Weekday Night

A and I hadn't been spending much time together due to a combination of our work schedules being almost exactly opposite of one another and other obligations during the weekend. But, this past week, he was off work Wednesday-Sunday, so we got to spend a few weeknights together. I had no commitments post-work. I ended up tasting a new-to-me summer drink, spending time in backyard with the dogs and finally planning a few trips we'd just been talking about. All in all, it was a nice way to spend the last 1/2 of the week.

avocado, for veggie tacos

pimm's cup (pimm's no. 1+ginger ale)--the stark white of the tray+direct light=floating glass

Throw this, vol. 3452

splendor in the grass

Monkey Bread

Every Sunday, we get together with some of A's family for a brunch. We rotate houses and on our recent turn I made monkey bread, a spinach strata and another bit of food that I can't honestly remember. But that's okay, because the best part was the monkey bread!

Finished bread

Monkey Bread

You can use all white flour if you like. You can also skip the sugar glaze. I use this same dough to make cinnamon rolls and coffee cakes. It's an adapted version of the Norwegian Coffee Cake dough from The Tassajara Bread Book, which is a nice cookbook to have for any kind of bread making. It tends to be pretty straightforward and explains complicated steps with illustrations and words.

2 packages dry yeast (1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour  

3//4 cup brown sugar (I used Moscovado, which is super dark but you might prefer light brown or regular dark brown. Any will work)
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour 

Sectioned dough, in very early, very dim morning light

Mix the lukewarm milk with a couple teaspoons of sugar and stir in the yeast. Stir in the 1 1/2 cups of white flour, beating well. Set aside for at least 15 minutes in a warm place. This is your sponge - it will start to rise quickly.


Using a stand mixer (or by hand), cream the butter and add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.


Add the salt, cardamom, and the yeast sponge. Beat in 2 cups of whole wheat flour and the remaining 1 cup of white flour, one cup at a time, scraping down the sides. Beat well to form a soft dough. 


Generously flour your work surface and your hands and start kneading your dough (you can also use the dough hook of your mixer). The dough will be soft, so you may need to add a bit of white flour (probably 1/2 cup, possibly a little more) to make it smooth and not sticky. It will still be soft. Form it into a ball and transfer to a large bowl.


If you're going to use it right away, let it rise until doubled in size. If you are going to use it later, just pop the whole bowl in the refrigerator, covered with a damp cloth. I'll leave it in overnight and then just pull it out about 30 minutes before I need to use it so it can warm up. 


Flatten the dough into a thick, 8-inch square. Cut it into small squares (see photo above). At this point I took Deb's notes on how to assemble the dough. I used melted butter and then a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon and salt for the coating process. I'll echo that you don't want to overfill the pan, because once you're done with the second rise you still need at least an inch of space left in your pan.

Allow the shaped dough to rise to about double. Don't rush this part!

Bake at 350 for 45 - 50 minutes. The sugar mixture may begin to bubble, and you'll end up with a caramel-like color on the top of your bread. Once done, remove the pan from oven and let sit for about seven minutes, the invert onto a plate and let bread cool further there.

**I used the sugar glaze from Tassajara for a last touch. It's pretty simple: 1 cup powdered sugar to 4-6 teaspoons of milk, cream or lemon juice. I used milk but on a different bread, the lemon juice would be great.**

Ginger Carrot Juice

Ginger Carrot Juice

This was in a recent issue of Bon Appetit and I've made it quite a bit since then. I think they call it a "Ginger Carrot Elixir" but that's kind of ridiculous.

We've served it twice to larger groups and found that it's best to serve it with extra lime wedges and some honey so people can make it to their preference. Here's a basic recipe to start from:

Boil 1/3 cup of turbinado or raw sugar, 1/3 cup of water, 2-3 tablespoon of coarsely chopped peeled ginger for 5 minutes. 
Set aside to steep for 10 minutes.
Strain ginger out and let cool.
Can be stored in fridge for up to a week. 

This ginger syrup is really good with rum as well as in this concoction.

To make the juice mix:
Fill glasses with plenty of ice, then stir all the syrup in a pitcher with 1/2 cup of lime juice and 1 cup of carrot juice.

