Blast From the Past

Last night I headed down south to the Greendale area to see Beauty and the Beat in 3D with Mom, Kels, and Kels's friend Rachel. I'm usually not a big 3D supporter, but "Be Our Guest" was super cool in 3D. It was like I was eight again, and I think all four of us knew the words to every song. I had the soundtrack on cassette tape, you know. I may have enjoyed it more now as an adult to see how nervous the Beast was around Belle and to actually know what that feels like now! For your viewing pleasure, here's the movie's most iconic scene (I won't tell if you watch it more than once, promise).

Then, I came home to find my parents had cleaned out all of the closets in the house and all of the board games, American Girl dolls, and trolls of my childhood were strewn across our living room. Made me remember what an awesome childhood I had. Now, if only I could find my Little Mermaid sheets, I'd be set.

Dutch Oven Bread Success!

Last week I talked about one of my goals of making Dutch Oven Bread. I had Monday off for MLK Jr. Day, so I finally had the time to attempt the recipe. This bread takes a lot of time, but it's mostly just waiting for the dough to rise. I was super happy with how it turned out, and Jake and I had it for dinner last night and tonight. Success! I plan on making this again soon.

No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two.
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Old Movie Marathon

Miss Aud and I love old movies. When we got together to watch White Christmas this winter, we made plans to do a movie marathon with some of our favorite movies that have been around for a few decades. Our eight hours consisted of...

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

West Side Story

On the Town

Meet Me In St. Louis

One of the many things I learned from these movies is that it is fairly common to meet someone, fall in love, and marry all in one day. They also give some great dating advice. See this case in point from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers called "Going Courtin'".

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers-Goin' Courtin' - Watch the top videos of the week here

Oh, if life were only like the movies. :)

Pacer Game

The family and I went to Indy for our annual trip to Circle Center and a Pacer game. We got into the city early and cruised around the mall for a few hours and then headed to the Fieldhouse to see the Pacers play the Celtics. The game was a lot of fun, and we won! It was a great family hang out day.

Transition, Post 2

Tonight we headed out in the snow to Jake's staff Christmas party. We had some great conversations and I got to know some of his coworkers and their spouses a little better. It made me think of all of those big transitions in my life (college, first job, living alone, marriage) and how apprehensive I was at the start of each stage. But each time I meet a slew of new people who are caring and compassionate toward me. Now I know that those changes don't have to be as scary as they once were. I'm always taken care of by those new friends/coworkers/neighbors in my life. Isn't that nice to know?

Operation: Dutch Oven Bread

For some reason, I've had the biggest urge to make my own bread- not out of a bread maker, but actually do the kneading and baking myself. From my research, I now know that this is a super long process that requires an entire day at home. You know what? I'm ok with that. Hopefully this day will come to me sooner rather than later!

I think this video from Kinfolk shows the process quite nicely. I guess I need to get a good, long book to pass the time...

Dutch Oven Bread from Kinfolk on Vimeo.

Instax

I decided to pool my Christmas money together to buy myself a camera I've been looking at for quite a while. The Fujifilm Instax is an instant camera that shoots out pictures about the size of an old Polaroid (if you have a Polaroid camera, there's a really neat company called The Impossible Project that is still producing the film, but it's pretty pricey). I've wanted an instant camera like this ever since I was little. I did have a cheapie at one point that printed out super-tiny pictures, if you count that. I'm excited to get in the habit of using this camera regularly, plus I have a fun way of displaying them that I'll hopefully be able to share soon!

Finished product!