Springing Forward...

Written on March 7, 2009

I hate daylight savings time.  Let me just get that out of the way.

I do like more daylight in the evenings, but I hate the whole changing the clocks twice a year, especially in my car.  If cars didn't have digital clocks, maybe I'd feel differently about it, but when the time changes, I have to get out the manual and figure out how to set the clock.  I don't like having the wrong time staring at me while I'm driving, so I become obsessive about fixing it.  I'm wishing the car clock had a stem, like a wristwatch does, so I could do this more easily.

The other thing I don't like about DST is that my cats aren't on it.  They'll keep waking me up on their own internal schedule.  Doesn't matter if the clock reads 5:30am; if they want me up, they're going to find a way to get me up.

I'll bet we don't really know what time it is anymore because we've sprung forward and fallen back so much.  Einstein is right; time is relative.  Too bad I can't live on my internal clock; I'd be in perpetual nap time.

*****

I finally finished the assignments hanging over my head (Saturday) and went outside to clear the herb garden.  I love my herb garden.  Fresh herbs make foods more flavorful, and I like not having to pay for them since they are so expensive (even the dried herbs are expensive these days).  Now to get the vegetable garden dug up and planted, which I will do next weekend. 

Teaching summer school online is the only way to go!  With only one class, I can spend more time on my gardens.  Inevitably, of course, I have to work on my fall classes, but not having to drive into the "big" city saves me so much time.

*****

Now to get the front garden cleared out and plant some flowers.  Today is also bread-baking day.  I'm out of bread, and I hate paying the ridiculous prices for that airy stuff that passes for it.  I have a great recipe for French bread that makes four loaves.  It freezes well and goes with anything I cook.

I might be done with schoolwork for the day, but it seems that I've made myself quite a to-do list here.  Better get started!

Christmas, Anyone? Anyone?

I'm not in the Christmas spirit, really. It's not one of my favorite holidays, mostly because it's lost meaning for too many people. In such a bad economy, too, I just don't have the money to spend frivolously--after the dentist wiped out any extra money I made this semester--and, besides, the people in my family can buy what they want for themselves. I sent my children money, as I always do, because they know what they need/want. I refrain from cluttering up their lives with useless "things." They're not into owning "things" that don't serve a purpose. I applaud that, and I try to emulate it.

And the weather has been screwy--can you say "global warming"? One day, the rain freezes as it falls from the sky; the next day, I open the doors and windows to move the air around because it's so sultry.

Today, I've been baking (should have done that on a cold day!) Cowboy Cookies. I divided the dough in half, added cranberries and raisins to one half, then added chocolate and peanut butter chips to the other. The basic dough includes oats, and I added nuts. They're yummy, and I need to give them away fast, before I eat them all. I also made some "no-bake" cookies called "Carolina Delights." They require oats, unsweetened chocolate, butter, sugar, peanut butter. Also yummy. I'll probably bake bread tomorrow and include that in what I bring to my mom's on Christmas Day.

You can find the cookie recipes on allrecipes.com. I've been trying out a bunch of recipes I've found there. I get in such a rut with cooking that I decided I needed to venture into new territory. I've also been pulling out my cookbooks and trying some new dishes. I made a pot of Cuban Black Beans yesterday. I'm making full batches and freezing what I don't eat immediately. That way, when the new semester begins, I'll have my lunches cooked. A good way to save money. I've also been making my own vegetable and chicken stock for soups and stews. Those freeze well, too.

To help my mood, I've tuned into Turner Classic Movies. I've already seen "The Bells of St. Mary's"; TCM has "A Christmas Carol" with Reginald Owen on right now, and, after this, comes "Scrooge" with Albert Finney, my all-time-favorite version of "A Christmas Carol., next to "The Muppet Christmas Carol," of course! So, maybe that will help. I'm just waiting for them to play "Holiday Inn." That movie lets me know that Christmas is here! And, of course, no Christmas is complete without "It's a Wonderful Life," the original with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.

Anyway, no matter what holiday you celebrate, even if you don't celebrate any holiday, have a safe and happy day! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus!

A No-Grade Day

I didn't have any papers to grade today. I did have some things to do for a couple of courses, but I worked on those at my leisure and will update the grade book tomorrow.

So, what did I do? I cleaned out litter boxes; I washed clothes and area rugs; I cleaned up the piles that accumulated while I was grading papers and writing a novel. I dyed my hair (long overdue, because the patch of gray on the right side was beginning to show big time). In general, I "frittered" away the day, much to my delight. I haven't had a day like this in ages.

Friday, I baked a chicken, and, I have to say, it's the best chicken I've ever cooked. Then I simmered the carcass to make a soup stock. Today, I continued cooking the leftover meat off the bones, added some onions and celery, and further rendered the stock. I froze some of it for future use, then made a pot of chicken and rice soup. Yum! I also whipped up some bread dough, and I'll bake that tomorrow. I'll enjoy my soup with some great no-fuss artisan bread. I'll chow down on that while I'm grading the two sets of papers that are coming in, even as I write this.

