30 August 2005
First off, it’s hard not to enjoy a day that starts with this:
who needs a sporty red convertible? I’m thinking that the right nickname might be all you need to get through life. Especially if you’ve never had one before.
And then there’s this, the first half of the new quilt I’m working on. Yes, it’s actually hanging horizontally, but this is the orientation that it will have in the quilt.
I spent part of yesterday and today making stuff with yeast. I spent another part of the days taking care of cats, in particular Gus. I spent another part of the days making my head hurt over PHP/mySQL stuff. I spent the last part of my days working on the new quilt top. It’s almost 1/4 pieced. Not quite. I realized that I have an extra column of pieces laid out for it and I’m not sure if I should stick with it or ask for forgiveness from the show organizer who set the size requirements. C’mon. Less than an inch and a half. Who’ll know?
yeah yeah yeah. Somedays are just like that. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain and then Katrina will be smoooshed upstream to rain down on us some more. We need the rain , but no one needs a hurricane. I suppose it’s all in the turn of days, the turn of the seasons. That slice of lemon half moon I saw hanging low in the sky the other night. The comfort of a blanket in late August.
I am drawn to sewing all these small squares together and can’t wait to see each additional row as it joins. This is really the exciting part of the process to me – to see the ragged irregular collection of squares on my foam board move to the sewing machine and become regular again. Coherent and strong and bigger. And I like it!
My first-ever ciabatti are out of the oven. Too hot to eat. Look and smell good. must.be.patient….
Meanwhile, I find, the fruit of yesterday’s baking has been described as “food porn” by the notable Fortune. Oh my! Well, it was pretty tasty! Thanks Fortune – I’m going of to blush now until the bread is cool enough to slice into. must.be.patient….Oh the heck with that!
For those wondering what poolish is (see below) it’s a preferment of flour, water and a little yeast that goes into the making of things like ciabatta and other breads. Mix up flour, water and a very small amount of yeast and let it start bubbling. Stick it in the frig for 1-3 days and then make yummy bread with it. It has the consistency of a sort of frothy, silky, yogurt but of course, not exactly.
whatchadoing?
A little of this, a little of that. A little cleaning. A little cooking. A little quilting. Some photos. Some research about web design stuff.
I had been chatting with Fortune about folding pizza dough and what it gets you. And what about regular flour v. bread flour? So today I made pizza dough with one fold (my way) and regular flour (her way). Turned out pretty darn tasty (especially with that fresh pesto on the one) but quite a bit different from my regular fare. All good, and worth the experimentation. Documentation anyone?
There’s the whole quilting thing. Many little squares. What can I say?
And finally, in my frig there’s something known as poolish. Lovely word and surprising thing. Stay tuned.
