Sometimes sitting gets boring.

At my office, when you order files from the archives, if it is more than one or two files then they arrive in cardboard boxes. As I was nearing the end of my eleventh hour at work yesterday, I was suddenly hit with a wave of inspiration. Why not prop my computer and keyboard up on those boxes to make a standing workstation? Genius! I mean, I thought it was genius at the time. When I arrived at work today I rolled my eyes at yesterday Leah. At this point I've been standing for about four hours, my back hurts and I'm pretty cranky. I can't quit yet. One of the lawyers in my office downright challenged me to stand all day by saying "Ha! I'll see you sitting in under half an hour!" Shows him. 

I definitely have more concentration for the work that I have to do, but on the other hand I feel pretty stupid checking my facebook standing up, and I've had to explain why I'm standing to about thirty cynical lawyers. Either way, check out this blog post on my new favourite blog for a nice analysis of the benefits of sitting (varicose veins, more tiring) vs. standing (improved health, concentration, and longer life) at work.

If I had remembered this morning that I did this to my desk last night then I would have worn more comfortable shoes to work today. Maybe I'll remember for tomorrow. Next project- big blue exercise ball instead of a chair.  

Granola and Hello Again. Long Time No Speak.

It has been such a long time since I've posted! Wow. Many times over the past few months I have tried to start writing a post and I've trailed off somewhere in the middle of the first paragraph, leaving a string of half-written, half-baked posts behind me. Dear readers, if there are any of you who still visit my blog, please let me explain to you why I have taken a three month break from my blog. I started work in September at a large-ish law firm here in Tel Aviv. In Israel, before being allowed to take the bar exam, potential lawyers must complete a year of articling. I've been giving so much to my job, with its crazy eleven hour work day, that I just have not had it in me to write at night or on the weekends. It's pretty much consumed 90 percent of my waking hours.

The thing is, this blog post is a small victory for me.It took me about four months of work, but I think I finally got to the point in my year where I'm managing to strike some sort of a balance between me and my internship (Leah 1, Intership 0). Either way, I miss baking and blogging- so here is the last thing that I baked. This recipe comes almost straight from allrecipes.com with a few minor changes (its called Megan's Granola. I don't know who you are Megan, but you've really added to my quality of life. Thank you.). I've had it for brekkie almost every day for a month with yogurt and its delicious. Hope you give it a try! Oh- and fyi this recipe makes TONS. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Megan's Granola
8 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cups oat bran (I used wheat bran)
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (I used a mixture of almonds, hazelnuts, and pumpkin seeds)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (I left this out. It's crazy expensive in Israel)
3/4 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil (I used about 3/4 of a cup)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups raisins or sweetened dried cranberries (or any dried fruit! I love dried cherries in this).

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.

Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, and nuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container.

Two things: I love granola because it is endlessly adaptable to what you have on hand and your preferences. Change it up! Personalize the recipe to suit your tastes.

After you take the granola out of the oven smush it down with a large spatula and let it cool on the pan completely- then when it cools remove it from the pan and break it up with your fingers. It will be in bigger chunks like store bought granola!

No Knead Bread

Today I finished law school! I'm on my way to hand in my last paper of my degree. Tomorrow I start work as a legal intern in one of the many law firms in Tel Aviv. So why am I spending my last day of freedom in the kitchen? Because of a certain dark secret that I have: I'm terrified of going hungry at work. I can't explain it, but when tomorrow comes around I'll practically bring a whole cupboard full of food with me. 


So what's my sandwich bread of choice for tomorrow? The KAF No Knead Bread. This has got to be the easiest thing I've ever made. I love baking bread, and I love kneading dough- but really, what beats a gorgeous loaf served up after only ten minutes of hands on time? And EASY hands on time- like mixing, and putting in the oven. 

