The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[Corin Stormhands]

....stay off the roads....I can handle that.

I had a 7:30 a.m. breakfast this morning.

It was nice. It was the Commonwealth Prayer Breakfast that's held every year at the beginning of the General Assembly. Speaker was Steve Douglas who is head of Campus Crusade International.

His main point was "worry and walking with God cannot exist together..."

[2Jedismom]

I think I freepmailed it to you...I can check...

[RMDupree]

How would you know they were there?

By the faces pressed up on the glass at the restaurant window.

[2Jedismom]

This bread is a Jewish tradition that assumes different shapes, depending upon the event for which it is served. On the Sabbath, it is braided; for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it is shaped into round loaves.

Preparation time: 30 minutes.
Rising time: 2 hours.
Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Makes one 14 x 18-inch loaf.

Ingredients

1/4 cup lukewarm milk (105° to 115°F),
1 packet (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast,
2 tablespoons sugar,
1/2 cup lukewarm water,
2 large eggs,
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted),
1 teaspoon salt,
3 cups all-purpose flour,
1 large egg white,
1 tablespoon cold water,
2 tablespoons poppy seeds





Step 1: Into a large bowl, pour the milk, then stir in the yeast and 1
tablespoon of the sugar and let stand for 10 minutes or until foamy.
Dissolve the saffron in the lukewarm water.

Step 2: In a medium-size bowl, with an electric mixer set on High,
beat the eggs until light yellow. Add the saffron water, butter, the
remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar, and the salt, beating 1 minute longer;
then stir into the milk mixture. Using a wooden spoon, beat in the flour,
1 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms.

Step 3: Knead for 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Transfer the
dough to a large buttered bowl, turning to coat with the butter. Cover
loosely and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Step 4: Butter a 15 1/2 x 14-inch baking sheet. Punch down the dough
and divide into 3 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each
piece into a 12 x 1-inch rope. Place the three ropes side-by-side on the
baking sheet. Pinch the top ends together, braid, then tuck the ends
under.

Step 5: In a cup, whisk the egg white with the cold water and brush
over the braid. Sprinkle with the poppy seeds. Cover and let rise for 1
hour more or until doubled in size.

Step 6: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake for 30 minutes or until
golden brown. (If the bread seems to be browning too quickly, lay a
piece of foil loosely over the top.) Transfer to a rack to cool.

[g'nad]

Not for much longer... tick tick tick...

[Corin Stormhands]

Isn't it kinda nice when someone tells you to stay home and relax?

That's how we felt with my parents being stranded in Tasmania. After he got out of the hospital it was just a matter of coordinating the trip home, so they had almost a week there. They hated it, but all of us kids were envious that they had a week in a beach resort town and couldn't go anywhere or couldn't be reached by phone...

But I should probably update you guys now on the family stuff since I mentioned it, lessee...

- Parents are home. My step-dad had to go back in the hospital again last weekend with the irregular heartbeat, but they were able to regulate his medication. So they're fine.
- My brother is fine. Now I can start nagging him to quit smoking.
- Little one is adjusting to his new daycare. He likes it there, but still says he misses his "other school" which we drive by every morning and he sees that it's "broken."
- Jr. had a good visit with the ear doctor. Things are healing well and it looks as if the holes are gone. He goes back in a couple of weeks and if he gets an all clear, which he should, then 8 years of dealing with this will be over. On the other hand, the orthodontist added rubber bands this week...:-(
- Mrs. is coming back around. She's been quite depressed, but I think she's coping better now.

Thanks for the prayers and concerns.

[g'nad]

Thanks 2JM... that's very sweet...

I'll be alot closer come summer time...

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, that's why they aren't gonna let you do anything...

Short timer!

[Overtaxed]

Glad things are better there.

[Corin Stormhands]

You'd never comfortably open a closet again!

It's all I can do to come back here!

I don't know why, but I really hate being spooked. I don't like surprise parties, or surprise anythings.

It's probably some obsessive control disorder...

[g'nad]

Sheesh! Talk about stating the obvious!

I've been told I have this uncanny grasp of the obvious...

[Corin Stormhands]

Have some Lembas.

I'm not much for foreign foods.

[Sam Cree]

Thanks 2J!

Now I've got it saved where it belongs, right after the recipe for stewed conch.

Visiting my daughter in a few weeks, if I am organized enough, will bake a loaf and bring it to her, since she adores Challah.

Ruthy, you ought to put some out for breakfast sometimes.

[g'nad]

That don't make it easier to see comrades shippin' out...

[Overtaxed]

I wonder if you can make lembas in a bread machine.

[RMDupree]

If you plan the mini moot before the 31st, I could come along. I have a flight almost anywhere I can use if I go like.... NOW.

HEY!!! What are we? Chopped liver? *wink*

[Corin Stormhands]

I wonder if you can make lembas in a bread machine.

No, but I once held time in a bottle...

[g'nad]

Good grief bro... and I thought I had issues... give the boy a kick in the @ss fer me and tell him to get back in the game...

[Overtaxed]

I have some thyme in a bottle....

[RMDupree]

Yes, well, it's more the fact that my parents don't really see me as an adult.

I agree with Hair, JenB.

I just turned 30 and my mom STILL tells me not to go outside with my hair wet. LOL! And just wait until you have kids, then some parents (like my mom) never tire of telling you what you are doing wrong.

Your parents never really change the way they treat you. It's you that actually changes the way you treat and even see your parents. When it first hit me that my parents were people (meaning I could see them as I see myself), it transformed the way I thought of them forever.

It's kind of hard to explain, but you will see what I mean when it happens. :)