Oh, home made bread......

This morning's project....

We've been watching the British Baking Show ~ which far surpasses any American version of the same in our opinion ~ and we didn't have any bread, so I decided we needed some home made bread today.  I used to make bread all the time.  The past 5 to 8 years it's something I do only once in awhile.  I used a recipe I've probably only made once or twice.  So, although I used to have loads of confidence in my bread making skills, today I was worried that I "over proofed" it.  Turns out I didn't ~ its hard to see in the picture but the loaf on the left is really tall.  It would make a huge sandwich.  The one on the right is a bit smaller, but both rose much higher in the oven than I thought they would.  

Have you ever wanted to make bread, but felt intimidated by the idea?  I ran across a web site that takes you step by step with great suggestions.  The only thing you might not have is a scale that measures grams.  Everything else is negotiable, but handy.  I'm going to try his white bread recipe on Monday or Tuesday, because it looks awesome.

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The "blizzard" sort of fizzled out, but when we first woke up yesterday the wind was blowing fiercely and it did have a blizzard look.  I guess.  I've never been in one before, haha.  But I told the auto shop that I wouldn't be venturing out to pick up my suv until Monday.  Today the roads look pretty clear, but the shop is closed on the weekend.  It's been an emotional roller coaster.  First it's just the stuff I mentioned in my last post, and then there was another "noise" that they attributed to my transmission.  They offered to replace my transmission filter to see if that clears things up ~ at no charge, which was a bit of a surprise.  I finally spoke to them yesterday afternoon and they said that they had replaced the filter and there is no noise on the test drive.  BUT they mentioned how dark the fluid was when they changed it, and asked me about the service I had done a couple of years ago.  So, there's some discrepancy, which is driving me nuts.  I remember the transmission shop telling me they did not want to change the fluid because sometimes it creates more problems in older vehicles.  But when the current shop called the other shop, the guy told them they did change the fluid.  But I distinctly remember him telling me they didn't.  So, shop #1 said that if they did, it was a problem for it to look so dark after 1100 miles ~ but if they didn't it would be normal.  Ugh.  And of course, the paperwork is in my glove box.  Romeo is really upset, because it implies that ~ in the worst case scenario ~  I have a transmission problem.  Which is a huge problem because it would cost more to replace the transmission than my jalopy is worth.  All I can do at this point is hope for the best.  Cross your fingers for me, will ya?

Love, 365