• So heres the recipe- but check it out on the KAF blog too for step by step pics and instructions: 
• 
  
• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast

Mix everything together. Leave the dough out for two hours, then cover and put in the fridge for two hours or up to seven days. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450, and place a pan underneath your baking rack. Sprinkle the  top of the dough with flour and grab a hunk of it. Place on a floured surface and shape into a round (see pic above), or a loaf, or a baguette. Sprinkle with flour, place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let rest for 45 minutes. When ready to bake, slash the top of the loaf. Place in oven, and carefully pour one cup of warm water into the pan below your baking sheet. (I like to mist the loaf too). Bake for 25-35 minutes until golden.

I'm submitting this loaf to yeastspotting! 

Horror Story

It was Tuesday morning. I was at a wedding last night until 2 am so it's no surprise that I made this mistake. I guess it could happen to anyone. I just didn't expect it to happen to me. 

I woke up groggy- but with one thought going through my mind- "must. bake. bread". I've had the dough all ready to go, sitting in my fridge now for a few days. Still in my pjs, I dumped the dough out and started shaping it into one large boule. I turned on the oven and made myself some coffee. 

One hour later: still kinda groggy, I slashed the loaf, and loaded it into my tiny oven. I breathed a sigh of relief that I had accomplished my morning's task. Now I could relax- "but wait! one more thing!" I thought to myself, "I have to steam the oven!" I went into the other room and grabbed my trusty spray bottle, opened the oven door, and shpritsed away like there was no tomorrow. Seconds later a sweet, familiar smell hit my nose like a punch in the face. I looked down in horror as the shock settled in.... What I was holding in my hand was WINDEX, and not water in a spray bottle. And just like that, the fate of my beautiful crusty white loaf was sealed. It was toxic. My bread was ruined. So was my morning. 

Laffa

After five years of university I can see the end coming close. It's been a long journey. I've studied hard, studied not so hard, made friends and said goodbye to some. I dated and dumped and got dumped and got married. I baked. I started a blog, and in two weeks I'm going to start work in a law firm. As the newest legal intern in the firm I imagine that I will boldly type, translate, photocopy and correlate. I will learn how to make good coffee. And somewhere along the process I will bake brownies and bring them into the office and make the other interns like me. Sounds like a good plan, eh?


With only one paper left to finish before I get my degree Doniel and I decided that now is the best time for our honeymoon. So I'll leave you with one last recipe for now- for laffot (plural form of laffa). A laffa is a thick, soft flatbread. It is traditionally baked in an oven called a taboon- small rounds of dough are slapped onto the side of the taboon and removed minutes later all cooked and puffy. It is often used as a wrap for shewarma, and they're sold all over Israel in markets and bakeries. When I lived in Jerusalem I used to go to the shuk (market) all the time and buy one laffa for about a shekel, and some lebeneh (strained yogurt) and cusbarah (coriander) and have lunch. I miss that! 

Here's a recipe for laffa- I made them on a heated up frying pan with a tiny bit of oil and they came out fab. They were easy to make. I'm sending this off to yeastspotting. 

Laffa
recipe from Breadman Talking (awesome bread blog!)

3½ c bread flour ?(I used all purpose)

25g (1oz) instant yeast

1½ c water

1 tbs sugar

½ tbs salt

2 tbs olive oil

1. Mix the yeast and flour in a mixer with a kneading hook. Add the water, sugar, salt, & oil and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and shiny, and slightly sticky.

(alternatively- mix by hand in a bowl, and then knead on the counter till smooth). 

2. Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl. Turn in the bowl to make sure it is covered in oil and cover with cling wrap and allow to rise to double its size. This will take about an hour or so.

3. Divide the dough into 6 parts, rolling each into a ball. Cover with a moist towel and leave for 10 minutes to rest.

4. Roll each ball into a disk 30- 35cm  (12 to 15 inches) across.

5. Toast with oil in a frying pan. Turn over when brown scorch marks begin to appear. Then, toast for minute. Stack the laffot, covered by a towel. 

Geia Greece!!!