Loocy!!! You got some 'splainin' to do!!!

So in keeping with my move to the Small Town, I thought I would try some things generally associated with those who live in a Small Town; where life seems to move a bit more slowly, and there is more time to take time with things. My first attempt was to bake bread. Now, I realize that some of you may have never tried to bake bread, so just a bit of background here. There are generally two types of breads - those that are mixed and then rise and then are kneaded and then rise again before baking (aka kneaded breads); and those that are mixed and then rise and then go straight to the baking (aka batter breads). Both can be used for loaves that are roundish and baked on a cookie sheet, as well as for those that are baked in a loaf pan.

Seeing as it's been quite a few years since I've really had time to try and bake either type of bread, I decided to start with the deceivingly easy batter-type of bread. Hmmm, what recipe shall I use? Of course! Grandma's recipe always turns out well... or so I thought.

Let's get started. Do I have all the ingredients? Yes. Do I have all of the items required for mixing of said ingredients? Yes. How about a loaf pan? Well, I have a few of these, of varying sizes. Grandma's recipe says "Put into loaf pan and let rise." Hmmm, it does not specify SIZE of loaf pan. I can't remember from the making of this recipe in years gone by, so I guess I'll just pick one and see how it goes. Mix away!

Now, one thing I do remember Grandma teaching me is to turn the oven onto Warm whilst I am mixing up the dough. Then you turn the oven to Off, put in the dough to rise, and leave the oven door cracked open. Seems like a good plan to me. Into the pan goes the dough, and into the oven goes the pan. OK, set the timer for 5 min before said dough is supposed to be done rising (so as to heat up the oven for baking), and off I go. NOT a good idea. When I came back to turn off the buzzer on the timer, here is what was now occurring in my oven:


Not exactly what I had planned! Very reminiscent of the 'I Love Lucy' episode in which she attempts to bake bread and has it rise so much that it pops open the oven door. At least I caught my loaf before that happened!

Luckily I at least still had my pizza stone in the oven to catch the majority of the overflow. And luckily I was inside the house and could hear the timer go off. But, now, how does one detach a pan containing an overflowing and still rising loaf of bread that has sticky stretchy stringers from the pan to the rack to the pizza stone to the lower rack to the floor of the oven?? And how does one once said pan has been detached and set safely on the counter contain remaining overflowing dough and make it behave?? And how to get the raw sticky stretchy dough off of both the pizza stone and the oven floor?? Especially when one is alone in the house with no one to help?!?

Answer: VERY carefully. One must first detach all strings, and then flop the excess dough back into the pan. Then, one must try and pull all raw dough from the oven racks, and the stone, and the oven floor. All that is left must just bake off, and make the house smell like burnt dough, rather than nicely baking bread. Once this is done, one can then bake the originally planned loaf.

Note to Self: Choose a larger pan for the bread next time. Do NOT try the smallest sized loaf pan first, unless self is already planning on cleaning the oven!

Back to the Big City - Where the Sidewalk Never Ends

Well, I got to go back to my Big City for just over a week of city life once again. All kinds of sounds and people and parks and trains and buildings. However, it was a working trip, as we have been trying to get the City house ready to sell. Anyone need a house? It's very nice and roomy, and in a great City neighborhood. We just don't need 2 houses. For any reason really. I do not want to become one of those people who has a house in 2 places just because. If it were a cabin, that would be different. Also if it were closer to the Small Town, we could visit more often, and not be tired and cranky once we have arrived.

Being in the Big City was great - I got to see houses for miles and miles and miles. And there were more than 2 restaurant choices within a 5 minute drive. And things are open late - if you get hungry at 9pm there are a plethora of options. You can go to a bar, or have Chinese, or Indian, or Vietnamese, or Grill, or Neapolitan Pizza, or... Yay for Big City cusine!

Additionally, I got to see almost all of my friends, and most of the family. This was exactly what I needed after not really knowing anyone here in my Small Town - people I know to chat about random things with.

