today i tried out my free bus pass for the first time. one of the perks of my new job is a free pass to use the city bus pretty much anytime i want. it sort of, kind of, reminded me of riding public transportation in europe. only it was snowier today than it’s ever been when i’ve travelled in europe. and buses come less frequently than subway trains. maybe i’ll try to add to my once-weekly “buy-nothing” day with a once-monthly “car-free” day. maybe.
i also tried batch #2 of the bread of the month–baguettes! this time, instead of trying to do all of the mixing and kneading in the kitchen-aid mixer i did all of the kneading by hand. the dough was much more bread-like and much less liquidy. the taste is pretty good still, but at least one of the loaves is less airy than last time (i’ll cut into the second loaf later this evening). i wonder if that’s because of the kneading or the fact that i let it rise fully twice (so three separate risings, total) the last time because i didn’t think it was going to work…i have no idea, but once again, it looks like real bread! yippee!
my running friend came over today and we ran together for the first time in a very long time. i had run yesterday by myself, but it’s so much more enjoyable with a friend. she brought her dog and the kitties seem to be warming up to the idea of dogs. maryann still keeps her distance, but ginger sniffed and was sniffed and had only a subtle mohawk.
