Progress on the Paper Maché Trout...

Here's an update on my paper maché trout.  It's going well, and moving along quickly, thanks to the dehumidifier in my basement!  It's just about 48" long from nose to tail.  I'm still finishing the Bounty paper towel layer (the back side of what you see is still just covered in the craft paper.  The front portion is impressively sturdy - almost like thick plastic.  I'm not going to strive for absolute smooth perfection, although I think I WILL sand it a bit when the paper towel layer is finished and dry.  I think the slight bumps and valleys will contribute to the hand-done look.  I'm anticipating being at the painting stage by the weekend.  My spouse better deem this "Den Worthy" or I may have to put it on Ebay.

I can't wait to try more shapes!  

Revisiting the Paper Maché Fish Idea

I've had a hankering for some paper maché…  baking, although it involves squishy flour and water mixtures, is just not cutting it.  But how does one decide what one wants to make?  I keep picturing a very large fish hanging up like someone just caught it - but this one is very colorful - a joy to look at, so that's what I decided to make. Plus, this reminds me of summer!

My last attempt at a paper maché fish was not coming out the way I wanted.  It's still in the basement, unfinished. (I guess eventually I'll finish it…) With that fish, I was trying to make an armature I could use again and again, and I wanted the fish to be very light - paper maché ONLY - nothing inside.  With this one, I decided the armature would remain in the fish - so much easier and sturdier that way.

I started with a fish shape I liked.  I wanted the shape to be realistic, so I settled on this picture of a rainbow trout:

I found it with a quick google search.  It's the kind of fish shape a fisherman might get - you don't usually see fisherman with giant angelfish on their hooks.  

I bought a roll of poultry wire with 1" holes from Home Depot, cut a piece the length of my fish including the tail.

I folded the piece in half lengthwise, and sewed it closed with some floral wire.  This does not require any advance sewing skills - just loop the sides together with your wire.

 I stuffed the middle with a few bunched up pieces of wire to keep it from flattening.  

At this point, I had a tube with a tail.  Next I squished together the front end and tightened up the bulky, pointy sections by grabbing sections of wire with my needle nose pliers and twisting them slightly.  I tried not to do TOO much cutting, since experience has shown me that cut pieces of poultry wire are a pain - literally!  I wore my gloves whenever possible, and my fingers are very happy!

Then I consulted my picture and added some necessary fins where appropriate. 

Once I had the shape finished, I ripped by craft paper (from a package we received that used this as the packing material - recycling at its best!) into long strips and circled it around the fish.  I attached it by taping the ends and/or side edges with double-sided tape (LOVE my scrapbooking ATG gun!).  Where I couldn't attach to another piece of craft paper, I tucked the paper through the wire and taped it back into itself inside the fish.  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and it saved me loads of time by 1. giving my first layer of paper maché something to stick to, and 2. providing a separation between the goo and the table, making clean up SO much easier!

First I covered one side with a layer of paper maché, then I put it downstairs near the dehumidifier, and about 8 hours later, it was dry enough for me to cover the second side.  

Going to cover the remaining holes now, then look into my options.  I AM going to finish this fish, I promise!!  

If anyone has any ideas, techniques or questions, post away!

Later, friends!

I'll wait right here for ya, Dad...

I don't know how he does it, but in our house, Dad is always the favorite human.  I'm not sure how he does it - maybe it's the three meals ("Are you hungry?  Do you want some cookies, too?")… Maybe it's the belly scratches or maybe it's the fact that he's around for part of the day when the rest of us are not.  Whatever the reason, this little girl has become very fond of her car rides with dad.  So fond, in fact, that when anyone rattles their keys, she runs for the door and then tries to hop in the first open car door.   Yesterday I was heading out and didn't want her to come with me, so before opening MY car door, I opened dad's car door and she hoped right in.  She did NOT want to get out, even for her dad.  Doesn't that look just scream, "I'll just wait right here, dad, for when you're ready to go."

I LIKE Dandelions...

I was just getting in my car to go get something for lunch today when I noticed this and I stopped in my tracks and squatted down low to get a picture:

…a lawn full of happy little dandelions!  Now don't hate me; I know dandelions are the scourge of almost every home-owning suburban man and many a suburban woman as well, but I really don't get it.        I actually like them.  Ok, I have, on occasion, picked them out of my "lawn" but that's because my grass needs all the help it can get.  In my humble opinion, they make this grass so much more cheerful. Plus, if you don't douse your lawn in chemicals (I know lots of people do) you can add the leaves to your salads because they're really good for you.  Kids love to pick them.  I believe they are usually the first flower a child picks for their mother. Who out there does not remember being a child and picking a dandelion flower gone to seed and blowing on the seeds while making a wish?  Think of all the people who could get wishes from this lawn!  Not to mention how cool they look when you set a seed head aflame… (I've never done it, but the pictures I've seen are cool!)


So don't be a dandelion hater - must I remind you that just a couple of short months ago, this great big expanse was covered in dirty snow? Ah, gotcha.

Windy Spring Afternoon

I've decided to post about those small, wonderful things we tend to overlook as I rush through my daily activities.  It's been a crazy week so far, but the weather has been beautiful - sunny, in the 60's and sunny with a nice breeze.  I went to the marina on my lunch hour.  The water was choppy - the birds were sunning themselves on the sand and it smelled like the ocean.  It was made all the more beautiful by our just ended harsh winter.  Happy Spring!

Colder than...

