Don't you love the change of seasons? As for me, I'm a military brat. I grew up loving change of any kind, and the seasons are no different. Mike and I left on our epic journey around the perimeter of the United States just about one year ago. It was a wonderful trip, and it seems as if more time than just a single year has passed. But I mention that only to say that we're both looking forward to spending fall and winter here at home. (See? We're not even into official fall yet, and I'm already talking about winter.)
Sue and I didn't end up walking yesterday, and so I found myself with more time on my hands than expected. After leaving the restaurant, I picked up a few things at the grocery store and ran a couple of other errands. When I got home, it was nearly time to bake off the second loaf of bread. When it came from the oven, it looked like this:
The scoring went better on this second loaf. I tried being a little less fancy, and it worked out. Here's the thing I've learned about scoring: it works better if I dust the loaf with a little flour before making the cuts with the lame. (If you're unfamiliar with that term, it's pronounced luh-MAY. And I only just learned it within the past year, so don't take it as an indication of any sort of expertise on my part.) Sometimes the dough is rather wet, and the lame just drags across the surface without really cutting in. In the same way a little flour on the bread board keeps the dough from sticking, flour on the surface of the dough keeps the lame from sticking.
It had to cool for an hour before I could cut into it, and here's how it looked on the inside.
Not bad. I'd still like to see some larger sourdough holes inside. Possibly this "whole grain" loaf is more dense than that. I'll have to do some reading up to see how one achieves holes...and with cooler weather on the way, I'm getting itchy to do more bread-baking.
So I could have spent time sewing yesterday afternoon. Instead I lazed around. Quite a bit of hand-stitching got done on the Shop Hop names. There are just two left, and I should have those finished up this morning. After that, I'll move on to the next of the Snow Globes blocks.
The kitties were lazy yesterday too. Mike only works a half-day on Fridays, and so Smitty snuggled up next to him on the reclining chair.
Sadie was looking all coquettish. She's trying to entice Melissa of #melissapaintmycat to paint her.
This morning I had a slice of sourdough toast with plenty of buttah and carrot cake jam. There's nothing better in the whole wide world...unless you count actual carrot cake.
Today I'm picking up 40 lbs. more of Roma tomatoes, and so my weekend is kind of planned out for me. I can take my time a little bit with these, but I'll need to get them all processed within the next few days. I'm hoping for a little time to start quilting on the Welcome Home mystery.
Time will tell.
8 comments:
Looks like a nice day! That carrot cake jam sounds yummy. Did you make it? Bruce's favorite cake is carrot cake. Love those kitties!
I remember well the misty foggy Oregon mornings each fall, so beautiful. We have those kind of mornings here too, though not quite as often. I think the crumb on your bread is perfect, bigger holes could mean all that lovely melted buttah and jam could end up on your plate otherwise!
Oh my goodness, that bread looks delicious. I think I can actually smell it -- yum! Toast with jam in any form is good with me. The kitties are looking good. You're on the home stretch for canning, right?! Woohoo!
I picked up 40 pounds just reading about your bread, buttah and carrot cake jam!! If lame is pronounced luh-MAY, why don't they spell it closer to that way? Luhmé would be perfect. LOL! Kitties look like they're enjoying the weekend's kickoff! :)
Your bread looks delicious! It has a lovely crumb, and I'll be a nicely cracking crust. Yum!!
I'd like some of those foggy mornings. Sadly, our fall don't really start til November, but that's SoCal for us. The bread looks delicious.
Lazy days are very necessary in life, glad you and Mike got to take one.
More tomatoes! We have had a week of rain and mid 70's. It will be back iin the 90's this week. We are still waiting for fall!
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