Jive Talk.

Sometimes I wish there were enough hours in the day to enjoy all the simple things in life and thank God for blogging because we can share them with one another. Here are some things I've been jiving on lately. Feel free to share your favorites too!

Jen Lee's latest blog post is priceless. She has a way with words and every time I read her posts I get the sense that I should stop whatever else I'm doing because it isn't nearly as important as soaking in her inspiration and humble words.

The Wednesday Chef's latest blog post will make you smile. It's nice to be reminded again and again of the simple pleasures in life even in the midst of a "perfect" day as a wedding can be.

I will never get bored looking at Etsy's home page, which features different sellers practically on the hour. The handmade world is so under-appreciated.

I have yet to try the recipes but I am constantly saving recipes from Melissa Clark's column, A Good Appetite featured in the NY Times.

Finding out that Tori Amos has finally shared her U.S. tour dates, you'll know where to find me on December 17th and 18th.

** Flower arrangements above are my first ones. I learned how to do it when I visited my mommy in May. Thanks Tracy!

To Knead or Not to Knead....

...that is the question. LA Weekly's food blog, Squid Ink, featured a conversation piece with Jim Lahey, author who advocates a "no knead" approach to baking artisanal breads. The article offered his basic "No Knead" bread recipe, which I tried over the weekend. I was hesitant, I must admit. I mean, how many times, have you read a bread recipe and it instructed you to knead the bread for at least 10 minutes. I'm a fan of crusty, holey bread, that's the "crumb" I dig most and whenever I bake bread, I'm constantly trying to recreate it. I may have found my Picasso, my masterpiece in the recipe. The recipe calls for bread flour, but I used all purpose here. With the addition of some salt, cool water and yeast, I Incorporated these ingredients and covered with plastic wrap. For a minimum of 12 hours and Lahey encourages you to postpone step #2 for 18 hours, I left the dough alone to ferment slowly at room temperature.

This morning I awoke and continued with step #2, very gently removing the dough from the bowl, handling it at a minimum and allowing to rise yet again, covered, free form, in a flour-dusted cloth. About half an hour before it finished its second rise, I put my enameled cast iron Dutch oven in a 475 degree oven to heat up. Post the second rise, I transferred the dough carefully into the hot (and I mean STEAMING) Dutch oven and covered it. Baked it for 30 minutes, removed the top so it could develop a beautiful golden crust, for another 15 minutes and transferred to a cooling rack to cool, before slicing off a hunk and swirling honey on top.

The magic lies, yes, in not kneading, but also creating a natural steam environment, by baking it in a dutch oven or casserole. This basic recipe could lead to a cornucopia of additions, such as herbs, cheese, jalapenos, spices and what not. The possibilities are endless.

Live Without Bread...I Think Not!

You could think..gosh, why is Teryll teasing me? Or perhaps other thoughts of drowning yourself in a vat of real butter with showers of rustic country bread falling down all around you is racing through your mind? Alas, I digress......the truth is no matter what carbo-less diet you've forced upon yourself, we all can agree that there is utter perfection in a chunk of homemade bread slathered with real butter. Let us have a moment of silence in honor of bread.

This recipe for rustic country bread comes from my cooking school back in California.

I have really been in the bread making mood and thought I would revisit this yummy recipe. The crust turned out decent but the crumb (or "interior of the bread") didn't quite turn out how I would have liked. It turned out dense, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I was looking for groovey pockets of air and gas to invade the dough. After perusing some bread books at Barnes & Noble last night, I think I have narrowed down the "error of my ways" - I think I "handled it too much" prior to its second rise, thus getting rid of all the good air and gases. Never fear, I will not give up!