Bake The Book: Nine-Grain Whole Wheat Harvest Bread

Has anyone else noticed that the weather has been beautiful during the week when we're all stuck inside working....and then the weekend rolls around and crappy, cold, dreariness sets in? I'm so sick of it, I'm revolting and going to Florida this weekend! Well, I'm going to Florida anyway, but it was a pre-planned trip so I guess I can't claim revolt. The Cardinals better pull out a win or two for us.

Even though crappy weather is in fact, crappy, it does lead to some good baking opportunities. And while I didn't bake this wheat bread this past weekend (more on the maple pecan rolls later, folks), lets talk about it anyway, shall we?

First of all, get your yeast fermenting while you cook up the cereal. It will start to foam and look activated like this when it's ready.



Let me also mention, that my whole wheat bread was actually ten grain, as that was the cereal mix I found at Whole Foods. I know, overachiever, right? Add the cereal, flour, salt, whole wheat flour and a dab of honey to your yeast mixture.



Knead, let rise as usual, yada yada, until you can form beautifully rounded loaves, as below. Then let those rise again until, as the book says, they look like they've taken a deep breath. What?! Yeah, I don't really get the similarity either. Anyway, when they've breathed deeply, cut some designs into the top of each loaf (we're making two!) and pop them in the oven.



The loaves will come out looking like browned godesses. Aren't they pretty?



And the best part? They taste good too. There's nothing like some good ol' homemade bread, if I do say so myself. We could taste the hint of sweetness from the honey and I loved the grainy taste of the cereal mix that was added. Makes for some great sammies or paninis!

Recipe #6: Nine-Grain Whole Wheat Harvest Bread

Ingredients
1/2 cup 9-grain hot cereal mix (not instant)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup warm water plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
2 3/4 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt

1. Make the cereal mix: Pour the cereal into a medium bowl. Add the boiling water and stir to blend. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes or refrigerate overnight (bring the mixture to room temperature before continuing).

2. Make the dough: Pour the warm water into the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the sugar and yeast and whisk by hand to blend. Let sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and foamy or bubbling. Add the cooled cereal, honey, bread four, whole wheat flour, and salt. Knead the dough on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes to allow it to fully hydrate before further kneading. Turn the mixer to medium-low and continue to knead until the dough is firm and elastic, 4 to 7 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a bowl, scrape the dough into the bowl and lightly cost the surface of the dough with a little oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about 35 to 45 minutes.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough firmly to expel some of the air bubbles, but don't knead the dough again or it will be too springy and difficult to shape. Shape into a round, taut loaf and transfer the loaf to the center of a parchment lined baking pan.

5. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a cotton towel and let rise until almost doubled in size, 20 to 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

7. Dust the top lightly with flour--don't go crazy here or you'll have a mouthful of flour. Slash a pattern in the top of the dough with a chef's knife. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and the internal temperature registers 190 degrees. Transfer to a rack and cool completely. Slice the bread with a serrated knife.

Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

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Bake The Book: Herbed Fougasse

Oh my, where has the time gone? Studying for the PMP exam is taking over my life! While I have still been diligently baking something each weekend (not that it's a chore, it's really a way I de-stress) I am way behind on sharing my recent bread baking. I guess I'll start with the oldest one first and try to catch up!

Get out your stand mixers and try this one with me...

First though, you have to make a biga. What's that, you ask? Well, it's simply another pre-ferment like I made with the olive bread. Once you've made the biga and let it rest at least 4 hours, you can then get out your stand mixer.



Blend your water and yeast and while that's percolating, give your fresh rosemary and thyme a nice chop.



After the yeast is activated, you'll add the rosemary, thyme, biga, olive oil, flour and salt to your yeast mixture and knead away. Thank goodness for the wonderful stand mixers. All that kneading would make the ol' hands hurt.

Then, of course, you should do all the normal stuff, like let the dough rise, etc., etc. The really fun part with this bread comes in when you get to make a shape out of it. Once it's risen, you press it into a half circle and let it rest for a bit. Then you get to cut leaf-like shapes out of it. Kind of abstract and artsy...how fun! The holes I cut out sorta ended up closing up during baking, but I don't think they're supposed to be super pronounced.



The fougasse had a more chewy quality about it. Nate and I both really enjoyed the salt and herbs sprinkled on top.

