Really want to make this ciabatta someday. I am not very good at kneading and give up too easily but with my new muscle power, I just might reach the "sticky but tacky" stage.

whole wheat ciabatta

adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor

2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

2 1/4 c. unbleached bread flour

1 1/2 t. salt

1 t. instant yeast

2 c. water, at room temperature

2 T. olive oil

In a large bowl, sift together flours, salt, and yeast. Add two cups water and mix to combine, switching to kneading when it becomes too difficult to stir. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, this is the time to bust it out and put it to work. If you are kneading by hand, keep at it, but try to avoid adding more flour to the dough as you knead - ciabatta is supposed to have a wet dough. Knead for five minutes, or until dough is smooth but still sticky. Let dough rest, then add olive oil and knead for another minute. Add flour only if it is really too wet, ie: more of a batter than a dough. Place dough in bowl and cover in plastic wrap. Store in fridge for at least 12 hours and up to three days. About two hours before planning to serve ciabatta, remove dough from fridge. Being sure not to degas the dough, remove dough from bowl and divide into two or three pieces. (I divided mine into thirds and made four burger buns with the third piece.) Gently form each piece into a rectangle and fold into thirds. Roll each piece in flour gently and then place seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, position oven racks in the middle and very top of the oven, place a rimmed baking sheet (a “steam pan”) in the top rack, and preheat oven to 500. After dough has risen, place in oven on middle rack and carefully pour one cup of boiling water in the preheated rimmed steam pan on the top rack. This creates steam, which equals a crisper crust and more delicious bread. Turn oven temperature down to 450 and bake for 20 minutes. My loaves were done at this point, but depending on your oven and other variables you might need a bit more time. Bake until bread sounds hollow when thumped and an instant-read thermometer (a $5 gadget that makes baking so much easier) registers 200 degrees when placed in the center

On the google home page today is quite an extraordinary simulation of a hanging metallic mobile toy that actually follows the laws of gravity, the earth's electromagnetic field and the eccentric orbit as it moves and responds to your mouse gestures.

I didn't know anything about Alexander Calder - the sculptor that the doodle is honouring so I had to look him up. V.interesting.

I just had a piece of this Chocolate:


I am totally ready to puke right now. It is so horribly and cloyingly sweet, all my senses are revolting. Chocolate is not meant to be this disgusting!

Toblerone's website proudly proclaims:

2007 For the first time in 34 years, a completely new TOBLERONE taste experience was launched. TOBLERONE Fruit & Nut is made from the finest Swiss milk chocolate with honey and almond nougat, and juicy Californian raisins.

2008 TOBLERONE celebrates its 100th anniversary.

I cannot believe they had the gall to celebrate anything after releasing such a monstrosity on the public.

Yuck. Yuck. Super-yuckety-yuckezoid-yuck.

The chocolate reminds me of three actresses I find super annoying.
1. Keira Knightly
2. Julia Roberts
3. Scarlett Johannsson

Yucketishly cloying.

I think it might be helpful to document some of the weirdness that I experience with (e:strip)'s search function sometimes.

When I search for the term "wok":

• This post about my wok mania turns up: (e:tinypliny,54663)

• This post about my Amazon disenchantment while buying woks doesn't: (e:tinypliny,54693) (Though, wok is prominently in the title of the post and also mentioned in the body.)

Odd, don't you think?

Jul 21, 2011 4:24 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
PERRYSBURG, OH

WOOOHHOOO. Perrysburg!!!

Wait... What?! Why on earth is the pan going from City of Industry, CA to Perrysburg, OH instead of coming to Buffalo, NY?

Backstory: (e:tinypliny,54740)

Day 4: 12x
Reason for stopping: general exhaustion, not specifically arm-pain.
Status: I was a complete hour late for this edition of project Armstrong because I got carried away talking with (e:Paul). So when I finally remembered, (e:Paul) offered to do push-ups with me. (Of course, he was doing the authentic push-ups, while I was trying to miserably drag through wimpy ones.) I think he got through 18-19 before I was done with my measly 12 with a ton of effort. It was nice to have someone doing the push-ups with me but it didn't really do much good in terms of motivating me to do more. I think this is a sign that the problem really lies so deep that it can't be fixed by mere peer motivation. (hey, that rhymes!)

I knew this day would come. Chrome might be rock solid in its security features, but the fact that any odd person on the planet can write non-peer reviewed and non-standards compliant extensions for Chrome is a major drawback. Someone has just finished an elaborate hack to steal all your Gmail contact emails if you are using Scratchpad - the nifty app that lets you use Chrome as a notepad and syncs all of your notes to Google Docs as a backup.



The very fact that the zillion extensions I try out ALL need blanket access to ALL my browsing history and whatnots is a a bit disturbing. So what do we do? Chuck out all extensions? Chrome wouldn't be half as useful without these extensions that I use constantly. I am in a big quandry right now, as are several other Chrome fans, I am sure.

My current list of extensions:
    

• Add to Google Bookmarks - Version: 0.1.2 ID: idhcimbcedikofokpoignmlnnkidpeld

(Can't get rid of this, this is how I sync my bookmarks ALL the time.)
    

