Making Bread

Those who know me know how I like to eat -- and cook.  I like old fashioned foods -- I make my own food products whenever possible, without the use of manufactured ingredients (tortillas, sauces, jam, relish, mayo, apple butter, pickles, etc).  I'm not a zealot about this, but where I can, I do.  I've been learning to bake bread.  You realize a loaf of good bread costs $4 or more?  Hey, I can make a loaf for less than a buck -- and it is better, healthier even, than anything you can buy in a store!

So far, I've tried my hand at basic white (meh!), mustard-rye, light whole wheat, 10 grain, Italian-rye and French.  There was also a loaf of great cracked wheat in there somewhere.  I am Bob's Red Mill's new best friend!

I have learned about yeast.  Many recipes call for the dry ingredients to be mixed together with the yeast -- but for this to work, you have to use the right kind of yeast.  If you don't, it may not activate properly (even if good) and the bread will not rise.  So even if the recipe doesn't call for it, I soak the yeast and proof it if I haven't been using it already (I buy the yeast in bulk form, not individual packages -- so if it is good today, it is likely still good tomorrow.  So I don't always have to proof it.)  You can substitute other types of yeast than the recipe calls for, you just adjust the process to accommodate the differences.  This is pretty easy, fortunately.

I have begun adding a small amount of gluten flour to my breads.  It seems to have a beneficial effect on the texture of the bread.  I am not afraid of gluten.

At first, I thought it wouldn't hurt anything to let the bread rise longer than necessary.  I want a BIG rise, right?  Well, if it rises too long, then the structure gets weak inside, and the bread falls when you bake it.  What a drag! The problem is somewhat akin to stretching a rubber band too much -- stretch a rubber band too far and it snaps, but if you don't overdo it, then it holds its tensile strength and stays flexible much longer.  Same with bread gluten and rising.  So I am careful to watch it closely and not let it sit too long.  You can, if you do screw it up and wait too long, punch it down and let it rise again.  Although there is no punching, really.  I gently fold the dough and press it lightly with my fingers.  This is the kinder, gentler way of kneading and forming bread dough.

I use a stainless steel baking sheet to knead the dough.  Most recipes, I do not even have to flour it too much (whereas if I use a wooden board for kneading, it seems to absorb flour like CRAZY!)

One thing I haven't tried yet is sour dough.  Perhaps I will try making a "starter" soon.  But I am not quite ready to master that technique yet.  Soon.  Very soon.

I am learning more with each loaf I make -- certainly not an expert yet but I am learning.  Mom said stop making all this bread -- we can't eat it all!  My sister's chickens are the beneficiaries of the excess -- after it is too old for me to eat it -- they are not nearly so picky.  I have had some spectacular failures.

But I have found that making bread is not nearly the inconvenient and lengthy process that I remembered from earlier attempts.  I actually look forward to the next attempt each time. There is a certain amount of waiting involved while things soak or rise -- but other than kneading for 8 or 10 minutes it isn't that bad.  The process of creating the bread is therapeutic.  And the eating is good.  I can't think of anything better than a slice of fresh home-made bread, with butter and my own home-made blackberry jam slathered on it.

This is a loaf of my Cracked Wheat and 10-Grain, still warm...

I am hungry.  I am going to the kitchen.

Frequency of blogging

My nephew suggested I write a blog. I started this one a couple of years ago, but quickly ran out of anything to say... or so I thought. I don't always have something to say, but perhaps I could write a bit more than once every two years. Since I haven't written here for a couple of years almost, I do have several possible "hot" topics at present -- so perhaps there will be a flurry of posts for a day or two. Then, I'll probably forget about it again for awhile. I assume that won't bother anyone.

Summer in Arizona

Phoenix thunderstorm

If you don't like the Arizona weather, wait a moment and it will change... well, that's true sometimes, but... the weather in Arizona really does follow a predictable pattern. If the spring is cool, people begin making predictions about the summer based on that. If the spring is wet, they predict how it will be from that. If it is hot too soon, they prognosticate about that. And they are never right, because you cannot predict what Arizona will be like next month based on what it is doing right now. There is no connection. I'm serious, so listen!