Recipe #5: Herbed Fougasse

Ingredients
Biga (Pre Ferment)
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup minus 1 tablespoon bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt or coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly chopped mixture of fresh rosemary and thyme

1. Make the biga: Pour the warm water into the medium bowl and whisk in the yeast. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and looks creamy. Stir in the flour and mix until it forms a rough dough. Turn onto a work surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Return to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature, or 24 hours in the refrigerator.

2. Make the dough: Pour the warm water into the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the yeast, whisk by hand to blend, and let the mixture stand until the yeast is activated and looks creamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the biga and the olive oil and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Add the flour, rosemary, thyme, and salt. Knead the dough on low speed until it comes together in a cohesive mass, about 2 to 3 minutes. . Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes to allow it to fully hydrate before further kneading. Turn the mixer to medium-low and continue to knead until the dough is firm, elastic and smooth, 4 to 6 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a bowl, scrape the dough into the bowl and lightly cost the surface of the dough with a little oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough firmly to expel some of the air bubbles, but don't knead the dough again or it will be too springy and difficult to shape. Transfer the dough to a prepared baking sheet. Press the dough into a large half circle that is about 12 inches across the flat bottom, 11 inches tall at the peak of the circle, and about 3/8 inch thick. Let the dough rest, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes. To make the design in the dough, use a very sharp paring knife to make a slit down the center, then two or three slits at an angle on each side of the center so they resemble the veins in a leaf. Each slit should go all the way through the dough to the baking sheet. Gently stretch each slit so the cut edges are about 1 1/2 inches apart, making decorative holes in the dough.

5. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a cotton towel and let rise until almost doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and position an oven rack in the center.

7. Dimple the dough by gently pressing your fingertips into the dough about 1/4 inch deep, taking care that you don't deflate the dough by pressing too vigorously or making too many indentations. Gently brush the surface of the dough with the olive oil. Sprinkle the salt and chopped herbs evenly over the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and the internal temperature registers 200 degrees. Transfer to a cooling rack. Slice the bread with a serrated knife or simply let guests tear off pieces.

Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

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Bake The Book: Pesto Rolls

This weekend brought more gloomy weather and pesto rolls! Luckily, we did actually see the sun on Sunday, a welcome site after what seems like weeks of fog and dreariness. And although the sun did finally show itself, it wasn't shining that brightly on my pesto rolls. Ho hum.

Things started off on the right track as I whipped up my pesto. There's nothing like the smell of fresh basil leaves, along with the salty, tangy-ness of real Parmesan cheese.

I put all the pesto ingredients in the food processor and whizzed them into a paste. A wonderfully smelling paste.

At the same time, my yeast was getting all foamy and bubbly in the bowl of the stand mixer. To it, I added my flour and salt and then made what I now realize was my second mistake of the day...I didn't whisk in the pesto. Somehow I totally skimmed over that part in the directions, so instead I started kneading the dough. Then all of a sudden I realized....uh, when does the pesto go in? Whoops. So I stopped the mixer and put the pesto in...a little late in the game.

I'm not sure if my incorrect order did it or not, but the dough just didn't rise very much. The directions said to give it an hour to double in size and I gave it two, but it just wasn't looking right. I divided into eight sections and made it into rolls anyway, thinking that maybe it would still be okay.

On the second rise, the rolls didn't do much either. I put them in the oven as is and they seemed to bake fine. However, we ate them with our dinner Sunday night, and of all things...they were salty! And I'm talking, not sure if I can finish a whole roll, salty. I think I used a tablespoon and a half of salt instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons. It makes a BIG difference. My first failure! Between the salt mistake and my pesto mishap, I was all over the place. The basil flavor was good, if you could get past the salt, that is. I think the remainder of these are probably going in the trash.

Recipe #4: Pesto Rolls

Ingredients (with modifications)
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 1/4 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour


1. Combine the basil, olive oil, Parmesan, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until very finely chopped and paste-like.

2. Place the warm water into the bowl of a stand mixture and sprinkle the yeast over the top. By hand, whisk in 1/4 cup flour. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and looks foamy. Add the pesto and whisk by hand until well blended. Add the remaining 3 cups flour and the 1 teaspoon salt. Add the dough hook and blend on low until the dough begins to come together and form a cohesive mass, about 2 to 3 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes to allow it to fully hydrate before further kneading. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn the dough over so everything gets mixed evenly. Turn the speed to low and continue to knead until the dough is firm, elastic and smooth, 3 to 6 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a bowl, scrape the dough into the bowl and lightly cost the surface of the dough with a little oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough firmly to expel some of the air bubbles, but don't knead the dough again or it will be too springy and difficult to shape. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each one into a taut, round ball. Place the rolls on a prepared baking sheet about 3 inches apart.

