The Other Sue's Rye Bread

I got quite a few requests for this rye bread recipe so I asked Sue if she would mind sharing her recipe with you. She said she was happy to do it! Thank you, Sue. It made a delicious sandwich and it was wonderful toasted with a little apricot jam.

No Knead Rye Bread

You need a cast iron dutch oven. I used a Le Crueset 2 3/4 qt size pot. It needs to be able to go in the oven and have a tight fitting lid. You also need parchment paper for the bottom of the pan and foil to cover the bread the last 10 minutes.

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1/2 cup rye flour (I found mine at Walmart)

1 Tbsp coarse salt

1 Tbsp caraway seeds

1/4 tsp yeast (yes, this is correct 1/4 tsp)

1 1/2 cups room temperature tap water (right out of the faucet)

Mix the dry ingredients. Sue said in a cuisineart, I used my kitchenaide mixer. Then add the water. Mix just until well blended.

Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl...I used olive oil...and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let this sit on your counter for 12 to 18 hours. (I started this process in the afternoon and it sat on my counter overnight and was ready to bake the next day at noon.)

After the time is up, dump the dough on the counter on top of a little bench flour. Roll a few times, cover with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes.

Put the dough on a floured cotton towel...use plain not terry cloth or the dough will stick to it...place back into a bowl and cover for another 2 hours.

At about the hour and a half mark, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place your baking pot in the oven with the lid and heat if for about 30 minutes. Once the pot is good and hot place a piece of parchment in the bottom and put the dough in. Take a mixture of 1/2 tsp corn starch mixed with a 1/4 cup water and microwave 30 seconds, then stir. Brush this mixture on the top of the dough and sprinkle with more caraway seeds...

Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Remove lid and cover loosely with foil for an additional 10 minutes.

This method made a crispy crust and a nice firm inside. Thanks again, Sue. I'll be making this again soon.

10 Somewhat Boring Things

Valerie, who has this really adorable blog, Glimpse of My World, has given me this Honest Scrap. The requirement is to list 10 things about myself and then pass it along. So here goes.

1. I worked for a school district when my kids were growing up.I first worked as a teacher's assistant and then later in the school nurse's office as a health assistant.

It was such a fabulous place to work because I had all holidays and vacations off with my kids. Plus it was three hours a day.The perfect job.

2. I had three kids in three years. The first two are fifteen months apart, the third was born twenty six months later. We adopted our fourth when she was a year old.

3. My three biological children were all born on the 3rd of the month.February 3, May 3, and July 3.

4. We lived in the same house for 17 years while raising our kids. Since 2000 we've moved five times.

5. I love being home. I'd rather nest than go out.

6. I can buy shoes in the kids department. I almost always buy my tennis shoes there. They're less expensive.

7. I once had lunch with Roseanne Barr, sort of. I was in Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in Santa Monica and she came in with her toddler and a bodyguard. She sat at the tablenext to mine. The bodyguard folded his arms and stood against a wall and gave me dirty looks.

8. I am a sixth generation Californian living in Utah.

9. I love to cook and bake.

10. I love to craft, stitch, sew, decorate, garden, and play with my three adorable grandchildren.

Phew, that was harder than it looks! I'd like to pass this on to...

Nana, from Nana's Kitchen

Nicole, from Our Cozy Nest

Sue, from Rue Mouffetard

Joy, from Joy's Thoughts and Things

Lewaina, from The Stone House

Aubrey, from Shiner's Circus

Janis, from Grams

ML, from House of Whimsy

Sunday Sayings

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous." Aristotle

Huh?

Pantry Party

The mister and the son in law had a fun time last Saturday making and installing cabinets in the pantry. Please ignore the floor, I've got tile on back order.

Son in law Chason. Dad of the cutest grandson in the universe.

Beadboard backing, lots of storage. We still need to add a couple more shelves and some trim. We never seem to completely finish a project.

But it's way better than it was.

Sue's Corned Beef Sandwiches (and Breakfast)

Sue, over at Rue Mouffetard, showed us her corned beef sandwiches on her St. Patricks Day post. They looked so yummy that I asked her for the recipe. She was kind enough to share it with me and am I ever glad she did! DELICIOUS!
You put the corned beef in your crockpot with one sliced up onion. Low setting, overnight. I could smell it cooking and had some pretty weird dreams involving mustard and the mister but we won't go into that now. The rye bread is to die for. Dense and crusty. It's baked in a dutch oven, delish.

