Just some stuff I've been thinking about

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“Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.”
— Jonathan Safran Foer

I read that quote last week and it said exactly what I've been feeling. I'm struggling with it a little.

Sometimes I think I must feel more than most people. Maybe I'm very soft and fleshy on the inside or something. Perhaps the inside of me is cavernous- with an enormous capacity to love. Either way, I just want more. I feel greedy for life, and it makes me feel different. Last week, in a deep conversation with my brother, he kindly pointed out the difference between he and I by saying I was "dreamy" (in a "you've-got-your-head-in-the-clouds" sort of way). He knows me well. 

I abhor complacency. I'm not interested in run-of-the-mill. Monotony feels like a slow and painful death.

I want to ski on all of the sunny winter days, I want to have a picnic in a different place every Sunday. I want to write a book(s) about birth, and ballet, and the different ways to cook an egg. I want photograph all of the damp green places in Ireland. I want to marvel at every sunset, every snowflake, every kiss, every exhale!  

And yet... I am here. I am in my life. There are dishes to be done, noses to wipe, relationships to work on, groceries to be bought, and Mondays every week.

 I feel thankful, I do. But I also feel my bones strain. 

I haven't reconciled this divide yet. I know there has to be a balance between the magnificent and the mundane. Still searching...

I'll share more as I discover it along the way.

A winner!

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Thank you for all your lovely comments this week. I love hearing from you- I wish you'd say "hi" more often!

The random number generator picked #8. So Brittany is the winner! Congratulations. Use the "email me" link under my picture to send me your address and I'll get this cheery little package out to you right a way!

Here are a few pictures from my outdoor adventures this week. We've been enjoying some beautiful blue skies! Spring is right around the corner. I can feel it.
“Everyone should have themselves regularly overwhelmed by Nature.”
— George Harrison

Okay, the bread.

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I get asked about the bread I bake a lot. {Almost as much as I get asked about my hair-- I promise that tutorial is coming soon.} I'm going to share my secrets. Are you ready?

It is so easy. Really, ANYONE can make it. If it were complicated you know I wouldn't be a fan. But this bread literally does only take 5 minutes a day. The recipe I use comes from this book:

The authors have made a video! Watch it to learn about the necessary tools, basic techniques, and they even give you the dough recipe! 

Okay now you try it. You can start simple with just the four easy ingredients of water, yeast, salt, and flour for you first loaves.

Then, after you have that down, you can branch out a little. Yesterday afternoon, after I had mixed the basic dough and let it rise, I pulled out a grapefruit sized piece and rolled it out to 1/2" thickness.

Then I sprinkled it with pitted/halved kalamata olives and chopped fresh rosemary.

I also made one with sautéed spinach, garlic, and feta cheese.

After your ingredients are sprinkled on the dough (c'mon get creative... I've been dreaming about some figs and goat cheese for my next loaf) just roll it up like a snake. Then put the ends together so the snake makes the letter "o". I don't really know how to describe the next part, but like the video above shows, you just kind of shape a little loaf by smoothing the sides down and around. Ugh, sorry that was such an unhelpful sentence. Watch the video.

I dusted the spinach loaf with flour and slashed it. (I like the word slash. I need more slashing in my life.) I wanted the olive loaf to be shiny, and I wanted the salt to stick, so I painted it with a little egg white wash before I slashed it and sprinkled the salt. 

Into the oven they go to bake on a preheated pizza stone for 30 minutes at 450 degrees. Don't forget to pour the water into the also preheated broiler pan. It creates steam that makes your crust crusty. You gotta have crusty crust.

Um, they turned out pretty much amazing.

So amazing that I ate half of each loaf. (read: 1/2 + 1/2 = 1 whole loaf) and earned myself a trip to the gym for a second workout in a day. Yep. Bread eating penance consisted of 2000m on the rower, 2 miles on the treadmill, and 40 minutes of weights.

It was worth every bite.

That's it. Bread secrets shared. Okay, I know you're going to have questions. Hit me up!

**Have you entered for the giveaway yet? I'm picking a winner on Saturday and right now the odds are good that it'll be you! Go leave a comment on yesterday's post.