June 2008 Archives

But I wanted to say...

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Mr. PieKnits!

Looking forward to many years as happy as the last three. :)

Short on words today. Enjoy photos.

My visiting niece has a new toy- seen here romping in the garden. Amazing herculean flowers withstand elephant tramping.

Inquisitive little thing

Awww, a wee tail.

Yarn: Cascade 220 in gray, stash yarn for little bits of white and pink
Pattern: "Baby Elephant" by Hansi Singh of Hansigurumi
Needles: US size 5
Mods: None! Great pattern and very unfiddly for a toy.

A little piece I couldn't help starting- so far I have the head for "Baby Elephant" by the very talented Hansi Singh of Hansigurumi.

I also got tagged with a fun meme.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
I had just finished my Junior year in high school, thankfully. I remember I had bit off a bit more than I could chew that year.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
Send off some pattern details to wholesaler, return a book to library, groceries and last minute items/cleaning for in-laws coming tomorrow! (this is actually it's own entire list), take Aejaz to the groomers, compile knitting guild programs idea list for next year (on the board again!)

3. Snacks I enjoy.
Cookies, hummus, brownies, dry cereal by the handful (I have a wicked sweet tooth)

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.
Boring stuff first like pay off all debts and set up family. Then I'd buy houses for us and family here and in India, this car (I'm infatuated), and travel everywhere we can. Would set up funds and donate for arts education, SPCA and world health charities.

5. Places I have lived.
Urbandale, Iowa (Coincidently 4 different places all within a couple square mile radius until I was 22) / Irving, TX / Flower Mound, TX

6. Jobs I've had.
Retail clerk at candy store, shop girl in my father's guitar shop, various soul-sucking customer service jobs, Artist hand painting ceramic drawer pulls and cabinet hardware, Web Designer/Developer, Multimedia Developer

7. Tagging - If you're so inclined feel free to join in!

In other news, I got my hair cut - like 8+ inches cut! (Unfortunately just a bit shy for Locks of Love). Please excuse the dim evening light, just quick snapped this.

My diet use to be woefully fruit deficient before I discovered the mango. (Well who am I kidding; it's still not that great.) But, my adoration of mangoes has proved at least to be a bit of gateway fruit. Definitely one of the things I love about stopping by the Indian grocer is the many varieties of mango flavored items. So while I was in a bread baking mood and came across this recipe it was a no-brainer.

My one quibble with this recipe is given the variety of mangoes it's not really clear simply saying "1 small". How small is small? In bread recipes, where ingredient measures need to be more exacting I find it a bit frustratingly vague. I just dumped all of mine in with out measuring and it must have been a more "medium" size as the dough was on the wet side. Next time I'll add the water more slowly to check for the right consistency.

The roll of dough didn't quite fit on the baking sheet either, so I had to curve it slightly- please excuse my Scoliosis loaf. The taste however, divine. And just so you know, it was makes awesome french toast the next day.

Mango Twist Bread

4 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 package instant (rapid-rise) dried yeast
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons brown sugar
9 teaspoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 small mango, peeled, cored, and pureed
2 tablespoons runny honey
1 cup tepid water (or less if mango is medium size)
2/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
1 egg, beaten
confectioners' (powdered) sugar, for dusting

Grease a baking sheet. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in yeast, ground ginger and brown sugar. Rub in butter with fingers.

Stir in the mango puree, honey, and most of the water adding enough to mix and form into dough.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 min until smooth (or you can use an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook). Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Knead in raisins if using and shape dough into two sausage shapes, each 10” long. Twist the two sausage pieces together and pinch the ends to seal. Place dough on a baking sheet, cover and put in a warm place for another 40 minutes.

Brush the loaf with the egg and bake in a preheated over at 425 degrees F, for 30 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.