Nice

Nice day (almost 80!)
Nice swing
Nice music
Nice brother
Nice sister
How amazing is that? Liam practicing drums outside with Abbie's help. It was so pretty I had to take a picture.
Please note the lack of snow! It has been so warm, it was gone in about 4 days.

Overflow Parking

Kyle's favorite beer was on sale all last month. I figured it would be a good idea to stock up while it was cheap. The only problem with that idea is spring! During winter the garage floor is just the right temperature to chill beer, but now it is spring and other arrangements have to be made.

There is no way a case and a half of beer (plus soda) was going to fit in to one tiny soda fridge. This new fridge has plenty of room for pop, wine, beer and anything else that just won't fit in the house.

Better Dough

Leftover piazza dough gets relegated to the fridge. The more time it spends chilling out, the more flavor develops. This chunk will become bread for dinner tonight.

Good Dough

It is finally spring and time for pizza! At the beginning of a pizza party is the dough mixing time. I have one baking book with a whole chapter devoted to The Good Dough. What it should feel like, smell like, how wet or loose you dough should be. After lots of pizza prep days, I make dough entirely by feel. I know it needs to be a little stiff and dry to come off the peel and into the oven successfully.

I buy bread flour in twenty five pound bags from Sam's Club, the higher protein content is a must. Yeast and a little sugar, a good blop of olive oil and salt. Some sourdough adds a nice flavor and softer texture. Sometimes I add some rye flour for flavor. Nice warm water and lots of kneading.

I have been asked for a recipe, and I have written down approximate measurements, but it is really more of a feel. How much of each ingredient I add depends on the weather and how the flour and dough feels. It also depends on my mood, sometimes you just want to do something different!

Spring

Look, puddles!!

Lamb

My brother, Chris got back Thursday from his two weeks on the slope. Our family usually tries to get together for a meal in his first few days back. I found a lamb roast for a good price a few days ago, it seemed like a perfect spring dinner! We decided to cut the roast up into chunks for kabobs, but first some marinating. I made two, the first is a Moroccan seasoning blend from our Aussie cousins mixed with yogurt. The second is just lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper. The meat was threaded on skewers and grilled on a wood fire. We also made grilled veggies and roasted potatoes with some of the leftover lemon/oil marinade. Mom made some "fish salad" no fish in it but I always have it with salmon, so the name is stuck. Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and onion dressed with sour cream and vinegar. I also made some pop overs, and of course we had some beer and wine. The Cape Blend from Sebeka and Hennepin by Ommegang. Yum! On my to do list for today is making stock from the lamb bones. I made some a while ago, it freezes well in two cup blocks and makes great gravy!

Wax Museum

This week is Liam's Wax Museum performance. The end of a big research project including a biography paper, poster, costume, props and a backdrop. Liam's E.L.P.(extended learning program) class gets to stand like wax every afternoon this week so the other classes in the school can see their hard work. They are set up in the commons area at the school, each one in front of a seven foot backdrop wearing a costume, with props and a poster. They have shows for fifteen minutes and then get a ten minute break. They all take it very seriously and stand as still as possible (like wax!). I don't have a full shot of Liam's back drop (it is part of the Wright brother's plane flying across the Kittyhawk hills) I couldn't get one of just him and I don't want to post pictures of other peoples kids. His props are a bike chain, a chain breaker and a micrometer.

Hop hop

That crazy rabbit made his usual delivery in our neighborhood last night. He is so sneaky we didn't even hear him! The Easter bunny hides the goody baskets for the kids in our house.....he has to be pretty sneaky to hide one from Liam. I think Mr. Bunny must have heard Liam bragging about knowing all the good hiding places in the house. Abbie found hers quickly underneath Mom's sewing cabinet, but Liam's basket was hidden under my stand mixer cover. He must have looked in the kitchen 20 times before he found it!

Tradition

I loved coloring Easter eggs as a kid....I can remember creating a dozen masterpieces for hours! Abbie and Liam don't have quite that much patience. We still managed to make some really pretty ones. I discovered if you drip regular food coloring into a cup with some water and a little vinegar (and your egg) you can get some cool streaky effects. Also in our bag of tricks, masking tape, rubber bands, paint brushes and crayons. Much more fun than just a solid color!

Dapper

I made Liam a Six-pence Cap for a school project. It turned out pretty well, the bill is slightly off center. Only I can tell so I guess it doesn't matter.

I used dark grey felt for the outside and blue cotton for the liner. The bill is stiffened with plastic canvas and I used a huge snap to make the front stay down. It will match the grey sweater he will be wearing to dress up as Orville Wright. More on that when I get it done........

Thai Feast

My friend Zara and I have been trying to find a good curry recipe. This time we tried red curry with chicken, zucchini and peppers. It was better than the green we tried last time, but the seasonings are still so unfamiliar!

We also made spring rolls (O.K. mostly Zara made the rolls) with dipping sauce, they were really good.

For dessert we made some sweet rice with mango, it was not too successful because we were too cheap to spend 15$ for a bag of sweet rice. Still the mango was good and it was nice and coconuty. (Sorry no picture, it was late and we ate it all)
We had fun and ate way too much! Next time we might have to try Abbie's favorite "hot spaghetti" AKA Pad Ke Mao or drunken noodle.