We ate this for Sunday dinner with some coleslaw. The mister ate 2 sandwiches all by himself. I thought I was back in L.A. in this little Jewish deli that we love.

This morning I had it toasted with a little homemade apricot jam. It was wonderful.

Thanks again, Sue. These recipes are definitely keepers.

Sunday Sayings

"Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

What a Difference a Month Makes

February 17, 2009... March 17, 2009...

Hallelujah...

Amen.

Cute Things

My new friends, Janis and Sue came by the other day to say hello and bring me some cute presents. Janis made me an embellished shamrock and I hung it on my front door. She also makes all kinds of other things so go take a look at her cute blog and see if you find something you can't live without. I found these cute bunnies on a stick at Pier 1 last week. Pier 1 has some really cute Easter decorations this year. I may have to go back for some glittered spring houses. They were adorable.

The #1 daughter and I made little tags and I gave one to Janis and one to Sue.Sue brought me some cute St. Patricks day magnets she made with scrapbook paper and melted marble things. Aren't they cute?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sunday Sayings

"If we had no winter the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." Anne Bradstreet

Fun at Mimi's Cottage

Look who came to visit Grampa and Mimi last night. We all had so much fun!

1-2-3 Cookies

The #1 daughter came over yesterday and brought a lemon cake mix so that we could make some 1-2-3 cookies. Her sister in California used a chocolate cake mix and added in white chocolate chips. These are so quick and easy and pretty darn good. Here's the recipe...

1 box of cake mix any flavor (get creative!)

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

any add ins you want (get creative!)

Mix all ingredients together.

Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 mins. Or until

they start to brown..tan really..around the edges.

We frosted ours with a lemon glaze. Approx. 1 cup powdered sugar with the juice of one lemon. You have to add more or less lemon juice just keep mixing, to make it runny enough to be a glaze.

Enriched Again

The women's organization in our church had another Enrichment night this evening. We celebrated the anniversary of the founding of the Relief Society with a dinner and some fun socializing. The theme was "Become Rooted in Christ". Some of us were asked to provide a centerpiece for the dinner. This was the one that I put together. I had everything the only thing I bought were the little white roses.

Here are some of the other centerpieces...

Our cutest Enrichment leader, Tiffani, and her committee put together a taco salad bar.

She used cute vintage pieces for serving some of the ingredients.

Plastic lined clay flower pots for the lettuce and ground beef. Wouldn't this be cute for a bridal or baby shower? There were homemade breadsticks too.

For dessert we had chocolate mousse. As a little party favor we all got to take home a pretty little pansy. It was so fun visiting with everyone. Once again we were truly enriched.

Message Board

I thought I would take a little break from my travel/shopping blog and show you a cute project my adorable daughter made for me. First she found an old metal cookie sheet and spray painted it red.Then she went to Walmart and bought a bag of those clear melted marble things you put in flower vases. They're over near the craft department, they cost about $1.99 for a bag of them. You then set the marble things on some scrapbook paper and draw around the shape and cut out, trimming it a little bit smaller than the marble thing. Next you decoupage it on underneath the marble thing so you can see the design on the paper. Glue on a little magnet and you have a cute message board with magnets that go with your decor.

You could also glue them on tacks for a bulletin board. I think they'd make a cute and inexpensive little gift packaged in a small cellophane bag with some shred. Thanks so much for my cute message board Annie.

Sunday Sayings

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God. Ronald Reagan

California Dreamin

When I first started my little blog my focus was going to be on the finishing, or at least the projects relating to finishing Mimi's Cottage. Somehow, lately, it's turned into Mimi Sue's shopping blog. I've been in California for the last two weeks, so no progress on the cottage, but some really fun shopping instead. You know I'm trying to keep the economy going. While in Temecula I had to visit Home Goods. I've visited a couple of Home Goods stores and this one is my favorite. I bought a toile ironing board cover and a quilt for the day bed in the craft room. I'll show you them later. They had cute sparkly Easter buildings and lots of spring stuff.

On Saturday we went to Old Town Temecula. They have a wonderful farmer's market there.

While in Old Town, we stopped by the Quilter's Coop on Front St. Gorgeous quilts, patterns, and fabrics

Loved that little pink stove.

he next stop was a place called Rooster Creek on Main St. in Old Town. Beautiful displays, pretty good prices.

Love the blooming flowers in February in southern California. When I lived in California, I took them for granted. Here in the frozen north, not a bloom in sight.