The Best of Bread

A great record album of my mispent youth was "The Best of Bread". Not a very rebellious group. One not known for getting into trouble. But the music is still good. I think "If" is still one of the most beautiful songs ever. But....I am dating myself!

This entry is really about actual bread. Not money. Not the group. You know...the kind you eat. This weekend I made my first batch of homemade english muffins. It sounds easy enough, right? Well, here's a spoiler...it requires yeast. Who knew? It all started when I became addicted to Thomas' cranberry muffins. I LOVE THEM! I can't get enough of them. But, apparently, they only make them around the holiday season. I bought up all the leftovers at my local grocery store last month and am hoarding them in my freezer as I write this. It occurred to me that after the frozen ones are gone, what am I going to do? How will I get my cranberry muffin fix?

I proceeded to go online to try and find where else they might have some more that I could buy. It quickly became apparent that there were no more to be had. Bummer. So I took a big step. I actually went to a recipe page and started searching for recipes. Then I realized that all the recipes included the dreaded ingredient.....yeast! Now, when I was in high school, and not having much of a life, I did spend a summer baking homemade bread while listening to "Bread" on the record player in the adjoining room. I had plenty of time on my hands and lots of creativity bursting forth. Wow, was I pathetic. So, to a certain extent, I have had experience with yeast. And the one thing I learned about yeast is that in the right hands, under the right conditions, it can be manna from heaven. However, if you don't know what you are doing, it can turn ugly but not in a hurry. In fact, nothing related to yeast happens in a hurry. You won't know things have gone bad until you taste it.

Embarking on my first yeast voyage in some years, I was slightly nervous. In fact, I flubbed the second step in the english muffin recipe. But, I forged ahead. I didn't have white bread flour so I substituted wheat bread flour. I mixed, kneaded and rested. It rose like it was supposed to. I put on the hot griddle and a cooked those babies for ten minutes on each side. And then.....(drum roll)... the moment of truth.

Nyah. Not bad. Not good, but not bad. Especially warm, with butter slathered generously on top. They were also a little light on the nooks and crannies. And a little yeasty-tasting. Oh well, better luck next time. I think I'll throw some craisins into the next batch when this batch is all gone. If it ever is.... It's still sitting there. Six of them, uneaten.

Farewell Shenaqua!

To most people, I bet this will sound totally corny. But, here goes. Our wacky family has been in the habit of naming and assigning gender to our cars. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it's because we consider the car a member of the family; maybe because we get a little too emotionally attached to inanimate objects; maybe because we are a little crazy; maybe all of the above.

When we first bought our giant, red minivan many years ago, I began calling it "Big Red" after the red Texas soda. Big Red was definitely a guy. He hauled us around Albany for ten years and had three transmissions (all under warranty, I might add). We ate entire meals in that van as I trucked my girls from one softball game, soccer game, gynastics class or dance class to another.

Then came the gold Toyota, known as Goldie. She was definitely a woman. And not just a woman, but a very classy woman. We still own Goldie but now she has made the transition from Mom's car to Brittany's car. She is a GREAT car and has never given us any trouble. Oh, the odd flat tire now and then, but mechanically she's got it going on. Recently, my oldest daughter needed a car to get around town now that she lives off her college campus. Since Shenaqua is really getting up there, we decided Britt should take Goldie and I would drive Shenaqua until I could find another car for myself.

Our Shenaqua! What can I say about her? She was purchased for Brittany to drive when she got her driver's license for approximately $3000 and she had about 91,000 miles on her. She is a 1998 Mercury Tracer and when we saw her, my husband thought she had a great body. We made sure that she was safe, so she became my daughter's first car. My youngest daughter and I christened her Shenaqua because at the time Queen Latifah was in a movie that my girls liked. In the movie, there was another character name Shaneequah. Bridget and I decided (because it is rumoured that Bridget and I share one brain between us) that since the car was an aqua color, "Shenaqua" should be the car's name and it stuck.

Four and a half years since we first got her, Shenaqua has reached the end of her life. She has 117,000 miles on her, a damaged catalytic converter, her transmission is shot and she's been in several fender benders. It's time for her to go to that Big Junk Yard in the Sky. Today we say goodbye to Shenaqua but we will always remember the good times. Yes, and some of those good times Britt could tell you, but I don't really want to know about...

Goodbye Shenaqua! We'll always remember you, but not miss you too much because of that way you had of slipping out of drive when I most needed you to go forward....

B-bye!

Apple Picking Early October 2007

At the very end of the apple picking season John and I went to the local farm to pick some apples. This is an annual event for our family. When the kids were little we'd pack them in the car and head out. In addition to apples, the trip always includes purchasing a gallon of cider--hand pressed before your very eyes--and cider donuts. Cider and donuts are a rare treat in the great northeast. It only lasts during the month of September and early October.

Now that the kids are all grown up, John and I find ourselves trekking out to Indian Ladder Farm by ourselves in search of the yummy goodness of apples fresh-picked by our own hands. This year, we were a little disappointed. We caught the very end of apple picking season. The only apples they were allowing us to pick were a rather tasteless, small yellow apple that I can't remember the name of.

When we told the guy at the stand that we didn't like the apples where we were picking he sent us across the street behind the big barn to pick what was left of the golden delicious. Initially we drove across the street and behind the barn and past the pumpkin patch. We started walking up a hill to find the golden delicious. We walked and walked. Finally we came upon several rows of very spotty, suspicious-looking yellow apples. Upon tasting them, John determined them to be OK. So we began picking. As we walked along picking, we came upon another group of trees with weirdly shaped red apples, then further on another variety of red apples. Since none of these areas had signs, we have no idea what we picked. John must have eaten 25 apples before we were done as he felt it necessary to taste test after the first batch were tasteless. I , alas, don't like fresh apples at all and don't eat them. I like 'em cooked but not raw. So John was the sole taster. Ultimately we came home with a big bag of apples of dubious distinction and we are eating them.

