Firewood Surprise, Baking, Vegan Meals and Pacing Myself

I've found that life is much more manageable when I'm a bit more organized, but more importantly, when I don't try to bite off more than I can chew. Then again, I can't seem to help that.

The day started out innocently enough when I was trying to write in the morning when the phone rang about 6:00 AM and it was Andy telling me that my wood was being loaded onto the truck and that they were going to deliver it that day. Talk about coming out of nowhere. I had to stop what I was doing and go out to the end of the driveway to meet the truck that was delivering it, a big semi holding several tons of wood. I stood out there for about an hour and waited in the freezing cold (it's hovering around 15 degrees right now-Spring, you gotta love it) before Ruth came out and told me I was in the wrong place. Apparently rather than deal with finding our house, he wanted me to come out and meet them at their site, which thankfully was only a few miles away, so I drove out there.

And now we have our wood. Seven cords of the beautiful stuff, what a relief. One less thing to have to worry about, though now I've got to cut and split it, but what better job for a real man in training? It's pretty impressive how they haul and unload the stuff, and a nice source of entertainment for the whole family. Who needs TV?

Once we spent the day playing on the pile, we had plenty of other things to do, but as I mentioned, organization and knowing my limitations are the key to a peaceful existence. We've been baking bread like crazy, and in the interest of being practical, I try to use the oven for as many things as possible, and this is where I get into trouble. In the past, I've tried to bake bread, make bagels, bake cookies and brownies, and if possible, a baked entree for dinner in one day. That is way too much, and by the end I'm screaming at the kids to leave me alone and let me finish. Not a pretty scene.

So this time around, even though it went against my inclination to bake as much as I can when that thing is on, I cut back, and boy was it smoother. We only made bread, cookies, and brownies. That is, after we took care of domestic and homeschool issues.

Since we had P&J over for dinner and she brought along this killer raisin bread, we've been inspired to make our own, though I think ours is more "whole grainier" and, dare I say, healthier, but who's to say? Just wanted to mention that since I've been employing the sponge, the bread has been coming out the way we love it-crisp crust and soft and chewy on the inside. Baking bread is a chore, but can be very satisfying when your family loves the stuff you make. You can't beat that, there's something about the smell of fresh baked foods that make a house feel like a home.

Recently in the news there's been more and more information about the potential detrimental effects of too much red meat, and I think about how I used to live on the stuff in LA, in it's worst form-fast food. I can't believe how much of that garbage I ate, at least I could have cooked it myself. Either way, I was thoroughly enmeshed in suburban car culture, and a large part of that is fast food. No way around it.

Which makes me feel all the better about our meatless direction in life. As I've said, we still eat meat, just less of it, and when we do, we go for the chicken and lots of fish. Best of all, the kids like the food we make, so it just goes to show you, you can make healthy meals that kids will eat, you just have be creative and willing to do a little leg work. Vegetarian eating is more work, no doubt about it, but what could more important than the food you feed your family, and yourself?

We had yellow pea dal with rice last night, a la Moosewood, with broccoli and a frittata. You gotta love eggs, a great meat substitute, and our kids love the dish. Plus, it's sort of gourmet, something to be proud of, and a good opportunity to bring out the Martha Stewart in you.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Mellow but Exhausting Day, Bread Thoughts.

Even though yesterday was nothing compared to all that went on the day before, it was an exhausting day, and by the time my wife got home, I found myself clinging to consciousness. Brutal. We didn't have much of an agenda, just the way I like it, and yet I think I was on my feet the entire day, doing assorted homeschool and domestic projects. It's the cooking/baking that kills you. Sometimes it's amazing to think of the time and energy you put into making meals, especially when you're leaning towards vegetarianism, all for an activity that takes up less than an hour. I'm not knocking the family meal, and we're not about to change how and what we eat, but it just goes to show you, like a lot of things in life, it's got to be a labor of love. You've got to enjoy the process rather than focusing on the end reward, because not only is the end reward not always what it's cut out to be, but life is really about the process.

Not unlike karate, and pretty much everything in between.

The reward of it all, besides the journey, is when you make something that the entire family loves. We've found a good recipe for raisin bread, and everyone is enjoying it. It was inspired by our friend's visit on St. Pat's, she'd brought some raisin bread and it was really good. And there's nothing like having fresh bread and bagels on hand to eat, something satisfying about having good food in the house. It makes me feel good about being a parent.

It also dawned on me why I was so tired-from the alcohol. I never drink. I love beer, but don't like catching a buzz, and I have a low tolerance for alcohol. Now normally I never even drink a beer, but when we have social occasions find myself drinking them even though I vow not to. Of course, St. Pat's day was no exception, and not only did I have beer, but we drank Guiness that P brought over. The next day, I was tired all day, and I think it was the after effect of the alcohol. I know, it's wimpy of me, and not very real-mannish, but I can't argue with my genes.

Then again, who can? Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Anyway, baking always manages to push me over the edge, not that I'm losing my temper, but it's a load of work, and the mess it makes can bring me to tears. A small price to pay, however, for fresh bagels (not as beautiful as Nanny Oggs!) and raisin bread. We had friends over for dinner the other night and J brought raisin bread over that was killer, so it inspired us to make our own.

Speaking of bread, while our recipe has yet to reach the stratosphere of perfect bread, we've gotten pretty good at making an adequate loaf of healthy, whole grain bread that has the qualities that we look for in a loaf-firm and hopefully crisp crust with a soft and chewy interior with big holes. We've been conferring with many people and the latest incarnation is an amalgm of advice from assorted bread experts. Baking is a soul satifying excursion.

Looking forward to another day in paradise. Until then, thanks for reading.