One Got Fat

I don’t know what to say about this video other than it is truly bizarre. But it’s also hilarious, surreal, and really scary. It’s like the Twilight Zone for bicyclists. I’m sure I’ll have nightmares. It has nothing to do with urban simplicity other than its main subject is about bikes. It’s a 15 minute bicycle safety video put out in 1963…I’d be surprised if anyone ever got on a bike again after watching this. I first came across a shorter version of this on Facebook (thanks Jamie!) and I was so taken by it I had to post it. If you’re interested in reading about the plot prior to watching it, click here. I just know I’ll see monkey-faced kids on bikes in my dreams tonight.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-6679140768298297759&hl=en&fs=true

>One Got Fat

>I don’t know what to say about this video other than it is truly bizarre. But it’s also hilarious, surreal, and really scary. It’s like the Twilight Zone for bicyclists. I’m sure I’ll have nightmares. It has nothing to do with urban simplicity other than its main subject is about bikes. It’s a 15 minute bicycle safety video put out in 1963…I’d be surprised if anyone ever got on a bike again after watching this. I first came across a shorter version of this on Facebook (thanks Jamie!) and I was so taken by it I had to post it. If you’re interested in reading about the plot prior to watching it, click here. I just know I’ll see monkey-faced kids on bikes in my dreams tonight.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-6679140768298297759&hl=en&fs=true

Sweet Potato Sandwich Bread Recipe with Photos

This is a variation of classic potato bread…the difference is that I substituted sweet potatoes for the white potatoes, used olive oil instead of butter, honey instead of sugar, and incorporated some whole wheat flour to give it a little flavor and texture. I’ve made this bread in the past (or at least some variation of it) and it is truly delicious: soft and flavorful, and makes great toast. It’s also very simple to make. Below are photos of it being made (with brief explanations), and at the bottom of this post is a traditional written recipe.

I started with a two day old starter made with whole wheat flour, but this can ferment for as little as an hour or up to three or four days refrigerated.

Then I cooked and peeled a couple sweet potatoes.

I then transferred the starter to the bowl of my mixer and added the cooked sweet potato along with a couple eggs, a bit of honey, and olive oil, and I mashed and stirred it with a spoon.

After adding bread flour and kosher salt I kneaded it to a soft dough. The potato emulsifies into and becomes part of the dough.

I transferred the dough to a rising bucket and refrigerated it while I went out to run some errands and make a brief stop at the health club. Here it is initially, then fully risen after three hours in the fridge

 

After cutting it into two pieces I shaped it and placed them into two loaf pans, which I then placed in a square plastic contains to rise (this acts as a sort of incubator and alleviates plastic wrap). Here they are initially, then fully risen after an hour at room temperature.

After preheating an I oven the breads were baked for about 30 minutes.

And yes…it is as good as it looks.

Here’s the recipe:


Sweet Potato Sandwich Bread
Makes 2 loaves
   2 cups water                         
   2 packages active dry yeast
   2 cups whole wheat flour
   2 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled
1/4 cup honey
   2 large eggs
   3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 cups bread flour 
   3 teaspoons kosher salt
Combine the water, yeast, and 1 cup of flour; stir to form a batter. Allow to ferment for 1 hour. Add the sweet potatoes and mash them into the ferment with a spoon or fork. Stir in the honey, eggs and olive oil, then add 4 cups bread flour along with the salt. Mix then knead the dough for 10 minutes (if it is too soft add an additional cup flour). Place the dough in a bowl at room temperature, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow it to ferment for 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Divide the risen dough into two pieces, shape them into loaves, and place them in oiled loaf pans. Allow the bread to rise for 45 minutes; meanwhile, preheat an oven to 425F. Bake the bread for about 30 minutes, rotating it twice for even baking. Remove the loaves from their pans and place them on a wire rack or towel to cool before slicing.

>Sweet Potato Sandwich Bread Recipe with Photos

>

This is a variation of classic potato bread…the difference is that I substituted sweet potatoes for the white potatoes, used olive oil instead of butter, honey instead of sugar, and incorporated some whole wheat flour to give it a little flavor and texture. I’ve made this bread in the past (or at least some variation of it) and it is truly delicious: soft and flavorful, and makes great toast. It’s also very simple to make. Below are photos of it being made (with brief explanations), and at the bottom of this post is a traditional written recipe.

I started with a two day old starter made with whole wheat flour, but this can ferment for as little as an hour or up to three or four days refrigerated.

Then I cooked and peeled a couple sweet potatoes.

I then transferred the starter to the bowl of my mixer and added the cooked sweet potato along with a couple eggs, a bit of honey, and olive oil, and I mashed and stirred it with a spoon.

After adding bread flour and kosher salt I kneaded it to a soft dough. The potato emulsifies into and becomes part of the dough.

I transferred the dough to a rising bucket and refrigerated it while I went out to run some errands and make a brief stop at the health club. Here it is initially, then fully risen after three hours in the fridge

 

After cutting it into two pieces I shaped it and placed them into two loaf pans, which I then placed in a square plastic contains to rise (this acts as a sort of incubator and alleviates plastic wrap). Here they are initially, then fully risen after an hour at room temperature.

After preheating an I oven the breads were baked for about 30 minutes.

And yes…it is as good as it looks.

Here’s the recipe:


Sweet Potato Sandwich Bread
Makes 2 loaves
   2 cups water                         
   2 packages active dry yeast
   2 cups whole wheat flour
   2 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled
1/4 cup honey
   2 large eggs
   3 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 cups bread flour 
   3 teaspoons kosher salt
Combine the water, yeast, and 1 cup of flour; stir to form a batter. Allow to ferment for 1 hour. Add the sweet potatoes and mash them into the ferment with a spoon or fork. Stir in the honey, eggs and olive oil, then add 4 cups bread flour along with the salt. Mix then knead the dough for 10 minutes (if it is too soft add an additional cup flour). Place the dough in a bowl at room temperature, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow it to ferment for 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Divide the risen dough into two pieces, shape them into loaves, and place them in oiled loaf pans. Allow the bread to rise for 45 minutes; meanwhile, preheat an oven to 425F. Bake the bread for about 30 minutes, rotating it twice for even baking. Remove the loaves from their pans and place them on a wire rack or towel to cool before slicing.

This is the last pepper I am going to purchase…

…at least for this season.

I have 28 pepper plants (6 varieties), among other things, growing in my super-teeny Allentown “front yard.”

Some are already starting to flower…very exciting.

Urban Simplicity.

MP Bike

I saw this pseudo-retro MP Bike on Elmwood Avenue the other day…it’s the second or third I’ve seen in the past couple months. The bike is made by Felt Bicycles (click here for a direct link to the MP Bike). It looks like it weighs a ton, but then again who am I to talk when my main bike is a Yuba Mundo. I really like when I see different style bikes in use. If you’re interested, click here to read a post I wrote last summer on military bikes.

>MP Bike

>

I saw this pseudo-retro MP Bike on Elmwood Avenue the other day…it’s the second or third I’ve seen in the past couple months. The bike is made by Felt Bicycles (click here for a direct link to the MP Bike). It looks like it weighs a ton, but then again who am I to talk when my main bike is a Yuba Mundo. I really like when I see different style bikes in use. If you’re interested, click here to read a post I wrote last summer on military bikes.

A Few Mahatma Gandhi Quotes

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.

Poverty is the worst form of violence.

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.

To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.

We must become the change we want to see in the world.

Urban Simplicity.