[day 94 – July 19] – Zoo

R & I took his niece and goddaughter to the zoo. The zoo is so much more fun with kids! They go “OOOO” in excitement at every exhibit…. even if there was no animal inside. I actually had more fun shooting photos of them than the animals, but don’t feel right posting them on here… Here are a few  of the (not so many)animal shots though.

[day 92 – July 17] – i do

R & I attended his friends’ wedding at this church. It was a rainy humid day and extremely hot inside the church.

[day 90 – July 15] – RRC and puking potatoes

Part of RRC on Princess.

Puking potatoes.

[day 87 – July 12] – Canadian geese

At the Forks.

Where they’re all just chillin’ out.

Getting fed by those who visit.

And not scared to get a little too close to those watching.
One guy watching said “Holy, these guys have guts, don’t they know that up north we eat them?”

[day 83 – July 8] – roses, dessert? Mitzi’s

I love to recieve flowers, but I always feel like it’s such a waste to throw them away when they wilt.

Dubs wanted to take me out for dessert for my birthday, so we headed to two different places. The first one, Just Deserts, turned out to be non-existent, and was replaced by a Thai restaurant. The second one, Cakeology, was closed.

SO we completely changed our minds and decided to try Mitzi’s, a Chinese food/chicken fingers hole in the wall restaurant. I’d heard that they had amazing chicken fingers and hole in the wall kind of places end up being pretty good most of the time.

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Chicken fingers served with consomme soup to start? Yup! Only at a Chinese restaurant though. I could tell it was powder beef broth mix consomme soup, but it was still good! The chicken fingers were good, but I don’t think I would go back because I’m not huge on fried food, I just get sudden, cravings for it, not very often though. Many people have claimed that it’s the best chicken fingers in town and I think I’d have to agree with them. Dubs thinks that their secret ingredient is sesame oil, which I wouldn’t doubt, at a Chinese restaurant!

I thought that it was very cute that they gave lollipops with faces drawn on with a Sharpie instead of mints.

[day 82 – July 7] – focaccia

Z, (from here on, sister 2, S2) made a delicious focaccia bread from “Bread Made Easy: A Baker’s First Break Book” by Beth Hensperger. It was so soft and tasty!

Here’s the recipe from the book that is modified with what S2 did:

One 11×17-inch rectanglaur baking sheet

400 degrees

INGREDIENTS

2tsp active dry yeast

pinch of sugar

3-3 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups warm fat-free milk (105-115 degrees)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

olive oil (spread on the top of the dough)

2 cloves garlic, minced

coarse salt (to sprinkle on the top of the dough)

yellow cornmeal (for sprinkling the pan)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast, sugar, and 1tbsp of the flour over the milk. Stir until dissolved and let stand till foamy (about 15min).

2. To make by hand: combine 1cup flour and the salt in a large bowl and make a well. Pour the yeast mixture and olive oil into the well and stir to combine. Using a balloon or dough whisk, beat vigorously for 2 minutes, adding the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, until a sticky dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
To make byKitchenAid: With the paddle attachment, combine 1 cup of the flour and salt in the workbowl and make a well. Pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil and stir on low to combine. On low speed, beat for 1min. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until a soft, smooth dough that just clears the sides of the bowl is formed. Use the flour guard or stop the machine, then start again after adding the flour to keep it from jumping out of the bowl. Switch to the dough hook when the dough thickens, about 2/3 through adding the flour, and knead for 2min on medium speed. The dough will be very soft.

3. Using a plastic dough card, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and just able to hold its own shape, 4-6 kneads to smooth out a machine-mixed dough and 2min for hand-mixed dough, dusting with flour only 1tbsp at a time, just enough to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands and the work surface. The dough should stay as soft as possible (it doesn’t need to hold its own shape), smooth, and very springy. From into a flattened ball.

4. Place the dough ball in a greased deep container, turn once to coat the top, and cover with plastic wrap. If using a mixer, you can put on the cover to let the dough rise in the bowl. Rise at room temperature until triple in bulk, approx 1.5hours. The dough may be refrigerated overnight at this point and left to stand at room temperature for 45min before proceeding.

5. Brush the baking sheet generously with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.

6. Place the dough ball on a lightly floured work surface. Use the heel of your hand or a rolling pin to press and flatten the dough until it is very thin, 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Lift and gently pull the dough, stretching it to fit into the pan. If the dough resists, let it rest for 5min and continue. Cover gently with oiled plastic wrap and lest rise at room temperature until double in bulk, 30min-1hour.

7. Using your fingertips or knuckles, gently poke indentations all over the dough surface about 1/4 inch deep and 2 inches apart. Spread olive oil and minced garlic on the top of the dough and sprinkle with the coarse salt.

8. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-35min or until lightly browned.

9. Let cool and ENJOY!

[day 24] – buttons

I love buttons for scrapbooking, but who knew they made such fun photos too!