy. But is it, really? Not if you order the Bella from Ruby Tuesday, which packs a whopping 1,145 calories. (And yes, that's before a side of fries.) To further enlighten you on the prevalence of preposterous portions, we spent months analyzing menus, nutrition labels, and ingredient lists to identify the food industry's worst offenders. Our primary criterion? Sheer caloric impact. After all, it's the top cause of weight gain and the health problems that accompany it. (As you read, keep in mind that 2,500 calories a day is a reasonable intake for the average guy.) We also factored in other key nutritional data, such as excessive carbohydrates and fat, added sugars, trans fats, and sodium. The result is our first annual list of the worst foods in America.

http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/20-Worst-Foods/index.php?cm_mmc=Yahoo_Blog-_-The_20_Worst_Foods_in_America-_-Tool-_-The_20_Worst_Foods_in_America

Well we are now settled in Washington! (smile)...it is beautiful here but cold. Because Jordan works from about 2-10:30pm or so we have changed our "dinner" to "lunch" so we eat a big big lunch and a smaller type for dinner. I actually like it and he said that is how they do it in Brazil...so for both of us we may keep it that way for as long as possible.
I am currently looking for a job anddddddddd my classes started this week so I've been keeping pretty busy. I am reading Sense and Sensibility (published in 1811!) and I am just about done! My favorite character is Ms. Elinor Dashwood! She is eldest daughter and is sensible and reserved. She is 19 years old at the beginning of the book. She becomes attached to Edward Ferrars, the brother-in-law of her elder half-brother, John. Always feeling a keen sense of responsibility to her family and friends, she places their welfare and interests above her own, and suppresses her own strong emotions in a way that leads others to think she is indifferent or cold-hearted. I think I enjoy her so much because as much as she wishes to be able to show her emotions she always thinks of her friends and family first...no matter what she always did the right thing even when it was such awful torture for her at times. To almost loose the man she loves! (smile) I love Jane Austen, what an accomplished writer I feel she is. Now my favorite of her novels, that I have had the privilege to read, is of course Pride and Prejudice (published 1796). Who had any idea that she had written novels from so long ago! I noticed to that when I read much of the towns and happenings were similar to places she was from and people she had known. It's neat to kind of see what her life was if you look at it from that perspective you know. This picture is not of Elinor but of her sister Marianne who was a local beauty...anywho enough of Jane right...LOL.
We haven't done to many site seeing things other than our drives because of the hours he works but I'm going to try and get us to go to the Pike market tomorrow evening. I heard it's great fun and so much to see and experience. This is a picture of a fisherman tossing a fish in the Pike Place Fish Market! He really knows how to toss a good fish huh! LOL
Miss you all very much and talk to you soon!
HAPPY BELATED MOTHERS DAY!

Quote

"While marriage is difficult, and discordant and frustrated marriages are common, yet real, lasting happiness is possible, and marriage can be more an exultant ecstasy than the human mind can conceive. This is within the reach of every couple, every person. ‘Soul mates’ are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a mate with whom life can be most compatible and beautiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price.” - Gordon B. Hinkley