Summering

Things are starting to wind down for us after a very busy summer.  The days and nights are getting a little cooler, it gets dark a little sooner, the garden is slowing down, and we're starting to think about house concerts and canning and football season.  But my what a summer it has been!  This has probably been my most favorite summer ever.  I feel like we've been going non-stop, and honestly, by this point I'm exhausted.  But all I have to do is think back on all the adventures we've had and I know that it's all been worth it.  In addition to the big trips and festivals that I've talked about....our summer has looked like this...

Plants coming home to the garden

Sadie's end-of-year preschool program

The boys playing music for Record Store Day at Bogey's West, our local record shop

A special birthday cake for my hubby..Guiness Cake with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting.  I LOVED this recipe and will definitely make it again.

A weekend of celebrating the fathers in our lives....first with my papa at Euclid Hall, a restaurant I've been wanting to try for a long time.  This Brat Burger on a pretzel bun was to die for. 

And then with the Peterson side of the family for a Sunday afternoon pizza date.

Sadie's had as musical of a summer as we have...and it appears to be rubbing off on her.  She's showing a LOT of interest in her fiddle and we couldn't be more thrilled with that development.

She loved watching friends play music at Park House, our new favorite bluegrass-friendly venue in Denver.

We had a great 4h of July celebration in downtown Denver with our friends the Friesens....saw three different fireworks shows and felt like we were right underneath the awesome display the Colorado Rockies put on every year.

Of course plenty of time hot tubbing at Nana and Poppie's...

Time with both the mothers and sisters in my life....

A special celebration to honor our friend Marjorie and the awesome advocacy work she does as part of this organization.

Hooping with our buddies the Jamiesons at the Institute for Spiritual Advancement

Date night to go see Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, with Edie Brickell at the Chatfield Botanic Gardens!

Goodness from the garden and a vodka tonic on a warm summer night. 

Early morning yoga with my girl

Celebrating the newest member of our neighborhood family, Dyer baby #2 is on her way soon!!!

The Avett Brothers and Old Crown Medicine Show threw it down at Red Rocks!

All this fun and adventure in addition to the five festivals we will have been to, the camping trips, trips to the east coast...oh and our jobs....whew.  No wonder we're so tired.  But I wouldn't trade any of it.  This summer has deepened my love for my family, my friends, this beautiful state we live in, and the music with which we fill our days.  Sure feeling thankful, lucky, and blessed as we turn into fall. 

For the Love of Hurley

Three things I love: LOST, breadmaking, and blogging.


Now the three have finally come together. Brian just sent me the link to Jorge Garcia's blog. Jorge Garcia plays one of my favorite characters (Hugo/Hurley) on my favorite TV show of all time, LOST! And get this! He loves to bake bread! From scratch! And he blogs about it! This all makes me very very happy.


And I just love that Jorge Garcia has a random blog about his life and what he cooks and hanging out with his friends like I do. And it's out there for all of us to read. Love it...

Not to mention that last night's Hurley-centric episode of LOST, "Everybody Loves Hugo" was just totally kick-ass. I was VERY sleepy, made the mistake of lying down on the couch, and missed a few precious minutes of the episode. But that's o.k....it gives me a good excuse to watch the whole thing over again. I'll probably watch last week's episode while I'm at it, since it's one of my top three favorite LOST episodes ever.

Happiness in a Loaf of Bread

Bread makes itself, by your kindness, with your help,

with imagination streaming through you,

with dough under hand,

you are breadmaking itself,

which is why breadmaking is so fulfilling and rewarding.

-Edward Espe Brown, the Tassajara Bread Book

I took piano lessons from a woman named Fran when I was in elementary school. Fran lived in a really beautiful log house on top of a mountain, designed handmade jewelry, saved her kids' bathwater for watering her plants, and was a great piano player. But the thing I remember the most about Fran is that she baked bread. I remember being absolutely floored by the smell of bread baking in her home. I suppose that's where my romantic ideas about baking bread all began. (by the way, I still know Fran even though I'm talking about her in the past tense...)


During the past few years, my desire to be "a woman who bakes her own bread" really kicked into high gear. I gave it some serious effort...including doing a lot of research about what to do about baking bread at high altitudes (this appears to seriously complicate matters...)


I might have had one successful loaf out of a dozen during the past few years. The problem for me, in most cases, was that the center of the loaf would collapse and WOULD NOT bake through, no matter how long you baked the loaf for. I've since learned that reducing the amount of sugar and yeast in your bread recipe can help with this problem.


I recently learned about the Tassajara Bread Book on Soule Mama's wonderful blog. I had a Barnes & Noble gift card burning a hole in my pocket, and treated myself to a copy after getting the impression that this is the bible of bread baking. Ooh, and it's totally one of those books you just want to slowly savor. The recipes, pictures, and philosophy of bread baking are presented in such a beautiful way.

The past two Saturdays I have spent the first four (!) hours of the day baking bread. It's such a nice, slow, drawn out process, and a perfect way to start the weekend. Two weekends ago it was the standard Tassajara wheat bread.


And it worked! Hallelujah! No sunken center! And what a joy it was to wrap up a loaf in a pretty kitchen towel and ribbon and gift it to a dear friend as a thank you. What better way to show your love than through a loaf of bread? Seriously!



This past Saturday I was at it again, only this time it was the Oatmeal Rye bread. And it was even better! Prettier, moister, and more delicious in every way. Again, the recipe made two loaves...perfect for dinner Sunday night with a pot of sausage lentil soup, and one for gifting/thanking (in this case to my mom).

I truly cannot describe the extreme happiness that I feel when wrapping up a warm loaf of bread for someone I love, or the joy I feel knowing that my honey is having a sandwich for lunch made on thick slices of my bread, or the absolute contentedness I feel when buttering a slice of bread I've worked hard to make, or the utter peace that comes over me when I walk down the stairs of my home to the smell of bread in the oven.