Bagels and Ballet

  Our weekend was full of bagels and ballet.  D got me a kitchen scale for my birthday this year and at the time, I didn't think much of it (seriously, it's like getting the proverbial vacuum for your birthday!).  But then I used it to make some light wheat sandwich bread from my professional baker's cookbook that lists the ingredient by weight.  Up till now, I'd been converting the weight to traditional measurements but this time I used the scale and made the best loaf of sandwich bread I'd ever made.  I've been making my own bread for 10 years and the difference was amazing.  I was so excited about it that I decided to make baguettes and bagels this weekend also using the scale.  Just like the bread, they came out perfect and we've been devouring them ever since.  If you're looking to take your home baking to the next level, I would encourage you to buy a kitchen scale and check out these cookbooks: On Baking by Sarah Labensky and Whole Grain Breads by Peter Reinhart.

Baking and eating- two of my happy places

Don't let those weird looking baguettes scare you- I got caught up watching Band of Brothers and let them proof for too long.  They still tasted delicious!

  The ballet portion of our weekend was Sky's first ballet recital.  Between the full dress rehearsal on Sunday and the recital on Monday, it really did take up most of our weekend.  Sky loved getting dressed up with her friends and getting to wear make up, and just like at her first hula recital last year, she was nervous about performing but did great.  I'll share the pictures from the show in another post.  After the rehearsal on Sunday, Sky kept her "Elsa" costume on and danced around the house (don't you dance in the bathroom?).  When Fire decided to get dressed up too, D got out the camera: