doughfest

Today I made gnocci using this recipe (another site I really like, by the way). Gnocci has always seemed intimidating to me but I've made this one twice and the grater method works well.

My shaping needs some work but I had better results when I pressed the cut edge (rather than the smooth part) of the dough against the fork. It seemed to make a deeper indentation.

1/2 of what I made went into the freezer, 1/4 went to my brother+SIL, and I'm going to try and pan-cook the rest (as mentioned in the recipe) with some tomatoes and brocolli once R. comes home.
You didn't think I'd let the no-knead bread kick my ass, did you? The flattened first attempt was totally my fault - I didn't use rapid rise yeast. This time I followed the recipe more carefully and baked it in a smaller pot:

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

I hope no one sees

Today I spent an unreasonable amount of time dancing around to this.
The whole album is great if you don't have it already.

Quarterly Report

I thought I'd go back to my resolution list to see how things are shaping up in 2007:

Tentative 2007 to do list

1. Re- introduce myself to pilates and yoga
Check - I've been going to pilates 2-3 times a week
2. Make a skirt from the Built by Wendy book
Hasn't happened
3. Figure out how to make a little snap bag (like this one)
Check - I've made a few and just ordered fabric to make more
4. Take more walks
Hmm... not really, although maybe this will change once it is actually summer
5. Cook dinner more often
Yes, basically the only thing I blog about is what I cook on the weekends
6. Make myself a soft hat and scarf to match my orange coat
Too late! Maybe next fall
7. Re-read The Red Tent (possibly my favorite book of all time)
Done. I loved it even more this time around
8. Clean out the extra bedroom closet and get rid of clothes I don't wear
This actually happened.
9. Re-vamp my wardrobe
This has not. But I think about it a lot. And I love this site.
10. Join the co-op near our apartment
We ended up joining a CSA for the summer with my brother and SIL
11. Visit the dentist
Sadly, no.
12. Start a new journal
I haven't started a journal, but I keep a book of images/color schemes/ideas etc.
13. Maintain my date book so I can look back on 2007 once it's 2008
So far so good
14. Plan our SF trip in June
This is pretty much done. We have tickets and booked our room in Paso Robles + our hotel in SF
15. Work on this
I bought a few books on this list but haven't read any yet. I'm re-reading Jitterbug Perfume at the moment
16. Make a quilt
Maybe when I retire
17. Take more photos (and put some on flickr)
I suppose I take a lot of pictures of food (see #5) but I could do better and I haven't put anything on flickr.
18. Cut down on my refined sugar intake
Ummm I could probably work on this one too
19. Start saving $$ for another european trip or Lake Louise
We're thinking Xmas 2008 in Switzerland, but haven't made plans yet.
20. Speaking of saving $$, I need to be better about saving for taxes this year!
I started a savings account and have been putting away 15% of my paycheck. It's not a lot but it's a start!

I think I'm doing pretty well, no?

I'm off to journal club and then I have a biostats exam, which is my last (written) test for this round of grad school. This frees up virtually 100% of my time for lab work, which is what I like anyway.

A few pics

R.'s parents were here for the weekend, and on Saturday we finally made the trip to Longwood Gardens:

I'm full.

I don't know what got into me this weekend, (the weather maybe?) but I cooked, and ate, a lot.

First up was no knead bread, which I've been wanting to try for a while. Many people have tried this recipe already; it orignally appeared in the New York Times, but I used this one and I think I first saw it on not martha.

Anyway. The dough was a sticky mess throughout and I think my yeast was a little old - this version didn't rise much. But the texture was so good - crunchy on the outside with chewy innards. I'll definitely be giving it another try.

Can you see how fudgy those brownies are? I ate more than I should have, but I went to pilates yesterday which cancels some of them out. From Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.

I also made Polenta Egg Cups with Balsamic-Roasted Grapes and Sausages (thanks Elaine!) for brunch. It was an easy recipe and I might make it next weekend when R.'s mom and dad come for a visit.

By the way - I recently inherited the butcher block shown in the above photos from my grandma. It's covered in knife scratches and is always faintly oily even when clean. When I'm using it I like to think about all the pie, bread and potpie dough that must be soaked into its surface.
Not much else going on here, although my lab project has kinda been sucking lately. I'm in more of a data analysis phase and things are slow. Hate that. Makes me feel like it will take 20 years until I'm done!