friday links

Happy Friday!

We survived another massive storm and we still have power.
I'm really happy for having power. Last year we lost power for 4 days in 35 degree days and 18-20 degree nights!
Not fun, and our house stayed at 43 degrees (yes I monitored it as I was afraid of pipes freezing).
This storm-around, the sustained winds weren't as high as the February 2013 blizzard; winds gusts were 65 mph - 75 mph, and the sustained was at 35- 45 mph!
As I write this, it's 2pm and I have the worst case of cabin fever!
I haven't left the house yet, been stuck inside for about a day and half; hubby is still digging out the driveway.  He started at 11am....
So with these friday links you'll see a lot of links!  Sorry, I got a little bored.
No beach or storm photos...
But I have this one and it's pretty spot on:


Cookbook that I'm loving right now: Baking Sourdough Bread by Goran Soderin/George Strachal.
If you're a homemade sourdough bread lover AND you want to learn how to "kick up" your homemade sourdough breads a few notches, then this is exactly the book for you.
Not only does it show you how to start a good, healthy sourdough starter at home, but it also shows you the chemistry process, ingredients, and the golden rules of sourdough dough, and most importantly how to properly store sourdough which myself included don't know how to do the right way.
Inside you'll find recipes for sweet and savory sourdoughs: rye, wheat, spelt, oat, potato, lentil, wild yeast, crackers, hazelnut bread, beer bread, carrot bread, levain, russian sweet bread, wheat buns, and so many more variations.
I highly recommend Baking Sourdough Bread if you want to learn how to take your homemade breads up a notch.

Baking Sourdough Bread


Rye Ciabatta bread pg. 42

I had the most amazing greek salad at a local pizza joint, that I shall now call my pizza joint here on the cape.  Zoe's Pizza in Mashpee, makes the best salads I've seen in a long time.  It's hard (if you don't live in the city) to find a good greek salad.  And this one was made with real salad greens not that horrid iceberg, and obviously they give a nice hefty amount of feta.


What I'm reading now:

Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin.
"...one Sunday afternoon, as she unloaded the dishwasher, Gretchen Rubin felt hit by a wave of homesickness. Homesick—why? She was standing right in her own kitchen. She felt homesick, she realized, with love for home itself. “Of all the elements of a happy life,” she thought, “my home is the most important.” In a flash, she decided to undertake a new happiness project, and this time, to focus on home.  And what did she want from her home? A place that calmed her, and energized her. A place that, by making her feel safe, would free her to take risks. Also, while Rubin wanted to be happier at home, she wanted to appreciate how much happiness was there already.
So, starting in September (the new January), Rubin dedicated a school year—September through May—to making her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort, and love.
In The Happiness Project, she worked out general theories of happiness. Here she goes deeper on factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time, and parenthood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she spotlight her family’s treasured possessions? And it really was time to replace that dud toaster.
Each month, Rubin tackles a different theme as she experiments with concrete, manageable resolutions—and this time, she coaxes her family to try some resolutions, as well.
 With her signature blend of memoir, science, philosophy, and experimentation, Rubin’s passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire readers to find more happiness in their own lives...."
Happier at Home is really good, written with thoughtful research, not just personal opinions from afar.


Ham on Rye, remember this one?  Did you read this in grade school?
I always loved reading Charles Bukowski; he is a brilliant writer.
What are you reading?


Do you suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder)?
I tend to get a hefty touch of it by January & through February.
Last year I finally bought, after reading all the high reviews, the Philips goLite Blue Light Therapy device.
It worked so well last year, I already have mine out for January & February.
I cannot recommend this enough. And I bought it from this retailer on Amazon, safely & soundly.
If you do get it, don't set the light too high in the beginning, start off slow, as it's a strong light.
This works far better than those white, giant, boxy lights; this one mimics the blue sky of summer.
And it's portable!

Around the web:

more benefits of drinking coffee!  YAY!
personalized prize ribbons (brilliant!)
how to 'knock on wood' and why it helps
big sur cabin spray in a bottle (love this, send samples please!)
the dictionary of american regional english is done (charting under-the-radar regional language nationwide)
broccoli beef recipe
easy garlic broccolini
worlds biggest ship graveyard
what is chromium and why do you need it?
most searched diets of 2013
cozy reading nooks
seasonal affective disorder: bring on the light
christmas tree shaped snack cakes! (so cute)
tips for baking oat-porridge bread
creative food art
Mmm dan dan noodles!
3 ways we sabotage ourselves + how to stop
have you been following the ship rescue in Antarctica? 
create a jar of "awesome" for 2014
finding your niche
an apple a day....
exercise & the brain: mental conditioning
the origin of the candy cane
how to make golden brown pizza crust
worst customer service horror stories
cinnamon can help lower blood sugar: which variety?
how to fall asleep when your mind won't shut off
adding years to life & life to years
london artist ron mueck creates real-life sculptures
cabbage patch inspired hats for kids (adults?)
cinnamon roll pound cake
6 year old break-dancing star
must friends, trust friends, rust friends, and just friends
38 haunting abandoned places on earth
most miserable time of year
bourbon sea salt caramels
michelangelo's handwritten 16th century grocery list
how to scald milk
slash your risk of stroke by eating (real) vitamin C
how to clean/repair a sluggish toilet (very handy)
miracle healing wonders of carrot juice
flourless brownie cookies
best & worst places if you had to shop at one store
the teacher fit program
peanut/tree nut allergy lower among children whose mothers ate them during pregnancy
I love love love this!  The joy of cooking with Samin!
raw vs. cooked? (excellent analysis)
lemon marshmallow cookies (heavenly!)
paleo diet manifesto
the BEST selfie ever!

Have a wonderful weekend!