Review: Johnny Texas

Johnny Texas by Carol Hoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the early days of Texas history, ten-year-old Johann comes from Germany with his family to settle in this vast land and soon grows to love his new home.

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Review: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Dorothy recovered her senses they were still falling, but not so fast. The top of the buggy caught the air like a parachute or an umbrella filled with wind, and held them back so that they floated downward with a gentle motion that was not so very disagreeable to bear. The worst thing was their terror of reaching the bottom of this great crack in the earth, and the natural fear that sudden death was about to overtake them at any moment.

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Basic Sourdough Bread

Basic Sourdough Bread

Not the best looking loaf, but it sure tasted good.

• 2 cups sourdough starter
• 1 cup hot tap water
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cups flour

Knead to make the dough, put in an oiled (Vegetable oil, so the dough doesn't stick to sides) bowl. Put a towel over the bowl and let it sit all day or night (8 to 9.5 hrs, or more depending on the temperature).

Then Punch it down and knead the dough. Place in a small oiled bread pan and let it rise again so that it crests the pan (2 to 3.5 hrs, again depending on the temperature) .

Bake at 375 Degrees for 30 minutes.

How I learned to make bread

I watched a lot of videos, and this one has helped me the most, and I seem to refer to this to remember how to do it.
by SteveTheBreadGuy
How to make sourdough bread at home

My Starter

• Here it is before this load of bread
• My started is almost 2 years old. 
• Sometimes I forget to feed it. Onetime I did not feed it for over a month and a half. 
• I mainly only feed it all purpose flour and water, but I read somewhere that someone feed their sugar and milk. I did that after this past loaf of bread to see what happens. I need to check it

Review: The Hobbit or There and Back Again

The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger. In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way (as he did) - if you do not already know all about these things - much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period."

"For Mr. Bilbo Baggins visited various notable persons; conversed with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent; and was present, rather unwillingly, at the Battle of the Five Armies. This is all the more remarkable, since he was a hobbit. Hobbits have hitherto been passed over in history and legend, perhaps because they as a rule preferred comfort to excitement. But this account, based on his personal memoirs, of the one exciting year in the otherwise quiet life of Mr. Baggins will give you a fair idea of the estimable people now (it is said) becoming rather rare. They do not like noise."

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Stone Cakes

1 Cup Stone Ground Cornmeal

⅓ cup Flour

¼ cup sugar

cinnamon to taste

add water to make pancake batter

Sometimes I add Brown Sugar, and or Milk

Cooking:

You can cook them like pancakes, but I like to fry them in bacon grease. I should say on bacon grease, because they are not submerged.

I have made them without flour before cause we were out that time. they were ok

Finn MacCool

Finn MacCool

http://www.northantrim.com/finnmaccool.htm

Quoted from the above website;

"There are many heroic legends surrounding Finn MacCool, comparisons have been drawn between him and the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  Finn was reputed as being the leader of the Fianna, the guardians of the King of Ireland.  Formed the Fianna from a rough bunch of warriors into an elite group of men who transformed under his command into the manifestation of justice and honour, they were the people's heroes. Finn's famous son whose mother was the goddess Sadb, is said to be  buried in Glenaan. It is worth noting that many of the great legends of Ireland are based or linked to the north coast of Ulster, There must be some  correlation between this and the fact that Whitepark Bay was where man first settled in Ireland.  However in this section we will concentrate on his role in building the Giants Causeway. The story goes thus:-

Picture taken from the website "Visiting Northern Ireland"
http://www.irishfa.com/

Finn a renown warrior was going about his daily duties on the north coast when one of his adversary, a Scottish giant called Benandonner started shouting and ridiculing Finn's fighting prowess. This angered Finn who lifted a lump of earth and pelted it to Scotland  as a challenge to this giant.  The Scottish giant retaliated with a rock back  to Finn shouting that if he could get his hand on him, he would make sure that Finn would never fight again adding that unfortunately he could not swim the short distance across the Channel, so Finn would be spared that fate. Finn got enraged by this and tore large pieces from the cliffs,  he worked for over a week pushing these into the ocean bed and made a sturdy causeway to Scotland, when he had finished he shouted 'Now you'll had no excuse' to come over and do your best.  Fearing to lose his own reputation and pride the Scottish giant had no alternative but come over the causeway.  Finn was tired, having not slept for the week he worked on the causeway and did not feel ready for fighting. He thought about how he could buy some time and recuperate to face the Scottish giant and came up with an ingenious plan. Quickly he made a large cot and disguised himself as a baby ...... and waited.  The Scottish giant arrived at Finn's house shouting, 'Where is that coward MacCool', Finn's wife said the he was away but sure sit down and have a cup of tea, he'll not be long. the tea arrived with a cake in which Finn's wife had placed some stones. Benandonner took a bite and broke one of his teeth, and thought to himself,  this Finn must be a tough boyo to eat cakes like this, not to be outdone,  he finished off the cake and tea, breaking two more teeth in the process.  He noticed the baby cot and the baby inside it and his eyes widened in fear, he thought to himself, my goodness if this is the size of the baby? What size is the Father?  He reached his hand in to touch the sleeping baby, half out of curiosity and half  as a sign of affection, Finn bit the tip of his finger off.  Benandonner was shocked by this and thought to himself, if this is what the baby is capable of, what must the father be capable of and what could he not do! This thought terrified him, the fear got the better of him and took to his  heels and ran like he had never ran before, back across the causeway to Scotland destroying it as he went.  Well.....that is one version of the story, there are many more to choose from, including one of love and romance."