I am amazed at how much of the year is climate-perfect when compared to the public's perception of the hell they think it is here. We have about two to three months of searing heat combined with higher humidity. These weeks are definitely uncomfortable, to say it plainly. But the rest of the year is comfortable if not exquisite. Not San Diego perfect, for sure, but in its own way still nearly perfect.

Not too cold...

I very rarely find things cold enough here to even wear a jacket, even in January (in my part of the state anyway...). Short sleeves in winter-time are the norm for me. In March and April, the days are warmer and the evenings cool or even chilly. Spring winds do not happen here in March like in other places -- but as a general rule Arizona's spring winds arrive in April. That's one time when allergies are worse for people here. Then in May the days start to warm. The skies are blue, blue, blue.

In June, the heat arrives -- but it is still dry and not uncomfortable. Even 105 degrees in June isn't that bad -- and at first, it is even desirable. There's something especially comforting about a 100 degree day in June -- that warm air hits you and soothes your soul. You think, it is going to be a good summer. The evenings are still cool, once the sun sets. Oh, but then in late June or July that humidity starts to creep in and the winds shift... and we start to think about visiting people who live in cooler places.

The air masses reverse their prevailing flow -- and warm moist air from the nearby ocean gulfs flows in with the Arizona monsoon -- a true monsoon. However, if you call our seasonal dust storms "haboobs," I will slap you silly. (What a stupid word. Save it for the Sahara.)


Anyway, in July and August, this seasonal shifting of the air flow brings in our "wet" season -- thunderstorms, dust storms, lightning. It's dramatic, beautiful, with 45,000 foot tall cumulo-bumpers surrounding us -- but in between these afternoon "blows" it is muggy-hot and after a couple of days of that I am ready for October's cool crisp air.

A summer thunderstorm "anvils" out along SR85 near Lukeville.

In the days of my youth, from the time I was 11 or 12, I would spend part of each summer with my Dad wherever he happened to be. One year, he was in Michigan, another New Mexico. When I would be sent home after the vacation, I traveled by air occasionally. There were no "jetways" in 1965. To get on an airplane, you walked out across the concrete and climbed a set of "air stairs." One of my best memories, one of those things that you never forget, was (after spending a few weeks in some cooler place) stepping out the door of an air-conditioned jetliner at the Phoenix airport and having that first blast of Arizona heat hit me in the face like a blanket. It was tangible. It was home. It was a warm-fuzzy. Or should I say it was a blast-furnace HOT-fuzzy. I loved it (for a minute or two anyway)

I am always happy when our heat arrives. I enjoy it for awhile. Then I am just as happy when it goes. Arizona does have its seasons -- they are just not like other places' seasons! They add variety to our desert existence and keep us from getting too bored.

Teenagers on the Ocean

Abigail Sunderland's attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world (originally, the idea was to do this unassisted) ended a couple of days ago near the Kerguelen Islands (sp?). Yesterday, she had to be fished off the boat out in the middle (almost exactly the middle) of the southern Indian Ocean after her boat's mast was broken by the winds and waves of a storm a couple of days before.  This rescue was not cheap, nor easy.  The crew of the rescue boat put themselves and their vessel in danger to complete it.  One crew member fell into the ocean in the midst of the effort. And for what?

The debate has begun anew, why was she sailing alone around the world? "What were her parents thinking?" I don't know if that is the most important question -- in fact I don't think it IS. The whole endeavor reeks of poor judgment from the very start -- whether the sailor was 16 or 60. This has been done before -- by people of all different ages. So what exactly was she trying to accomplish? Of what value would such an endeavor, if successful, be? Why did she continue the journey (one) once it was no longer possible to secure the record she was attempting and (two) once delays had put her in the position of crossing that very treacherous sea in the midst of a winter maelstrom?

I think her considerable ambition and energy could easily have been directed to something a hell of a lot more useful.

What we have here is an ego-driven individual who had no ability to save herself when things went "south" -- and things were almost a sure bet to "go south" (when you set out across the Indian Ocean in a small boat in winter). This was an entirely predictable outcome. For no real purpose, the maritime rescue agencies of at least two different countries had to be set in motion at the cost of (probably, guessing here) hundreds of thousands of dollars of public monies. Who is supposed to pay for these rescues? It seems certain that the Sunderlands aren't planning on it -- in fact, the girl's mother even suggested that if the rescue needed to be paid for, the US government should be the one to do it!  Huh?

