grout repair

This crumbling tile grout at the kitchen counter has bothered me for a long time. In some areas it's not crumbling but has cracks and in others chunks of the grout have fallen out, although the tiles are still secure. I've never done grout repair before but today I mixed up a paste-like compound and using my finger filled the spaces and cracks. Of course first I cleaned out the broken bits with a special grout-removal, scraper-type tool.
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As I write this, it is a couple of hours later and I am periodically going over the areas with a damp sponge. I'm reasonably happy with this repair except that the new grout needs to get a little dirty so it blends in with the old. Since this area is right around the cooktop, it shouldn't take too long :) Or, I might get busy with a toothbrush, boiling water and bleach...

Holiday baking

We love Swedish vetebrod, a yeast bread full of butter eggs and cardamom seeds. The recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom seeds but I use lots more because our family is a big fan of this aromatic spice. Here are two braids but little individual S-shape rolls are also typical. Making vetebrod means the Christmas season has begun in our house.

Today I tried two new bread recipes. One is from the gorgeous new book "Sarabeth's Bakery" and the recipe is "House Bread." When I saw the full page photo of this bread in the book I knew I had to try it. It just came out of the oven so I haven't tried it yet...The other recipe is "Amy Scherber's Whole Wheat Walnut Bread." This bread is made with a biga or pre-ferment which is a mixture of a tiny bit of yeast, some flour and water all stirred together and allowed to sit for 8 hrs or more. Then this very elastic "pre dough" is added along with more yeast and the rest of the ingredients. That loaf came out of the oven earlier and I did have a slice, thickly spread with butter oh so good!

These two bakers have shops in NYC. For me, a good reason to plan a trip!

one hour east of San Diego

...here's the country you will find. It's rugged, timeless, with here and there orchards of gnarly old apple trees that are these days dropping fruit for little bands of grazing cows. While visiting my family down there the past few days, here's a bit of the glorious landscape I saw. Don't you love the old stone house in among the oaks and boulders?

Autumn in the neighborhood

Some early morning views today as I walked around town.

On the weekends I've been making bread. The recipe I've been using is Coarse Grained Whole Wheat with Toasted Walnuts from the book "Amy's Bread" which I keep modifying. The loaf you see here has no walnuts and is partly whole wheat flour and partly a blend of rye and whole wheat flour that I brought back from Stockholm. When I saw this 50/50 blend of wheat and rye in the grocery store I had to try it and so packed home a 2 kilo bag. Also a bag of rye flour (and envelopes of Swedish yeast--and yes, I did get nailed for extra baggage charges at the airport!) I think I pretty much have the recipe I want now, maybe to be called Coarse Grained Whole Wheat Rye and Flax loaf.