Bah Humbug - Bread Baking

OK, I stand corrected.  It was an absolute blast.  To be honest, I never knew I had it in me.  We went down to a small independent bakery south of Seattle.  The owner/baker/sole employee does all of her own baking and is quite popular in her neighborhood for her rustic white sandwiches.

Well, we learned first about making bread and then we made rustic white and focacia.  My girlfriend who is the best cook between us took right to it.  I needed a little coaching about the kneading and working the dough.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and quite tasty too.  I am going to see if I can put her recipes on the site, I think you will all love them.

Bread Making, Who Would Have Thought It...

My girlfriend and I are taking a Bread Making class tonight.  This will be my first attempt at being a baker, so wish me well.  Her excitement is palpable, mine on the other hand is mildly excitable.  Oh well, I guess that is how it goes.

Any suggestions for what type of breads are the best to make are welcome, as I was planning to focus solely on pretzels, much to the chagrin of my girlfriend.

West Wing Reruns

Man was not meant to survive on West Wing Reruns alone.  After 4 days of being under the weather, I can't take another second of President Bartlett... I am sure he can't take another of me either, so I guess we are even. 

Back at work today, and just trying to get caught up.

Skiing & Bok Choy Soup

Still tired from a weekend of skiing at the Pass, which is about 45 minutes East of Seattle.  Not the greatest conditions, but still a lot of fun.  This is the first time I have bought a season's pass, and the Pass didn't even open until a week and half ago.  Yikes!  I better get the best out of my purchase ASAP.  Anyway, my girlfriend has this great Bok Choy soup recipe that is the greatest breakfast on the slopes that anyone can imagine.  I know, it sounds weird, but it works!  Ingredients:  Bok Choy, Egg Noodles, Chicken Broth, Salt, Soy Sauce and water. 

It hits the spot and is mouth watering tasty!  Not too heavy that you have to sit in the lodge for a few hours waiting for your breakfast to settle.  I hit the slopes immediately!

Unfortunately, it isn't on the site, but I will see what I can do!

eating too well

My girlfriend and I cooked a great dinner last night, and my favorite of the two dishes we tried from Allrecipes.com was Fresh Asparagus Soup.  We also tried the Rosemary Pork Roast, which needed more salt than the recipe suggests.  It was a great dinner, complimented by a great Merlot!

Also, personal suggestion for a great appetizer for a party is Boniet.  Quite an awesome spread on small pieces of toast.  We had it at our New Year's party, and it was the first to disappear.

Have a great weekend!  Let me know if you find any other great dishes.

Allrecipes Gear!

I have my own personal Allrecipes coffee mug, now sitting prominently on my desk via our new merchandise available at http://www.cafepress.com/allrecipes.  Some of the biggest sellers have been our baby bibs which state "this mess brought to you buy allrecipes."  Who knew they would do so well?   I had personally thought the mugs and shirts would be the best sellers.

This is my first post, and I am interested in knowing what people want to hear about!  We have a line of great Cookbooks (http://shop.allrecipes.com/shop/tnt/allbooks.asp) as well as a weight management service (http://shop.allrecipes.com/np/npsell/content/front/weight.asp).