Bread buddies are poppin up everywhere!

I have so many more Bread Buddies than I knew I had!

Tonight, I got a funny phone call from Andi saying

"I don't know whether to thank you or smack you!, I love bread and this 5 minute bread is delicious!"

I was at a Famous Dave's waiting for my friend Mari to meet me for dinner, and there I was, with my ear bud still in my ear, laughing and talking about BREAD! with Andi!

She bought the book today at Barnes N Noble, and she too, can't believe how easy and doable it is! She was just as giddy as I am! I found a soul mate!

She gets me! It is ridiculous how excited I get over holes in my bread. The more and bigger holes, the better my day! Totally nerdy... but oh so satisfying!

Then I get home... and I just read that DeeDee, too, is a Bread Buddy! She made the master recipe into PIZZA DOUGH!

She is going to accompany me on my whirlwind tour of the world teaching this method! Hee hee!

***

So, now I have Adrain, Andi, Dee and myself in my lovely bread world.

Who else is going to join the HOLEY club of boules, bialys, bagels, and brioche?

Hmmmm?

Any takers?

Our club can handle lots more!

I ought to start a bread blog.

What do you think?

Yo Adrian!

YO ADRIAN!

***

Girl... your bread turned out P-E-R-F-E-C-T!

If there were holes in it... it was perfect.

My first loaf looked and tasted like a hockey puck!

***

For all you readers... Adrian is a new friend I made on the blogosphere, and she has become my newest Bread Buddy!

She too, is now addicted to the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day way of making and baking bread.

What FUN!

I comment on the authors blog a lot, and Adrian, they would be thrilled to hear about your results! They are so nice, and they respond to everyone!

I want to work for them and show the world how to do this!

Then you and I could go to Italy, Adrian!!!, and show all my people!

***

I am so happy you are enjoying the book the way I do!

Whenever I empty a bucket of dough, I immediately make a new batch... right in the old dough bucket.

Lately, I have been adding Flax Seed Meal to all my loaves to help fortify it and add lots of fiber and nutrition. You can't taste it at all, and it gives it a really great whole grain look.

***

I love ya for trying the book Adrian!

I am just giddy about it!

I know I go on and on about it!

You'd think I wrote the book!

Zoe and Jeff... if you are hiring...I'm available... Adrian can be my travel buddy!

Brown Rice Fajitas

Last nights dinner was brown rice fajitas.

I'm trying to prepare at least 2 totally vegetarian dishes a week.

Since I already had cooked brown rice and sliced onions from Sunday night's prep,

all I had to do was

slice up some home grown green peppers from out back and heat everything through.

Add in some taco seasoning mix and a pinch of salt and pepper, warm up some tortillas,

and we were almost in business!

***

A quick transfer of grated cheddar from the fridge to a plate, some sliced

home grown tomatoes from Letti's garden and it was

Dinner Al Fresco by the pool.

***

Watermelon was dessert and swimming immediately

after dinner was preferred over plopping down on the couch for TV.

(no, we don't wait 30 minutes after eating to swim, NEVER HAVE... it a MYTH!)

;)

They never missed the meat. Brown rice has a meaty texture and it is chewy and delicious.

I cooked it all ahead of time for only 25 minutes on Sunday in my Rice Cooker Plus. in the microwave! It was a cinch!

Food for unexpected guests...

Don't you just love drop in guests?

No?

Why?

I know why I don't. I never feel like my house is clean enough and I don't always have

something to knosh on for them... until now.

***

I have decided to develop a few staple "guest" friendly items on hand all the time, for just the occasion for drop in guests... since I have them so frequently.

They are...

Kalamata Olives

Sicilian Olives

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Tomatoes

My bread... of course

Roasted Red Peppers

Marinated Mushrooms

***

All those items can be purchased

(with the exception of the bread, in my case)

from Trader Joes. They are relatively inexpensive,

jarred, and delicious.

They make a wonderful Antipasti Platter in minutes, and

at least one of the items is something someone would like.

Pair it up with some fresh fruit on hand, nicely sliced, and

it becomes an appetizer or knosh that is unparalleled!

Add a great glass of wine and everything will sing!

***

Your guests will feel special, and think you are putting on quite a "spread", and you

will know that you are honoring them by welcoming them to stay and enjoy

breaking bread with you, without breaking the bank or slaving in the kitchen.

With the above items... a little goes a long way since they are so savory.

***

So unexpected guests are going to be a treat for me now.

Now... about keeping my house spotless... that's another story all together...

hmmmmm.

Bread... the saga continues.

I made my own cocktail type bread.

Save about 8 bucks in bread... those little loaves are exceedingly expensive.

