Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

The weekend is going smoothly and Dad is very happy here. Last night he enjoyed my turkey soup and watching Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman. I told him I'd be taking him home today but he wanted to make sure he'd be going home after lunch. Sweet! But, I called Kathy and asked if she could pick him up later today so he could stay longer with us since he's enjoying himself. That way, he'll get to meet the Donner-Mae's and maybe sample some of Smokin-Hot-Poppy's smokey tid-bits.

Here's a look at what will be some of Smokin-Hot-Poppy's goods:



Yesterday I made my stocking stuffers, wonder what they are?



Got up at the crack of dawn this morning...with Dad. Took him for a walk down at the beach. Jax-The-Cheese-Connesewer loves her walks:



Let's move on to the nitty-gritty of the day. I decided that I'd make some bread for our little party today...with commercial yeast. Sensei-John is clutching his chest about now. Anyhoo, I figure, the more experience I can get playing with dough while I wait for Baby-Gus-II to grow, the better.

This morning's loaves are Rustic Italian. Keep in mind, this is new for me, cause why? Right...I'm no baker.

So here we go, the beginning:



Next up, Jabba-The-Dough. The lesson for me here, I think, is to feel how the texture of the dough changes while I knead it. I figured it was done after it felt like a piece of bubble-gum that you chewed a bit too long and started to have this rubber band quality.



Letting the shaped bread rise before heading to the oven. I wonder, if you leave them to keep rising, will they turn into THE BLOB and devour the City by the Bay?



And finally, the finished product:



It's so pretty! Tastes good, albeit, a little bland. I even put more salt in than the recipe called for. But it sure is pretty! It's good with butter. But it sure is pretty! I gave some to My-Worst-Food-Critic-Poppy, she took a bite...I looked at her like a little puppy, panting...just waiting for a little morsel of approval. She simply said "It's bread." Oh, ouch...she kicked the puppy! But it sure is pretty!

Poopy-Poppy, bless her heart, said I should slice it thin, if I can, and toast it. Why it'll be the perfect vehicle for her stupid-smoked-salmon. Whatever!

I'm making pancake batter from scratch a little later, can't wait to see how I can mess that up! Okay, I might be a little sensitive and hormonal.

But, it sure is pretty!

I'll leave you with this...Dad just asked "How did I get soup in my pocket?"

Later.