To scale down for just one glass, go with a 1:1:2 ratio of ginger syrup to lime juice to carrot juice.

**A note on the carrot juice, we just buy a 1/2 gallon juiced at our natural foods grocery. I think you can just juice your own or any 100% carrot juice will be just fine.

Salad Dressing

There aren't any photos to go along with this recipe, because it's salad dressing. And it's mostly invisible in your salad. I've made a few batches of this over the past two months and it's extremely simple and straightforward. So simple that typing it up feels a little silly, but it's good!

I used a ratio and included some notes below, you can easily make a large batch or just stir up a little in your salad bowl. I like this dressing on spinach salads, in rice bowls, drizzled on top of hummus or as a dressing for grilled asparagus.


Greek Salad Dressing
2:1 extra virgin olive oil to red wine vinegar
Lemon zest or a splash of lemon juice
Oregano -- a pinch for a small amount, 2 tablespoons for a large batch
Minced garlic -- one clove for a small amount, up to 3 cloves for a large batch

Notes:
*If there's another neutral oil you prefer over olive oil, give it a try.
*If you're making a large batch, just use the zest of 1 or 2 lemons. If you're just mixing enough for one salad, it's probably easier to just use a little juice.
*It's all super adaptable, so if this is too pungent for you, or too acidic, play around and you'll find something you like

Crossroads Film Festival

The annual Crossroads Film Festival starts up here in Jackson on the 13th (FRIDAY THE 13TH) and I'm looking forward to quite a few of the films. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to every one I'd like to see, but I'll certainly be seeing Beauty is Embarrassing on Friday night. The trailer is below and  the Crossroads Film Festival site is here.

Weekend, in review (Easter edition)

Our nephew, Noah(man), stayed with us this weekend and it was pretty good. Only one freakout and it was pretty minimal compared to some we've experienced. Saturday was spent having a lazy morning (Saturday morning cartoons are still a thing, and they're still awesome), playing at the park and taking a long nap. Sunday we headed to my mother in law's early for breakfast, egg hunting, Easter baskets and general fun. That fun included the chickens they recently purchased to raise for eggs. Adorable, like tiny, fluffy dinosaurs. But with hollow bones. Photos below!

Tiny dino

Noahman inspects

Rock

Rock+Noahman

Hiding eggs for a 2.5 year old

Easter flowers (from our backyard)

Sleepy head

Sunday late afternoon

-Not shown: A built the little house the chicks are currently living in (called a brooder house). I'll get some snaps of it soon, he did a great job. Also, Noahman and I watched African Cats. And then I realized that watching a large cat maim and kill an elephant is kind of terrifying for a 2 year old. Oops.
-Red Stripe is where it's at? Maybe!

Weekend, in review

Lots of outside time with friends and family this weekend. However, the only things I got around to snapping photos of were the roses blooming in our backyard and a pretty sweet Sunday surprise for Noahman. A and I went in to Target to get some Easter basket goodies and on a whim A picked out a water wonderland (inflatable, naturally) for Noah to play with. I had a meeting so I only got to stick around for a few minutes. A, Noahman, and A's two sisters got to enjoy the fun. Bailey couldn't resist, like every good Golden she had to splash around. June hates water, so she settled for chasing Bailey once she left the water. Photos below!

Built in home decor

Chasing

Waterfall Bailey

Crazy eyes

Water spout palm tree, Noahman and A overseeing

Mid giggle

We also grilled, ate delicious fresh bread, I shared Hurricanes and chatter with a sweet friend, and we watched the season premiere of Game of Thrones. Will we be in a fight if I say that I don't think it's my cup of tea? Let's not fight!

Update

I'll have weekend photos tomorrow and should be back on track with posting, but I started a new job yesterday so I didn't have any time to put anything up. But, coming soon: photos of a kid, photos of a dog, photos of both kiddo and dog in an inflatable water/pool funland. Also, it's Easter Week! (Or Holy Week, however you roll. Maybe to you it's just the first week in April!). So I'm hopefully going to have a little something to say about egg dying and baking. We'll see what we get to. Have a good Tuesday!