new giraffe friends

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This is a painting I finished over the weekend for a custom order. I really like the paintings I've done on natural birch. Think I'll have to do all my paintings like this in the future. I'm sad to be mailing this one off. Usually I hang up my paintings and am able to enjoy them for a little while before they're sold. But this one will be packaged up and sent out for someone else to enjoy. I shouldn't complain - I'm happy to get the commission.

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The weekend was filled with unexpected (to me) rain, fence repairing, painting and bread baking. Tried a recipe for Summer Wheat Bread (recipe below). The molasses in the ingredients intrigued me. The taste didn't come out as strong as I would have liked. I guess I was expecting it to taste a little more like gingerbread. But it makes great toast! I let myself have toast on the weekend, but today it's back to the smoothie. It's pretty depressing that the highlight of last week was finding underwear that feels just about as comfortable as my maternity underwear, without actually having to buy maternity underwear. Diet is SOOOO back on. In the past 3 weeks I've managed to lose 3 pounds. At points I'd be down 5, then celebrate with a yummy dinner and be back up 2 or 3. Que lastima! The story of my life.

Summer Wheat Bread

1-3/8 cups warm water
1-1/2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. molasses
1-1/2 t. molasses
1-1/2 t. salt
2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 t. active dry yeast

Mix warm water, molasses and yeast. Set in a warm place until mixture is bubbly. Add all other ingredients and mix until dough forms. Transfer dough to floured surface and knead. Allow dough to rise in an oiled bowl in a warm place until doubled in size. Form the dough in a bread pan and allow to rise a second time. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.