Baking Bread

This was one of the things I had on my "perfect life" to do list.  Baking bread.  Now, this bread, is the No Knead easy bread, not the time intensive ciabatta I will try next.  I like to knead bread dough and this dough only wanted a few little presses and pats.  Now it is to double in size (the house is cold) so I will wait and then heat the cast iron casserole to 500 and bake my bread until it is brown and the crust crackles with delicious crispness.  It is snowing (a blizzard) and I am eating as many whole grain carbs as I can find.

I called QVC and have the proper okays to send my Pilates machine back.  Then I must wait for it to arrive before they will send another, replacement, machine.  A whole week or more of no exercise.  I am beyond sad.  I could keep it and never try to do the leg stretches ever again.  But I think, as I progress, the platform bumping over that weld will be increasingly annoying and I won't have the 30 day return policy to help me send it back.

I tried calling the manufacturer.  They are having a "snow day". I shoveled the back porch at 11 just so I could get the door open to let the dog out.  About 8 inches.  Now it's 1pm  and the dog wanted out and all the 8 inches are back.  The door was pushing into the snow and will block it if I don't go out and shovel again.  My backyard looks like a giant soft serve vanilla ice cream sundae.  

The plows are driving by. The oil company has delivered $350 worth of oil (112 gallons) which is 3 weeks worth of heat.  Next month it will cost over $400.  Go, Egypt, Go!  250,000 are demonstrating in a country of 80 million and the ports are closed, no oil is being pumped etc.  Can anyone tell me how this is possible?  I think the loss of the internet and computer access is causing more shutdowns than the demonstrations.  Mubarik should have left the internet up and had the country continue doing business.  Everyone but Mubarik himself already knew he was a dictator.  He's never going to leave.  He's 82.

I am going upstairs to exercise, then sort more fabric.  By then my bread should be ready to bake.  We have lasagna leftovers to eat with steamed broccoli after G clears the driveway, again.  But at least we aren't shoveling.  The snow is powdery and light.  Blowing all over the place and still coming down. I should make a pot of tomato kale soup.  Yes.  I will do that.  And perhaps waste some oil and heat the bedroom wing (where my old sewing room is located) so I can finish some wabi sabi placemats.