It's NOT Too Hot to Bake!

We are sweltering here in the Northwest.  Where we usually have gray skys and rain, we've got 97+ degrees and bright sun.  Personally I love it.  But, we need some fresh bread.  So out comes the recipe for bread in a Crock Pot.  Simple, easy-peasy.

I'm using my Artisan Bread dough.  Just take out a hunk - about the size of a large grapefruit.  Line a crock pot with parchment paper.  Sprinkle some cornmeal on the bottom and place the round dough on top.  Cover the pot and let sit for 2 hours.  Then cook it on high for 2 hours.  No muss, no fuss, NO HEAT. 

Now when the bread is finished, it will look like a dumpling.  It should spring back when you poke it and not be mushy feeling.  Some crock pots will require a little bit longer time. 

Brush the top with olive oil or a little butter. Then, for just 5 minutes, pop it under the broiler in the middle of the oven.  Watch carefully that it doesn't burn, but gets nice and browned.

Voila! Ambrosia!

Creating Yumm

I've just gotten a recipe that a lot of my FaceBook friends wanted me to share, and since FB doesn't allow file sharing yet I'll post it here.

Classic Pizza Dough from “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in 5 Minutes a Day”

In a large 5 qt bowl, mix together well but don’t knead:

6 ½ c flour

3 c warm water

1 ½ Tablespoons Kosher or Sea Salt (large grains)

1 ½ Tablespoons Yeast

Set aside, covered loosly – not tight, to rise for about 2 hours.  Then store the bowl in the fridge.  Don’t punch down, just leave the lid on and stick in the fridge for a couple of days – or just 1 day if you’re anxious to start.  Dough will last for about 2 weeks and is enough to make 4 small pizzas, 2 loaves of peasant bread, or about 8 small Naan.

Stuffed Naan

Preheat Oven to 450 deg.

1 Naan – pull off about an orange size wad of Classic Dough.  Lightly flour a board and your hands and roll out the dough into ¼” size circle about 5” in diameter.

Stuffing for each Naan:

3 Tbsp finely chopped onions

3 Tbsp finely chopped Basil (or cilantro, or Oregano)

I added about 2 Tbsp crumbled Feta

Press stuffing into the dough. Then gather up the edges and pinch together into a ball, sealing the edges.  Place the edge side down on a floured board and roll into a flat bread to about 1/8” thick.  It’s ok if any stuffing bits come through the top.

Bake on a pizza stone if you have one, or a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes or until the Naan is lightly golden in color.

Remove from oven and brush tops with mixture of Olive oil, garlic and very finely chopped basil or whatever herb you stuffed it with.  Or just use olive oil.

Eat warm.

By the way – make lots, they re-heat nicely and if you make just one, you’ll wish you’d made more.  ;-)

Tour de Fleece

The Tour de France is one of my favorite sports events to watch in the summer.  Having been an avid cyclist and racer until my knees and neck went bonky it always gives me a thrill to watch.  This year, I am spinning again with the Tour, this time with my new little drop spindle and Team Jenkins for the Tour de Fleece, put on by Ravelry.

Quite a different kind of spinning, but it appeals to my love of process.  I once used, or tried to use a top whorl spindle but never got the feel.  This year I bought a little Jenkins Delight - a cute little Turkish spindle and I've fallen in love.  We are a matched pair.  So there is something to be said about the horse matching the rider, or the dog matching the handler.  You can force something and make it work and be always fighting with it, or you can find the one that seems to fit, understand it, know it for it's strengths and weaknesses and flow with it. The little Jenkins is like that.  She has her weaknesses (she's small) and her strenghts (she's balanced perfectly); I too have my strengths (I am a detail person) and my weaknesses (I am impatient).  By recognizing this on both the part of the tool and myself, I am able to learn to use this little Delight and create something of beauty. Here is my visual record of my learning process. 

In the Beginning

Notice how the wind is uneven

Now starting to be mindful of my winding

Getting better, but still not quite right

And patience pays out

Getting toward the end

Finally, finished and off the spindle. Everything went sproing.

