Friday Things
1. This little guy came back from the kennel last week under the weather. He was coughing and sneezing, and it started to get worse, so I finally took him to the vet on Tuesday. He even had a fever when she took his temperature! He was diagnosed with what is essentially a bronchial infection, and put on 14 days of antibiotics. Poor little guy! By last night, he seemed to be totally on the mend and back to his fairly annoying puppy self ;-) Ironically enough, my husband also got sick the day after we got home with a nasty chest cold/bronchitis thing. So, Einy and I have been holding down the fort with the sickies :)
2. Yesterday, I finally tackled a deep-clean of the refrigerator. I don’t tend to keep it too packed full of stuff, so there wasn’t much to toss, but oh my were those shelves in need of a serious scrub down. That’s one of those projects that is seriously awful when you’re only halfway through, but once it’s finished, makes you SO happy. I keep opening the refrigerator just to stare at how clean and neat everything looks! Next on my list is the refrigerator in the garage, which hasn’t been touched since we got our new appliances LAST September. Oops.
3. A friend of mine asked me for a homemade whole wheat bread recipe for her kids’ school lunches, however I still haven’t found one that I love! Most that I’ve tried are fairly heavy and not as light as what I would like out of a traditional sandwich loaf. If you have one that you love, feel free to share in the comments below so I can pass it along to her!
4. I have had this cheesesteaks recipe bookmarked for over two years, and I finally made them last weekend. Oh my gosh, I wish I would have made them two years ago… they are FANTASTIC! It’s a quick meal to make and super filling; it was perfect for Saturday night pre-season football watching. I highly recommend the recipe!
5. I’ve been on a serious Graeter’s bender since getting one of their milkshakes last week at the tennis tournament in Cincinnati. I promptly went to the store and loaded up on three new pints. I first tried their ice cream last summer when they shipped me an assortment of flavors, and have continued to buy it from my local grocery store ever since. If you haven’t had it, you must try it! The company is based in Cincinnati, but it’s sold in grocery stores in almost every state, and you can also order off their website and have it shipped to you. My favorite flavor is Black Cherry Chocolate Chip – totally not something I would normally be drawn to, but oh my gosh, it’s amazing!
6. I’m not going to lie… I’m more than a little excited to have my Sundays and Monday nights consumed with football and most other nights consumed by hockey. Bring on the fall and winter sports!
7. Speaking of, we had our fantasy football draft on Wednesday night, which I look forward to every single year. Yahoo awarded me with the “Best Draft” (woo!), but that’s happened before, and I’ve yet to win a Super Bowl. Sooooo… not counting my chickens!
8. A big thank you to all of you for sharing your feedback this week! I read every single comment and look forward to making your time here on BEB even more enjoyable! If you haven’t shared your thoughts yet, feel free to hop over to Monday’s post and give me the scoop on what you like, what you don’t, and what you’d like to see in the future.
9. In case you didn’t see it this week, there has been a recall on a number of peanut butters. Check the recall alert from the FDA and check your pantry!!
10. TGIF! My Chief Culinary Consultant took this picture of Einstein and it totally looks like he’s floating on clouds in an angelic haze, ha! Or… at a Glamour Shots photo shoot ;-)
Black Cherry is definitely my favorite too! I can’t eat a pint easily in 1.5 days and no I don’t share!
I scrubbed my fridge last week too & it felt SO GOOD, probably more than it should have, ha. Such a disgusting job.
I have a great recipe! Here it is :
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/6402-whole-wheat-sandwich-bread?incode=MCSCZ00L0
If you don’t subscribe to cooks illustrated email me and i’ll post the entire recipe.
Have you tried Julies Ice Cream – http://www.juliesorganic.com/? You should it is also much better for you. Doesn’t include the carrageenans or GMO’s like Graeters.
I really like the bread recipe from 100 days of real food. I was pleasantly surprised to find a healthy one that actually tasted good. I only gave it a whirl because I already had all the ingredients on hand. I popped all ingredients in the bread machine and we all enjoyed. I believe it is called honey sweet whole wheat.
so cute little dogie.. weekend for me is so precious because me and my family will be together again and I cook for them with their favorite food also.
