I made sandwich bread!

I made sandwich bread!
Originally uploaded by riblet.

On the playground, I talk to a lot of moms. Sometimes one of them will point to another across the sand box and say in hushed, revered tone, "she makes her own bread." Those in earshot exchange serious looks that say "wow, she isn't effing around," or depending on my mood "quit making the rest of us look bad!"

I've always wanted to learn how to make bread but have either been too nervous to attempt it or couldn't really find a recipe that didn't look too daunting. After mastering two different pizza doughs, I finally got the courage to take on sandwich bread when I saw a recipe for a light wheat bread over at Smitten Kitchen. I love this site. Deb, the blogger/cook, features lots of interesting vegetarian dishes (some meat too), amazing looking desserts and tons of helpful tips and primers. This is where I found the recipe for Jim Lahey's potato pizza, the soft pretzels that Leon made for me two weeks ago and now this bread.

Let me say this: bread making wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My trusty Kitchen Aid stand mixer did the bulk of the work. I mostly just measured the ingredients, sat back and caught up on some Lego building with Ira while I waited for the dough to knead and rise. Best thing? It came out great and I lived to tell you about it.

Psst. I make my own bread.

Neon hearts forever

Neon hearts forever
Originally uploaded by riblet.

I was never asked to prom. Okay, I lied. I was asked, but that guy was kind of a loser and I didn't want to go with him. I don't have any formal dance pictures to speak of, however Leon's photo collection includes tons of them. So jealous!

My oldest friend Rebecca is having a show at the Verge Gallery this month with a nice reception on Saturday, 3/14 (Second Saturday, y'all). Go view her prom queen collection and then have your own prom photo taken. There is a fee for the 5" x 7" photo, so bring your scrill. This can be your prom picture do-over. Think of how much better your hair looks now as opposed to high school days! I was there last night for the opening and the snacks are gooood! If that's important to you.

Miracle fruit party

Check it out, miracle fruit! It makes your taste buds freak out so sour things taste sweet to you. It lasts about 30 minutes. There is a way better scientific explanation for this but I am too lazy to hunt it down.




Alisha invited us over to take the miracle fruit tablets and partake in this really strange looking buffet. It was really fun to eat all this bitter citrus and have it taste like sweet citrus candy.



The tabasco sauce was a real trip! It was almost like a peppered maple syrup. Incredible!

More pictures at my flickr. Thanks to Alisha for letting us in on the experiment!

Tamal time!

For the past few years I've had an idle threat to teach some friends how to make tamales. Someone finally held me to it, so last week we gathered in my kitchen and made around 50 of them. Above, you see the chilies stuffed with cheese, waiting to be cradled in a tender bed of masa.



Here are the hojas we wrapped them in. It's funny that even though I have been making tamales with my family for the past 20 years or so, I mostly only prepare the masa on the hojas. A more experienced relative actually handles the rest of the process. When making them in my kitchen the other day and it finally came down to wrapping them up, I realized that I didn't really know what I was doing. Good thing for the internet!



Once in the pot, they were off and running.

Ultimately, they came out great! However, they are a lot of work and they take forever to make. This is why most folks only make them for holidays and special occasions. The tamal lady makes them because she has the time and she knows she can sell them to you for a nice profit. Hmm, maybe I should start taking orders.