More bread please!

So we went to the National Zoo a few weeks ago and it was great! The coolest zoo I've probably ever been to. And what made it even cooler was the fact that admission is free! There were elephants (which I love), vultures, pandas, a cheetah, zebras, lions, and tigers and it was just a really cool zoo. So we spent the whole day there having fun and enjoying the nice weather because it actually wasn't too hot or humid that day which was nice. After the zoo we went and met up with Hannah (David's sister), John (David's brother) and Janice (John's wife) for dinner at a surprise place that Hannah picked. To my surprise and delight it was a restaurant that I love and had been to before... In Hungary! I served my mission in Hungary and I loved it! There was a restaurant in Budapest that all the missionaries loved to go to called Vapiano's.

Me in front of the Zebras (which you can't even see)

David and I killing time on a bench at the zoo.

Who knew there was a Vapiano's in America, let alone DC?!

I love to swim! Ever since I was a little girl growing up in Phoenix, AZ we always had a pool, which I loved because I could go swimming anytime I wanted... Which was pretty much everyday when the weather was good. But then when I was 14 we moved to Southern Utah and suddenly the only pool I had access to was the Hurricane Public Pool, which was not so fun for me. So my swimming time drastically decreased from this point on in my life. Last summer, having stayed in Seattle, I didn't go swimming at all. I went swimming once the whole summer and it was one day while on my honeymoon in Mexico at a crowded beach with murky water. Boo. So as you can imagine I was quite excited to go swimming this summer since we're in DC. So last Saturday I finally got my chance to go swimming! we went to this rock quarry with Hannah and had a blast! I guess I didn't really know what to expect when Hannah told us about it because I pictured something totally different. There was a rope swing, a diving board, floating platforms in the lake, a pool, picnic tables, grills for BBQ, basketball courts, and some sand volleyball courts. This place pretty much had it all, we went on the rope swing, dove from the diving board, played on a floating log, had a lovely few games of volleyball, which just as a side note I totally rocked at! And of course, we went swimming. I loved being in the water again! I love the feeling of being in the water because I'm not the most graceful person on land and I feel like in the water I have this undeniable grace and I love the feeling of it.

David and I in front of the lake

Hannah with a friend of hers at the lake.

This week John and Janice were out of town, so I took the opportunity to use the kitchen and make my first ever homemade bread. I wend on my mission to Budapest Hungary and it was amazing! One of the most amazing things about it was the bread! I love yummy European bread and I've missed it very much, so when I saw this recipe I thought i would try it to see if it was as good. I got the recipe off my good friend's blog and it sounded pretty easy. My friend's name is Cami and we were mission companions in the MTC over 3 years ago and even got to serve in the same city together for two transfers, I was in Buda and she was in Pest. I have to give a shout out to her since I stole this off her blog. She's great in so many ways so I knew she wouldn't mind me also posting the recipe. Love you Cami!

This is me and Cami on our mission.

This is me buying some yummy Hungarian bread.

And here is the recipe. I took a bunch of pictures and I had a ton of fun making it. I'll be honest in saying that I don't think it was quite as good as I remember European bread being, it didn't have as crunchy of a crust as I was hoping for, but it was still really good and I was proud of my first experience bread making.

French Bread recipe (this amount makes 3 small loaves or 2 large):

2 1/2 c. warm water

2 T. yeast
3 T. sugar
2 T. white vinegar
Add the above ingredients together and let sit until bubbly (about 3-5 minutes). 
Then add:1 T. salt
1/3 c. oil
6-7 c. flour (or a little more if it's too soft), one cup at a time--add enough until the dough is soft but still firm enough to mold into loaves

Cami used a stand mixer to knead the bread for a few minutes (2-5), but I don't have one so I used my hands. I added one cup at a time until it wasn't super sticky anymore. 

Kneading the dough

What the dough looked like after kneading.

Put the dough in the oven (not heated up) with a pot of boiling water. Punch the dough down when it gets to the top of the bowl (2-5 times) (most definitely my favorite part).

The boiling water makes steam and puts moisture into the dough and makes it rise.

Take the dough and the pot of boiling water out of the oven and divide the dough into 2 or 3 equal parts. I used scissors to cut it in half rather than trying to tear it apart. I also needed more flour for this part because it was too sticky. Make them look kinda like a thick baguette. Place on a greased and floured cookie sheet (the flour on the cookie sheet helps with the stickiness when you're molding it too). Make slits in the top of the dough (I used scissors) and then brush with a beaten egg. Let it rise for about a half hour on the counter. 

After forming the loaves and cutting the slits.

Brushing with egg yolks (well, there wasn't a brush, so I
used a spoon at first and then ended up using a paper towel).

This is after the egg yolk has been brushed on and it has sat on the
counter for 30 minutes, see how much bigger it is after rising some more?

Then put them in the oven at 375' for a half hour. I checked mine at 25 minutes and they looked done so I took them out. 

Here's my yummy bread! Looks pretty good right?

I let them rest for about 25 minutes before cutting into them because I didn't want to let all the moisture out. It was still warm when I cut into it though. I had it with some strawberry jam and it was delicious! David and I ate the whole loaf by the next day and I gave one away.

Now I keep finding bread recipes I want to try! There's one that I found on pinterest that I am dying to try! Only thing is that I need to wait until the end of the summer until we're home to use a certain pot that we have. I got this great enameled cast iron pot for our wedding and haven't had a chance to use it yet because I don't really know what to use it for. Well, this bread calls for that exact pot! The pot is French and it's super nice. The recipe says it's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and that it's super easy to make. The woman who posted it on her blog says she adds different things to make a bunch of different flavors too, so I will be having fun with that! 

This is exactly what my awesome pot looks like! My favorite color!

This is what the yummy bread looks like. See what I'm so excited to make it?
http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

Well, you'll have to wait until September to hear about this one, but I will most definitely be posting about it, so be looking.