What's on Tap?

Books That Have Changed My Life (p. 1)

Woe be upon the cockroach or silverfish that I chance upon in my own house, but even the tiniest spider will receive safe passage to the nearest outside door.

Big House White

In addition to making my first loaf of Challah last Friday, I also tried Bonny Doon's Big House White. I'll cut to the chase, it was great. I'll be drinking more of this in the future and if you're (un)lucky enough to be related to me I'll probably be giving you a bottle of this in the next year.

Its a blend of nine different grape varieties in a screw top bottle. Since I don't have the room nor the patience to age wine and considering that I never finish a bottle of wine in one night a screw top is just fine with me. I wish I could say something like: it was "crisp and fragrant with notes of Asian pear, grapefruit and wild mountain honey", but I don't usually notice any of that stuff. Oh well.

me

Me after not shaving for a few days.

challah

This last Friday I baked my first ever loaf of Challah. Challah is a braided bread that is traditionally baked by Jews before the Sabbath and for festivals.

I used Peter Reinhart's recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I'm not a very experienced baker so I want to try the recipe a few more times before I pass judgement. I was quite happy with the look of the loaf when it came out of the oven and with the structure when I cut a slice off(I couldn't get the digital camera to focus on a cross section of bread so no pic).