5. Cover the rolls loosely with plastic wrap or a cotton towel and let rise until almost doubled in size, 35 to 45 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and position an oven rack in the center.

7. Remove the plastic wrap or towel and dust the top of the rolls lightly with flour. Use a sharp knife to add a decorative slash or two to the top of each roll. Immediately place the pan in the oven. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until cooked through and the internal temperature registers 200 degrees. Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

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Bake The Book: Pizza Dough

My latest baking adventure from my "Bake the Book" series is pizza dough. This one was a lot of fun because it was something I could whip up and we could use right away. I made the dough and we had pizza for dinner that evening!

The recipe, which I've included below, references a pizza stone...which I do not have. I think this same technique would work fine on any pizza pan or cast iron skillet/pan, as long as you follow the directions and don't listen to your husband about cast iron being non-stick. More on that later.

Mixing up the dough itself is pretty basic. Like all yeast doughs, the hardest part is the waiting for it to rise.

This dough really had a lot more air bubbles than the others I've made so far. I punched some of them out with my hands when flattening it, but when I was rolling out it kind of sounded like bubble wrap from all the "pops" it was making.

My circle wasn't exactly a circle, but hey, who's perfect? I did my best at crimping down the edges, a skill which I obviously still need to perfect. I had gotten my husband a Mario Batali cast iron pizza pan for Christmas (that thing is heavy) and this was the first go round for using it. Back to my reference above, he suggested that there would be no need for the cornmeal underneath the crust, as it wouldn't stick. Famous last words.

Luckily, after putting the pizza dough on the pan, I decided to try his theory and see if it was stuck to the pan already. You guessed it...of course it was! So since I didn't really want to have to order take out, I did my best to repair the damage and lifted as much of the pizza dough I could and slid some cornmeal under it. My fingers were crossed as it went in the oven.

It came out looking beautifully. Nicely golden and the fontina cheese we had melted on top crisped up well. We added an arugula salad mixture with a lemon vinaigrette to the top, with some tomatoes and chicken. Yum. And yes, it did stick to the pan a little in the middle, where my last ditch cornmeal effort did not roam.



But for the most part, we were able to salvage it...and I certainly know what I'm doing differently next time. The funny thing is, that once the pan completely cooled, the crust unstuck itself completely. I guess we could have waited and had cold pizza and it would have been fine!

Recipe #3: Pizza Dough

Ingredients
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing
3 1/4 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Semolina or cornmeal

1. Pour the warm water into the bowl of the stand mixer. Add the yeast, whisk by hand to blend, and allow the misture to sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until the yeast is activated and looks creamy. Add the flour and salt. Knead the dough on low speed for 2 minutes, or until it comes together in a cohesive mass. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes to allow it to fully hydrate before further kneading. Turn the mixer to medium-low and continue to knead until the dough is firm, elastic, and smooth, 3 to 6 minutes.

2. Lightly oil a bowl, scrape the dough into it, and lightly coat the surface of the dough with a little oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic warp and let the dough rise until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.

3. Place the baking or pizza stone in the oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Be sure to allow 30 minutes to 1 hour for the stone to fully heat.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough firmly to expel some of the air bubbles, but don't knead the dough again or it will be too springy and difficult to shape. Divide the dough in half. At this point, you can refrigerate or freeze all or some of the dough.

5. Dust the top of the dough lightly with flour, then press down with your fingers or use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a disk about 12 inches in diameter. Alternatively, slip your hands, knuckles up, under the dough and lift it up, then gently sretch the dough by pulling your fists apart. Rotate the dough a little each time you pull so the dough is stretched into an even circle. Brush any excess flour from the surface and underside of the dough.

6. Dust the pizza peel with semolina and set the dough round in the center of the peel. Apply the toppings of our choice, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the edges. The toppings should be in a fairly thin layer. Otherwise they will weigh down the dough and make it soggy.