I noticed that my teammates cops were beautifully wound on and mine was a mess, so I started paying attention to this one minute detail.  I had to be mindful of where I placed the single yarn and how tightly I wound it on.  It was a slow process - testing my patience, coaxing me to slow my pace, take a deep breath and enjoy the process and watch as the beauty of the yarn started to twine itself together. Sometimes, I went astray - so be it.  Correct it for the next wind.  I am still getting the rhythm of it and my little Melisa Delight is there to help me through it. She stays balanced no mater what.  It's my job to keep her on track.

Hmm....kind of like my shepherding.  Jill and I are a good match.  I need to know my dogs strengths and weaknesses as well as my own in order to create the beauty of sheep herding.  Don't force it to happen, work with it.  Be patient, be mindful.  Enjoy the process.

Spinning with the Tour

The Tour de France has always been one of my favorite sports events to watch.  Secretly I've always wanted to participate in it, but as it's an all male sport - just not gonna' happen.  Light years ago, I used to bike race, but knees, neck and severe carpal tunnel prevent me from participating. So I've gotten way out of shape.  And what the heck you say, dear reader, is this all about?  Well it's about trying a new skill, fitness and expanding one's box.

I sit.  I sit and I spin. I sit and I knit, I sit and I type my blogs on my computer.  I do a lot of sitting.  I am turning into a chair.  Time to make a change.

Last week at the Black Sheep Gathering, I bought a new spinning tool.  Oh No! More sitting.  NOT!  This is a little drop spindle from Jenkins.  It's a Turkish spindle called the Delight and it is a dream.  I've never used a drop spindle before.  Something new to try.  I can stand up, walk around and move whilst spinning.  I can even go outside and enjoy the sun (which has finally decided to visit our NW).

Ravelry, an all things fiber group, has a forum for Tour de France teams - they call it the Tour de Fleece.  I decided to join the Jenkins team and have been steadily learning the ins and out of my little spindle.  And as this is about participating in a sport event, I made a declaration.  For every hour I sit and spin, I have to walk a mile - each day.  It's a happy process and a healthy one. 

I am learning so much about my little Delight - how to keep the fleece from getting away from me, how to wind on a beautiful cop (that's the yarn ball on the spindle) and mostly it's about being mindful.  Being mindful of my process, mindful of my body, mindful of my surroundings. Taking time to be joyful in the process and be proud of what I've done.  Knowing that each little step is a step toward better understanding of my spinning  journey and even the journey in my life.

It's amazing that something so small can be the tool toward the bigger things in my life.

One UFO down and ....

At last the Galadriel fleece is finished.  I started out doing a complicated lace pattern, but the fullness of the twist, just made the pattern disappear.  So instead I decided on a plain and simple piece, letting the yarn show itself.  It's soft and warm and wonderful. One down.....

Last weekend was the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR.  No it's not a gathering of the bad boys in the family, but the gathering of all things sheepy.  There were live sheep from local ranchers working on getting their ribbons for the best sheep, there were spinners, knitters and weavers demonstrating their sills.  And there was FLEECE!  Lots and lots of fleece, in all shades and fiber content.  BFL and silk, BFL and Alpaca, Shetland; rainbow colors, earth colors, circus colors and the list goes on.

Now, I already have a ton of unspun fleece.  And I have a lot of sock yarn (for some reason, sock yarn calls to me and I just can't resist it).  Some months ago I took stock of what I had in my stash closet; did some culling out and decided that I had quite enough sock yarn, thank you very much, and enough fleece to keep me spinning for a year.  So, I had pretty well, made up my mind NOT to go to the Black Sheep Gathering.  Then my spinning buddy and fiber addict in crime convinced me that I really should go and "You don't have to buy anything, just LOOK".  HAH!