This was the dinner bread at the party. We sliced it all up for dinner.

This was dinner on the 23rd. We also had pasta... but the tomato salad was the favorite.

*******

I know... it seem like the BREAD BLOG these days... but it is SO satisfying making bread.

Yesterday, during Alex's party, I taught my Mom and sis in law how to make the dough, it was so satsifying teaching the technique too!

IT IS SOOO SIMPLE THIS WAY!

***

That tomato salad is awesome. So easy.

Cut up tomatoes, some onion and oil, balsamic and salt and pepper and you are in business!

Make it a greek salad by adding chunks of cucumbers and crumbled feta cheese.

Make it Italian Panzanella salad by adding fresh mozzarella cheese chunks and

cut up chunks of day old Artisan Bread.

Yum!

Lock N Lock My favorite storage containers

My Mama and I are obsessed with these containers.

We buy them for each other all the time.

I don't actually own any round ones, but it's the only picture I could find online.

I USE THEM FOR EVERYTHING!

I store my bread flour, cereal, cornmeal, nuts, honey, chips, baking stuff, salt, peppercorns,

leftovers, fruit, veggies, EVERYTHING IN THEM!

I MUST own 100 pieces... and I never get tired of buying them!

You can fill them, and throw them across the room and it won't spill, or crack or open.

Ask me how I know!

I buy them from QVC.

Try them... you will love them!

Favorite Thing 7... Cooling Rack

PC has the BEST cooling racks. I use them every day to cool my bread off.

The legs fold in... they stack, and they clean up like a breeze.

My favorite thing to do with it is to make a bunch of peanut butter cookie balls, and instead of pushing each one down with a fork to make the cross hatch design on them, I just

turn this thing upside down and press them all at the same time!

The small grates make it nice so the cookies don't crease in between the wires.

Pampered Chef Stackable cooling racks...

One of my favorite things.

Tuesday Dinner... late, but good.

Last night... I had a show... and came home around 8:30.

The kids still hadn't eaten, because Bill needed to go next door and help our

neighbor install a new air conditioner.

Normally we eat around 6 ish.

I have learned, in my newly acquired age, to pick my battles.

So I just cooked dinner really quickly.

***

I already had a bunch of onions cut up ahead of time, so I started sauteing them to a golden brown in a tiny bit of Olive Oil, and added 2 cups fresh frozen peas to the mix.

When they were heated through... I added 1 1/4 cups chicken stock and a cup of couscous to the pan, covered it, and let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes.

***

I marched hubby outside to BBQ some chicken really quick and I had baked off a great big boule

of bread earlier in the day, so we were ready to eat in 15 minutes.

***

Whew... crisis averted! Those poor kids were starving. Normally, they cook for themselves when in a pinch, but they knew all the fixing for a dinner was just waiting.

My heart broke when I saw how ravenous they were.

Bill felt bad too, but our neighbor needed air... it's HOT outside, and my guy is a heating/AC guy... who do you call? Bill!

Tonight, before Bill's meeting, I'll have him BBQ a nice Top Sirloin and cook off some potatoes in my Rice Cooker Plus, add a salad, and baked another bread this morning.

What are you having for dinner tonight?

Pasta with Garlic and Olive Oil

After my shows... the very last thing I want to do is cook.

Saturday... after the show with Johnny, he fell right to sleep in the car.

When he woke up, he said... "Mama, that was WORK having to smile and be nice for 3 hours!"

I almost died.

Being 'on' takes a toll on ones psyche... for sure.

There is a certain 'high' right after the show... then a crash. It's all good, it's just part of the job.

I used to get the same way after being on stage, just more so!

So my 'go to' dinner of choice, when I haven't done my prep for the week yet...

is Garlic and Olive Oil Pasta.

***

1/2 cup Olive Oil

4 crushed cloves of garlic (or more if you like)

red pepper flakes (optional)

1 lb of pasta, cooked, not rinsed, and hot.

Heat oil and garlic together so the garlic doesn't burn. Add pepper flakes if using them.

Add immediately to cooked and hot pasta, and toss like you've never tossed before.

Make sure to have your salad and garlic bread done before all of this. Pasta cools quickly, and is best served hot!

Mangia!

Favorite thing 6

I LOVE TO ENTERTAIN!

This is my 3 tiered stand that I use all the time for a multitude of things.

I love it filled and overflowing with fruit for parties, or daintily studded with mini cupcakes and muffins for brunches.

Sometimes I just use it for forks, spoons and knives when we have a buffet set up.

It used valuable vertical space and is simply lovely just alone.

Yes, it's from PC.

Duh!