All together, a productive and stress-free day for me. I know it hasn't been for the students whose papers are due tonight and tomorrow, but the semester is almost over for them. It's crunch time for me, so I might as well eat well while I'm doing my work.

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

so I'm staying inside, doing inside work.

I edited two files for NAF, and reviewed a transcript I spent 11 hours typing yesterday. Really, if you've never done transcription, word up--a one-hour voice file takes me anywhere from nine to twelve hours to transcribe. Seems slow, maybe, but I edit as I go. Most transcriptionists just type what they hear and ignore punctuation, etc. (That's why I edit transcipts, too. The punctuation usually sucks.) I was up until 2am doing that; I slept until almost 10am this morning, which was nice. The rain kept the sun from shining in the bedroom window--the sun always wakes me.

I was going to tackle the periwinkle bed that surrounds the pecan tree in the back yard, but I guess I'll postpone that until later in the week. I did transplant irises yesterday. I had a bunch around the carport; I dug those up. My mom gave me a bag full, so I dispersed them at various points in the front and back yards. Hopefully, I'll have a riot of color next spring--purple, blue, yellow, white.

Oh, and does anyone want a kitten? I have a feral cat who had five cute kittens--two solid gray, two gray and white, and one gray with a few white accents. I need to trap the mother and have her neutered (anyone have a cat trap?); the babies aren't too scared of me yet--I can pick them up--but the mom will eventually make them run away from me. I need to find homes for them now, so, if you want one, let me know, and you can come catch the one you want.

I restarted my sourdough starter and baked some sourdough biscuits this morning--yummy. And I made a loaf of artisan bread--one of the easiest bread recipes in the world. No kneading, really, but the bread needs a first rising of from 8 to 12 hours. I added wheat flour to this loaf; it's also yummy. I think I'll tackle sourdough bagels tomorrow. I have a simple recipe for those, and I used to make bagels all the time. The price of flour has increased, but it's still cheaper to buy the flour and make my own bread. A loaf of bread costs almost as much as a bag of flour; I can get six or seven loaves of bread from a bag of flour.

Here are two simple bread recipes:

Beer Bread

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour (if using unbleached, add salt, baking powder and soda--you'll have to figure out the measurements for those!)
1-12 oz. can/bottle of beer, cheap or expensive, your choice.

Pour 1/2 of the beer into the flour and stir (no sipping!). When absorbed, pour in the rest of the beer. You can add shredded cheese, garlic, veggies, whatever, to this bread. Scrape into a large bread pan and bake at 375 degrees until done, about 45 minutes.


Artisan Bread

I got this recipe from Mother Earth News.

You need a covered crock to bake this in. I use the insert from my crock pot. Works great. But don't bake this in a metal pan--you'll have to pry it out with a crowbar! And be careful with Pyrex--that may shatter at such high temps.

3 cups unbleached flour, bread flour, wheat flour, or a combination.
1 tsp. salt
1/4 teaspoon yeast (if you buy the packets, you don't need to use the whole thing--just 1/4 tsp.)
1 1/2 cups warm water.

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the flour and salt and stir. The dough will be wet and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and set to rise in a warm place for 8 to 12 hours.

Dump sticky dough onto floured surface; fold dough on itself 4 or 5 times, flouring as you go. Shape into a round loaf. Dust a towel with cornmeal; place the loaf on the cornmeal towel; dust the top of the loaf with flour. Cover with a towel and let rise for 2 hours.

About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the pot in which you will bake the bread in the oven to preheat it. After 20 minutes, take the pot out of the oven, slide the bread, cornmeal side down, into the pot. Place cover on pot and return to oven. Let the bread bake with the cover on until the top turns just brown (about 30 minutes). Remove the cover from the pot, and bake for another 15 minutes or so, until a probe inserted into the bread comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven, remove the bread from the pan, and set to cool on a wire rack. Wait at least an hour before cutting. Really good for thick sandwiches or with a pot of homemade soup or stew.

So, make a loaf of bread! It's another way to destress and to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Sourdough Starter and a Simple Bread Recipe

In a comment for my last post, a student mentioned her dad's sourdough starter. I thought I'd pass along some web sites that have instructions on how to create and care for a starter.

Try http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm. I found some good instructions there, as well as at http://www.countrylife.net/. Follow the links on this one. Or, just do a search on "sourdough starter" in any search engine. You should be able to find an easy recipe for that.

What you need to remember about starters is that (1) you need to feed it regularly and (2) you need to use it once in a while. If you don't do either, it turns into a sour-smelling lump of squishy dough and becomes useless! Trust me on this. And any site that provides the starter recipe will also provide directions on how to use it!

And, since I love to bake bread, let me pass on a really simple bread recipe:

2 2/3 cups Self-rising flour (this is important--it has to be self-rising, because that has the salt, soda, etc. in it)
Stir in any brand 12 oz. beer (doesn't matter if it's cheap or expensive)

Stir in half of the beer (no sipping!), mix well, then stir in the rest. The dough will be wet. Divide into two margarine-greased 9x5 loaf pans; bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, remove from oven and turn onto wire rack to cool.

Tender on the inside, slightly crusty on the outside. It's almost as easy as using Bisquick! This is good bread, fit for company, even!