No Need to Knead

A couple years ago, the NY Times published a recipe for "No-Knead Bread".

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

I just took a loaf of this out of my oven a short time ago. It's has a beautiful carmelly crust, and the inside will be moist and de-lish, I'm sure. We've been using this recipe since it was published, and it has never disappointed us.

Like the title says, you don't have to knead the dough. You mix the flour, salt, yeast, and water in a bowl one day. Cover it and let it rise overnight. The next day, you fold it onto your countertop, add a little flour, let it rise again, then bake. The process is contrary to what you would expect to do to make a near-perfect loaf of bread. The only challenge is that you have to plan ahead. It also doesn't keep for more than a day or two, like most homemade loaves.

I cook the loaf in my Romertopf clay pot, which I think helps hold its shape and moisture. My husband, a man of more traditional bread-baking convictions (and skills), prefers to put it directly on a pizza stone in the oven. Either way, you will end up with a loaf that tastes like it came from an artisan bakery. Obviously, I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as we do.

(228 words)

Blame It On a Full Moon

December 12th -- a gorgeous full moon in the sky tonight. The kind that makes you want to do something in the dark.

So my two older kids go to bed tonight giggling uncontrollably because their dad tells them that he's giving them a "swift kick in the ass" for Christmas. They think this is the funniest thing they've ever heard, and they tell him the same. Then they brush their teeth, and I lie down with Sweet Mia (like I usually do), and Darling Will comes in and tries to crawl in Mia's bed with us. Mia says, "Get out of here Will, or I'm going to kick your ass." Then they both start laughing like there's no tomorrow. And I do too because it's fun to cuss. And now they know it too.

So I'm downstairs blogging, and I suspect they're upstairs still laughing in their pillows.

All under the Moonlight in Vermont.

(From Wikipedia: "Moonlight in Vermont" is a popular song about the U.S. state of Vermont.
It was written by John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf and published in 1943. The lyrics are very unusual for an American pop song of the 1940s, because they do not rhyme and are impersonal, focusing mostly on the sensory appeal of the Vermont countryside while alluding briefly to romance. The lyrics are also metrically subtle: Each verse (not counting the bridge) is a haiku.)

(231 words, thanks to Wikipedia.)

Under Where? Under There.

My blog-friend honeypiehorse recently wrote about needing to buy a new pair of underwear while traveling, and the most accessible pair was "fabulously expensive":

http://honeypiehorse.blogspot.com/search/label/travel

I also needed some new knickers while traveling last week, which I picked up at a Gap Body store on a "Buy 5 for $20" deal. Not fabulously expensive, but all five were not necessary. (I'd also recently purchased a pack at Costco.) But I splurged anyway, and as I was doing the laundry this morning, I found myself proud of my stack of underwear. They're all relatively new and clean. No holes and such. Made me feel like my life must be in some semblance of control because a pile of old, worn knickers is an indicator that you (1) don't have enough time, energy, or cash to shop, or (2) you've given up.

So while this blog really many not go anywhere important or interesting, I thought I'd give some thought to underwear this morning. I won't mention anything about my husband's underwear, for my guess is that he'd find a way to disengage my blog if I did. My kids' underwear is so cute, though -- especially those early pairs! To think how tiny they once were...

I know a few people who change their underwear twice a day. That means that they need a stockpile of at least 14 pair. My family changes only once a day -- at night during the PJ change. I haven't found the need for a clean pair after sleeping yet.

Is it OK to share underwear after a child has outgrown it? I have accepted and used hand-me-down underwear for my kids without any second thoughts, but my mom thought that was weird and a little gross. But the underwear was clean and stain free, so why not? (I've tried to avoid using "stain" during this post, but it has a useful and almost unavoidable purpose in a discussion on underwear.)

On the other hand, underwear -- especially the child variety -- really isn't very expensive, so maybe I've taken thriftiness to an objectionable level in my "reduce, reuse, recycle" convictions. I wouldn't want underwear hand-me-downs myself, so I probably shouldn't impose them on my children...

Against these conclusions (and apparently my better judgment), I've also passed underwear down. They were like new, however, because my daughter has strong hygiene practices and because I usually throw away any underwear that needs to be cleaned before it goes into the washing machine. Nevertheless, now that this blog has helped me agree with my mother, I won't make the mistake again of assuming someone else wants our used undies.

Wikipedia features an impressive history and display of "common contemporary types and styles of undergarments". I didn't know that a male thong was called a "tanga" or that demand for boxers is "easing off in favour of hipster trunks similar in design to the swimming trunks worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale." Interesting.

So in this free association on underwear, a few things have come to light:

Why is underwear referred to as a "pair"?
Used underwear shouldn't be paid forward.
I still don't feel the need to change underwear more than once a day.
Underwear really is disposable.
The state of one’s underwear may give clues to their state of life.
"Knickers" is a cool word.

I'd love to know if, after giving some thought to underwear, you have any flashes to add to this list. (And I mean "flash" in the enlightenment sense of the word not in the lack of underwear sense.)

(596 words)