We had a terrific weekend visiting my sister, Heather, and her family in New Jersey. We left earlier than usual but we still had a rather long drive down. Without traffic it should take about 4 1/2 hours but even if we make it unscathed through Connecticut we still hit New York traffic by the time we get to the Tappanzee bridge and generally it’s pretty slow from there until we make it to Heather’s house. Emma love to do crafty things. She and I made these flowers and butterflies from pipe cleaners. Later Heather found a little flower pot to put them in.

Max had a ball game on Saturday so while Chris and Mike drove around looking at job sites and talked about Chris interning the rest of us went to the ball game. The teams had a little practice first and while that was going on Emma and Daniel had a foot race. Here’s Max in his ball-player pose.

During the game Emma worked on her knitting. She took good care of the needles and yarn I brought her on my last visit and decided she wanted to make a headband rather than a scarf. I cast off for her at the end of the visit so she and Heather only need to seam the ends together. Daniel and Jason borrowed a baseball and played a little catch. Chris and Mike made it in time to see some of the game as well.

After a little lunch we headed back out to the Shad Fest in a nearby town.

A full gallery of pictures from the weekend is here: New Jersey May 05.

This morning I am making some Rosemary Garlic Focaccia

1 3/4 cups warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F.)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
                                            1/4 cup garlic and rosemary infused olive oil
                                            1 tablespoon salt, extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 475 F. Mix the water and sugar in a large non-reactive bowl and allow to stand ten minutes or until foamy. Add oil and three cups of the flour and blend with a wooden spoon. Add salt and as much of the remaining flour as needed to make a smooth soft dough, knead until smooth directly in the bowl. Cover bowl tightly with saran wrap and allow to stand for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Sprinkle two rimless cookie sheets generously with cornmeal. Punch the dough down and cut in half. On a floured surface press out each half, one  at a time into  an oval about 3/8 to 1/2-inch thick. Allow to rise 15 to 20 minutes. Dent the surface deeply all over with the tips of your fingers. Brush the surface generously with infused olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and kosher salt. Bake at 475 F for 12- 15 minutes or until dark golden brown.

To infuse the olive oil, bring 1 cup oil to a simmer. Add 4 crushed garlic cloves and several stems of rosemary. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes then turn off heat and let stand for an hour. Strain and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.  The strained rosemary can be used to top the bread.