Anyway, it's time to stress test this thing, and we're going to need a lot of data to really simulate what Intranets and Corportate websites can get like after a couple of years of abuse... That's more than my stubby fingers can type, and I dare say more than I can even copy/paste from www.lipsum.com. I figured it was high time to just make a library... Since they kindly provide an XML feed, it's super easy to just generate a request and pull the text out of it. I took it a small step further and blew out the API about as fully as possible.

Anyway, generating random content is now as easy as:

LipsumResponse r = Generator.Get(new LipsumRequest(20, LipsumRequest.RequestType.WORDS, false));
Console.WriteLine(r.Lipsum);

Here's links to the source, binaries, and documentation:

Documentation
Source
Binaries

It's finally warm enough to do more than just keep a bunch of twigs watered! Unfortunately, I lost more than I thought I would over the winter, but oddly enough, a few things came back that I wasn't expecting.

I lost the rosemary, sage, clematis, and all of my fall plantings including a fern and a couple of different grasses. That's a little sad, BUT the japanese maple came back extremely strong. Barb's bonsai redwood was almost a lost cause, but it is super green - it was hard to keep it watered during the winter when it looked like just a stick.

The regular thyme came back which I expected, but I didn't expect to have peppermint. What surprised me most were the two sprigs of flat-leaf parsley! I managed to save those three and set up some basil and tri-color sage.

We've also got about 12 tomato plants - and I'm gonna try to plant a few of them in upside-down containers. We'll see how that turns out.

Here's to tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella all summer long!

We got a new food processor and I decided to take advantage and start making some bread. I'd rather use a mixer with a dough hook, but there's a lot on the wish list right now.

Anyway, I wanted to share. The recipes from Cook's Illustrated are great, but I'm never one to leave well enough alone. I've made two versions of the bread - one white and one brownish with grains and seeds. Here's the recipe:

White

• 1 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• 3 tbs Really Raw Honey (that shit's good)
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1lb 2 1/2 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp salt

Wheat

• 1 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• 3 tbs Really Raw Honey
  
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 12 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
• 8 oz graham flour
  
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup mixed grains
  
• 2 tsp salt

The process is the same for both.

Heat the liquids in a small saucepan until the temp is 110 or 115 using an instant read thermometer. I like the tase of the honey and am usually a little heavy handed with it. With bread, since there's so few ingredients, the taste of the individual pieces really comes through. The raw honey has a great strong taste - try it! Once the butter's melted and it's all still 110 degrees, whisk in the yeast to dissolve. Most recipes call for you to "proof" the yeast, but just getting it dissolved is good enough.

[The following assumes you're using a food processor - if you're not, I'm sure any other method will work just as well]
Add the flour and salt to the processor - but not the seeds or grains. Pulsing the processor, add the yeast/liquid mixture only as fast as the flour will absorb it. The dough should form a ball and pull away from the sides - if not, sprinkle in some flour until it does.

Remove the dough ball and knead for about 3 minutes. The dough will be a little sticky, but try not to add too much flour. Knead in the grains and seeds at this point if you are adding them. Place the kneaded dough in an oiled bowl and allow to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm spot until it's doubled in size.

Remove the dough and puch it down into a size that will fit into a 5x9 bread pan. Place it into a buttered bread pan and allow to rise for another 30-45 minutes.

Put a sheet pan or pie pan with 2-3 cups of warm water in the bottom rack of a 350 degree oven. Brush the top of the bread with olive oil and place on the second rack. Cook until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 195 degrees using an instant read thermometer. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Don't forget to pull out the water pan before it boils dry. Wait for the bread to cool completely before slicing.