The taste of bread....

So I should have written this post sooner as I made and ate the bread a few days ago. It turned out okay, but not amazing. First of all I used a whole red wheat flour. This made the bread kind of heavy and dense, and sense I don't know much about baking bread I did not know a fix for this if there is even one. So I am either going to have to research making bread with whole wheat or I will have to use the white flour that is typically used. I also was not able to get to the sourdough bread on Sunday but that could be a next weekend thing. It did taste very good though just too heavy.

On a whole other note we have had good enough weather to clean up the yard to get ready for my garden! I also bought some of the supplies I will need for two of my five raised bed boxes. I am hoping to get the area cleaned up that way I can build my boxes. Even if I can't plant yet I would just be happy to have my boxes built. I also registered Laura and I for a vegetable garden class this weekend. I'm also considering the idea of taking an all day long set of classes next Saturday on gardening. I am hoping that everything this week flies by that way I can get to the weekend and take my first class!  

Bread

So today I had a strange urge to cook bread, homemade bread. Now I will say that unfortunately I never made bread with my mother or grandmother growing up. Now this may be my fault as growing up as an only child I never wanted to leave my own little world; and to be honest I didn't know about the world that existed outside of my room that contained my computer and my TV. But I guess the wanting to learn about cooking and other home/farm skills has always been inside of me. So with this new strong desire to learn cooking skills I decided to make some bread.

Tonight I am starting by making two loaves of Cinnamon Raisin Bread! As I'm writing this the bread is still cooking in the oven but I can already smell the cinnamon wafting through the house.    

My dough before I split into two loaves!

Tomorrow I am thinking about trying my hand at sourdough (mostly because it is Laura's favorite). Anyways while the bread was rising I decided to cook a lentil soup. Now my lentil soup was supposed (if things only work out the way you want) to contain lentils, onion, vegetable broth, lemon juice, fresh chopped garlic, cumin,  and salt & pepper to taste, but I was out of cumin so I decided that curry would work just as well (luckily it did!). Even Laura enjoyed my soup which was a good thing! Overall I think that I was pleased with my lessons tonight. 

On another note I have been thinking about adding a rabbit or two to my life that way I can use the manure for my garden. I have read in many places how good rabbit manure is for a garden and I want to try to be as natural as I can in my garden. The only drawback to this entire idea is trying to convince Laura (which can be very difficult at times!) to allow e to have rabbits right now. She has said right now we may have a lot on our plates and maybe holding off on rabbits will be a good idea till next year......(but we will see).

Anyways I think that my bread is done and I want to taste it while its fresh! I'll post later on my opinion of my first loaf of bread I've ever made.

Headphones on and nobody is listening....

So just a very quick update. I was sitting waiting for class to start with my headphones on and music playing really quietly more or less listening to the girls behind me chat. First of all do not assume that if someone wears headphones that they cannot hear you because if they are me then they can. Also if you are a religious studies major you should probably learn that a Tanak(for those that saw this post when it said Torah I suppose that I should learn to not write my school essays while blogging or I too will look stupid) is also a Bible and you may want to refer to it as one so you do not offend people of other religions (aka Jews). Anyways that is it for now.

First week of classes...

So my first week of classes went really well. Though I suppose that when you're not really doing anything its hard for it to be going bad. I have two professors from last semester and only one professor that is new to me. But I must say I was a little apprehensive about my new professor, or should I say TA. Now I understand the benefit to the TA of having a position of teaching at a University but I've never understood the benefit to the undergrad student. In fact if I'm spending $22/hr at an institution I would like to be taught by someone who knows that they are talking about (not took much to ask in my opinion). Well I was worried that my German TA was going to be a waste of my time as I noticed that foreign language TAs tend to be (no offense to any out there). Yet I was delightfully surprised when my TA was speaking very perfect (although southern) German, in fact she is actually from south Germany and has only recently come to the states for a master's in education. So I must admit I don't think that any of the American professors at the University could teach me much better German as far as pronunciation (though she does seem really knowledgeable about grammar).

Also in other education news my adviser is talking about doing an independent study with me over the summer so I can continue my Greek. So I am super excited about that because I would love to continue my Greek and possibly even start Latin as this would be super beneficial for me hopefully going to grad school. One can only hope that I will be able to go onto grad school, but I almost wonder if it would be for any purpose. I do really want to farm on the one hand and on the other I would love to teach in a university setting. Oh my ever changing vagabond free spirited ways. One day I may make a decision or maybe not only time will tell.