Here's a quote from the LA Times on June 18th, 2010...

Even the U.S. Sailing Association refused to sponsor Sunderland's bid, considering it too dangerous. She did not have insurance for her trip, and her mother has said there is no way the family could pay the rescuers even if asked. [Not that they would be.]

Is that not just a bit arrogant?  Irresponsible? And already the young lady is starting to think about another attempt. This is the epitome of irresponsibility (on the part of the parents).  This should not be her choice. A teen-aged brain isn't as developed as an adult's in the ability to foresee consequences and outcomes -- so it is not appropriate to allow them to make those decisions on their own when the stakes are high. But these parents at least should have the social consciousness and humility to recognize that the nations of the world should not have to rescue their daughter while she is in pursuit of a totally frivolous goal, personal in nature and for no legitimate purpose.  Don't get me started!

When a person embarks on a personal adventure of this scope, all possibilities should be planned and accommodated. Only a selfish fool sets out without planning for the contingencies and the ability to cover the possible costs. I'm all for personal adventure -- I just don't think any person should have the option of billing others for it without their acceptance.  Thank you, France and Australia, for your quick and generous rescue of this intrepid young woman, but you shouldn't have had to.  Just my opinion...

I have been following the adventures of a couple of others who are out on the land -- or on the water. First, there is a young man (Matthew) currently walking across the entire breadth of the USA. Don't know if I'd have the fortitude to stick that out to its end -- but he is about halfway across, just now entering North Dakota at Fargo/Moorehead.  Here's his link. He posts photos from along the road each day.

Second, there is Alessandro Di Benedetto.  He also is sailing unassisted around the world.  His record will be, if he makes it, the smallest boat ever to complete it. He is sailing a boat not much longer than a fishing skiff -- 21 feet.  I wouldn't go on the Columbia in a boat that small -- much less the southern ocean.  To contrast Alessandro with Abby Sunderland -- Alessandro also lost his mast in a storm a few weeks ago.  Rather than abandon the attempt and call for help -- he had the wherewithal and ability to jury-rig a replacement mast of sorts -- and is continuing his journey -- still unassisted.  You see, there is a way to do it right -- and if you can't, you shouldn't be out there.

McCain Shoves Foot Down Throat, Swallows

John McCain: Is there any politician or public figure who thinks about what they say before they say it? Not knowing when to shut one's yap seems to be a growing problem in U.S. public life.

Not understanding what is appropriate to say or not say in the public forum (or privately either, for that matter) is a basic function of good judgement. Making a joke about "killing Iranians" isn't funny. But it's "just a joke," right? Really?

Such comments show a basic lack of good judgement -- and John McCain has a long history of making boneheaded statements, e.g, his comments about an adolescent Chelsea Clinton a few years back.

Poor judgement in this area means poor judgement in other areas. One doesn't sit around and decide when and where to exercise discretion and judgement.

He's not the only one. But we want someone with good judgement as president this time out, don't we? Someone who understands that other nations' opinions do count; someone who sees the USA a leader in the world community, but balances our needs against the needs and concerns of other peoples, other nations. We've certainly seen (and been horrified, some of us, at the results) when a president does not have the ability to think clearly and in the best interest of the nation -- or the world. America has the tragic recent experience of a leader who does not (and possibly cannot) grasp the consequences of his policies and decisions.

More and more, I wonder if John McCain has what I am looking for. I admire his honesty and his integrity. I admire his bent toward doing the right thing. But without thoughtful intelligence in making the right choices, and being enough of a clear thinker to recognize the results of those choices both within our borders and without, other attributes perhaps pale to insignificance.

Happy Birthday, America!

Lest we forget...

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, 

— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. 

— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

[The following 58 courageous men pledged their very lives by signing the document]

New Hampshire:Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Summer Stuff 1

Journal: Today I got Big Blue running. Big Blue is my 2005 Kawasaki ZZR1200 --- which sat for well over two years while I fought with the seller over undelivered parts and promises. That partially resolved, finally, I've decided it is time now to ride him. A ZZR1200 has 150+ hp, and is capable of well over 150 mph. Not that I ever will. But he sure is a kick to ride -- it's something like trying to cling to a Saturn V when you twist the throttle up.

