My House Smells Amazing

Sometimes, the creative urge turns to pursuits other than writing.

Honey Oat Bread

Delicious, delicious non-writing pursuits.

It had been a while since I’d baked bread, but the fancy struck me today to browse Tasty Kitchen for something new to try. I happened upon a recipe for Honey Oat Bread, submitted by one Erin (a fellow blogger, apparently). Intrigued by the promise of a no-knead bread, I did a quick pantry run-though to see if I had the necessary ingredients. I was pleased to discover that I did, by and large.

Alterations

  • I used half AP flour and half bread flour.
  • The only oats I had on hand were “quick oats,” not the “old-fashioned oats” called for in the recipe.

And the verdict is… delicious! I loved how quickly the dough came together, and the results are simple and satisfying. I can see this becoming part of my regular bread-baking rotation.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #44

When you vacation what type of vacation do you like to take (beach, historic, adventurous, food oriented, etc.)? submitted by Megan Dub-Yuh

I don’t know that any of our vacations have fit into neat categories. In the future, I would definitely like to take a food-oriented trip to New York City, though. Then you could, in the words of my hilarious mother-in-law, “roll me home from the table.” Yes, a vacation revolving around deliciousness would be right up our alley.

What is your best memory associated with a song (you know we all have tons!) submitted by Ramblings of a Marine Wife

Tough one. It’s hard to choose one memory from such a musical multitude as “the best.” A summertime memory that springs to mind involves “Bohemian Rhapsody” and a beach house filled to the brim with my extended family in various states of inebriation, all singing at the top of their lungs. There was headbanging, too — it was glorious.

Oh, now it’s in my head and the dang cats don’t know the words. Sigh.

If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with your time? submitted by Married to the Army

Fly. A lot. Preferably someplace scenic, with a variety of cross-country locations within a reasonable distance for the fabled hundred-dollar hamburger.

What is one thing about you that people do NOT typically notice at first that you wish they would? submitted by Our Motto is Patience

Huh. I haven’t the foggiest notion what people do notice about me at first, much less what they fail to spot.

…submitted by The Three Turners: It’s a summer of sequels, and if you had to live in one of each of the following “worlds” (there are three total) which would you choose and why?

Oh, this kind of question can get incredibly complex for people who love speculative fiction as much as I do. I will deliberately keep things simple, lest I wind up writing a geektastic dissertation on the fictional universe in question, its peculiarities, and the minutiae dependent thereon. (You’re welcome.)

X-Men: Be a Mutant, what would your power be?

Something in the teleportation family would be an awfully handy power for a military spouse, don’t you think?

Harry Potter: Be a Witch or Muggle?

As if Angela Noelle’s recent post on her trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter wasn’t already feeding my dream of extremely belated Hogwarts admission! Now really, is it any contest? I’d pick magic any day of the week.

Twilight: Be a Vampire or Werewolf?

I have not read the books or seen the movies. The series I used to read about vampires and werewolves involved no sparkling whatsoever and rather more *cough* explicit paranormal sex. Oh, Laurell K. Hamilton, I do remember when your Anita Blake books actually bothered with plots, though. I lost interest when, somewhere along the way, the books transmuted from decent horror-ish stories to one scene of freaks gettin’ freaky after another.

If we broaden the scope of the question to include more generic vampires and werewolves (my favorites being found in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series), I’d prefer to shift my shape every full moon than make one permanent shift from living to bloodsucking undead.


Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend? Hie thee to LTJG Wifey’s blog (and wish her a happy birthday!), snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #43

It’s now June (woot!)… what plans do you have for the summer?

My very favorite summer plans include welcoming my husband home from deployment. We have all kinds of extravagant ideas for things we want to do, ranging from spending a week in a mountain cabin (where it might even get chilly at night; Sampson is more than ready to be done with the heat where he is) to doing as much Civil Air Patrol flying as we can squeeze in. Mostly, I’m looking forward to anything we can do together, whether we’re off on an adventure or merely braving the perils of backyard grilling. Those bees can be vicious when they’re interested in my cocktail.

What is your favorite summer memory as a kid?

Going to the beach with a horde of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and best of all, cousins. For a solid week every August, we would spend all day on the beach, the adults sipping tasty beverages in “the compound” (a couple of big tent/pavilion things staked in the sand with plenty of beach chairs underneath in the shade) and watching all of us kids run around like sandy, salty, wild beasts. I eventually aged into the beverage-sipping category, which made for delightful days of digging my toes in the sand while enjoying a Bloody Mary or three at ten in the morning. Each night, a different couple would take on the dinner prep, and the rest would show up at that rental unit for the evening’s party. It was wonderful.

If wild animals could be made pets without fear of them ever being dangerous, what kind of exotic animal would you want as a pet?

Big kitty! I have serious reservations about the our back yard ecosystem’s ability to support such a large apex predator, alas.

Guess I'll leave this tiger at Disney's Animal Kingdom for the time being.

Is there anything about deployments that you do like? submitted by The Thrifty Military Wife

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it is refreshing not to have to check the flight sked the night before to find out what time we have to drag ass out of bed in the morning.

I’m starting to run out of questions again… so please give me a question you’d like to see (off-the-wall will most likely make it because we seem to have used a lot of the “traditional” ones).

  • Which of your possessions do you wish the movers would break so you’d have an excuse to get rid of it?
  • Blogging plays a growing roll in the media. If you were asked to embed as a blogger with a deployed military unit, would you go? What do you think your blog would be like?
  • What makes a military ball/bash/gala/what-have-you a wonderful evening? What makes you roll your eyes while at such an event?

Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend? Hie thee to LTJG Wifey’s blog, snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this week’s MilSpouse Friday Fill-In!