Super Easy Thyme Bread

(Sorry for the ridiculously dark picture. I promise I wasn't baking in a cave.)

We made this last week and it was instantly gobbled up by my girls. 

As you know, I seriously dislike baking (all those exact measurements make me cranky!), but this recipe was low maintenance and easy to follow. It was ready so quickly and made our house smell wonderful! When my daughter woke up from her nap she proclaimed, "Mommy! Our house smells like toast!"


Like most of my favorite recipes, you probably already have everything you need at home.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Dry Yeast
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme (optional) - I kinda laughed when I saw that Thyme was "optional" in Thyme bread, but it really gives it more color than flavor. So if you don't have Thyme-don't stress. It really is optional!
• 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
• 2 cups Hot Water (120-130 Degrees F.)
• Sea Salt (optional)
• A Cake Pan Of Hot Water

Directions

Mix 3 cups of the flour with the yeast, sugar, thyme and salt. Pour in the hot water and beat 100 strokes (or 3 minutes with a mixer). (Those without a mixer can count their hard work towards their exercise for the day.)

Stir in the remaining flour until the dough loses its stickiness. Turn onto a floured surface. Knead for 8 minutes. (Yes, you may also count this towards your work-out for the day.)

Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a warm damp cloth. Let rise for 15 minutes in a warm spot (away from drafts).

Punch down (kids love this part) and divide the dough into two pieces. Shape into round loaves and place on a greased baking sheet. Cut an “X” one-half inch deep in each of the loaves with a wet sharp knife. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt.

Place the baking sheet with the loaves in the middle of a COLD oven. Place a pan of hot water on the lowest shelf. Heat the oven to 400ºF and bake 40–50 minutes until golden brown.

This bread would be excellent served with Tortellini Soup!
Happy baking!

Toes

Remember a few days ago when I showed you the amazing things popping up in our garden? Here is another sign that warm days are near.

My poor toes haven’t seen the light of day in months (as if you couldn’t tell by their glistening whiteness!)

I composed the following in their honor:

My Toes

A Haiku By K

My toes are pretty

Time for sun, tank tops and warmth

Boots out, flip-flops in

What fun things are you looking forward to this Spring and Summer?

Bird-A-Mania

My name is K and I’m addicted to bird fabrics and prints (…and buying fabric…and Diet Coke…and wine…and my iPhone…)

I don’t think I’ve ever met a fabric with birds, owls or trees that I didn’t like. I can’t explain my addiction; I just know it’s there.

When my friend showed me this print at Joann’s a few weeks ago it was love at first sight.

Our dinning room is a light purple Venetian plaster and for years the window has been bare. I could never find the right window covering.

Until now.

The bronze and gold compliments our entryway and the black outlining looks amazing with our dark furniture. It couldn’t be more perfect!

The fabric was $20.99/yard on sale. I needed roughly 6 yards costing me $125.94 for the fabric alone. A pretty pricey set of curtains, but really…it’s BIRDS!!! You can’t put a price on birds…can you?!?! 

But even for birds I had to think about it.

And I’m glad I did…

My super shopper friend contacted me the next day with the best news ever! She found 8 yards of my fabric on Ebay for $30 TOTAL. I couldn’t believe it. That equals $3.75/yard-totally unreal for a gorgeous home décor weight fabric. I never would have thought to check Ebay for fabric, but you can bet I will from now on (somewhere my hubby is cringing at the thought of me finding another place to covet and purchase fabric)

The best part? I’m going to have about 2 ½ yards left over to make bags, pillows and more bags. The crafty possibilities are endless!

Luck of the Irish

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I don't know about you but we LOVE holidays around here...especially ones that need a special outfit!!!

The Girly Skirt from Pink Fig is one of my favorite patterns. It's super easy to make, goes from 6 months to 10 years and it doesn't have an actual pattern-you just cut out squares and rectangles. You know what we say around here...EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY!

My most favorite part of this skirt is that it doesn't scream St Patrick's Day. The girls can wear it all spring and summer long (something I should have thought of when I made their Christmas dresses...we're still wearing them regularly 3 months later).

Pair it with a cute custom freezer paper stenciled shamrock T and you've got on rockin' outfit!

Love Story

I blame Taylor Swift.

I've never actually met her but I feel like she is always around.

My girls have fallen HARD for T. Swift and it's hard to spend more than 5 minutes in our house without hearing her name or her music floating through the air.

They love her music, they love her hair, they just LOVE her!

Hence the NEED for curly Taylor Swift hair.





And so one night "Operation Taylor Swift Curly Hair" began...

 As you can tell by my face it was a very serious task

Is it my turn yet?!?!?

After much wiggling Lo was finally done

NoJo used the time to work on her acting...

Happy face

Angry Face

(I hope she remembers to thank me in her Oscar acceptance speech!)

And the next day...

Oh so curly and oh so Taylor Swifty!

 

And you cannot be T. Swift with out a guitar...

They spent the rest of the day playing the guitar and working on their Taylor Swift lyrics. I really can't blame them for their Taylor crush. She's beautiful, has a great voice and, as Lo has pointed out, she can sing AND play the guitar-AT THE SAME TIME!

I love that it's a love they share. They spend hours dancing and singing together.

I love watching their sisterlyness!

Tutu Much

It may not seem like it, but I've been busily working on items for my Etsy shop...very, VERY sllooowwlllyyyy...

This tutu tote bag was supposed to go in the shop, but when Lo was invited to a ballerina birthday party I knew it would make the perfect gift bag!

I found the pattern a few months ago at Sugar Pie Chic and instantly fell in love with it. It was a very easy pattern to follow and while the tulle was a little cumbersome it was much easier to work with than I expected. The trick is to use A LOT of pins and to go VERY slow!

Since I'm getting more and more comfortable with my embroidery machine I added a little personalization.

The next step is making a few more to put in the shop. I've already got the tulle and the ribbon...now I just need to find the time!!!

Herb Coated Goat Cheese

I don't just like goat cheese, I LOVE it!

I had this yummy appetizer at a MNO awhile ago and I'm pretty sure I just parked myself at the food table and gobbled them all up.

That's right, I have no shame when it comes to goat cheese!


It comes courtesy of  Giada De Laurentii, one of my favorite foodies at Food Network and if you like (or love) goat cheese you need to try her Herb Coated Goat Cheese.

Here's what you need:

• 36 (1/2-inch-thick) slices baguette
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 2 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (11-ounce) log soft fresh goat cheese
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or Meyer lemon olive oil
• Fresh herb sprigs, for garnish

I'm going to let you in on a little secret for chopping herbs. It's my Herb Snips. They are great for finely chopping herbs. I ♥ them!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


Arrange the bread slices on 2 heavy baking sheets. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil over the bread slices. Bake until the crostini are pale golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, stir the herbs, lemon zest, pepper, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using about 2 teaspoons of cheese for each, form the goat cheese into 1-inch diameter balls. Roll the cheese balls in the herb mixture to coat completely. Arrange the cheese balls on a platter. Drizzle the extra-virgin olive oil over and around the cheese balls. Serve with the crostini. Garnish with herb sprigs.


The crostini and cheese balls can be prepared 1 day ahead. Store the crostini in an airtight container at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate the cheese balls.

I highly recommend making a few extra because it's really hard to resist popping them into your mouth while you are making them!