Bread

My new winter hobby is baking bread. I started working my way through Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread about six weeks ago, and am really starting to turn out some fine loaves. Someone gave me that book as a gift a while back, and I can't recall who. I read and enjoyed parts of it but it ended up on the shelf. Pity. Anyway, thank you to whomever gave that book to me for Christmas some time ago!

My bread making adventure started with the basic white sandwich bread, and went on to Cuban bread (twice because it is so good), French, and, tonight, Italian. Best yet! The Italian recipe calls for 3 cups water, so it makes a lot of dough. After adding 6 cups of flour, it was about all my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer could do to keep the dough hook moving. I finished kneading by hand, and then let it rise for 2 hours to triple volume. Second rise was 30 minutes to nearly double volume, and the loaves (round) rose again for another hour. They started out about 8" diameter by 2" high, but became quite large and really sprang up in the oven.
Some things I've learned so far:
A long mix with the flat paddle and half of the flour really develops a nice gluten network.
Keep kneading until the dough is silky smoooth. (bouncy keyboard on the iBook)
Bread dough must be softer than pizza dough. Really soft, by comparison.
Don't rush the rising. Let it go as long as it needs to get the volume you want.
Short mixing, kneading, and rising makes for tough, mealy bread.

I look forward to sharing my new hobby over the holidays in Carbondale!

s

Oh Geez, It's Thanksgiving!

Thursday is skating night, and as usual we took the girls to the arena in St. Vital. It's amazing to see the progress in Grace and Greta's skating in just a month and a half. Grace's class meets at the far end of the rink from the door, and she really flies across the ice to get to her teacher. Greta is in love with her teacher Derek, and starts screaming his name from the moment we get in to the building. She is becoming competent enough that Kristie is just on the ice for the fun of it, not as moral support or pick-up-off-the-ice duty.
Anyway, we hadn't made any preparations for dinner afterwards, and were feeling bad for ourselves thinking about how much fun our families were having on Thanksgiving in the States without us. Kristie suggested I run across the way and order something from Boston Pizza for carry out. Big mistake! The noodles in the Jambalaya Fetuccini tasted like they had been in water for an hour or so, and all the ingredients in the sauce tasted steamed or like they were boiled in a bag. The girls' pizza was bland, with a bready crust, sweet sauce, and hardly any cheese.
That's what we get for not going to a local joint like our favorite, Romani's. It's just around the corner from our house, and the waitress there remembers my name from my first day in town when I tried to order a bison burger cooked medium rare. The whole patio got quiet, and she said, "You must be from the States, eh?" They don't do ground meat any way other than well here in MB. In Calgary, (Beef Frenzied)Alberta, however, they will serve it raw on the bun if you want. Anyway, Romani's makes really good food, if a bit over seasoned, and they are really close to our house.

At least we made it home in plenty of time to see Survivor.

Happy Thanksgiving!

s

Weekend

It seems the only thing I have to talk about is the weather and what we do outside.

Sunday after church the young family group did a hot dog and dessert lunch for the congregation before the greening of the sanctuary. It was well attended and looked like there was a bunch of $$ in the basket. I can't remember what the money will go towards. Kristie made two trays of cream cheese brownies which always go over well. (I'm reminded of Grandma Grimmer talking about Lefse.) The people at church here are much like those at First United in Carbondale, and the girls and we are making several friends there. I ate two hot dogs, lots of raw vegetables, and several desserts. I have no shame about food.

Sunday afternoon I spent with the girls.
First, we went back to Canadian Tire (sort of like Western Auto used to be) for decent jumper cables (6 guage), winter wiper blades, ice melter, and a tote for winter emergency supplies in the car. CT was sold out of all winter blades except 14 inchers and a few above 24 inches. 25 inch blades must be for Excursions, Escalades, and the like. Not that you need special winter anything if you have one of those: you can just get in and drive as normal regardless of the conditions outside. They are also picked clean on roof rakes which I need to remove the enormous drifts that form up there, my across the street neighbor, Gord, tells me. Mark, next to him, tells me he doesn't bother and that it will all slide off when it gets deep enough anyway. I don't think I want to be below when that happens. Grace and Greta were real troopers at the store though they did ask why Daddy was going in circles.

After shopping, we got bundled up and went out to go sledding and make a snow fort. It was warm enough (+5C) to roll snowballs on Sunday, so now the yard is a mess with bare patches of grass and snow boulders and stomp marks all over. Why do I care about something so silly?. Sledding at the little park across the street is OK on the little hill, but we are excited for the pond to get 6 inches of ice on it so we can sled down the big hill and across the ice.

