More Cheese More Chocolate

It’s been another great weekend full of good food, good movies, and good football.  I spent most of my time holed up in my apartment to avoid the subzero temperatures, venturing out only to experience my first English breakfast at The Anchor Fish & Chips, run to the grocery store to buy baking supplies and see a couple of movies.  If you’re looking for a good movie to see, The King’s Speech was great.  We also saw Nénette, which I would recommend to anyone who, like us, enjoys going to zoos and staring at animals.  The description on Fandango is “A 40-year-old orangutan spends its life in a cage,” which pretty much sums it up.  No action, no plot.  Just and hour and a half of an orangutan who eats yogurt and drinks bottled water.  Also, if you go to a movie about an ape on a Friday night when it’s -2 degrees outside, you might luck out and have the whole theater to yourself.

I discovered freeze-dried strawberries at Trader Joe’s, and I almost ate the entire bag in one sitting.  They are so good.

When my options are to watch college basketball or to make granola, I choose to make granola.

To keep up with my resolution to use one new ingredient each month, I made farro for breakfast.

I’m not sure what proper protocol is for making farro, but I soaked 1/2 cup of dry farro in water overnight, drained it, added maybe 1 1/2 cups of liquid (water + milk), and simmered it until most of the liquid was absorbed.  I added a little peanut butter, pomegranate seeds, and a pinch of salt, and it was chewy and awesome.

I was thinking about making yet another batch of bagels yesterday when I came across Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for bialys, which I’ve been wanting to try for some time.  I’m still partial to bagels, but I loved that these require far less work since you skip the boiling step.  Next time I’ll double the filling amount, as it’s the best part and I was wishing there had been a little more.

As a lifelong Bears fan who became a Colts fan in college and is dating a Packers fan, I opted for neutrality for Sunday’s game.  Instead of hanging out with screaming Packers fans, I stayed home, donned my great-grandmother’s apron, and baked.

A last minute accompaniment to the bialys – spiced sweet potato fries with lime dipping sauce.  These were unreal.  I promise to share the recipe once I pick up more sweet potatoes.

I found this recipe for homemade Kit Kat bars this week, and I knew I had to make them.  Matt thinks they’re awesome, I think they’re a little too rich, and we both think that they taste nothing like Kit Kats.  If I make them again I’ll leave out the peanut butter from the topping and replace it with more chocolate chips.

Finally, I got my starter going for sourdough bread!  It’s starting to stink, which I believe is a sign that it’s working.  So exciting!!