But In farming relating news I finally got my first seeds in the mail!!!! Of course I was quickly told after well you can't start seeds now, like I was some kind of dumbass. I know that I may be from the south and that I have never planted anything here in the midwest/north but I am smart enough to realize that there is a season and you cannot plant in the snow. Anyways I will not let this negativity get me down and I will move on, forward (but maybe have a mean comment run through my head at the sight of so called insulters). Ok so I'm not really that mean I just hate when people try and tell me what to do or immediately think I am an idiot before even talking to me. Anyways my garden will be great compared to their overgrown piece of crap. Ok and again positivity flowing! Well maybe I should just end here before I say something out of line.        

T-Minus 11 hours and counting....

So tomorrow is the big day, tomorrow is the day I will venture down the halls at school and gain an education in Religion at a cost of $22.72/hr! Sounds exciting right? The learning sounds awesome but it sucks to think that  for every hour that I sit in class this semester I will be spending almost $23 an hour. Maybe I should think of a new future career?!? I'm thinking that Laura may not be so supportive of me being a farmer if I tell her how much I'm throwing away to be educated in something that I find interesting but will probably lead to nothing without further education. Lucky for me I was blessed with scholarships and the gi-bill. I will say that I give major kudos to those individuals who don't have the luxury of these things nor some other form of help besides student loans and work. Working, going to school, and keeping up grades is no joke! You got to work your ass of for that and I personally believe that all of that is too much for the human system. People wonder why we are so stressed, depressed, and have as many health problems; well let me tell you something.....I do not wonder why these things happen, I know why they happen and I want to do everything in my power to avoid becoming a society zombie. Heck I know that farming ain't no joke, but I also know for me that it is a lot less stressful that dealing with other zombies and the working away from home and returning home in the evening to continue to work. So my goal is simple....go to school (mostly because you're "supposed" to and because I actually do enjoy it very much), becoming a very small scale farming supplying for my wife, children, and I, and finally being a good wife and mother. As I've already said I am going to be testing out my "farming" skills in the form of a garden this year. I'm excited about this as tonight I finally made my light stand and got my pots ready for my seeds!

Seed Starting table and lights. (don't mind the messy garage stuff behind it!)

I must have taken this before I set up my pots but that's okay I promise I will be taking more pictures later!  You might also notice that my light is uneven at the moment, but I promise that a fix is in the works I was just so excited that the parts were bought so I put it together in the giddy haste of a child opening Christmas presents. Well maybe I should run off to bed! I need to get rested for my first day and also to start my bus adventures again! More to come later!

This wonderful post was brought to you while listening to "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn!

T-Minus 10 Days and counting....

So school starts in 10 days and thinking about it brings both a frown and smile to my face. I am ready for this semester to begin simply to keep me busy, but I also would rather wait as I am not looking forward to homework. I've never enjoyed homework and those that do are more than welcome to have it! It's not that homework is ever even hard or challenging but a waste of my time. Personally I never feel like I walk away from my homework smarter or more knowledgeable about the subject matter. It mostly seems like busy work, when I would much rather be reading for pleasure, playing video games, or even sleeping. I also fear that homework is going to get in the way of my magnificent garden that I have planned for this year. Personally I think that food out weighs homework any day! I just love to eat! 

It may not help that I have also become a little over zealous about my garden and my seed order is going to show this. We will be planting multiple varieties of tomatoes, pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, sweet corn (I had to tell myself no on multiple accounts to not buy corn for flour), cucumbers (both regular size and pickling size), a variety of lettuce, collard greens, mustard greens, peas, mini bell peppers, pumpkins, spinach, butternut squash, strawberries, watermelon, asparagus (luckily I won't have to worry about a crop from this plant for awhile), great northern beans, garbanzo beans, lima benas, cabbage (for sauerkraut and possible cabbage soup!), carrots, sweet onions, snap peas, sugar peas, potatoes, zucchini, thyme, sage, spearmint, peppermint, chives, parsley, dill, cilantro, basil, and oregano. If everything grows well I may be feeding the neighborhood (eek!). We are also looking into getting a few rabbits (for manure), worms (for compost), and bugs (well to ward off the bad bugs).

I'm not sure if I have talked about chickens yet ( I should really learn to reread my posts), but I am so mad at Iowa City for not allowing urban chickens (hens). I feel it is my right to raise a chicken or two for eggs and that I should not be forced to buy eggs. I do know quite a few people who keep "illegal" chickens and I have thought about doing the same but I would get caught and I would hate to have to pay for harvesting "illegal" chickens (though it would probably make for a funny blog post). Oh well this is something I will either have to look forward to on my future farm or hope Iowa City changes their stupid law! (Also if I have vented about this before I apologize, I just think that it is stupid)

Well I must now skip off to the library because I have overdue books and need to get the heck out of my house!