I has PICTURES! This is just a crutch, however--I discovered Will's camera (still and video combo) and used it to get a few pictures. Without enough light, however, it takes--I kid you not--at least three seconds between the clicking of the 'take picture' button and actually taking the picture. *headdesk* Hence, what I am going to show you has had lots of light around it for clarity's sake.

(They've also been tweaked in Photoshop---but just using the 'quick fix' function because I'm too lazy/don't have enough time to do each picture special)

This is looking out the window about forty minutes ago...we got a couple inches of snow last night and it's still coming down like flour out of a sifter (i.e. very, very, very fine).

Out the window again, looking to the south...yay...while in the throes of winter I can't wait to start planting the gardens and doing stuff outside, and in summer I get antsy to do things inside. *headdesk* Such is the indecision of my mind.

Here's our neighbor's trees, about 1/3-1/4 of a mile to the southeast. In summer you can't see them because of the cornfield.

Oh yeah, I made bread this morning! It's currently rising before going into the oven--I neglected to get a picture of its current state, but this is next to the wood stove when I put it down to rise for the first time. The towel is to keep it from getting dry and to keep inquisitive animal noses and paws out of it. XD

(On a side note, I think I put too much yeast in the bread...it was very, very airy and had lots of bubbles in it when I rolled it out and it didn't shape very well.)

And now, since I have camera-ADD and can't stick to one subject, here's my latest knitting project! They're wrist-warmers that I started last night--not near as bulky as the 'manhandlers' but a little more feminine. The yarn looks very blue here, but it's more of a sea-foam-teal color.

Trying to get a little detail here...they're a 'checkerboard' pattern. This was actually the first pattern I ever tackled for knitting in the round, and in the past I've done variations on the basic pattern (spiral and plain straight knit-purl), but I always loved this checkered look. And they're so easy...they take maybe 4-5 hours to knit a pair. I'll probably be done with these in two or three days if I knit consistently.

Well, the bread has risen so I'm going to toddle off and put it in the oven...then it's off to clean a house and work at the gym this afternoon...whee. XD

Toodle pip!

~Da Fox

Listening to: I Won't Dance (Jane Monheit and Michael Buble)
Mood: Chipper

Hurrah for posting in the morning! I'm going to try to make this a more regular thing. Evening posting just doesn't work for me.

So yesterday I made biscotti! Lemon-tea biscotti, to be exact. We didn't have any lemon, so I substituted a lime. It's amazing stuff. But on to the title of this post: I decided that it would be kind of cool to have some chocolate drizzled on the top. Because, you know, biscotti NEEDS chocolate. That's not only a completely necessary ingredient, it's vital to the livelihood of biscotti.

First! Get out a bag of chocolate! White chocolate is amazing, by the way. So is super-dark chocolate. *drools* But I digress...oh, and yesterday, when I looked at this bag, it was over halfway full. Today it was about 1/4 of the way full.

...I think someone's been hitting the chocolate. And regrettably it hasn't been me.

Next, get out the biscotti and put it on a tray. There used to be another tray last night...who the heck has been eating my creations?? They must SUFFER!!

Oh, and turn on Pandora radio. Because music is completely essential to baking, no matter what you're making.

Apologies for the reflection on the screeny, by the by. The sun was coming in through the window full-force and you can see from my chin to the neckline of my t-shirt. Woo hoo. XD

So, back to melting chocolate. I put about 3/4 of a cup or so in a microwavable container.

Did I mention that I'd never melted chocolate before? At least, not by myself. And did I mention that I had no idea that white chocolate tends to burn?

Yeah. So, part-way through the melting attempt in the microwave the chips turned...powdery. Not melty. And there was hard brown clumpy burnt stuff on top of it.

