Raisin Bread vs. Raisin Brick

For some reason, I woke up yesterday, and I had to bake raisin bread. One summer during college, I decided that I would learn to bake bread. I made a new loaf everyday - raisin, dill, sourdough, soda - I probably put on 15 pounds that summer.  Clearly a little LSD bubble popped in my brain, and the need to bake bread overwhelmed me all over again. 

So, I turned to my handy pinterest and searched for raisin bread. There were a decent amount of choices, and there was something about this photo that called my name. Or maybe it was the pat of butter on that nice shinny knife, that called my name.  

http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2010/07/cinnamon-sugar-love-and-winner.html

I would say this was an overall success.  Although, mine was a bit more of a brick than hers.  I think that I would have proofed the yeast before I added it with the other ingredients, giving it a nice head start for 10 minutes or so. I did let is rise quite a bit, but as you can see, mine is a bit more solid.

Also turns out that kneading in raisins - super hard work!  This bed rest momma had to take a few breaks.

As I took this photo, my friend laughed and said that I need to style it better.  Upon second look, I also need to get myself some new cutting boards. And before I take a photo, I should get all the crap off of the counter. 

Here is my "styled" shot . . . one half of a brick, elegantly balancing on another half of a brick.  Cut me off a piece, stick it in the toaster, add some butter, and color me happy.

Me vs. 300 Bugs.

There are lots of cool photos of praying mantises on pinterest. Ok. There is really just one, that people pin over and over.
Cute  . . . we get it, praying mantis riding a bike.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2128668/Amazing-nature-Like-mantis-needs-bicycle-Incredible-close-shot-praying-mantis-Borneo-makes-viewers-double-take.html

Then I saw this one . . . and I was inspired to get baby praying mantises for my kids to hold on their hand. 

http://themetapicture.com/baby-praying-mantis/

So  . . . we bought an egg case. A rather dried up brown looking thing that sat in a tupperware on the kitchen counter for six weeks.  Every few days I had to convince my husband not to throw it out. 

And then one day we looked in the box . . .300 baby praying mantis were swarming around.

Out to the back yard we went. . be free . .be free.

And then I got my winner photo to pin on Pinterest.  Max with a baby Praying Mantis. Not bad.  I do realize that his nails need to be cleaned and cut.  . . but other than that . . I think I win this competition.

My winner activity.  My winner photo.

Barefoot Contessa vs. Barefoot and Pregnant

Beautiful right?

This is the Barefoot Contessa's Indonesian Ginger Chicken

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/indonesian-ginger-chicken-recipe/index.html

I am not quite sure what makes it Indonesian. But who am I to question?

This is my chicken.  Granted, this is after dinner, so we had already eaten most of it. Which was delicious.  But not quite as advertised. Well, it would have been, if I had read the recipe all the way.

1)  Turns out that you were supposed to marinate it overnight. I hate it when they don't say this until the second paragraph.

2) I found out that you were supposed to turn the oven up at the end. The kids were home from school at this point,  and there was going to be no checking in on the recipe.

3) You have to grate a half a cup of ginger. Which is hard work!  After 1/4 cup, I gave up and put in some chunks of ginger. Equally yummy.

Overall assessment, I would make it again.  But I would follow the directions.

Introduction

Pinterest. I am fascinated by it. I am fascinated by the good ideas. I am fascinated by what people choose to pin.  I am fascinated to know if anyone actually does what they think they want to do.  I am fascinated by food porn, sewing porn, craft porn, and kid-activity porn.

Most pinterest photos that I come across come from bloggers, typically women, who have time on their hands, LOVE being a mom, and a good doting wife, often love Jesus, and have a damn high quality camera lying around. They buy beautiful fabrics, high quality ingredients, and seem to be able to "do" it all.

I am a working mom, currently on modified bed rest, who enjoys being a mom, although often wants to pull her hair out, am a pretty good wife, when I am not making ridiculous demands and watching hours of The Office, and I have a phone and an ipad for my camera.  I love coupons and refuse to spend lots of money on things.


And so, I decided to actually do/make/sew/cook the things that I pin.

And, I decided to post my photos next to the pinterest photos, and see what pinterest looks like in the hands of a real person.

Oh, here is my pinterest: http://pinterest.com/hmrjmrmom/

Oh, and here is my new favorite image (from pinterest)

Here it goes . . .'