And, the big news, is that we got 95% of the interior housing projects done and the contractor scheduled for the exterior repairs, which means we might be able to actually list the house by the end of the summer. Another Yay! That will be a huge stress relief when things are out of our hands and we just have to wait.

We do have another trip to the Big City planned shortly, but this one will be filled with happy events - a family wedding. So it will be a quick trip with lots of excitement. Still, it's a trip to the Big City.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

In my wanderings around my Small Town, I have recently come across that elusive place...where the sidewalk ends. I managed to find where the sidewalk ends on accident. I went for a jog, following some directions I had been given, and apparently mistook Left for Right. Happily I went along, until, all of sudden, no more sidewalk!

In case you are wondering, I have found that it actually ends in a cornfield. Not hugely exciting, but surprising nonetheless. It is one of those things that you don't really consider you will ever encounter. For me, I have never lived in a place where the sidewalk just ends. It may skip a house lot, or bypass a park, but it always continues, it is always leading the way, giving you a direction. Here you get to the edge of town, and the sidewalk just ends. As in many Small Towns, people are very nice here at the end of the sidewalk. There is even a sign to tell you to 'Stop' so that you don't mistakenly continue on to become lost in the corn.

Most people are very good, and stop at the sign, take in the view, look at the paved road in front and the gravel road to the side, ponder some thoughts, and then turn back to wander back to where they started. At least, this is what I had to do, as becoming Lost is not something to do when jogging out by yourself, with miles and miles of cornfields surrounding you. As I retraced my steps, I had several things to think about.

One thing was the issue of fire hydrants. I haven't yet figured out is why cornfields need to have fire hydrants? I've now seen several of these in the area, and have not seen them ever before in my life anywhere I've been. Maybe they're a new innovation in farming that I just haven't kept up with?

Although I suppose, seeing as I am, or was, a city girl, innovations in farming aren't exactly my forte. Or even my area of any sort of remote expertise. Another new thing to file away to ask someone later. Hopefully someone with a farm.

Main Street

Here in small town America is where Main Street still comes into its own. On my new Main Street, I have visited the hardware store, 2 of 6 banks, the butcher shop, the pharmacy, the grocery, the Post Office, 2 of 3 gas stations, and walked by several houses. There is also a car repair place, 3 bars, a diner, a furniture store, a jeweler, a random crafty-type shop, a pretentious-looking artsy shop (that also sells wine), a preschool, the tax/CPA person, a realtor, a hairdresser, 2 fast food chains, the Chamber of Commerce (on one end), and the Village Hall (on the other end). There is one of many things and many types of stores on Main Street, but other than the fast food and pharmacy, no major chain stores. It will bear further investigation. Especially as there is also a quilt shop, that is located just off Main Street, but not exactly on it.


I am rather intrigued as to why we have 6 different banks in town, and only 3 bars. This version of that ratio seems a bit backwards when compared to my previous visits to other Small Towns. Not that it is a bad thing - it shows that the people of this Small Town are of a saving type, at least for short periods anyways. One of the bars is definitely the local bar, one is rather scary-looking, and one is nice and clean and delivers breakfast on the weekends. I've recently heard that the food at the nice & clean one is quite good - we'll have to try it soon to confirm the reports. Preferably not the breakfast though - as that may seem a bit odd to have it delivered straight to one's door, particularly in the morning.


It would be nice to have a good restaurant in town. There currently is not one to my knowledge. There is a restaurant that looks rather fancy, but it seems that the parking lot is used to carpool to local Little League games more than people actually sampling the fare. Not a positive indicator.



I am also rather amused that the Village Hall and the Chamber of Commerce are on opposite ends of Main Street. Maybe to ensure that people see the entire town? Maybe the people in charge at each building don't really like each other? The businesses in town are generally spread all along Main Street, so perhaps it is just what buildings were available when. Hmm, maybe something else to investigate!



We also have railroad tracks running right through the middle of Main Street. The train no longer stops here, but toots its horn and heads slowly on its way north. Depending on the day, many trains can go through, all tooting long blasts of the whistle, and delaying the 8 or so cars that have managed to pile up due to bad timing.



