The Cone Of Shame

 And things were going so WELL!!  Cooper ate his pills which were covered in that nasty pill pocket stuff and we went for a walk.  Yay ... he's getting better.  We got about 50 feet and I had to carry him back.  Boo ... he's NOT getting better.

The good news was that he slept on the couch next to me all morning long with NO tranquilizer.  Yay!!  Until I tried to sneak off to brush my teeth.  He chewed on his hip and now has another little hole.  BOO!!!  It's like taking care of a 2 year old.  You can't leave them for two seconds.  And so the Cone of Shame was instituted on his little head.  Two steps forward, one step back I guess.

Here's the every morning lineup ... and it's always a big fight with the dog who is not motivated by food one little bit.  There is nothing he will eat with relish that can disguise the pills.  They taste bad.  Don't ask me how I know.

The T-shirt didn't work very well ... he just pulled it up and chewed away.  Big sigh!!

I'm pretty sure I used up all my internet data in the first three days while sitting bored to death on the couch.  Oh I have an unlimited plan, but that doesn't mean they can't throttle you back.  If it weren't for that, I'd probably go nuts right along with Cooper.

These bread recipes have been rolling around the web for some time now, so I thought I might try one out.  My mom and I made all of the bread we ate on the ranch because trips to the store were few and far between.  We made everything from scratch ... cakes, angle food cake, bread, butter, jam ... practically everything we ate, so I'm familiar with the process.  Oh yes, I was the turner of the butter churn.

This idea of mix it up, do NOT knead, and bake in a stew pot was pretty foreign to me.  What the heck ... let's try it!

Flour, yeast, salt and water.  That's it.  Quickly mix it up in a big bowl.  It's really sticky, making it rather hard to mix, but I persevered.  Let it rise for 3 hours.

They left out one very important part.  Do not let it rise in the SAME bowl.  Transfer it to a GREASED bowl so you don't spend 15 minutes trying to extricate it from the pot it has become glued to with something akin to Gorilla Glue.  

After three hours, heat your oven to 450.  Yeah, that's a problem since my ovens don't come anywhere near what it says they are.  I set it to 500 and hoped for the best.  Plop the bread on a piece of parchment paper and drop it in the pot which you have already heated up in your oven.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more.

It wasn't done.  Here's how you tell.  You give it a really big THUNK with your middle finger and thumb and listen for the hollow sound.  This sounded like a rock I dropped from ten feet.  Nope ... not done.  It's a delicate balance ... cook too long and the crust is really thick and chewy.

At long last it LOOKED good ... so I took it out to cool.  If you are making bread, you always let it cool down almost completely before slicing.  I admit, the texture isn't great.  Maybe next time I should actually try to knead it a tad ... BUT ... this is RUSTIC bread.  That's my excuse anyway.

Time for a taste test.  I have an ulterior motive here ... I'm hoping for a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.  Won't that be fabulous on homemade bread??

First bite with a bit of butter of course.  Hmmmm ... not bad.  Not bad at all.  The crust is a little chewy due to the temperature not being quite right, but it's really quite tasty for flour and water.  

The real test was the grilled cheese sandwich I was patiently waiting for.  OH YEAH .... Just LOOK at that baby!!!  The taste test here wasn't quite as good as it looked.  Oh the bread was delicious ... but the cheese completely melted into the bread and could barely be tasted.  

It didn't matter one bit.  There's not much better than fried bread and butter.  The other good thing ... it's really a small loaf, so it will disappear in a flash and I won't be eating it for 6 months like everything else.  Just for kicks, next time I'll try that gluten free flour.  Even better, this cost pennies and not the $5.00 a loaf you see in the store.

No, Cooper did not get a bite, although that IS an idea ... maybe he will eat his pills if I smush them in a piece of bread.  

In spite of everything, the Cone of Shame came off and he finally went to sleep on the couch.  Sleep is good ... it gives me time to relax and not watch him every second.  I'm hoping for an improved day on this day EIGHT of the infection ... which is looking better and better, you just can't tell it by Cooper's crazy actions.  

We will be BACK on the couch!!!