So I bake my own bread, which means I've tried many, many recipes for whole grain loaves. I am always looking for the holy grail of recipes.

Now, I am not writing to say I've discovered it; I'll keep looking and experimenting. But my search did lead me to this great website, The Fresh Loaf. It is a community of "amateur artisan bakers and bread enthusiasts" that hosts tutorials, forums, and of course, recipes. I just tried the aromatic and delicious Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread (sans raisins, since I didn't have those on hand and using active dry yeast in place of the instant). It didn't rise as much as some other recipes I've tried, but I think that was in my technique today rather than in the recipe. It is worth practicing to get this bread perfected.

Some of the other recipes I'm eager to try include Honey Whole Wheat Bread, Pretzels, Bagels, and Pain Aux Raisins and Cream Cheese Snails (these most assuredly).

I love to wear aprons in the kitchen--not only are they useful for protecting my clothes from puffs of flour and splashes of tomato sauce, but also they help to set baking and cooking apart from my other household activities. Culinary pursuits require full-front aprons. Thus, when I set about sewing one, I drafted a full apron that slips over the head and ties in the back.

My inspiration for the design came from vintage patterns, particularly ones from the 1950s with scalloped hems. In order to accentuate the tulip hem and bodice edges, I bound them with black and white gingham, while I used French seams (my favorite and possibly overused finishing technique) to increase the apron's durability. Afterall, I hope this will see me through many a baking marathon!

You can also see this project in my BurdaStyle entry, Vintage-Inspired Apron.

Mechanization is achieved by fragmentation of any process and by putting the fragmented parts in a series

-Marshall McLuhan, 1964

Interesting: I just saw a squirrel chasing a bird--over the mulch, up trees, across the sidewalk. Did the bird take his acorn, perhaps?

My teacher indulged the class today with this video:

Oh goodness...I'm still chuckling :)

Would you like to know what a day off looks like in baked goods?

• 2 loaves of whole wheat bread
• 3 loaves of pumpkin bread
• 2 dozen molasses cookies
• 2 dozen miniature blueberry bagels
• 2 dozen blueberry-lemon muffins

Part of the impetus behind this freezer-filling array was the impending expiration of nearly a dozen eggs. I bought them before Christmas break and, what with traveling and all, hadn't gotten a chance to use them all up yet.

I'm looking forward to trying one of my bagels with the blueberry jam I made in December--it seems I've been on a blueberry binge lately.

We become what we behold.

As a piece of technology, the clock is a machine that produces uniform seconds, minutes, and hours on an assembly-line pattern. Processed in this uniform way, time is separated from the rhythms of human experience. The mechanical clock, in short, helps to create the image of a numerically quantified and mechanically-powered universe ... Time measured not by the uniqueness of private experience but by abstract uniform units gradually pervades all sense life ... Not only work, but also eating and sleeping, came to accommodate themselves to the clock rather than organic needs.

-Marshall McLuhan

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

Insouciance: the state of being carefree or indifferent.

example: "It's all the same to me," she tittered, waving her hand dismissively over the scripts strewn across the dining table. "I've done it all. You choose, dear." Yet her darting eyes and flash-frozen smile belied her insouciance, and I hurriedly grasped the first, smallish packet I saw.

Writing: the commitment of the word to space.

Walter J. Ong in Orality and Literacy (2002)

Might I recommend perusing Mother Earth's Children, a darling and whimsical collection of rhymes about little fruit and vegetable people?

image from Colette Patterns

One of my goals of this and next year is to sew a coat. Ever since Gertie did her series on her Vogue 8346 coat, I've been eager to learn some fine tailoring techniques--thus when she announced that she was hosting a sew-along for the Lady Grey Coat, replete with tips and tutorials on its construction, I happily joined. Plus, I've always wanted to sew a Colette pattern, not only for Sarai's beautiful designs, but also for their fine drafting and lovely packaging. The Sew-Along begins in September, so those of us who are participating will have ample time to gather our supplies. I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous about the cost of these supplies, but I'm determined to follow Gertie's lead and not skimp out. After all, this will be a valuable experience and, not to mention, a gorgeous coat!

The school year's arrived, and I'm finally living under a schedule again. I had all three classes yesterday, all on the third floor, and all taught by women. Now I'm trying to tease out a routine from the blob of syllabi I received, setting up my readings and ordering my textbooks and admonishing myself to keep up with the assignments. I am not behind yet.

This afternoon, however, I was floored by an email insisting I reapply for in-state tuition by the 30th, or I risk paying out-of-state for the semester. Now, having already paid this semester's bill and encountering no problems, I was alarmed by this new hurdle and, after the obligatory burst of panic and tears and wretched I'm-going-to-have-to-quit-school-because-I-can't-afford-it mental spasms, I calmly emailed the registrar and asked for clarification.

It was just a general reminder to all UNC students. Crikey.

I decided to make bread. Computer aside, I worked the dough I had made yesterday into two baguettes, slashed them, and slipped them onto hot stones to bake. A few crusty, still-steaming slices and some tomato salad later, I feel restored and am ready to settle down to my research articles and texts.

**********

Simple Tomato Salad:

2 pints grape tomatoes, chopped

A handful of pitted olives, chopped

1-2 tablespoons dried basil, ground

A handful of red onion, diced finely

A couple handfuls of cheese, shredded

Mix ingredients and store in the fridge.

Sobriquet: nickname.

example: The apartment grounds hosted hundreds of the little speck-sized pests, so that poor Millie inevitably picked up new ones each time she went outside. Having to scratch constantly earned her the unfortunate, albeit affectionately given, sobriquet of flea-bag.

If ever I were to follow a designer, it would be Anna Allen. She and I could be bosom buddies style-wise.

Her 2010 look-book is online.

Welcome to the season of summer.

I'm ringing summer in with a month-long course in databases. I enjoy taking condensed courses, for they give me the special privilege of focus--focusing on one set of concepts, one set of due dates, one set of materials, bus schedules, and classmates. Interest is relative, so what I would find unbearably dull beside reference or archives work, I now find almost...tolerable.

So here's to a fresh start in academia and a fresh start in seasons.

Mr. Reg.

I think Angela and Adam Tulliers did a beautiful job renovating their new home. Take a look at their feature on Design Sponge and their flickr photos.

I was just reading an article about the psychology of collecting* when I came across this little fact: in a study about money sense conducted by W.S. Monroe in 1899, 2,012 Massachusetts school children were asked what they would do with 50 cents a month. Can you guess what they would spend it on?

Clothing: boys-9% girls-11%

Wood, coal, food, or furniture: boys-4% girls-4%

Toys and pictures: boys-3% girls-7%

Candy, riding, etc.: boys-14% girls-9%

Philanthropy: boys-2% girls-3.5%

Christmas presents: boys-4% girls-7%

Wood, coal, food, or furniture? What a sense of responsibility need cultivated in these youngsters!

*Cameron, E.H. (1923, November). The psychology of saving. Annals of the American academy of political and social science (110), p. 156-164.

Today's rather a neat date, isn't it? Happy 3-2-10!