With school being as hectic as it has been, I confess that I have been neglecting both this blog and my yarn business. But, I did manage today to get my Dune-Inspired Yarn listed. I hand-dyed the merino wool fiber and then hand-spun it. Isn’t it wonderful?? In case you are wondering, that is “dune” as in Indiana Dunes where I was married at last September. Well, technically I was married on the National Lakeshore right next to it, but it is pretty much all of the same stretch.
There are 250 yards of this bad-ass yarn. You can find it for sale in my Etsy shop.
One of my favorite hobbies is to bake some homemade bread. There is something about the smell that must trigger ancient, almost primitive feelings of wellness that must be found in most people. Otherwise, Realtors wouldn’t suggest baking some bread right before a prospective client walks in the door of the house they are trying to sell. My two favorite recipes are challah and light wheat bread so far but I have yet to venture into exotic territory to be honest. In my opinion nothing is worse than bad bread, so I play it safe.
So safe in fact that I use a very nice, very cheating bread book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. In case you are wondering, no it takes more than five minutes. The initial dough preparation is like fifteen minutes worth of prep time and every batch made from that dough is like eight. Granted, I could just be slow, but I do also like to make sure that everything is right when I do it. I highly recommend this book as the author is honest, blunt, and keeps the baker jargon to a minimum so pretty much anyone can follow the basic instructions. And she doesn’t make you use sifted flour, which I find to be a pain in the neck. Honestly, who has time to sift flour?!
My Challah Bread which I had for the first time fresh:
And a very nice light wheat bread, excellent for french toast and sandwiches!
Okay, now back to work!
With the weather being cold and crappy here in Chicago, there are many nights when I want dinner to be warm and comforting after trekking around outside in the snow. I can think of no better dinner than beef stew with a side of fresh bread. Admittedly, beef stew is somewhat a pain in the neck to make individually with all of the steps that need to be taken to make it successfully. However, canning beef stew is done in very large portions at one time, so it can be for several night’s worth of dinner. One Saturday afternoon is worth the time and effort saved during the week in my opinion. Below is the ingredients being ready for stewing. I unfortunately don’t have pictures of the braising of the beef – I will make sure to take some the next time. I love how colorful it looks!
The recipe that I use is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving which if you are even halfway serious about canning, you should purchase. Trust me, it was worth the 15 dollars. I have used this book about twenty times now.
The best part is that I had leftover bones from the roasts so I was able to make beef broth, too! This recipe is also out of the Ball canning book.
I can’t wait for dinner!