7. Shake the peel or sheet forward and back to make sure the pizza is loose enough to slide. If it's stuck, use a spatula to lift up the dough and toss a bit of semolina underneath. Once the pizza moves freely, gently shake the peel or sheet until the pizza is at the very front edge. Open the oven door and set the front edge of the peel at the back of the baking stone. With a quick jerk, remove the peel and allow the pizza to settle on the stone. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until the dough is golden brown at the edges and across the bottom. Slip the peel under the pizza to remove it from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Brush the edge of the pizza with the 1 tablespoon olive oil to give the golden crust a beautiful shine. Use a pizza cutter or chef's knife to cut the pizza into 8 wedges and serve immediately.

Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

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Bake The Book: Rustic Olive and Thyme Bread

My second baking adventure was a little different. I made two round loaves, studded with olives (of all things). I'm not a big fan of olives, but what could I do? It was the second recipe in the book, so I rolled with it.

I have actually started measuring my ingredients, especially the flour, with a scale now. The cookbook speaks to the inaccuracy of most plastic measuring cups, which is exactly what I have, so I've started weighing my flour by ounces on our food scale. It is much more precise and this recipe as well as the prior one both turned out very well.

The procedure was somewhat similar to the white loaf, however this time I had to make a poolish, which is just a pre-ferment--some flour, water and yeast mixed together that sits around for about 6 hours prior to making the dough. It's eventually mixed in with the final product and it gives the bread a slightly sour note. Needless to say, since there are such large "sit and wait" times, I started this early in the morning and didn't finish until late at night.


Once the pre-ferment was almost through doing its thing, I just had to chop some (icky) kalamata olives to include in the dough. I didn't have enough olives of the kalamata variety on hand, so I threw in some green ones too. along with the fragrant thyme.


The part I was most unsure about was forming the dough into round loaves, but it wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting.


I slashed a couple of different simple patterns on the top of the loaves. They baked and browned very nicely and once they were cooled, I froze them as well.




However, just last night we defrosted one, popped it into the oven to warm and crisp it, then sliced it, and made a salmon panini out of it. The crumb was very nice and overall the bread was quite moist. When I bit into the panini the first time, my initial thought was, "Wow, that tastes like olives!" Well, duh. But for someone who doesn't necessarily flock toward the olive bar in the supermarket, that was a drawback indeed. Very tasty though, for those who like that sort of thing.

Recipe #2: Rustic Olive and Thyme Bread

Ingredients
Poolish (Pre-Ferment)
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 cup pitted and coarsely chopped olives, such as kalamata

1. Pour the water into a medium bowl and whisk in the yeast. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and looks creamy. Stir in the flour and mix until no patches of dry flour remain. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature, or 24 hours in the refrigerator.

2. Pour the warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and yeast, whisk by hand to blend, and allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and foamy or bubbling. Add the poolish and whisk by hand to blend well. Add the flour, salt, olive oil, thyme, and olives. Knead the dough on low speed until is comes together in a cohesive mass, about 3 or 4 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes to allow it to fully hydrate before further kneading. Turn the mixer to medium-low and continue to knead until the dough is firm, elastic, and smooth, 3 to 6 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a bowl, scrape the dough into it, and lightly cost the surface of the dough with a little oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic warp and let the dough rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 3 hours.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough firmly to expel some of the air bubbles, but don't knead the dough again or it will be too springy and difficult to shape. Divide the dough in half and shape into two round, taut loaves.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat and place the loaves on the sheet about 5 inches apart, seam sides down. Brush the loaves lightly with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow the loaves to rise until they are almost doubled in size and look like they have taken a deep breath, 45 to 60 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Slash a pattern into the top of the dough with a chef's knife. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until their internal temperature registers 200 degrees. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Slice with a serrated knife.

Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

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Bake The Book: The Art and Soul of Baking

One of my 2009 Christmas presents was a new cookbook called The Art and Soul of Baking. For beginning to experienced bakers, it is filled with detailed instructions on how to measure and weigh ingredients, mixing equipment, pan explanations, what to have in a baker's pantry, and of course, loads of recipes. Sure it was on my Christmas list, but did I realize it was 454 pages of pure baking bliss? Not quite!

