A Bold Reappearance
Ok, so I've been pretty lazy for a almost a month. Actually, my month has been consumed with brewing and baby showers, so give me a break. But I'm back and plan on contributing consistently indefinitely.
Today has been a day that I will pine for once my daughter is born in 7 weeks or so. After a day of intense work on our house (I had Good Friday off), I decided to do nothing but watch sports and drink beer today. My day started at 10am with a really entertaining Liverpool/Reading match. I've become a huge fan of Liverpool since my infatuation with soccer began last summer. A thrilling 2-1 L'Pool win lead nicely into another soccer match pairing league leaders Manchester United against middle-tier Portsmouth. Chelsea, six points behind Man U., won earlier in the day so United needed to win to keep pace. Surprisingly, Portsmouth won 2-1 in a match dominated by PFC.
Onto more soccer, this time pairing Barcelona vs. Real Zaragoza. Barca lost 1-0 and promptly ruined my day. No matter. The Masters' coverage started online at 2:30pm with tv coverage starting at 3:30pm. Tiger is making a valiant charge and is currently only 1 behind the leader going into 16. The Masters is truly something special that any sportsfan can enjoy, regardless of their opinion on golf. HD really makes the most beautiful course in the world more so.
I have been somewhat productive today as I continue to pursue my quest for making the world's best baguette. This new obsession took hold of me over a month ago while enjoying the Sunday afternoon Price family tradition of enjoying soft cheeses, italian meats, greek olives, and pungent olive oil as a very refreshing dinner. We have enjoyed wine with this feast in the past, but Christina's delicate condition has limited our wine consumption on Sundays. No matter. It's still a great way to celebrate a Sunday evening.
So in response to my obsession with anything craft, I thought I could replicate the baguettes I've been purchasing at Wegmans. No good. The first couple attempts yielded okay results, but not nearly as flavorful or fluffy as the traditional baguette. I finally found a recipe that yielded high praise and tried it last week. This recipe required over 6 hours of my time, but I trudged though it and produced a very respectable loaf. I made some adjustments this week and I think they made a difference. My baguettes just came out of the oven and look wonderful.
Have you seen 'Planet Earth' yet? If not, you must carve out the time on Sunday at 8pm to view the single best nature production ever made. 5 years of filming resulted in 11 episodes detailing various areas of the planet in which we live - desert, icelands, forests, oceans, etc. Many of the images are of things never seen before (and they constantly remind you of this) and done in such a way that truly makes you appreciate God's creation.
In other news, Mike and I brewed a Christmas beer a couple of weeks ago. This beer requires 4-5 months of aging, so we decided it best to make it now so that it's available in the fall. It's a fairly basic belgian strong ale base with added spices, ginger, and orange peel. Our first effort, a belgian strong made with demarara sugar back in January (actually, I think it has the characteristics of a barleywine) is really becoming tasty. I'm planning on bringing 6 or so to Maarten's wedding for an added treat.
Finally, I've been negligent in producing new beer vlog entries. Currently, I'm on the 2nd of a 3-part ESB series. I promise it will be up within the next week.
Happy Easter, everyone!
Today has been a day that I will pine for once my daughter is born in 7 weeks or so. After a day of intense work on our house (I had Good Friday off), I decided to do nothing but watch sports and drink beer today. My day started at 10am with a really entertaining Liverpool/Reading match. I've become a huge fan of Liverpool since my infatuation with soccer began last summer. A thrilling 2-1 L'Pool win lead nicely into another soccer match pairing league leaders Manchester United against middle-tier Portsmouth. Chelsea, six points behind Man U., won earlier in the day so United needed to win to keep pace. Surprisingly, Portsmouth won 2-1 in a match dominated by PFC.
Onto more soccer, this time pairing Barcelona vs. Real Zaragoza. Barca lost 1-0 and promptly ruined my day. No matter. The Masters' coverage started online at 2:30pm with tv coverage starting at 3:30pm. Tiger is making a valiant charge and is currently only 1 behind the leader going into 16. The Masters is truly something special that any sportsfan can enjoy, regardless of their opinion on golf. HD really makes the most beautiful course in the world more so.
I have been somewhat productive today as I continue to pursue my quest for making the world's best baguette. This new obsession took hold of me over a month ago while enjoying the Sunday afternoon Price family tradition of enjoying soft cheeses, italian meats, greek olives, and pungent olive oil as a very refreshing dinner. We have enjoyed wine with this feast in the past, but Christina's delicate condition has limited our wine consumption on Sundays. No matter. It's still a great way to celebrate a Sunday evening.
So in response to my obsession with anything craft, I thought I could replicate the baguettes I've been purchasing at Wegmans. No good. The first couple attempts yielded okay results, but not nearly as flavorful or fluffy as the traditional baguette. I finally found a recipe that yielded high praise and tried it last week. This recipe required over 6 hours of my time, but I trudged though it and produced a very respectable loaf. I made some adjustments this week and I think they made a difference. My baguettes just came out of the oven and look wonderful.
Have you seen 'Planet Earth' yet? If not, you must carve out the time on Sunday at 8pm to view the single best nature production ever made. 5 years of filming resulted in 11 episodes detailing various areas of the planet in which we live - desert, icelands, forests, oceans, etc. Many of the images are of things never seen before (and they constantly remind you of this) and done in such a way that truly makes you appreciate God's creation.
In other news, Mike and I brewed a Christmas beer a couple of weeks ago. This beer requires 4-5 months of aging, so we decided it best to make it now so that it's available in the fall. It's a fairly basic belgian strong ale base with added spices, ginger, and orange peel. Our first effort, a belgian strong made with demarara sugar back in January (actually, I think it has the characteristics of a barleywine) is really becoming tasty. I'm planning on bringing 6 or so to Maarten's wedding for an added treat.
Finally, I've been negligent in producing new beer vlog entries. Currently, I'm on the 2nd of a 3-part ESB series. I promise it will be up within the next week.
Happy Easter, everyone!
posted by JP at 5:02 PM
1 Comments:
Planet Earth is awesome.
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