Ok, so I lied.  I did have to buy something - well a lot of somethings.  There was a woman who was there for the first time as a dye artist.  She'd never sold her fleece before and her color sense was amazing!  The Whimsical Ewe, owned by Dana Nishimura is fantastic.  She'll probably be at the Canby, OR Flock and Fiber Festival and I highly recommend stopping by her booth. Merino/Tencel and a Merino/Silk braid in warm earthy green and golds.  Can't wait to spin those up and see how they blend.

Dycentra was there in all it's heavenly glorious colors, so I had to buy several fleeces from them. Such a joy to spin - Merino and Silk in a luscious color called Sangria. And Abstract Fibers, another favorite, in Merino and Silk in a berry  colorway.  

And then there was the sock yarn - darn! One booth caught my eye - yes, it's all about the color. Chameleon Color Works from BaaBaa Loo, one skein in soft mossy tones, the other skein reminded me of an English Garden.  Yes, more sock yarn.  What's a girl to do! I don't know if these will become socks or shawls.....or maybe I'll just drink in their colors and just look at them for a while.

So now I have 8 more 4 oz braids of woolies to spin up.  Let's see, add that to the 6 braids I already have.....yup, I think I'm in trouble - BIG trouble.

Father's Day

Today is Father's Day and for me a time of remembering.  So what's this got to do with knitting or spinning, you say?  Well actually a lot.  It was my Father that taught me how to knit.  When I was in Brownies about the age of 10, one of my badges was a knitting badge.  I had no clue, and for that matter nether did my Dad - and certainly NOT my Mom (she couldn't even sew on a button). 

So we sat down and figured out the whole process - together.  He was very patient with me and we did a lot of laughing as the yarn balls rolled all over the floor and the knots got even more knottier.  But in the end, we had a pot holder - well, sort of.  Needless to say, I was hooked on knitting after that.  My first big project was a sweater - you got it - for my Dad for Father's Day.  It was from a brown Alpaca and wool skein and it took me 4 years to finish.  He wore it proudly, for at least the first day I gave it to him.  The sleeves were way too long and the body way too large.  We laughed that it was big enough for him and a friend.  I have no clue what happened to it.  I'm sure my Mother washed it in the washing machine and it shrank to doll size.  None the less, I remember my Dad being so happy and proud of me when he got it.

Since then, I have flourished with my knitting; changing my style from the old American to the European.  And, thanks to my Dad, my love of knitting continues with each project and I'm never afraid to try something new.  After all, what can go wrong, but a few extra knots and a lot of laughs.

So here's to you Dad.  Thanks for your patience, the love you gave me through those knotty times, and the joy at seeing something new accomplished, no matter what the outcome.

 Younger Dad

   

                              

                                                               With Greatgrandson

        The last time we saw him as a family.  

He died shortly after this picture was taken.

We miss you Dad.

Blessed Be

Building A Relationship - a blog about the dog

I have a good relationship with my Spinning wheel.  It took me some time to get the feel of the twist, the speed, the tension, the spinner's little quirks.  When I first started spinning with it, it was like a foreign object - separate: It and Me.  I went through many bats of fleece, cursing, before, we both finally came to an agreement that we should work together. 

Relationship - with the DOG....My Jilly, who was born and bred for working sheep. Me who is a klutz but is fairly sheep savvy.  We are working on our sheep herding relationship.  It takes time.  Yesterday, I really felt there was the inkling of a connection between us.  She is good at what she does - I am clumsy.  Right now we are two separate objects, trying to figure the other one out.  At home she trusts me, loves me, respects me.  I want that to happen on the sheep. It will happen. As with my Wheel it just takes time and a trust in the process. 

Spinning is kind of like life.  When it works, it's flows ever so smoothly - like water gently flowing over rocks.  It becomes a muscle memory.  So to with working a dog.  When it's right, it flows....like a dance, ever changing, but smooth and flowing.  Sometimes it's a Tango - hard, rough, fiery.  Sometimes it's a Waltz, gently swirling, graceful, flowing.  It's all a dance - move with the rhythm, feel the flow, get a sense of the tempo and work with it, not against it.

I love my Jilly. As my spinning process taught me about life, so to is my Jill.