Love the pictures of the dogs! I use King Arthur’s Whole Wheat Bread recipe as well. I find it light enough for sandwiches, if sliced thin enough — but best toasted with homemade raspberry jam! :)
Michelle, I love Fridays! You take the sweetest pictures of Einstein and Duke. Glad Duke is feeling better. Hope all is going well with you also.
What a pretty puppy!!! Love that pic!!!
QUESTIONS:
Who’d you draft? How many teams are in your league? Yah! Totally curious abou that!
And LOVE Graeter’s! From my homestate! SO much better at the store, but still delicious in the pint! Love the Black Raspberry Chip the best!
Have a lovely day!
Hi Liz, Here is my team (in draft order) – there are 10 teams in our league:
Jamaal Charles, Julio Jones, Alfred Morris, Matthew Stafford, Larry Fitzgerald, Jason Witten, Shane Vereen, Emmanuel Sanders, Ben Tate, Eric Decker, Andre Williams, Devonta Freeman… Carolina defense (auto-picked by accident) and Nick Folk as my kicker.
Carolina defense is AWESOME. No shame there! I had them last year and I would love them this year (or Seattle, OBVIOUSLY!).
Interesting pick with Julio Jones… I’m not sure I’m entirely on board with him yet or not because of Matt Ryan…
How fun! My draft is Saturday… and I’m pretty sure I know what I want… but hard to say until you see who picks who… plus I’m 9th out of 10 in picks…so FUN, right?
This is the honey whole wheat bread that I have been making for my family for a few years. We love it!
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/recipe-for-honey-whole-wheat-bread/
Poor Duke…(and hubby) I know you and Einstein are taking good care of them! The pictures are soo adorable! Einstein is SO handsome!! (don’t tell him, it might go to his head) I also am so excited about football and hockey starting..GO Bears and Blackhawks!
Loving the pictures of your dogs! You caught that one shot of Duke at just the right moment and Einstein should be a dog model:) Love Graeter’s!
I love the whole wheat bread recipes on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (http://www.melskitchencafe.com/delicious-whole-wheat-bread-two-recipes/). I’ve made all 3 of the recipes and they’re all good. Although now I’m going to have to try a few of the other recipes in these comments!
My favorite whole wheat bread is from Great Harvest. Here is a copycat recipe that is delicious!! And I love that it only has 5 ingredients (6 if you put in the add-ins, which I don’t). Hope you enjoy it!
http://www.eatcakefordinner.net/2012/02/great-harvest-honey-whole-wheat-bread.html
I tried to find the link for the recipe but I can’t remember where I originally found it. It took some playing around to get this right, so if you try it then be patient. But it’s become a staple in my house…to the point that store-bought bread actually tastes gross now. Anyway, I’ve made it so much I can just tell you the recipe:
Whole wheat bread (makes 2 loaves)
1/3 cup butter
2 1/2 cups warm water (not above 120F)
3 cups bread flour
4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon salt
Add yeast to warm water, stir, and let sit about 5 minutes to proof. Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. After it’s melted add butter and honey in a large bowl and mix together. Stir in the water and yeast. Add the 3 cups of bread flour and stir together (mixture will be lumpy). Cover the bowl with a clean towel and set in a warm area for ~1 hour. Add 4 cups wheat flour and salt until just combined then pour onto a floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes. Divide the dough in half and form into loaves and place in bread pans (nothing coating the bread pans). Let rise about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F with the rack in the middle position. Bake the loaves about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let bread cool in pans for 5-10 minutes then de-pan and allow to cool on racks.
(This recipe calls for organic butter and sea salt, but I’ve made it with regular, unsalted butter and regular salt and it works.)
You may need to play with the rise times slightly. In my old apartment I could make it work with 45 minutes for both rises, but in my house, with my cold granite countertops, I am still experimenting!
Happy baking.
Love the pictures of Duke and Einstein. Such sweet dogs!