Speaking of ice, with the thaw this weekend, the roads and streets are more treacherous than ever for walking. I nearly took a digger walking to school this AM. I really need those size 15 skates and soon!

s

The 'boggan.

Kristie bought a three-seater toboggan to haul Greta and Erick to Grace's school in the afternoon to bring her home. In clement weather, the whole operation takes, I'm told, about 15 minutes. Now, with the donning of three snow suits, taking off the suits to pee, putting suits back on, mittens, tuques, and boots, it takes 40 minutes to just get out the door. Then it's pack mule time over the windrows of ice boulders that the plows leave in their wake, dragging the kids to and from school. Kristie reports it is somewhat easier than using the wagon in the snow, however. (!) Easier than pulling the wagon on dry pavement, too.
Mega Boggan

This morning was -24C and blowing. Kristie drove me to work on her way to Mom's Morning Coffee group, so the Sorels got a day off stomping duty. She picked me up this evening, too, as Thursday is skating night in St. Vital across the river. Normally it takes about 10 minutes to get to the rink but it was snowing again, and traffic was backed up for about a mile at the Bishop Grandin bridge. Grace and Greta only got 10 minutes on the ice, but had a great time anyway. I play with Erick while the girls skate, and he's starting to enjoy watching the skating as much as I do. It's a real hoot seeing all those tiny kids shuffling around in their hockey outfits. Some little boys have knee pads, elbow pads, and big helmets with steel face guards. We're cheap and from the south so our kids just wear snow suits and little white helmets from China. Grace likes to wear her old trainer undies because they really pad her bottom!

St Vital Centennial Arena is a real bit of Canadianna, about 35 years old and well worn. It is very much a local skating rink, hosting about 7 neighborhood teams along with two free-skate sessions plus lessons. There are 6 rows of wooden bleachers missing lots of paint from skate blades, and rubber flooring off the ice. The concession stand has popcorn, cocoa, coffee, tea, hot dogs, chips, and soft drinks. Big signs warn against sunflower shells. French is spoken there as much as English, so I really feel like I'm in another place.
I suppose I have 2 years to become a good skater before Erick starts lessons. I wonder if I can find some in size 15?

s

Walkin' on Mars

Yep, walking in Sorels in 12 inches of show is what I'd like to think walking on a frozen planet must be like. Come to think of it, this part of this planet is frozen, so there you have it. I walked Grace to school this AM (-5 C) and then headed to work. I over dressed and worked up some sweat so I had to unzip a couple of layers as I went, and by the time I got there, I was pretty wet. I'd go easier on the wool and poly tomorrow, but it is supposed to hit -25C tonight. Maybe dress the same and see how it goes.
Tonight I put the trash and blue box out and did some shoveling around the fence gates so we can get out of the back yard. I also plugged in the block heater on the van. It's -21 now, and on winnipegweather.com the current conditions box says "Ice Crystals." Seriously.
Two local summaries of the recent snow:
"Well, we got a bit more than expected, eh?"
"There was bugger-all for visibility Tuesday morning!"

s

Those not boots...

those boats!

We got the frost real snow of winter here last night and today, and 12 inches is treacherous whether you live in Winnipeg or Southern Illinois. All the guys on our circle went out early and dug each other's cars out and tried out their snow blowers for the first time in 5 months. Lynn across the way got a flat on his snowblower, but he had a spare in the garage. I walked Grace to school in near whiteout conditions and there was a city bus off the road just around the corner from our house. Walking on to the U took 50 minutes as opposed to the usual 25, though I did stop to push a lady with an Acura SUV who was stuck (Is the all wheel drive on? I don't know...) and tried to help a couple of students with bald tires out of the gutter. No luck on that one.
The guys across the back alley ran their 'blowers around and took care of the snow in front of our garage for me, too. I'll have to make sure I thank them and get out there with the shovel next time it snows.
Anyway, when I got home from work, Kristie had a list of winter stuff we needed. Off to Canadian Tire for toboggans to drag the kids to school, another shovel for the house and a little one for the car, and to Canadian Footwear for BOOTS. Grace and Greta got some nice looking slip-ons that should be warm and comfy, Kristie got a pair of Columbia boots for walking and play that are rated to -25 F, and I got these.
It'll be like walking on the moon, I tell you!

s