It's freaking COLD outside.  Not that I need to tell any of you that if you live in most of the continental United States.  I took this snapshot of the weather on my phone a little while ago, but I really should have taken it last night or this morning - when it was 2 degrees.  Really, 2?  Can ya spare it, Mother Nature?

My hands are cold, my feet are cold, my house is cold.  We ran out of wood for the wood stove about a week or two ago.  The dog, who used to love to lie behind the wood stove, has taken to lying on the miscellaneous blankets on the couch.  Winter was a lot more fun when my house was warmer.  You might say that "it's colder than…"  Fill in your favorite phrase here.  If you go to google, and search "colder than," you will find the phrase I was actually thinking of.   

"I'm cold"  I texted my friend a little while ago.

"We're all cold."  she said, "We're in cold hell."

It reminded me of the final scene in Dante's Inferno…  the icy wasteland, Satan gnawing on his three victims in the center...

Yup - pretty cold down there...

Well, if that was the case, "we just have to climb down Satan's hairy back and we can get the HELL out of here." I texted back.

If you don't believe me, google it - look for the end of the Inferno section. 

Personally, I really would rather just wait for Spring. 

Sourdough Bread Made with a Yeast Starter

As some of you know, I recently (unsuccessfully) attempted to start my own wild yeast starter.  For those of you who don't know, a "starter" is what you use when you want yeast risen food without using yeast you purchased at the store.  I first heard of this via reading about San Francisco Sourdough bread.  The yeast is "caught" locally in San Francisco, and that's what gives their bread its distinctively yummy taste.   The yeast makes its home in the flour and water mixture and "ferments."  "Fermented" bread (sourdough) is supposed to be better for you because the starches are more easily digestible and the phytase has been activated to dissolve the phytates, which means minerals in the bread are more easily absorbed.  For more info in this area, check out:

www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/03/05/food-for-thought-health-benefits-of-sourdough/#ilVL4CM77jykkGOX.99

How do you catch wild yeast?  Wild yeast is floating around in the air all around us, (some websites said there is speculation that the yeast is actually IN the flour - who knows) and all you need to do to "catch" it is mix flour and water together in equal parts - and wait.  

… and wait.

Though it's not difficult, it does take some time.  I had some confidence that I would succeed in eventually "catching" some wild yeast because in the past, I've noticed the telltale bubbles in my flour and water mixtures when I make paper mache.  I just knew Long Island had hearty wild yeast.  

I scanned a lot of Pinterest pages and chose one to follow that had great pictures and clear descriptions. My starter (Bertha - from my last post) produced bubbles very quickly, but just as quickly turned horribly smelly and died (I'm just guessing it died, but I'm not an expert in yeast life…).  I read though a bunch more Pinterest posts and searched some bread making websites and decided a few days ago to try again, and I met with success!!  This time instead of feeding my starter every 24 hours, I fed it every 12 hours.  I threw out slightly less than half the starter every time I fed it, and I think this resulted in more available "food" for the active yeast organisms to eat. I eventually want to transition to making whole wheat bread, so in addition, I used a small portion (roughly 25%) of whole wheat flour right from the beginning with this starter.  

Here is the website that I found the most helpful.  I can't seem to get links into this blog, but if you cut and paste this, I'm sure you'll get there...

http://ruralspin.com/2012/02/01/using-wild-yeast-sourdough-starter-basic-bread/

I started with 4 weighed ounces of flour, and 4 fluid ounces of filtered water.  I mixed, covered and let sit for 12 hours.  Then I added another 4 ounces of flour and 4 ounces of water, waited 12 hours again. My starter looked like this:

I took some out, put in another 4 ounces of flour and 4 ounces of flour, mixed and waited another 12+ hours - probably more like 20 hours.  It looked like this:

I was excited!  And this time, it smelled a little yeasty, like beer, but not terribly singe-your-nose-hairs-sour, like last time.  Last time I had the bowl sitting near the wood stove.  Even though it was covered, maybe that had something to do with it…

It had pretty much doubled in size.  I decided I should attempt the bread.  I needed to bulk up this starter, but I didn't want to ruin my good luck with taking some out each time, so I removed one cup of starter, and added 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water.  I put it in a slightly warm oven (that had been turned off) and left it overnight.  The website called for 5 cups of starter - 4 for the bread, and one to save in the fridge for next time.  

In the morning I had this:

As per the directions on the website I listed above, I removed 4 cups of this starter for my bread, and put the rest in a covered (but NOT airtight) container in my fridge.  I had a little more than a cup leftover.

I took out my KitchenAid mixer and used it to mix the starter with the olive oil, salt, warmed milk and sugar and dried herbs (I used rosemary, thyme and sage).  Then I slowly added the flour.  

It took almost all of the 5 cups of flour.  I didn't want it to be too dry, and the bread seemed moist enough, so I left the last 1/4 of a cup or so out.  I cut my dough in half, made 2 loaves and set them aside to rise for 3 hours.  

…and they did double in size!

I transferred one to my clay baker and let it sit for a while longer, to recover from being moved. 

Here it is, ready for the oven.

Here is is after I baked it at 375 for about 30 minutes. 

The family was afraid of the starter when they saw it sitting out on the counter. 

"Iewwwww!! that looks nasty!  You're gonna BAKE with that??"

But when the bread came out of the oven, all they could say was,

"Where's the butter?"

I gave my second loaf to my parents and they loved it.  My dad thinks I should have left out the herbs and put in raisins and cinnamon instead, so that tells you he sour taste is not overpowering.

Here's my remaining starter, ready for next time…