Yum! That looks great! I have never tried baking my bread in a dutch oven, but that sounds like a great idea, especially for rye. I am definitely going to have to try that. 
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The directions I followed had you put the empty Dutch oven in a 450 degree oven while the oven preheated (about 30 minutes). I proofed my bread on the parchment paper. I held both sides of the paper and put the bread into the hot Dutch oven. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue baking until done (they said 25 min). I followed their suggestion to deflect some heat from the bottom. I put an insulated cookie sheet on the rack below the Dutch oven. My bread looks dark but it wasn’t burnt. I think I’ll pull it out a few minutes sooner next time. This was at 20 minutes but I’ll check the next one at 15.
Here’s the info I followed:
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Thanks, I will definitely be trying this 
I am still under the weather but getting there…. Supposed to travel, but I’m betting those plans get moved to Saturday. Will evaluate when my DH gets home, but that does seem like the best option at this point.
I hope if you are or you have holiday travelers that the travel is safe.
Are you changing any of your holiday plans?
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I hope you are better soon so you can enjoy Christmas.
I got my errands finished and hubby took compost out (composter is a distance from house) before we get hit hard by the snow. Flurries have just started. We have a forecast of 55 mph winds. I hope my gnome stays upright! I’m going to take his hat off. I have it clipped on but I don’t think those clips can handle 55 mph winds and I don’t want to lose his hat.
Our company doesn’t arrive until Dec. 27 so hopefully their plane travel won’t be affected. There are going to be a lot of other disappointed families when lots of flights get cancelled.
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Our snow hasn’t started yet, but except for church today (practice) and Midnight Mass Sat/Sun, I’m in. We plan to go the My Daughter’s house on Sun for dinner and presents but it that doesn’t happen till New Year’s that’s fine too.
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For once I can get to my keyboard - my clingy, needy cat is in the kitchen sulking because he wasn’t allowed any of the caramel chicken we had for tea. Everybody is so busy, and so festive in spite of weather and problems; it cheers me up, because in my home city it feels like the Grinch succeeded. There are pockets of holiday joy, but not many. Our local churches are not doing carol concerts or services - the closest we get is St Peter ad Vincula is hosting a commercial chamber orchestra playing music from movies like Elf, Home Alone and Die Hard at £20.50 a ticket. The local council refused permission for our annual Winter Wonderland funfair (comes with food stalls like the Bavarian beer tent and Wild Boar Burger stand) to use its normal location and there was no other suitable place to set up, so no fair. There is a venue called Trentham Gardens which is running a lovely Christmas lights festival, so I’ve been there with my kids, but generally Christmas cheer is in short supply. Still, I managed to do a heap of things for Heartfelt Handmades; gloves, scarves, hats, even a couple of baby blankets, and lots of cuddlies. Everything went off today to be distributed. Of course I realised half an hour later that I had no photos of any of it, but the distributors have promised I can have snaps of the recipients with their gifts for my own craft log. I have also found this pattern for tiny gnomes and I’ve been stashbusting leftover Ricorumi yarns like mad.
So compliments of the season from me and my little friends!
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these are really great ! well done !
I’m sorry to hear your area is so short on Christmas cheer. What do you blame it on?
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Well, choir practice was just cancelled. Not snowing yet , just sleeting. I’d rather have snow because now there will be ice under whatever snow we get.
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We aren’t very likely to get any snow where I am (we very rarely get cold enough for snow) but we do have a wind advisory out and are expected to get colder than usual. Where my son and dil live, they are supposed to get a lot of snow, but fortunately, they decided to come down to my house a few days early, so they will miss the snow entirely. I am SO glad they came early because I was worried about them driving on the freeway with the snow because people are crazy! We’ve been making cookies and I’ve been trying to get the last of my Christmas knitting done. Tomorrow we are delivering Christmas cookies to people, decorating gingerbread houses, and watching a Christmas movie which has yet to be determined. Now I have to get back to the kitchen as my oldest is waiting to make his choco-cheeto cookies. 
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It looks like all of our precipitation is going to be gone by the time the cold really hits today – a blessing, since I have to travel nearly two hours away today for an appointment. I’d rather be out in gusts of wind than iced-up roads.
No changes to holiday plans here, since we had so few in the first place. Tomorrow we will go to my parents’ place to stay the night and celebrate, as is tradition. They’re only about 75 minutes away and the drive is much less hectic than my route today. 
It’s 1 AM and I’m quite awake, but the house is not very cold and I have a sleepy kitty on my lap.
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Alas! I have spoken too soon. My dad is sick with something resembling the nasty cold I had at the beginning of this month, and though there’s a chance that we are already immune, I’d rather not go through that again and he needs his rest. So it looks like we will postpone until next week – which is better for my health, as it’ll give me a chance to recover from today.
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Bonus pic: my travel embroidery kit packed into a Gingher embroidery scissors tin. This is a French redwork band sampler… Love the combination of red on natural linen.
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My family also prefers bread baked in a Dutch Oven. I have made sour dough using this method…it works great.
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oh Wow!
I definitely need this! I had never thought to make a travel kit.
Do you have any more information on this kit, so I can Copy-Cat it? (or purchase it?)
@Lemming13 Merry Christmas, my fiber friend. I hope more holiday cheer finds it’s way to you.
My husband and I just spent 2 nights and 1 morning putting lights up in our front yard. We did get strange looks cause it’s so close to Christmas and energy prices are high. We factored all of that in and just went for it. I would encourage everyone to do something that reminds them of Christmas Joy. Gnomes, Cookies, lights…movies.
Oh, Movies! I saw a cute one the other morning. For us artistically minded…
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Sorry…One more message.
Have you guys seen this version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas? From Interweave.com
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This is beautiful!
I put it together from supplies on hand. You could probably fit it in an Altoids tin. The blue thing in the tin is a little triangle bag I use for orts and storing the needle – could be any tiny little pouch.
The thread is DMC Coton a Broder, which is a single indivisible strand of cotton perfect for nice dimensional cross stitches. I’ve attached the full sampler pattern. The fabric is maybe a 32 count – can’t recall. I like 123Stitch for right-sized pieces of nice fabrics.
Edit: The pattern is from 19th century patterns published by Sajou. You can find a scan of the original at Free Easy Cross, Pattern Maker, PCStitch Charts + Free Historic Old Pattern Books: Sajou No 657 .
french-band-sampler_sajou-657.pdf (22.3 KB)
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I love the embroidered tea towels some of you have made and my daughter is interested in embroidery so I ordered a coffee themed transfer set for her from JoAnn’s. I did curbside pickup since the smell of the store with those horrible scented pine cones gives me a headache. They put the wrong transfer set in my bag :(. This one is so ugly. I don’t want to fight the crowds to exchange it now so she won’t get it for Christmas.
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