• Autocomplete = on - Version: 1.0 ID: ecpgkdflcnofdbbkiggklcfmgbnbabhh

(Nopes. this can't go. I need password filling...)

• Autofill - Version: 5.5 ID: nlmmgnhgdeffjkdckmikfpnddkbbfkkk

(Maybe this can go... but then I will have to refill forms over and over. Maybe not then.)
    

• Chrome IE Tab Multi - Version: 0.9.7.6 ID: fnfnbeppfinmnjnjhedifcfllpcfgeea

(Ridiculous work email OWA sometimes blocks attachments and I need this to access the attachments. I would gladly let go of this had it not been for the paleolithic work email.)
    

• FlashBlock - Version: 0.9.31 ID: gofhjkjmkpinhpoiabjplobcaignabnl

(I need this. I am so terribly annoyed by all the annoying ad videos that start loading automatically when you visit a website. This extension just blocks them all till you really want to watch a video.)
    

• History 2 - Version: 0.6.0

ID: cahejgbbfgmlmjgdjlibphdjeldhagkp
(The native history in Chrome is SO horribly structured, you can't find anthing. This extension eases the pain.)

• Lazarus: Form Recovery - Version: 3.0.3.1 ID: loljledaigphbcpfhfmgopdkppkifgno

(Can't do without this at all.)
    

• Link grabber - Version: 1.0 ID: modbohgknhnjilkoaggaacedmmfbfapn

(This could go... why can't Chrome have an Opera like view links features. Makes me want to switch to Opera which has all these features built in without the need for unsafe extensions.)
    

• MiddleButtonScroll - Version: 1.1.0 ID: ibehnpdcgpabccnlefccelhblhphbbpl

(This is for my linux box. It is again so annoying in linux, chrome doesn't let you scroll with the middle click button. This is probably the only difference that matters between Chrome on Windows and Chrome on Linux)
    

• One Window - Version: 2.15 ID: papnlnnbddhckngcblfljaelgceffobn

(I hate popups. Enough said. Can't get rid of this and am again annoyed that Chrome can't implement this natively.)

• OWA Chrome Companion - Version: 0.1.2.5 ID: gmloogbeidmnmkdeoibnfcglaenjcmah

(Keeps track of work email. Indispensible.)

• Readability Redux - Version: 1.3.2 ID: jggheggpdocamneaacmfoipeehedigia

(With the amount of ugly out there on the web, this is a lifesaver.)
    

• Scratchpad - Version: 2.2.4 ID: kjebfhglflhjjjiceimfkgicifkhjlnm

(Hmm... considering parting with this because of the latest hack. I could always pull up the Google Docs website directly, even though it does take a whole minute more to load and post.)

• Screen Capture (by Google) - Version: 5.0.3 ID: cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg

(Pretty handy for any illustrations that I am doing. WAAAY more efficient than using the PrtSc button followed by Paint.NET edits.)
    

• Shortcut Manager - Version: 0.7.9 ID: mgjjeipcdnnjhgodgjpfkffcejoljijf

(Remaps annoying keyboard combinations. Chrome should have native support for this. Again dissatisfied with the lack of choices on chrome. Opera has this feature, why not chrome?)

• Tab Glutton - Version: 0.4.0 ID: ekfmaibfpamaegficfifofnlhalkbdfm

(I will go nuts without this. My average number of tabs usually hover around 50+)

Day 3: 16x
Reason for stopping: My knee started paining!
Status: I think I stuck to better form today but unfortunately did the push ups on the wood floor instead of on my yoga mat. Result: nasty knee pain and somewhat less arm pain. Maybe it's like the principle of the counter-irritant. The knee pain was so much that it masked the arm pain. Anyhow, this whole process of building up strength is painful... Probably the only thing that encouraged me to do it today was reporting about it here.

As John Wayne once never said, "A tiny-armed person's gotta do what a tiny-armed person's gotta do".

I am so excited about this 7+ pound 12 inch multiclad Fry Pan with a dome lid (which means I can not only make bread in it but additionally heft a nice weight around while making bread!).


It's not even healthy to be this excited about some inanimate object but I can't help it. It gets home this Saturday!

Jul 19, 2011 10:36 AM
Departed FedEx location
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA

Jul 18, 2011 8:06 PM
Arrived at FedEx location
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA

Jul 18, 2011 4:47 PM
Picked up CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA

Jul 18, 2011 11:07 AM
Shipment information sent to FedEx

PS: It's made from steel by JSW, one of the largest steel producers from India at a plant in Texas Whoever said all jobs are moving from US -> Asia needs to take a look at JSW that did just the opposite.

Day 2: 20x
Reason for stopping: Severe arm exhaustion
Status: I followed the Mayo technique that (e:heidi) linked yesterday for modified push ups. However, my back keeps sagging to the ground and I am not sure I felt my pectoral muscles and abdominal muscles stretch or even work. The only thing that is probably dying is my upper arm muscles, particularly the biceps. And they said it exercises your triceps. I am definitely doing this wrong... I will try again tomorrow to see if I can achieve proper form.

Till then, big OUCH. I hope my arms don't fall off in my sleep today. It feels like it.