Schroeder.... the last of the first.

This is Schroeder's tank.  He runs it.  Nothing happens in this tank without Schroeder's being ok with it.  He regularly runs raids on the smaller castle at the other end of the tank, just to make sure no one has decided to do something without his knowledge.  He just really likes all his ducks... whoops, I mean fish are in a row and behaving.

From Fish

Here's a close up of him.  He is our oldest fish, one of the original African assorted cichlids we started with.  He is a Red Zebra from Lake Malawi (probably born in the US though), and when we first got him he had three buddies.  These four were going to be buddies for Charlie, who promptly died two days later.  We were so happy, because they lived in a 10 gallon tank which we felt would be easy to take care of.

From Fish

Ok, that is NOT a 10 gallon tank.  His tank is now a 35 gallon that lives in my living room.  How did that happen?  Just like kids who can't live in a crib all their life, Schroeder grew up and needed a bigger tank.  Then we discovered something else, while buying more buddies to replace the ones that disappeared. 

From Fish

This might come as a surprise to some of you, some fish don't get along with other fish, and you can only put so many fish into one tank.  Oh, I have a GREAT idea!  Lets buy another tank, this time a 25 gallon tall tank.  Then we can put the less aggressive fish in there, and let the bullies battle it out.  

From Fish

Right now Schroeder's tank has:  Camo the catfish, a pair of Convicts,
Plus Schroeder's Harem:  1 blue zebra female, 3 other females
Plus Shcroeder's babies, to many to count.  Which leads to more fish tanks......
Oh, almost forgot, started last summer with a total of 9 algae eaters in my 6 tanks.  I now only have two left.  My fish are really hard on them!

From Fish

So, Schroeder thinks that he is the most beautiful fish that exists and loves his girls. I'm not sure they really love him, but they regularly have kids.  I think it's because when they carry kids (raise them in their mouths) he leaves them alone, so maybe they just give up and figure that is the ONLY way to get him to go away!

From Fish

The convicts are the grey with black striped ones above.  They regularly lay eggs and raise what looks like a thousand kids.  It takes only 3 days from laying the eggs to hatching babies.  They look like a bunch of fleas swimming around and their parents protect them and nurture them.  No one can go near them, at least while the lights are on.  Something happens after dark though, and the next morning we wake up and ALL the babies are gone.  I suspect the cute little kitty fish, and am happy that I don't have a zillion little convicts running around.

From Fish

Momma convict is the small one, but don't let that fool you into thinking she can't control her man.  She regularly decides she doesn't like the cave or log or castle she's living in.  Then she runs around the tank and finds an occupied cave or log or castle.  She then proceeds to harass her man till he goes and fights with whoever is in that new home until he chases them out.  Then she moves in, and creates a home.  She is NEVER happy.

From Fish

Schroeder of course never gives up his castle to anyone, but once in a while he will go beat up the boy convict just to prove a point I think.

From Fish

The cave/log on the far right of his castle belongs to Camo the Catfish. 

From Fish

From Fish

Puppies....

Thunder is actually Tim's dog, but he went off to college and left her to run the farm. She thinks she is the boss, or should I say she knows she is the boss of everyone. Her real name is "Thunder Puppy to the Rescue", because when she was young she could run faster than any dog I have ever seen.

From Puppies

Ritter came to us a few years back. A friend who lives in town simply didn't have room for this very active puppy. Have no clue how he got the name Ritter, but he really does behave well. He just never sits still, had to take three pictures of him just so you could get a general idea of what he looks like. He is constantly in motion. What a dog....

From Puppies

From Puppies

From Puppies

Smokey is all grown up....

From Drop Box

It's taken a couple months longer than it took Sylvester to make it up to the top, but today Smokey finally did it. He was so proud of himself.

Inside Kittens or members of our family?

Here's the oldest of our kitties.  We call her Thump, but her real name is Orange Flash Thump.  She is my sons cat and when we were trying to decide what to call her, both my kids and I were talking and watching her out by our barn.  My son had decided he liked the name "Orange Flash" to go with his puppies name "Thunder Puppy to the Rescue" and had just said that to us.  There is some dispute as to who came up with Orange Flash, as both my kids seem to think they did.  There is however no doubt about who came up with the Thump part.  My son says, "I want to name her Orange Flash" and right at that moment she turned and ran straight towards the barn and went.....  Thump right into the side of it!  I know that we have some extremely long and complicated names for our animals, but they all got them because of the personality that goes along with them.

Thump From Kitties

The next addition to our family is actually my Mother-in-laws kitten Smokey.  Now he had an interesting start in life, because between the very young age of maybe 3 weeks with his eyes barely open he was told that he was a girl.  He came very close to being named Ashley, which would have been very silly for such a manly little guy.  The vet assured me that he was definitely a He before he became an It.  Just wanted to put that rumor to rest before moving on.  We had a houseful this summer, with a visit from my sis-in-law who brought 2 of her kids and one of my nephews, and of course her husband.  They stayed a short while, but we also had my son and my mother-in-law Ruth home for the summer.   When they went back north not only did he lose all his people except my husband, but he also lost his brother who moved to Washington State to live with my nephew.  I also left on the same day to help my sister after surgery and was gone a month.  This all happened in one day in August, and at that time he decided that Andy was his favorite person.  After all he was the only one that didn't desert him, so I can rather understand why he would cling to Andy.