The total cost of the adventure was $774 by the time the insurance was purchased, the registration and plates updated, and the shop bill paid in full. Not as much as I'd feared it would be, but still a faire chunk of change.

 I swapped the shop berth he had with the Yellow Streak -- that one needs a quick valve check. So far I'm satisfied with the work this shop has done -- if that continues maybe I've found a maintenance home for my bikes. The Yellow Streak is a 2003 Kawasaki ZR7S that I've had since he was new. A very nice machine, who now has a garage buddy in Midnight Metallic Blue.

Current Events Comments and Rants:

John McCain: This presidential candidate keeps bringing up his Vietnam war record. He says he's not running on that issue, so why does he keep talking about it. Seems kind of disingenuous to me. A politician (a former General) said the other day that McCain's jet jockeying and POW time in themselves don't qualify him to be Pres -- an obvious truth but of course the statements caused a big storm of protest, dismay, groaning and gnashing of teeth. But I'd say that his record since then as a senator certainly does qualify him for the position. I especially like a man who continually pisses off folks in ALL the political parties. There's just something that's RIGHT about a man like that.

The Presidential Race: Just ONCE, I'd like to see a candidate refrain from attacking the record of his opponent. Just tell us what YOU want to do -- and leave the other guy alone. The fact is none of these people are the devil. Run on your own ideas -- let us figure out what the other guy's shortcomings are. We will. Maybe.

Helicopter Crashes: Up in Flagstaff yesterday, two medical evac helicopters collided while approaching the same medical center with patients on board. Most everyone died and today the news vultures are all conjecturing and guessing like "experts" about the causes. Seems to me when two airborne machines run into each other the causes are fairly obvious.

C206

Airplanes Crash too: Over in the high desert of eastern New Mexico over the weekend, a local family of 5 lost their lives as they attempted to depart from an airport near I-40. Now it is time for me to conjecture and guess... there is nothing new under the sun. One very common cause of this type of crash is high density altitude. It is obvious the plane (a C206) was somewhat heavy (5 souls on board + baggage) -- the field elevation was high and the temperature was up. There were cross winds reported, and supposedly a steep turn on the upwind.

This sounds like a classic density altitude crash to me -- even if the pilot was very experienced. Sometimes we get a little too cocky about our capabilities and those of our aircraft, and the western deserts, mountains and plains are littered with the remains of others who've made the same types of mistakes in flying machines. May they rest in peace.

Forest fires: The western forests are slowing being burned to the ground by amateurs, who I figure are mostly recent arrivals from other parts of the country -- they're out there in the ponderosas making signal fires, uncontained and uncontrolled and from the sound of the mistakes, they don't have the first clue about woodsmanship. It is time to put some restrictions on these flaming whuffos. Before being allowed into any forest, campground, national monument, etc, all citizens should henceforth be required to take and pass a skills and woods "common sense" course. Otherwise, they should keep their incompetent butts within the city limits where they belong. I'm tired of having my favorite forests, campsites and places burned to the ground by absolute unthinking idiots. I think there will come a day when none of it is left. Just my opinion.

The State of the Nation: Have you ever read the electronic comments for online news articles (for example, http://www.azcentral.com/)? When I read the voiced hatred, ignorance and poor grammar that characterizes these comments sections, I really think all may be lost for this Great Experiment; that there is no hope.

H. Clay - The Great Compromiser

People seem to glory in rudeness, and anyone with a different idea than your own is attacked and villified. It seems that no one in or out of government will compromise on any issue at all -- and in our form of government, if you won't compromise then nothing will ever get done. Does no one remember Henry Clay?

It used to be that the great middle kept things moving -- and the radicals among us were just our conscience, moving us as a nation a tad one way or the other. For the past couple of decades at least, the radicals seem to be the ones who run the show - and the radicals should NEVER be allowed to run the show. It seems like the extremists are the ones making our public policies and decisions. We're going to pay for that shortsightedness.

Since when is a "D" student qualified to be president of this nation? Have we declined so far that education is no longer respected? It certainly seems so.

When did torture become an acceptable tool of this nation (no matter how bad the criminal happens to be). We used to be the good guys. If we continue down this road, where we think (and act like) the end justifies the means, then we are no better, no more righteous, than some of the criminal regimes and nations we destroyed a couple of generations ago. Hypocrites... and idiots.