Happy Flag Day

I made this bread at work this morning, in honor of Flag Day. This is something I've wanted to try since Sarah explained caning with fimo clay to me, quite a few years ago. Of course, since that is done with clay, you don't get the problem of rising. I staggered the star section, but because of the rise over the top of the pan, it's a little out of wack. Still, I think it looks pretty neat.

I made four loaves to sell in the store. The four loaves took me a half hour just to put into the pan, so I had to raise the price from $2.50 to $3.25. I wanted to make it $2.95, but I really didn't think that was enough. The coolness factor of the bread might get clipped by the price. I'll find out in the morning.

I'm not sure if people even know about Flag Day anymore. I'm curious as to how many people will look at the bread and wonder why the hell we have flag bread such a long time before 4th of July. I have trouble selling colored breads to our customers anyway, many of them probably think that it's weird and tastes different because of the dye (especially the Amish folks, this is definitely not a plain bread). But that won't stop me! I'll probably have better luck on July 3rd, which is a Saturday. If I can get people to buy bread with dyed hard-boiled eggs in it, I should be able to get them to buy this.

Extra special Flag Day wishes to my friend Jenny, but I'm not telling you why.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone that partied last night is feeling good (or at least so-so) today. We spent the evening at Sarah's sister's house, who made us a great dinner. Then we played the Wii with the kids and then Sarah's parents and aunt and uncle came by, and they played the Wii with us too. We had fun, but Sarah and I were tired, so we left at around 11.30. We had a great time.

I think my plan of not subverting my schedule at work was a success. Ususally I feel kind of depressed at this time of year, because I love the holidays, but I don't get to enjoy them very much because of work and how fast it goes by. I had some help this year for the first time, and Sarah gave me a Christmas tree for my birthday, which we haven't had in a long time (in case you're wondering, she put it in the bedroom to keep it away from the cats).

Right now I don't feel tired, mentally or physically, which is a good thing. Also, I think I finally have realized that the year will be what I make it, not the other way around. I need to extricate myself from the computer and do other things that I really want to do. I need to spend more quality time with Sarah, to keep the house cleaner, to exercise, to plan meals better and cook more often, to have a more positive attitude at work, and yes, to play more video games. Not being sucked into the internets all day will free up time for all of these things.

I hope you all have a great year!