Today was my first day out with both boys. The double stroller arrived over the weekend and I got into the playgroup I wanted to join last week, so the timing was right to get out of the house. I was a bit nervous, after all, I am outnumbered, but moms go out with more than one kid all the time, so if they can do it, I can do it. Right? Right!
For our first excursion, I took us to the library for story time. It's indoors, stationary, and educational for the boys, all of which seemed like positive factors in deciding what to do to make our first outing a success. I was surprised and delighted to discover that today's story time was actually music time! It was led by a teacher who works at a local music school and teaches early childhood music classes. There was a lot of bouncing and moving in rhythm with the music, which sounds unexciting but was actually really great. It was a fun, unexpected way to interact with the babies. The class was designed for a 1:1 parent to child ratio, so I did the best I could with two babies in my arms. They seemed to spend more energy studying what was going on around them rather than participating anyway. There were tons of kids there, but the parents kept the chaos factor under control. I thoroughly enjoyed doing something different with the boys and it has me motivated to do some research and figure out how I can design my own "music class" to do with the boys in the next couple months.
My other exciting news from this week so far is the amazing rye bread I made yesterday. My history of making things from yeast has been hit or miss the last couple years, but the yeast cooperated yesterday and the bread turned out delicious! I served it with a cauliflower and cheese soup for dinner, which wasn't amazing enough for me to share the recipe but it did pair well with the bread. It makes two loaves, which just makes the delicious awesomeness last longer:) Especially if you make grilled cheese with the bread for lunch, yummm!
Crystal River Rye Bread from Colorado Collage by Junior League of Denver
2 Tbs caraway seeds
1 c. hot water (120-130 degrees)
1 1/4 ounce package dry yeast
1 c. warm buttermilk (105-115 degrees)
1 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. honey
3 c. rye flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. unbleached flour, divided
2 Tbs. cornmeal
In large bowl, combine caraway seeds and hot water. Let stand 10 minutes to soften seeds. When water has cooled slightly, sprinkle in yeast. Add buttermilk, salt, butter, honey, rye flour, whole wheat flour, and 1 cup of the unbleached flour. Stir until well blended. If dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.
Place dough in oiled bowl, turning to coat entire surface. Cover with plastic wrap and towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, 2-3 hours. Grease large baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each piece into a loaf and place on prepared baking sheet. Cover with towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 30-40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet 10 minutes. Remove and cool on rack.
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