Next year we will start earlier so we can get the good ones.

My Trip to Texas: October 10-16, 2007

This October my grandmother turned 90 years old so I just had to make a trip to see her and all the family. Since it was a big surprise, I had to lay low a couple of days so she wouldn't know I was there.

Since I stayed with my Dad any Diana, I visited with them first. Diana and I shopped at Las Canteras a new upscale outdoor shopping mall. It was absolutely beautiful. I bought some Pecan Pumpkin Butter at a Williams-Sonoma store along with a recipe for Pecan Pumpkin Butter Bars which I made once I got back to NY. It was delicious! We gawked at all the stuff in the Tiffany store, almost bought a tie for John in the Brooks Bros. store. Tracy, my brother also made the trip from Long Island, NY to be with us. It was the first time since my 40th birthday (if you know me, you can do the math) that I had been in the same room with my two siblings. My brother, Joe and his wife, Kay had us over for dinner one night and she cooked a fabulous, out of this world dinner for us. Joe, Trace, and Ross had a little jam session in Joe's music room. I was a go-go dancer, while Diana filled in on the bongos! We had a really nice time. I almost got to go up again in my dad's plane, but that didn't happen because of the new concrete being poured in front of his hanger. Maybe next time, Dad!

Then, there was the big birthday party! The family all met at a seafood restaurant. We went it in small groups so that my grandmother (who was already there) could see us and greet us. I think it made it easier for her to take it all in and to actually see all the people there. It was so great to see my cousin, Debra Lynn was there with her youngest daughter, Kayla. I don't know how long it's been since I had seen her. All my Shockey cousins, wives, kids, etc were there. My Aunt Joy and Uncle Dennis were the organizers of this affair and deserve all the kudos for all they have done, and continue to do so that GM is well cared for. Mrs. Shockey looked great, as usual. After dinner, we all took the party to Toby and Danielle's house. Many thanks to them for hosting the get-together. The cake, which was especially made to look like a Spurs jersey was a stroke of genius! It was really a hit with GM. Plus, it was delicious. Good job! Thanks to Aunt Joy I took home three dozen frozen tamales (with jalapenos, of course!) in my suitcase.

My last morning at my Dad's house, we found a cute little kitten outside the greenhouse. It was tiny and Dad thought we should bring it inside and feed it. So here was this pink-ish kitten drinking tons of milk so I asked what they would name it. Both Dad and Diana replied at the same time as if they had planned it, "Susan". Anyway, the kitten turned out to be a boy. Yes, that's right. A boy named Sue.

As for myself, I had a wonderful time seeing everyone and gorging on mexican food all week. After I got home, while unpacking I found that the Homeland Security Office left a nice note in my luggage to let me know they had very kindly gone through my suitcase. Luckily, the tamales where still in tact. It must have been that cold temperature fluctuation that was detected that caused them to open it up. I mean, I've never heard of tamales being confiscated but you never know...

TBM Getaway October 26-28, 2007

This past weekend I went away for the weekend with some of my best buddies. I say "some" because there are eight of us altogether and only four of us were able to get away. We stayed in a small town in upstate NY at my friend Joanne's awesome condo. It takes about 3 hours to get there and we didn't leave until Friday about 4pm. We stopped in a medium sized town just outside our final destination so that we could eat. We ate BBQ at a new-ish restaurant that had the name "TEXAS" in it. (So we HAD to stop!) We met Joanne's niece and she was so cute! Then went on to the condo. Arrived around 9:30 pm so we were really tired. But instead of going to bed, we had a late night chat session until about 1am. The next day, we had a leisurely breakfast, went for a walk, shopped, ate lunch, shopped some more, took a drive around the town, came back to the condo, watched chick flicks until midnight, then hit the bed. Sunday we took a boat ride around the bay and saw some unbelievable summer homes. It was a beautiful, if slightly cool, day. Had lunch on our way home and arrived home around dinnertime. It was a great weekend and hope we can do it again! All you TBMs who didn't make this trip, you were very much missed. Watch the slideshow below for some of the highlights.

Our Trip to Lake Placid

After the dental office finally opened John and I decided to go away for a weekend to Lake Placid at the end of September. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in the fall. It was a perfect fall weekend. The weather was crisp and cool. The color was just about at peek conditions. We stayed at the Interlaken Inn, a small bed and breakfast on Mirror Lake. For those of you who are not familiar with the Lake Placid area, the downtown area of Lake Placid actually follows the shoreline of a smaller lake called Mirror Lake. No motor boats are allowed on Mirror Lake and there is an awesome, very low tech, toboggan slide in the winter where you can actually pay $5 for the day and toboggan right onto Mirron Lake. There is a small slip of land on the north end of Mirror Lake which separates it from the very large Lake Placid. Lake Placid historically has been the summer homes of Kate Smith, and Noel Coward, to name a few. Not to mention the 1932 and 1980 Olympics Games. (Maybe there have been more Olympic Games there. I'm not sure about that.) Anyway, Mirror Lake is a little over 3 miles around and Saturday morning John and I took a walk around the lake. We ate dinner at the Mirror Lake Inn one night and at the Interlaken Inn another night. It was heaven. Check out the slideshow below to see more photos of our trip.