Poor pup! Kennel cough is a common affliction in most doggie hotels. Good thing you caught it fast! :)
I’m so glad Duke is on the mend. We have 2 year old cats now – after having a dog and 2 other cats for almost 20 years – and one of them got sick at the first of the year. I have NEVER seen a really sick cat and I don’t ever want to see it again! Upper respiratory infection. She looked like death, kept sneezing and wheezing and was all stopped up! Anyway, I don’t like our furr babies being ill!
I love that picture of Einstein – I love his curly locks! Have a great weekend!
Oh my goodness — love his glamour shot! :)
I have been making your perfect sandwich bread recipe using our local Wheat Montana’s Prairie Gold flour……I have been doing it ever since I found your recipe. It is very good.
Einstein has a ‘deep soul’ … he’s clearly lost in thought. What a beautiful dog! I hope Duke feels better soon. My son (who has season tickets to the Steelers) said they looked terrible last night and he’s worried it will be another poor season. We hope not! You have such a wonderful web site. The dogs make it extra special. :-)
Your son is right – they did look terrible! We stopped watching partway through; since the game didn’t matter, not worth putting ourselves through that!
King Arthur flour did a fabulous job of researching the differences between baking with whole wheat, partial whole wheat, and white flours. Letting the wheat dough rest a while before finishing kneading makes a huge difference.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2014/02/28/yeast-bread-rolls-and-pizza/
I have had tremendous success with Prairie Gold wheat from Montana. I buy it in bulk from an Amish market and grind it fresh each time. My 100% whole wheat bread is never dense or heavy when I follow KA’s technique and use that flour!
I LOVE America’s Test Kitchen’s whole wheat sandwich bread recipe–it’s a bit fussy to make, but well worth it!
http://www.kcet.org/living/food/the-public-kitchen/whole-wheat-sandwich-bread.html
This recipe comes out really nice.
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/brdm_honeywheatbread.htm
Love your blog by the way!
I am so excited for hockey as well, even if it does tend to take over my life. Having season tickets is another job in itself. Looking forward to trying put a version of those cheesesteaks…perhaps with melted Brie!
Good morning! I’ve recently found the most fabulous whole wheat bread! I found it at Costco, but I’m sure it can be found in supermarkets as well. I’ve struggled with whole wheat/whole grain breads for years and usually end up throwing them away. I’m loving Alpine Valley’s Multi Grain with Omega-3 and I’ve got many of my co-workers converted too! It’s got just the slightest bit of sweetness to it that sets it apart from all the rest. The top is beautiful seeded and delicious. Take a look and see if it’s something you’d like to try: http://www.alpinevalleybread.com
I checked out Graeter’s and there’s a group of family-owned supermarkets in NJ that carries it. Other than that, their retail stores are only located in 7 states at the moment. Our loss! Enjoy your day!
Hey! I have a good wheat bread recipe from The King Arthur Flour: Baker’s Companion. Here it is:
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (112°F)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp honey, molasses, or maple syrup
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3 – 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 tbsp olive oil
Directions
In a small bowl or large mug, combine the first four ingredients, set aside for 10 minutes until super foamy.
Pour into a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and slightly elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and brush with oil. Let rise for about an hour until doubled in size.
Once risen, gently flatten the dough and press into a well oiled loaf pan. Brush with oil again and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 325°F, 160°C.
Place the loaf in the oven and bake until nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
Hope this helps! Einstein is adorable! ♡
xoxoxoxoxoxox,
Zoya Mir
I have been using this recipe for several years for our bread…..it is so easy and a no fail recipe for sure. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/simple-whole-wheat-bread/
What an amazing photo of Einstein…so handsome and I just love his curly coat.Whatever you do, please keep sharing photos and updates on “the boys”.
Finally, I am totally with you on the football thing but hockey…not so much. I live in N.E. so one can’t help but be a sports fan at some level.
Buns in my oven has a nice honey wheat recipe. I have made it and loved and received compliments on it.
I hope you get a chance to try it!
Poor Duke! He’s so cute and they are both sweet, so glad to hear he is feeling better. I love Graeter’s too! I can only find it at Krogers, but that’s great too, because they always have such great flavors. My favorite is the black cherry chocolate chip, too. It’s nearly addictive! Love your Friday posts and Einstein’s glamour shot-oh la la!
I always love the dog pics on Fridays! They are adorable!