last meeting

Ceesa, my baking bread on Tuesday buddy, and I celebrated our last meeting  yesterday.   Well, not our LAST one, just the last one with the kids still out of the house and in school.  We have loads of evil fun plans for the summer.  Yep, Thelma and Louise will be road tripping with the kids to all sorts of fun and educational places.  Mostly touring small farm operations, checking out local water parks, geocaching and whatever else we can wrangle up to keep ourselves and the kids entertained.  If you are interested in hooking up with our posse, give me a call!

Before I list all of the various bread and bread related recipes we made over the past year, I will provide a recap of our celebration day.

The morning began with a trip to la mie bakery.  We arrived in time for brunch, but decided we would have rather come for an early breakfast, back for lunch, once again for a mid-afternoon snack, and finish it off with a dessert for supper.  Oh well, next time!  Ceesa ordered the spinach quiche (which was actually more of a frittata) and a mocha.  I opted for an avocado tartine (deconstructed egg sandwich) and some hot tea.  The food went fast ....... very fast.  We left with an Epi loaf and some dinner rolls in order to appease the family.

la mie sets their bread bounty, hot and fresh from the basement ovens, on a reclaimed marble counter.  You pick the bread you want, slide it in a paper bag and pay at the register.  Good luck getting home before sneaking in a bite or two.

After brunch, we waddled over to a consignment shop a couple of doors down called WORN.  I found a new/used wallet and a pair of capri's for Maddi, all while filling up a dressing room of clothes for Ceesa to try on.  I got a little antsy while she was trying on all those outfits, so I sneaked a picture from my bench.

 

If you have the opportunity, check out this store.  They really do have a great selection of quality consigned clothing.

Next up on the agenda was to visit a T-shirt shop, Raygun, (formally SMASH)  in the East Village.  The sarcastic and humorous (sometimes inappropriate ..... don't click on the link if you don't like naughty language) tees provided ample laughs and entertainment.  As did this sign:

Really? 
On a downtown street? 
With traffic? 
Ack. 

Kitchen Collage was the next store we needed to go and pay a visit.  I seemed to have a mild attack of ::squirell:: syndrome the moment we walked in, but rest assured, I was cured by the time ........... well okay; I was never really cured, but we did have a good time.  Oh! And, I had an opportunity to wax poetically about the benefits of soaking your grains.  Seriously! The owner was interested. I swear! 

I was so focused on the goods in Kitchen Collage I forgot to take photos.  So, here is a web picture of an item I purchased:

10 points to the first commenter who knows what this is used for.

Our final destination was La Tapatia (no link), a small Mexican market in DSM. 

We were searching for a tortilla press to share between our kitchens, and were pleasantly surprised to find some on the cheap; so we splurged and each bought one.  Now we can have fresh baked and relatively circular tortillas anytime we want!

You know, circle ones.  

Not um ........ bear-skin-rug shaped ones like we made the first time.

Sadly, time flew too fast and it was time to get back in order to pick up the children on time.  sigh 

And that is the end of my story.  Well, it could be if I really wanted it to be, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the utter and complete strength it took Ceesa to not whack me over the head with a cast iron tortilla press.  You see, sometimes I have a bad very bad habit if taking my silliness to the next level and crossing over to the dark side.  Luckily for me, Ceesa knows this about me and dutifully warned me before heading into the Mexican grocer that I needed to b-e-h-a-v-e myself.  Harumph.  I didn't even DO anything when Ceesa spun on her heal and left me in the produce section.  What? 

 I was simply admiring the produce

Now I can end the story.


Shoot, no I can't because I haven't listed the things Ceesa and I made while meeting on every other bread baking Tuesday during this almost past school year.

- glorious and bountiful white bread (loaves and rolls)
- not so glorious and bountiful pumpernickel loaves
- perfectly holey ciabatta
- 10 minute french loaves and rolls
- tortillas
- butter! (I know ..... this shouldn't count but hey; we made butter, people!)
- pizza dough
- and the pièce de résistance:  the CONFIDENCE to do it on our own!  

*all were made from basic ingredients and kneaded by hand.


If I had the time or energy at this point, I would go into and explain the theory that we have only just begun.  This project is BIGGER than us and is LEADING us to keep our minds open and the patience to see where it takes us.


Now, go break some bread with someone!