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It was a fun and busy weekend. We had friends staying with us (yay!) who very graciously indulged my bread baking experiments (of course, they also got sent home with bread!) Friday night we pretty much just stayed up late talking.
Saturday, I woke up early to go and do my Dream Dinners thing. And now that I've done it once, I have more to report! ( All the hard stuff done for you! )
Our friends had not seen Avatar, and neither had another friend of ours, and Mark's parents wanted to see it in 3D, so Saturday afternoon I bought tickets, and that night we went with a group of seven. The theater was sold out. The theater was in fact SO packed, we had to park at the grocery store waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay across the way. This has NEVER happened to us before. Apparently, Avatar is still going strong! (It has grossed over $1 billion world wide! Another James Cameron "phenomenon"? I think so!) As with the first time we saw it, our theater broke out into spontaneous applause at the end.
Neytiri still rocks my socks. I think Zoe Saldana deserves an Oscar nod. But I'm afraid that even though her every facial expression and nuance of emotion comes across, the fact that she is a CGI alien for the entire movie will work against her for nominations. :(
Afterward, we again stayed up until 2:00 in the morning, talking.
Sunday was a lazy day. I made french toast out of some homemade bread (it was awesome, if I say so myself!) We had lunch at the brunch buffet a local Hungarian restaurant offers on Sundays, that is sooooooooo good. The guys played an amazing amount of xbox. I don't know how many hours, but a lot. I played some Dragon Age, while![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kistha watched "for tips" as she she is also playing it at home. But even though this is my second time through, she actually ended up helping me with some stuff I missed the first time around. :) We both decided they REALLY need to make an RPG wherein a friend can come in to your campaign at any time and play one of your party NPCs. But we consulted her husband the game designer, and if I'm recalling correctly, such an endeavor would require a certain degree of difficulty on the part of game design...but I could be wrong. I was playing when she talked to him, and only heard about half the conversation from the other room.
There was supposed to be actual tabletop roleplay happening, but zombies kidnapped our husbands for several hours, and we never got around to it. Sad. (However, apparently Left 4 Dead 2 is an engrossing game. Just FYI.)
Either way, fun was had by all, and I shall be seeing them again this weekend, when I will be trekking up north to work on Norweson costuming. :D
I have, I think, achieved the perfect bread recipe for just about anything. Sandwich bread. Hot dog buns. Hoagie rolls. Cinnamon rolls that aren't too sweet. Until the sprouted flour comes in, this is what I'm currently doing:
~ 1 1/3 C lukewarm water
~ 2 C all-purpose unbleached flour
~ 2 C white whole wheat flour (KAF, carried at my local Safeway, FYI)
~ 3 T raw honey
~ 1 T vegetable oil
~ 2 T shortening
~ 2 tsp ground kosher salt
~ 2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast (but I have some SAF on the way w/the sprouted flour)
In bread machine:
Water, honey, oil, shortening. On top of this add, flour, then salt, then make a little well in the flour and add yeast. Turn on and watch as it mixes. Add water or more flour as necessary, until all ingredients are a slightly tacky, but not sticky, and not dry ball moving around the pan. Close lid and walk away until done.
It rises like nobody's business, and produces soft, fluffy, excellent bread/rolls/what have you, that even my extremely picky husband can't complain about. It makes excellent sandwiches or french toast. It is about 10,000 times healthier and better than storebought bread, both for the whole wheat factor, and the lack of chemicals. No cane sugar, hfcs, or milk products for those sensitive. If you just do the dough cycle, you can take it out and make two regular sized (ie, my banana bread loaf pans) loaves for sandwiches and what have you. I sent one home w/friends, and kept the other.
Saturday, I woke up early to go and do my Dream Dinners thing. And now that I've done it once, I have more to report! ( All the hard stuff done for you! )
Our friends had not seen Avatar, and neither had another friend of ours, and Mark's parents wanted to see it in 3D, so Saturday afternoon I bought tickets, and that night we went with a group of seven. The theater was sold out. The theater was in fact SO packed, we had to park at the grocery store waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay across the way. This has NEVER happened to us before. Apparently, Avatar is still going strong! (It has grossed over $1 billion world wide! Another James Cameron "phenomenon"? I think so!) As with the first time we saw it, our theater broke out into spontaneous applause at the end.
Neytiri still rocks my socks. I think Zoe Saldana deserves an Oscar nod. But I'm afraid that even though her every facial expression and nuance of emotion comes across, the fact that she is a CGI alien for the entire movie will work against her for nominations. :(
Afterward, we again stayed up until 2:00 in the morning, talking.
Sunday was a lazy day. I made french toast out of some homemade bread (it was awesome, if I say so myself!) We had lunch at the brunch buffet a local Hungarian restaurant offers on Sundays, that is sooooooooo good. The guys played an amazing amount of xbox. I don't know how many hours, but a lot. I played some Dragon Age, while
kistha watched "for tips" as she she is also playing it at home. But even though this is my second time through, she actually ended up helping me with some stuff I missed the first time around. :) We both decided they REALLY need to make an RPG wherein a friend can come in to your campaign at any time and play one of your party NPCs. But we consulted her husband the game designer, and if I'm recalling correctly, such an endeavor would require a certain degree of difficulty on the part of game design...but I could be wrong. I was playing when she talked to him, and only heard about half the conversation from the other room. There was supposed to be actual tabletop roleplay happening, but zombies kidnapped our husbands for several hours, and we never got around to it. Sad. (However, apparently Left 4 Dead 2 is an engrossing game. Just FYI.)
Either way, fun was had by all, and I shall be seeing them again this weekend, when I will be trekking up north to work on Norweson costuming. :D
I have, I think, achieved the perfect bread recipe for just about anything. Sandwich bread. Hot dog buns. Hoagie rolls. Cinnamon rolls that aren't too sweet. Until the sprouted flour comes in, this is what I'm currently doing:
~ 1 1/3 C lukewarm water
~ 2 C all-purpose unbleached flour
~ 2 C white whole wheat flour (KAF, carried at my local Safeway, FYI)
~ 3 T raw honey
~ 1 T vegetable oil
~ 2 T shortening
~ 2 tsp ground kosher salt
~ 2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast (but I have some SAF on the way w/the sprouted flour)
In bread machine:
Water, honey, oil, shortening. On top of this add, flour, then salt, then make a little well in the flour and add yeast. Turn on and watch as it mixes. Add water or more flour as necessary, until all ingredients are a slightly tacky, but not sticky, and not dry ball moving around the pan. Close lid and walk away until done.
It rises like nobody's business, and produces soft, fluffy, excellent bread/rolls/what have you, that even my extremely picky husband can't complain about. It makes excellent sandwiches or french toast. It is about 10,000 times healthier and better than storebought bread, both for the whole wheat factor, and the lack of chemicals. No cane sugar, hfcs, or milk products for those sensitive. If you just do the dough cycle, you can take it out and make two regular sized (ie, my banana bread loaf pans) loaves for sandwiches and what have you. I sent one home w/friends, and kept the other.
