Burial

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Zeke

This is really sad to write. Last night, Eric took our dog Zeke for a walk before bed, and he didn't put him on the leash on the way home. Zeke darted into the street and was hit by a car, a police car actually. Eric came into the house (and I remember thinking the walk was taking a long time) sobbing incoherently, and I saw flashing lights reflecting off the garage wall. I guessed what happened, and I kept asking Eric if something had happened to Zeke since he couldn't talk.

We came outside and went out to Zeke. They had brought him to the front yard, and he was lying on his side, still somewhat warm but definitely not alive. It was so sad to stroke his ears and his side and his stomach. I am not ready for him to be gone. I am especially sad that Zari won't have him to grow up with. She loves playing with him.


She'll have to get used to playing without the real thing.


We carried him into the garage last night and stroked his body for a while before we went to bed. It was hard to get to sleep last night, and it still seems like it shouldn't have happened. This is the last picture I took of Zeke, in February.

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Everyday life

Looking out the window and waving hello and goodbye to the cars

Our dog, hoping for some attention

The best (and easiest) bread ever:
New York Times No-Knead Bread
(short version of the instructions below, with some commentary from me)

This bread is amazing. It tastes and feels like a sourdough--a chewy inside and a fantastically thick, crunchy crust--but without the need to keep feeding a starter. Mine always die, sooner or later. The secret? A tiny amount of yeast and 15-18 hours of rising/fermenting.

Okay, here's the way I do the bread. Mix together:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 cups flour

The dough will be very, very sticky and almost runny. Cover the bowl with a plastic lid or saran wrap and let rise for 15-18 hours. Or more. It won't hurt it at all. I usually make mine some time in the afternoon or evening.

The next day, once the dough is full of bubbles on the top (it will look like bubbly pancake batter when it is being cooked), stir it a few times to deflate the bubbles. Grease a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle a generous amount of cornmeal top. Put the dough on top of the paper and place in a shallow, wide bowl (this helps the ball of dough go up and not just out when it rises). Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little more cornmeal to keep it from sticking, and cover with a towel.

Then neglect it for a while: 2-3 hours. I like letting it rise a long time, more than the recommended 2 hours, for extra pouffy-ness.

Put a large cast iron or ceramic dish (one with sides at least 4" tall and that has an oven-proof lid) in the oven at 450. I use a square ceramic dish about 9x9" and 5" tall. Once the dish is nice and hot (give it 20 minutes in the oven), lift the parchment paper & dough up and carefully place it into the dish. Be as gentle as possible so you don't deflate it.

Bake with the cover on for 35 minutes. Take the cover off and bake another 10 minutes.

Why does the bread taste so good and have such an amazingly crunchy crust? The long fermentation gives the dough more flavor and texture. Because the dough is very wet, and because you bake it in a covered pot, it "steams" the bread, replicating very fancy steam ovens that professional bakeries use.

This is really a ridiculously easy way to make bread, once you've done it a few times. The best part is you can forget about it, leave it for way too many hour when it's rising, and it still turns out perfectly almost every time. And no kneading is required!

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August pictures

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more pictures!

Zari's recent fascinations: standing up whenever her feet hit a surface, playing with Zeke, and grabbing her feet.

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Mmmmmilk! and other pictures

What I pumped a few mornings ago...I often get 6-8 oz during my morning pumping session, after Zari is done nursing.

Doing pushups

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Talking (kind of)

Zari has started "talking" and we caught some of it on video. She's also taken up a new hobby: staring at our Dalmatian.

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Sleeping siblings

Calling them siblings is a bit of a stretch, but I liked the alliteration...

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Seeing spots

This picture makes me laugh...we got a Dalmatian blanket for Christmas from my husband's parents, so I threw our dog, the blanket, and Zari in her Dalmatian diapers on the bed and snapped this photo. She really isn't a monster huge baby--the angle just makes her look like she weighs about 20 pounds.

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