Well, like I said, it was an experiment. So I guiltily picked out the burnt bits as best I could (NEVER WASTE ANY FOOD, ESPECIALLY IF IT'S CHOCOLATE), and had the brilliant idea to Google how to melt chocolate. Apparently you're supposed to melt it very, very slowly over low temps (preferably by boiling a pot of water, then putting a smaller pot with the chocolate in the boiling water) and put a little bit of vegetable oil in it to make it smoother.
So, thus informed, I left the camera back on the counter and managed to get the chocolate melted using the double-boiler method. Regrettably I didn't get any pictures of the process...but oh well.

Because I thought that the chocolate would be thin enough to drizzle I put the biscotti in neat little rows in preperation for said drizzling. Little did I know that it was still a little on the thick/not-quite-smooth side...

So I dipped 'em instead. And they came out half-way decent, if I may say so myself.

A note for the future, however: it is always, ALWAYS a good idea to look things up BEFORE you jump in, even if ya think ya know what you're doing. Especially if ya think ya know what you're doing. *drills message into head*

Well, that was kind of fun...oh! And I want to leave you with two pictures that I took late last night, with all the lights off and everyone was already in bed.

Isn't that just kinda purty? Our Christmas tree is small and artificial, unfortunately, but that's because our house is too small for anything bigger. And the fake stove is gas-powered, instead of by wood. That's what makes it fake...er...that is...there's real flames, but...oh, never mind. It puts out a ton of heat, and that excuses its existence. It DOES have a disturbing habit of turning on randomly with a WHUMP (I think it's on a timer), but we don't mind. Too much. XD

Listening to: Luky (Jason Mraz)
Mood: Initially irritable

...my website is being stupid again. It ditched my post, which annoys me.

*puts bullet through website*

Ahh, that's better. Okay, now onto the essence of this post: Mom and I made cinnamon buns this evening (obviously) taken from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, and I chronicled part of the process, from the rolling of the dough to baking. I wish I could package scents and put them here in my website, but since I can't, just imagine the smell of baking dough mixed with the scent of warm sugar and vanilla and coffee all mixed together.

Got it? Now multiply that times fifty, and you'll get an idea of the smell of cinnamon buns as they bake. *drools* Anyway! On with the post!

Okay, the dough, rolled out and spread with the sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture in all its gooey greatness. This stuff is amazing.

The dough 'log', right before we cut it into slices.

While Mom cut the 'log' into slices, I took the opportunity to take a picture of PW's book. Ain't it cute?? XD

Ahh, the buns before popping them into the oven. They look kinda pasty here, and not near as delicious as they do after baking.

This is the icing. *om nom* It's powdered sugar, coffee, milk, and vanilla. Pure decadence...

More pans, pre-baking! Excuse the counter behind the pans...we didn't take the time to clear the knife block and things from the background. *slaps wrist*

And the actual baking! I was getting blasted with hot air while taking this picture...*twitches at memory* Oh well. I got the picture, anyways. XD

Here it is. The moment we have been waiting for...the finish product, drowning in icing and generally being tempting. They're sooo good... *drools* But regrettably, they're for other people. Phooey. So I'll have to wait for the next batch to eat one.

(One of these is going to you-know-who--he still has one of our plates, from almost a month ago. I'm going to jokingly accost him about it tomorrow when I hand over the cinnamon buns)

And now, on to other things...yesterday I was kept so busy that I wasn't able to get to the computer at all. Will and I had a CPR class all morning, and then Mom and three other ladies were making calzones the entire afternoon (the computer has to be plugged into the modem, which is in the kitchen, and there was NO room at all to set the laptop up), and then I babysat from 5:30 to 1 AM. So yesterday was a long day. And today, between church, having people over for dinner, and making cinnamon buns and biscotti the same thing nearly happened.

I have a test tomorrow and on Wednesday...boo. I don't wanna take a test. *wibbles* But of course that means that I'll be done with this semester of school, and then I'll be free until the beginning of January. *pumps fist* So I suppose I can suffer through once last test in order to be finished with this semester.

I'm rambling aren't I? Don't lie, I know that I am. Must have something to do with getting to bed at 1 AM and then doing things all day...so I'll let you off the hook and toddle off to bed. G'night, all...