Finally making the bread!

Last year, two of my most dear friends, E and L, decided to do a year of Martha Stewart cakes. They got together once a month and made one of Martha's most decadent, butter-filled creations...and many others of us enjoyed the bounty of their work and culinary learning!

This year, many more of us are blessed to be joining them in a year of bread, cheese, and yogurt making. (betcha didn't think it was possible to make at least 2 of these three things at home!)

January was no-knead bread. February was mozzarella! (only takes 30 mins to make!)

Problem is that I haven't been free (for reasons beyond my control) for both get-togethers. And the bread requires some attention to time. It's easy to mix the dough...but you have to be around 18 hours later to finish up the process. Doing the math has been a huge handicap to me. Finally, tonight, I mixed up my first batch of dough. Doesn't look like much now, but I'm excited to see it in 18 hours! Many thanks to L for providing me with a SUPER detailed time chart which helped me figure out when to start my dough :)

Dear Retail Giant

Dear Retail Giant,

Not sure if you noticed, but the calendar still says February. Here in Central Pennsylvania, and the rest of the U.S. for that matter, there is really very little need for bathing suits right now. Today the sun's out, which has brought the thermometer reading all the way up to 10 degrees. I'd consider purchasing one of your brand new patio sets, the better to enjoy the sun, but the wind chill just might kill me, especially if I really am sporting one of those teeny weeny bikinis you've got on your racks. And then there's the fact that I just got started on my annual weight loss resolution (see previous post), and I'm just not quite ready to bear it all.

With our latest round of snow and ice (remember, it does snow in February!), we found that we could really use a new shovel, and we ran out of ice melt, so that was on our shopping list too. So we saddled up the hybrid SUV and went to the nearest, handiest, has all you could ever need retail giant, only to find that we'd be better off planting shrubs than in removing ice from our driveway. Not one single snow shovel or bucket of ice melt was to be found. This situation might be acceptable in mid-March, but on the 8th of February???

And that brings me back again to my resolution. I'm doing great! So well that I might need to buy a new pair of pants or two. What's that? Pants season is over? You'll have to wait until July (as that's when winter clothes come in) to find another pair of cords or slacks or.....?? A*$!@!

So, giant retailer, as I sit in my house watching the snow blow by the window, pile up in my driveway with the next storm rolling in tomorrow, you will be the very last one I think of should a need arise!

The local hardware store might have to charge more because they can't afford to buy/store the massive quantities of stock that you do, but they know that you still need shovels and snow pants in February.

The down-town apparel shop is surely more expensive, but they can tell you where their clothing was made, and they keep their sweaters through at least March knowing that we do indeed need them.

Mr. Giant Retail Store, bigger is most certainly not always better!

Frosted Glass

Frosted Glass
Originally uploaded by annielivre

We had an ice storm last night. It was awesome in that it bought us a two-hour delay which NEVER happens at PSU!

It was crappy in that it hasn't really stopped and everything is slippery! I took this photo this morning around 9:30, while I was waiting inside the bus shelter for my bus into campus from the commuter lot. I really like the look of it, so decided to share.

Work At Home Days

WorkatHomeDay 001
Originally uploaded by annielivre

This Wednesday, I decided to work from home. When I first started my job as a faculty librarian, I was intrigued by the concept that I could opt to do this once in awhile. But the first couple of times I tried it...well...not much work happened!

Now that time is harder to come by, I've come to relish these rare opportunities to set up my post at the kitchen table and get things done whilst still wearing my jammies, listening to the coffeehouse jam channel on the Dish, and drinking as much coffee as I please.

I got a lot done this week! It feels good to be finally a little bit of the way through piles and piles of documentation I need to create. Next time, maybe I'll get to work on something more fun...like an article about the library's new leisure reading collection :)

Oh yeah, and here's what my editerz were busy doin' allllllll day!

My Editerz
Originally uploaded by annielivre