Now I must spend some time doctoring all of the mosquito bites I've acquired while wandering down Main Street. Good thing I have ammonia and cotton balls!

Small Town Adventures

Well, this big city girl has now relocated herself to a Small Town. And I do mean small. So far, in my adventures exploring around, you can head about 6 blocks in any direction before you get to either a field (of crops) or a field (just the plain kind) or a farm containing cows. Many many cows. We do have 3 stoplights though - 2 on one end of town, and 1 on the other. Not sure why 3, and not just 2. On the positive side, it's pretty easy to find everything with only 6 blocks to wander thru at a given time. Rather hard to get lost. Or at least one would think.

As a result of this uprooting, I've decided to come back from the unintentional blogging hiatus and see if I can manage to keep things updated with the new adventures to be found in a small town. It is definitely a change of pace. Everything closes up early in the evening, so if you forgot an ingredient for your dinner recipe, you'd better hurry up and get down to the store, as once you get to about 8pm you're out of luck. No more of this 24-hr availability stuff to be had. In fact, I think the local video store even closes at 8pm - no running out to catch a late movie. Especially seeing as that video is the only option. No movie theater unless an Outing is planned. An Outing includes:

• figuring out which movie theater to go to (closest is minimum 13 miles or about 25min of driving),
  
• what time the movie starts (to ensure enough arrival/traffic time),
  
• whether or not dinner will be included (as if you're driving that far anyways, you should make the most of your trip),
• and do you have enough gas?

An Outing does not always include dinner and a movie, however. It can also be to go to the big-box variety store, the gym, to the fabric store, or to pretty much any store that is not a grocery or the hardware store. It usually involves several hours of preparation to make sure you don't forget anything, or anyone who wishes to carpool. It is an adventure.

How many mosquitos can bite 2 people?

A LOT!! Especially in a tiny room located approximately 100meters from a river in which you forget to close the windows. And I have also learned that mosquitos in Italy make gigantic mosquito bites that itch for at least 5 days. And they multiply in your room overnight even when the windows are closed. We started out with 1 mosquito clinging to the 12-ft high ceiling. By morning we killed 6 and there were at least 7 more on the ceiling.

By the way, this is in the wonderful city of Firenze (Florence). It is actually quite beautiful and extremely walkable. Kelly and I circled almost everything on our map once again. We ARE efficient. Why go this way when that will go past 3 things on the map? We saw the Duomo, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Galleria Academia. We also went to the national Italian Football Museum and got to see the Italian National Soccer team at practice. It was neat.

Interesting note about the Ponte Vecchio: It is the only bridge that wasn't bombed during WWII because Hitler really liked it. So it looks as it has for centuries. It used to have the butcher shops on it, until one of the Medici family decided it would be nicer to have the jewelry shops there. So now there's a lot of shiny things to look at that I can't afford.

What I could afford is the best steak ever!! Kelly and I decided to splurge one night and get Bistecca Fiorentina, which is the steak that Florence is known for. We found a little restaurant and started out with ordering a pasta (mac and cheese like never before - yum!) and some wine. We also ordered the steak with a lettuce salad.

Ten Tidbits of Tuscanià

1. It is located in the area of Tuscana (Tuscany), which is actually in the province of Laziò.
2. It is 150 years older than Roma, and was founded by the Etruscans.
3. It has a lot of tombs that are rather cave-like.
4. You can get excellent banana gelato at the Gelaterria to the left of the main gate in the old city wall. Mmmm!
5. There is a tiny school there at which you can take classes in cooking and wine. Think I might be back for that.
6. They have a basketball team for 14 and under. It has 8 players.
7. There is a Basilica on each end of town. San Pietro and Santa Maria. I think that a Basilica just means that the Bishop preaches there.
8. You can drink the water straight out of the fountains in the piazzas.
9. There are some streets that are narrow and end in stairs, so one must beep one's horn alot whilst backing down the street to the intersection. And don't open the car door, you'll hit a wall!
10. There are exactly 2 possible places in which one can get pizza (or actually any kind of food for that matter) between the hours of 2:00pm and 7:00pm. Neither is easy to find.