Black Dog Blends In

You have to look hard to see this black lab against the Black Aga Stove, don't you? What a cozy place for a dog bed when you aren't cooking. These two lucky dogs live in the English countryside. via Have a great weekend.

Good Night Sweet Friends

via 

Sleep tight when you tuck in tonight.

Great Da Vinci Quote

Yes, I would agree with this. via

Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication

Leonardo Da Vinci

Happy Friday

This is a photo of my healthy breakfast this morning. I toasted two slices of my nut and seed bread in my panini press. It's way too small for my toaster. I did a 10 minute egg for a solid yoke...I don't like runny ones. I bought 4 avocado several days ago and one felt ripe and it was. I left the seed in the other half and brushed the flesh with lemon juice and put it in a covered container. I hope that will keep it from turning black before lunch. My first meal of the day was very satisfying and I'm excited about eating better even though I already do. So let's say I'll be eating better than ever.

It's a gray day and it's cold so the Wonder Dog is waiting patiently for me to get my act together for our first long walk of the day which is upcoming shortly. See you later. xo

Daffodils Swaying in the Breeze

Don't you just love this delightful animated gif? These wonderful moving flowers give me hope that spring just might be right around the corner. via

Bird Bread -- Continued

Here it is upside down after the second baking.

Back upstairs in my kitchen cooling.

First slice with homemade hummus. I like it. I just made up the hummus. I dumped a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas in my food processor along with a couple spoonfuls of organic oven dried tomatoes in olive oil from Costco and a generous amount of lemon juice and whizzed it all together. It was delicious.

Recipe: Life-Changing Bread

I mixed up my first batch of Life Changing Bread last night and left it covered on my kitchen counter overnight. I didn't want to go to bed with the scent of baking bread in the house. The directions said I could do that. I just learned about this viral recipe on Instagram and couldn't wait to try it. It actually looks like a suet cake for the birds since it's all seeds and nuts and no flour. You are supposed to mix it in the same pan you will be baking it in but it calls for one of those silicone loaf pans and I don't have one. And I never will. I am very skeptical about such things and that goes for Silpat too. I'm so old fashioned. Anyway, let's get back to this bird bread. I think I'm going to bake it downstairs where I have an electric oven in my mom's old kitchen. The oven in my kitchen is gas and the heat is very uneven. I'll give you a full report later.  Recipe below from My New Roots. I found the odd ingredient that replaces flour at Whole Foods. Cost $6.99 and a box has enough for 14 loaves. That comes out to 50 cents per loaf. Not bad. I used hazelnuts and chopped them coarsely first. I didn't want my bread falling apart trying to slice through a whole nut. Next loaf, I'll use slivered almonds.

The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
1 cup / 135g sunflower seeds
½ cup / 90g flax seeds
½ cup / 65g hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups / 145g rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
1 ½ cups / 350ml water

Directions:
1. In a flexible, silicone loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it it.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.
3. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).
4. Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

Red Barn Nearby

I took this photo yesterday. This old red barn is just down the street from the green barns. This one looks like it has seen better days and is in need of some repair before it's too late. I can't imagine this location without it. 

What a difference a day makes. We had a very gray day today with a rainy afternoon. It helped with melting more snow and that's a good thing. I just hope it doesn't rain hard tonight because there's supposed to be wind too and that scares me. Fingers crossed.