Sourdough Baking

 Good morning!

My daughter has taken over the sewing space to do a few garments.  She likes to spread out so no sewing for me this weekend (though I may get in there this afternoon).

This being the case I decided to do some sourdough experimentation.  I mixed up one, triple batch of brioche dough for cinnamon rolls and I mixed up four batches of sourdough croissant dough. What this all turned into was , cinnamon rolls, cherry cream cheese danishes, cream cheese danishes, apple butter danishes, cream cheese apple butter danishes, croissants, some Nutella croissants, and Kouign-amann also a couple of lemon Danish which turned out yummy, I had one with my coffee at 4:30 am when I got up to bake it all.

Now to get the hubby's opinion on a cream cheese Danish and then try to give most of it away.

Saturday Sewing

 Happy Saturday!

Today I had plans to leave the house and visit a couple of friends but after reorganizing my office/sewing room yesterday I think I must have swallowed fabric dust because I was coughing all night long and couldn't hardly get moving this morning.

The plus side is hubby went without me and my daughter is away this weekend on a job so I had the house all to myself.  

Once I got some gumption I shaped the sourdough brioche dough that proofed overnight into loaves and they are rising for an evening bake.  

I have also spent the morning laminating sourdough croissants that will get rolled out and shaped (I might turn some of that dough into mini Kouign-amann) and I have loaves of artisan (Khorasan/Rye/Einkorn/red and white wheat) sourdough and two large boules of cheddar/jalapeño to bake off this evening. Oh and I mixed up some Baguette dough that is rising and will get baked off either tonight or tomorrow after a fridge proof.  

On the sewing front I'm still where I was the last time I checked in.  I am about to start sewing on the quilt top that I'm working on for my grandson's 7th quilt.  Then I have other things that I can work on that are sitting on various surfaces and in shelves staring at me as well.  

My goal next year is to finish 2 things per month, one to give and one to list on Etsy.  It is my goal to get our Etsy craft shop actually making a little income so that I can retire in 5 or so years from my job.  Between husband's hobbies and mine I think we should be able to manage it.

I think that's about it for now.  Maybe some pictures later if I can get things done.

Edit to add, about half of my baking today, all sourdough.  The other half is bagged up to gift tomorrow.  First time doing sourdough croissants and "pain a chocolate" with the uneven dough scraps so we'll see how that turned out.

What I've Been Working On

 Hello!  I just wanted to pop in and give an update.

Still working full time plus overtime so not much happening in the sewing room.

I did pull out a few things in red, black and white that I got during various quilt bees and block exchanges and round robin border exchanges and started trimming and adding and putting them together for my grandson's next quilt.

Here is where I am thus far with that:

Pretty much that's all there is going on around here.  I'm going to get those 4 very large pieces sewn together and then add a few borders up to a long queen size for him.

My goal is to finish before the end of the year but we'll see.

I Am Climate Controlled

 Hubby got the mini spit done around 10 PM last night and I have never been more climate controlled in my life.

He put one of the indoor units in my office/crafting space, the big one in the main area of the house and one in our bedroom which is on the other end of the house.  So far today it is SO awesome.  It hit 85 outside which means we would all be hanging in the living room usually where our 12,000 BTU air conditioner lives in the window, not today.  The temp is even through the house, even in our daughter's room which is next to my office.

And it is going to use a ton less energy.

Lower power bills and more comfortable house, yes please!

We did run into some problems but after a bunch of emails and phone calls to the techs where we bought it, they finally sent us a manual that addressed the differences in the unit we bought from the others they sell.

Yes, they send the same manual with every unit, even if it has different features.  Talk about annoying!

Having a handy man hubby saved us 10 - 12K on this project!

Now the August project, new front patio and porch.  I think we should wait until September/October since August will be a scorcher but he loves the heat so since he will be doing the lion's share he can do as he wishes. 😂😂😂

That's about the size of it for now!