So I started thinking, what better way to become more skilled at one of my favorite hobbies than to try every single recipe in the book? Ambitious? Maybe. But I'm always up for a good challenge. I don't really have a time goal in mind--as in, finish all the recipes by the end of 2010. So my self-imposed challenge is pretty laid back. I'm thinking of trying to knock out at least 1 recipe per week...and if life gets too crazy and I miss a week? Oh well. It's really the perfect winter activity!

Chapter 3 of the book (the first chapter with actual recipes) is titled "Yeast Rolls and Bread." And what better way to start of than with something my husband will actually eat? And yes folks, I'm literally going recipe-by-recipe in order to work my way through the book.

First up was a simple white loaf (recipe below). The closest I have come to making bread from scratch is making pizza dough, and this wasn't a whole lot different. The hardest part is all the waiting while the dough is rising!

I was a little nervous about the dough being too sticky, but I had absolutely no problems. And it shaped into a rectangle and fit in my loaf pan quite nicely. Here is is prior to baking.



It had a nice golden brown texture after it came out of the oven, thanks to the egg wash.



Overall, a successful first effort. Now we'll see how well it freezes.

Recipe #1: Old Fashioned White Loaf

Ingredients
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Place the water, sugar and yeast in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is activated and foamy or bubbling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the warm milk and melted butter.

2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix for 1 minute on medium speed to blend. Add the yeast mixture and milk mixture and mix on medium speed just until the dough comes together, 2 to 3 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes to allow it to fully hydrate before further kneading. Turn the speed to medium-low and continue to knead until the dough is firm, elastic and smooth, 3 to 6 minutes.

3. Lightly oil a bowl, scrape the dough into the bowl and lightly cost the surface of the dough with a little oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough firmly to expel some of the air bubbles, but don't knead the dough again or it will be too springy and difficult to shape. Shape the dough into a rectangle. Lightly coat a loaf pan with melted butter or canola oil spray. Place the dough, seam side down, in the pan.

5. Lightly oil the top of the dough to keep it moist. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise again until its top is 1/2 to 1 inch above the rim of the pan, 45 to 60 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and position an oven rack in the center. Brush the top of the loaf with a thin film of the beaten egg. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the bread is golden brown and the internal temperature registers 200 degrees. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Slice with a serrated knife.

Source: The Art and Soul of Baking

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Catching Up

Well, it's been awhile. The last month has been filled with work, Christmas shopping, vacation planning and holiday decorating. Now that I'm in Seattle for work again and have less to distract me in the evenings, I can think about all that has been happening.

The biggest accomplishment...and a really exciting one, at that....is that we found a villa to rent in Tuscany! I spent a lot of time a couple of different weekends researching places to stay. And after I had narrowed it down to about 5 different choices, Nate picked the winner in about 10 minutes. Go figure.

We'll be traveling to Italy the end of April and are staying for 2 full weeks. The first 3 days will be spent in Rome, where we're staying at a Marriott and cashing in some hotel points. Yay for a free stay! Then we're traveling to Tuscany for a week, which is where the villa comes in. We'll be staying less than a mile from Radda in Chianti in Central Tuscany. The town of Radda sounds quaint and homey and the central location will put us in a good spot for venturing out and exploring (we'll have a rental car for the week in Tuscany). The villa itself is somewhat basic, but perfect for a home base. We plan on visiting a lot of wineries and trying local cuisine, but we do have the option of cooking in if we so choose, as the villa has a gas stove. There's also a pool, but since we'll be there in late April, it won't be available yet. The most ironic thing, based on the fact that Nate loves to cook, is that the villa is owned by a local chef. Maybe that's why Nate picked this place?

You can read more about it and see the gorgeous pictures of the local countryside at this website: http://www.to-tuscany.com/lacasanova/. The villa is named La Casanova. How romantic... And at less than $1000/week, it's pretty affordable too.

[from to-tuscany.com]

At the end of our trip, we're planning to spend a few days in Florence. I've looked into lodging for our stay there and that is the final decision we need to make as far as booking a room. Once we're through with that, I can move on to figuring out WHAT we're going to do/see while we're there! I hope to accomplish a lot of that over Christmas break.

Speaking of trips, we're also planning a trip for late March to take a jaunt down to Florida. We're going to visit our friends Kevin and Deanna and we'll be taking in a couple of Cardinals spring training games. I'm almost as excited about that as I am Italy...but not quite.


Well, I think I'll end there for now. I need to go out and grab some dinner. Until next time...

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