Smokey From Kitties

The last kitten, but the best, is Sylvester.  I haven't had my very own kitten for many years.  They have always been my childrens, or clung to other's in the family.  This time I decided it was time to have one that would cuddle me.  Trouble is he only cuddles me when HE wants to, although he does get jealous if I hold and mess with the other kitties.  He almost got the name Pepe Le Pugh (not sure of spelling), simply because he looks like an upside down skunk.  There was a vote taken though and Sylvester was named.  He is a dapper looking fellow, and he knows it.  Definitely the most beautiful cat ever seen, to be admired by all.  Someone told me that I am biased, but I know that is not true. 

Sylvester From Kitties

These are our "Ornamental Kitties" and we love them dearly. There is actually one more kitty in our house, but he really isn't nearly as cute and cuddly. His name is Camo Kitty.

Camo Kitty From Kitties

Outside Kitties....

There are people out there that say that we are kitten farmers. They know who they are. Just because we have kitten round-ups and have taught our dogs to herd the kittens doesn't mean this is a kitten ranch. Really, there are only, let me see..... 7 cats on my front porch. It's winter, wouldn't you want to sleep all together close to where there is food and water? 

Curly From Kitties

Mitten Kitten From Kitties

Face From Kitties

Cally From Kitties

No Name From Kitties

No Name From Kitties

Fozzy Kitty From Kitties

There is only one hold out who sleeps in the barn with the chickens most of the time. When she has her kittens she usually can be seen sharing parental warming duties with at least one hen. Her name is Pudge, but she's hard to get pictures of.  I will try at a later time, but it's to darn cold out there to do it now!

Joanne

Bread Baker's Challenge.... Greek Celebration Bread!

It was a challenge, but I figured out the baker’s percentages for the poolish used in this bread.  I really only wanted enough poolish for this recipe, not enough to make 2 or 3 more recipes!  We just don't eat that much bread!  Thank you to whoever made that wonderful spreadsheet I used!  It really helped a lot. I found it on this website, but am not quite sure where the link to it is!

I am a part of BBA Challenge 2011, and am going to try to follow their schedule of baking.  I just wanted to learn from a great baker like Peter Reinhart.  His book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, inspired me because it gave me the science behind bread making.  It spent the time to give me the greatest gift of all, understanding of what exactly is happening in each step of bread making.  I have baked for many years, or maybe I should call it banging my head against a wall wondering why some breads turned out so much better than others.  If I am going to thank Peter Reinhart I must also remember to thank The Fresh Loaf, which has many very experienced bread bakers who spend a lot of time helping people make extraordinary bread.  Anyone can make ordinary bread, some loafs will be ok and some will be a failure and you just won’t know why.  But with a little bit of knowledge and help from people who have gone through it themselves you can make bread in your own kitchen that rivals the local grocery stores if not the local bakers!  The best part is that you will start to understand why it works and doesn't work. 

Onto the actual bread, I chose Christopsomos this week which to me almost looks like an alien.  You know, creatures from outer space!  I decided that since this is a bread that reflects the special occasion it is made for, that is must be a very Blueberry weekend coming up.  Yes, my fruit of choice is dried blueberries which are totally awesome.  I also chose to use almonds instead of walnuts, simply because walnuts make me sick and almonds don’t! 

I started by measuring and weighing and gathering all my ingredients and equipment, “mise en place” which means everything in it’s place.  Makes a bigger mess, but sure helps you not forget things.  Rather like the scout motto, “Be Prepared”.

From GreekCelebrationBread

I mixed the ingredients, with the only variation being that I used the milk to prepare my Active Dry Yeast by soaking for 10 minutes.

I followed this with adding the poolish to the milk and yeast, using the paddle to mix them. Then I added the other liquid ingredients and used the paddle on setting 2 to mix them.

After I finished mixing them together to make a smooth liquid, I added the dry ingredients and used the paddle to form them into a sticky gooey mess. At first I held back some of the flour, but when I saw how moist it was I went ahead and added it and used the paddle to mix. I took the paddle off at this point and put the dough hook on. The recipe did not call for an autolyse, but I gave it 20 minutes because it was so shaggy looking. This seemed to help the dough a lot.  I then used my dough hook on setting 2 for about 10 minutes, what a mess it looks like.

I measured the blueberries and almonds and added them to the mixer, then used the dough hook on setting 2 to mix them in. Still looks pretty wet and messy, but when I touch it the dough feels tacky not sticky.

It is now formed into two balls and put into separate bowls to rise for 90 minutes. They shaped nicely, and didn't stick to my hands nearly as much as I thought they might. This has been a fun bread to make so far.

The second picture is at 82 minutes, I think this will need a little bit longer to rise. My house is definitely not as warm as other peoples.

This dough is really awesome, so supple and easy to handle. I loved it. The boule is made and the long strips are ready to go on top.

Next comes placing the strips and cutting, then making the little curly things at the ends.

The decoration on top looks a little bit out of shape, but hopefully it will look better before it's done! Who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good!  Will edit this tomorrow with a picture of the crumb, that is if I can wait!
Joanne