Saturday, April 28, 2007

Eeyore's Birthday 2007


Hey all! LD and I had a great time at Eeyore's Birthday on Saturday. It was hot- summer isn't here yet, but it we got a pre-view :-)

Lindsey and Don were there and I brought Katy and Ziggy with me. Lindsey got a lovely henna tatoo. I had some corn dogs and beer, sat in the drum circle, cheered at the sack-races and paid my respects at the Eeyore of Liberty.

Eeyore's Birthday Party is an annual day-long festival that has been a part of Austin culture for 44 years. First and foremost the party is a watch and be watched event - costumes/dogs/children welcome. It is also a fund-raiser to benefit non-profit groups in Austin. These groups sell hot and cold food (including vegetarian), soft drinks, juices, water, and lots and lots of Texas beer - Live Oak, Real Ale, Shiner, and many others.

Monday, April 02, 2007

No Knead Bread Recipe

Hey Gang!

The Hoppers hosted a lovely chili dinner at their house last weekend. A small but enjoyable group attended. A lovely time was had by all. One very yummy part of the evening was the No Knead Bread that Misty had made. It was a HUGE hit! Here is the recipe for anyone who wants to try it out.

No-Knead Bread

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 5/8 cups water
cornmeal or wheat bran as needed


1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir
until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 hours, at warm room temperature,
about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work
surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it
over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about
15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your
fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel
(not terry-cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on
towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel
and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double
in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a
5- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as
it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slid your hand
under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess,
but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will
straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid
and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on rack.

YIELD: One 1 1/2 pound loaf.