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Crusty Bread (aka the easiest bread)
Several months ago, when I was on a big Pinterest kick, I ran across a crusty bread recipe. It seemed easy enough for a non-bread maker. Four ingredients, three of which I had on hand. Matt and I ran to Costco a few days later and I found my missing ingredient, yeast.
With my all the ingredients, I began making my first batch of crusty bread. OMG, this stuff is seriously the EASIEST to make! Not to mention it’s delicious. I’ve made several batches so far and every time it turns out amazing!
Here’s what you’ll need:
1/2 tsp Yeast (I use active dry yeast)
1 3/4 tsp Salt (I like kosher)
3 c. Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 c. Warm Water
Cast Iron Pot
Mix 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour with 1 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of yeast in a glass bowl. Whisk together and add 1 1/2 cups of warm water. I like to use a fork for mixing since it will get gooey. Cover the mix and let it sit for 12 hours. Do not refrigerate.
It will get kind of bubbly and rise. Once it’s sat for at least 12 hours (I’ve let mine sit for up to 18 before and it was fine) preheat your oven to 450*. When your oven is preheated put your empty cast iron pot in the oven for 30 mins. I’ve never tried it with anything other than cast iron so you’ve been warned.
About 5 mins before the timer goes off I will take my dough and flour it. Just throw some flour on the counter and cover the dough. You can be generous with this.
Carefully remove the pot lid and put your dough inside. I just dump it in. No need for oil. I bake mine for 20 mins covered and 10 uncovered. The recipe from my pin says 3o and 20. That was too long for me and my oven. I also like my bread a little more moist and it was little too dry at 30 mins.
Once the bread has browned to your liking remove it from the pot and let it sit on a wire cooling rack. It’s best not to cut while it’s hot. Trust me, it’s a bad idea. You will end up with smushed bread.
***I don’t normally post recipes so I apologize for the roughness of this post.
~k
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A New Fave
You know I love mascara right? Well I do! I’ve always had pretty eyelashes and I want my mascara to make them look even better. For months now, Loreal’s Power Volume Collagen mascara has been my go to. You can find my review here. A few weeks ago mom and I were out shopping and we ran to Ulta. She wanted something to make her eyelashes grow and in the process we found Revlon’s Lash Potion mascara. I grabbed a tube of this and she bought the Revlon Grow formula. I normally buy mascara and then regret my decision and switch back to the Loreal but OMG! This stuff is amazing! It hardly clumps and it adds a ton of volume to my lashes. I think I’m most impressed with the fact that I don’t have to do multiple heavy coats to create volume. It only takes a few light coats to really plump them up. (When I say a few light coats I mean layering 1 good coat I guess. I don’t let it dry and add more if that helps.)
I’ve been using this mascara for a few weeks now and I am still impressed. Normally I either like mascara’s at the beginning or near the end of the tube once it’s dried out a bit. I tend to get mascara all over my eyes so if they are too “wet” it’s just a mess but tends to get better after a few weeks. I have problems with this even with the Loreal but not nearly as much with the Lash Potion. For $8.00 a tube this is a must try especially if you are a mascara lover like me!
~k
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So this happened!
For about 6 years now, since I got my foot tattooed, I’ve wanted one on my wrist. Two years ago when Matt and I went to New York I decided it would be a really cool idea to do it there. I knew it would be much more expensive but part of that was the experience. We got to NYC and I chickened out. You have bones and veins in your wrist and that has to hurt right? It probably didn’t help that I really had no idea what I wanted.
Fast forward a year and a half and I finally found what I wanted a few weeks ago. As soon as I found it I knew so I contacted VanNess and Fellows, a local studio for a guy I found on IG. Unfortunately he was booked for like 6 months out but he had a guest artist that weekend. I made an appt for Saturday and drug Matt with me. We ran to lunch downtown and I grabbed a glass of wine. Then we headed to the studio. I say studio because this was hands down THE NICEST place ever!
Ten minutes later I had a cute little heart and anchor tattoo on the inside of my wrist. It’s not quite complete yet but I’ll have to wait to finish it.
The tattoo itself was uncomfortable and a little painful once or twice but overall not bad enough that I wouldn’t do it again. The painful part came the next day. Man my wrist was sore and achey.
I think I will probably need a touch up but I was told this up front. The artist, Scottie, told me just to let the studio know and they would get it set up. It hasn’t fully healed yet so I don’t want to call. Scottie also works at a studio in Wilmington so it would have to be done at a later date when he’s in town. Till then I think it will be fine. Plus like I said, it’s not quite complete so I’m hoping that I might can get both done.
~k
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Check In
It’s been a few weeks now and my project at work is still running into road block after road block. This is partially our fault for not setting the necessary (or correct) parameters. However, this thing was just built like crap and now we are having issues trying to make a not fully complete or functional product work. Not to mention very little support. I should add I’m talking about software.
For the past 2 months or so I’ve spent many, many hours sitting in rooms hashing out details and testing. Oh my god the testing! I am currently sitting at my desk doing more tests. Tests I’ve done hundreds of times (it feels like hundreds anyway!) Every time we get one thing working something else seems to break. It’s like that scene in Poltergeist when JoBeth Williams is running down the hallway. She can see the door but she can’t get there. That’s what I feel like right now too!
I’m hoping we will actually get this process launched next week and life can move on. (I’m also hoping I can move on to a new position! I’ve put in a lot of time and work on this and I hope it yields some reward!)
Next week I hope to return to blogging on a regular basis so watch out!
~k