January Thaw!

Hi! Well, after 2-3 months, Annie and I finally got to walk again and it was a good one! Near 50 degrees and sunny (in January?)! Do you see the plane in the above picture?

This will just be a short post so that I can share a few pictures and the tasty supper I made. 😀

First, let me back up a few days. Some of you know that Omaha had an “ice day” on January 16. Rick’s company did not work that day as much of Omaha was shut down. This had never happened before in his 28 years of working there. We ate and played some old games! UNO, Hangman, and UpWords (my favorite). It was nice.

We treated ourselves to cinnamon rolls and hazelnut coffee….yum!

He kept beating me!! 🙁

We froze on Monday.

We melted on Tuesday.

We “crystallized” on Wednesday morning.

The first thing I noticed was that the tree tops were glistening in the early morning blue sky! It was beautiful.

I love these “crisp” edges of ice. Do you like to crunch them? I do! Good memories. 🙂

Blue skies smiling on me, nothing but blue skies do I see. Lyrics by Irving Berlin, 1926

After the walk, I had a long day ahead of me in the kitchen. I had plans to sear a roast in my dutch oven and then bake it in a roaster. After the roast was done, I used the dutch oven to bake the bread. I also baked potatoes, regular and sweet. The menu in full was: tender, flavorful beef roast, baked sweet and Yukon gold potatoes, green beans, and crusty bread. (I used some whole wheat flour along with the white.)

That searing gave the roast such rich flavor! 😀

Mix of white and whole wheat crusty bread

Pretty tasty! 😉

Here is the recipe for the 18-hour Crusty Bread.

3 cups of flour (sometimes I use some whole wheat flour, but not more than 1 cup!)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water

In large glass bowl combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and stir until combined–dough will be shaggy and sticky. Drizzle with a bit of oil, cover and let rise at room temperature for about 18 hours.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface, let rest 15 minutes. Fold dough over into a circle–do not knead. Put the same glass bowl on top and let rise 2 hours.

The last 1/2 hour (of the 2 hours) turn oven on to 425 degrees and put the empty dutch oven with the lid into your oven. When the dough has risen for the 2 hours, take the pan out of the oven and put the dough in–seam side up (if possible). Bake with the lid on for about 30 minutes, then take lid off and continue baking for about 20 minutes more. Bread should be golden and very crusty! Enjoy with lots of butter…or not. 🙂

Homemade crusty bread with lots of butter