Our beloved brother-in-law, Garrie, passed away in his sleep last night. He had been undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer and it just got the best of him. We are all going to miss him dearly, most especially Prescott and Roslyn.
A local service will be held at a date and location to be determined, where we can all share our memories.
Garrie Wood Nicoll
October 16, 1954 - August 29, 2008
I can't believe it but I finally got around to making the No Knead Bread recipe that I'd been hearing about for well over a year.
Even though I thought, as I put it in to the oven, that it was too sticky and wasn't going to turn out, it is really, really good!
Almost No-Knead Bread
1/2008
An enameled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid yields best
results, but the recipe also works in a regular cast- iron Dutch oven
or heavy stockpot. (See the related information in "Making Your Dutch
Oven Safe for High-Heat Baking" for information on converting Dutch
oven handles to work safely in a hot oven.) Use a mild-flavored lager,
such as Budweiser (mild non-alcoholic lager also works). The bread is
best eaten the day it is baked but can be wrapped in aluminum foil and
stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days.
Makes 1 large round loaf
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (15 ounces), plus additional for
dusting work surface
1/4 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water (7 ounces), at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons mild-flavored lager (3 ounces)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1. Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and
vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from
bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap
and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
2. Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet
and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly
floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by
pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to
parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick
cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room
temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring
back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest
position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on
rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and,
using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep
slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid.
Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let
any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven.
Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and
instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20
to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to
wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
Polly and I made 5-3/4 Quarts of peach preserves on Sunday. Plus Polly made two double-sized peach crisps. And Polly still had an over-stuffed Safeway bag full of whole peaches when I left her house last night.
My fingernails are still stained.
70 years young, still touring, making music, having fun and one of the nicest people one could ever hope to know. I love you!
Davey helped Mark and I with a bit of yard work yesterday morning. He loves wearing Mark's gloves or trying to walk in our shoes. It's a good thing he's got good balance and strong hands.
After some tug-o-war over dinner being required before dessert, Davey's happy side eventually came out.
Today is Davey's 22 month birthday! He is such a joy in our lives and charms those who know him. He's so bright, observant, funny and cute. Not that we're biased, of course.
Bonnie keeps telling us, "You need to get that boy tested!"
He's parroting what we say all the time, kissing us (and his toys and books), full of energy, loves to take things apart and put them back together again, play with the hose (including a mastery of the hose nozzle), have us read to him and also sit by himself and read. He loves drawing with crayons, finger painting, throwing rocks, watering plants, feeding the goldfish, going for walks, EATING. The kid is great! He still loves his weekly Kindermuzik and Gymnastics classes and enjoys socializing with the kids in class and on the playground.
Oh, and of course, when we let him run around naked he voluntarily uses his potty!
After his bath we did a little measuring, to see where he stands, physically. Our scale only measures to the 1/2 pound and he was wearing a (fresh) diaper and we're not sure if we measured his height the same as at the doctor's office or not, but here's what we wrote down anyway:
Height: 34"
Weight: 22.5lbs
Head: 19.5" in diameter
Thanks for being our boy, David!
As witnessed in a post on this blog earlier in the week, it was TIME for Davey to get a haircut. I took him to the Panda Room in Novato this afternoon and he got through it without much fussing! The secret: I gave him a lollipop DURING the haircut. The promise of a lollipop after being a good boy during a hair cut was not going to cut it.
However, the distraction of the lollipop and a basket full of toys was enough for him to get an excellent hair cut. Yes!
