It's a Beautiful Loaf: Making No-Knead Bread

I just love bread.  I love the time and effort that goes into making a fresh loaf.  I like making extra's around the holidays to share with friends and family.  Bread is an act of love that you can eat.  Plain and simple.

But sometimes you just want a really easy, fussy free loaf of bread.  Maybe it's a busy day and you don't want to be tied down to the kitchen and rising times.  Or maybe you just really love bread but hate the process that goes into it.

Enter the easiest bread recipe ever: No-Knead Bread.

Isn't it just beautiful?  It looks like it was made by a professional baker and belongs in a professional bakery window.

 I love the split crust on top.  It looks a little rustic and definitely like an artisan style bread.

The thing that I love about this bread recipe, other than the fact that it is so darn simple, is that it has a super crunchy, thin crust, but it's airy and moist inside.  I assume this is from all the time it set out on the counter top to rise, creating several air pockets from the yeast.

Here's a look at the inside:

And because it's so pretty, here's another:

Now, this bread only has 4 ingredients: water, flour, yeast, and salt.  That's it.  So a few things to keep in mind...one, this bread is a little salty.  It has no sugar at all, so if you like a sweet bread, this isn't it.  Two, it's really, really crunchy on the outside.  So if you prefer soft breads only, maybe not for you either.

But the beauty of such a plain recipe is that you can play around with it all you want.  After I write this post, I am getting back into the kitchen for a fennel, garlic, and parmesan loaf.

There's already a great tutorial on how to make this bread - in fact, this is where I got the recipe from so  I can't take credit for it.  Go check it out on Simply So Good.  She even provided pictures for a super cute handmade gift idea using loaves of bread and some pretty dish towels.  I'm now dreaming up ideas of a hand embroidered tea towel that says "Merry Christmas" all in red, and all wrapped around a beautiful, handmade loaf of bread.  Christmas is months away, but it's constantly on my mind.

Crocheted Kitchen Scrubbie (Mini Washcloth)

 Some things are better in smaller packages.  Like humans.  Babies are the best thing ever - much better than their full-sized human being version called adults.  But hey, I'm a mom.

After crocheting up a set of face scrubbies for myself, I thought, "I like these.  Why would I ever want to use a regular washcloth again?"  Which led me to think, "Wait a minute.  I need something for my kitchen."

By all means, you could use the face scrubbies pattern to make kitchen scrubbies.  I think it would work just fine.  I personally wanted a different design so that when they all get thrown in the wash together, I will know which ones have cleaned up pork fat and which ones have cleaned up some eyeshadow.  Also, I generally love any excuse to crochet something new for my home.

So enter the crocheted kitchen scrubbie, which could also be called a mini washcloth.  Because seriously, that's all that it is.  I just took my favorite washcloth pattern and made it into a smaller version. One of these days I will attempt a new dishcloth pattern - but the basic single crochet washcloth is easy, it works, and I like the way it looks.  And when you already have time-consuming, complicated projects that are way overdue, why in the world would you feel the need to make a time-consuming, fancy dishcloth?  I don't.  So I don't.

This is what I did:

Using an I hook (5.5mm) and some Sugar 'N Cream 100% Cotton Yarn, I chained 14 stitches.
Row 1: Sc in second ch from hook.  Sc in each stitch across.  Ch 1 and turn.
Rows 2-11: Repeat row 1.
Row 12 will be the beginning of a SC border in the main color.  Do 1 sc in each stitch across and when you get to the corner, do 3 sc in that stitch.  When you get back to the beginning of the border, sl st into the beginning sc.
Second sc border in contrasting color: using a sl st, attach the new color and do a repeat of the first border.

I think I like these better than a standard, regular washcloth.  It's all because of the size.  When it's this little, you can easily scrunch it, double it over, and put some elbow grease into those dirty dishes.  Plus with it being small, it will be much easier to fit in those annoying places like the inside of a cup or a mug.

It fits and leaves room for my big man-hands.

Small enough to double over for extra scrubbing power.

This is pretty much the easiest thing to crochet in the history of crochet (minus the chain stitch).  So if you're a beginner looking for a super easy, quick project and you're sick to death of potholders and regular washcloths, give this sweet little baby a try.

A Blooming Potholder

Man, I just love girly stuff.  Pink roses, lace tablecloths, fresh cut lilac in a stoneware pitcher on the bedside table, and ruffles.  RUFFLES.  I love ruffles.  My wedding dress had layers of ruffles and not coincidentally, the curtains I want to buy for our bedroom are ruffly.

I also love flowers, with my absolute favorites being fresh cut lilac, zinnias, french marigolds, carnations, and pink and peach roses.

Keeping this in mind, when I saw this adorable crochet pattern called Fanciful Flowers Potholder, I kind of did a super-giggly-flip on the inside.  And oh-my-stars it is so easy!  If you have experience crocheting in the round, it will be a snap.  This pattern was really easy for me because I have so much experience crocheting round rugs and the base of the pattern is the exact same.

Potholder from the front.

A view of the back.

Now, the first question I had for myself was, "Is this a practical design for a potholder?"  It's certainly thick enough when it's doubled over, like when you're holding it in your hand.  So that's not a problem.  But I think for this to be used practically, your pan or baking sheet needs to have handles so you can get a good grip.  When I made my dinner rolls yesterday, I used glass pie pans.  One pan didn't have any handle and the second one only had a very shallow lip of a handle.  This potholder didn't work so well for that, but it did make an awesome hot pad for setting the pie plate on top of!

Thick and cushy when doubled over.

Even if you personally think this potholder isn't the most practical, it really does serve well as a great hot pad or trivet.  And it's so stinking cute and so easy to make, that it would be beautiful hanging on your kitchen wall or turned into some stocking stuffers at Christmas time.

Another great thing about this potholder is that you can do any color for however many numbers of rows you want.  You could do a rainbow flower if you wanted to.

This pattern calls for cotton yarn in DK weight.  I didn't have DK weight yarn, so I used some Sugar 'N Cream cotton yarn that I had on hand and some of Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton Yarn.

I wish I could take credit for such a darling pattern, but I can't.  Go HERE for the full pattern.  Enjoy!