New Sandy Bridge PC

Time to build a new PC!  Check out our article on our website.

New "Cruising in Mexico" Section

Hi Folks!  Mary and I have just added a new section to the website: "Cruising in Mexico".  Check it out!  Click the menu item on the left or just click here!

Product Recommendations

Mary and I have added a site with the products that we use and recommend.  Follow this link to get there.

We will only be posting those items here that 1) we recommend and 2) we can refer get you a discount on through Amazon.com.

Where Have We Been? Check us out on Facebook!

OK, so Mary and I aren't posting that frequently on our website anymore. It's because most of our activity these days is on Facebook! We will still post new interesting items here too, particularly the longer posts. But for more frequent updates - check us out on Facebook! See the links below.

Just make sure that you also send us an email or include information on who you are in the Facebook request as well, particularly if we're not really close friends, so we are reminded who you are and how we know you!

Find Bill on Facebook.

Find Mary on Facebook.

Happy Thanksgiving from Sunny Mexico

So why aren't you all down here visiting?
Warmest wishes for a Happy Holiday Season from Mary Mack & Bill Finkelstein on Raptor Dance.

Picture taken in Tenacatita Bay, by our very good friends Karen & Bill on the Moody 44, Miela

Bill’s Tasty Multigrain Bread

We love multigrain bread.  Unfortunately, our favorite bread from our local artisan bakery at Whole Foods Market, Thot Brot, has over 6,000 mg of Sodium per loaf! 

So we started to play around with a substitute recipe using the ingredients on the label and came up with this great tasting, low salt, no fat bread.   It tastes great and is good for you too!

We make it in our Zojirushi BCC X20 bread machine on it's basic Wheat Bread setting.   This is a 2 pound machine and this loaf weighs just over 2 pounds.  

You could also make this machine by hand, but our bread machine does such a great job we let it do it's thing.

You really need to use a scale to measure most of the dry ingredients as volumetric measurement of flour is too imprecise.

If you don't create a perfect loaf, refer to the troubleshooting guide in your bread machine manual.  Since we don't use salt, the ratio of wet ingredients, dry ingredients and yeast needs to be pretty precise.

To start, add to your bread machine:

6 T Unsweetened Apple Sauce (this substitutes for fat)

3 T Malt Extract (mainly for flavor)

1 ½ Cup Water

 

Next add the dry ingredients:

400 Grams Whole Wheat Flour

40 Grams Dark Rye Flour

40 Grams Millet Flour

40 Grams Flax Meal or Flax Flour

60 Grams Vital Wheat Gluten

1 T Lecithin

1/4 tsp Ascorbic Acid (the Gluten, Lecithin and Ascorbic Acid reinforce the structure of the bread)

½ tsp Salt (optional – controls yeast raise)

 

Then sprinkle over the top:

2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

 

Start up the machine and when the bread machine indicates it's time for add ins, add:

2 heaping T Caraway Seeds - lightly toasted

3 heaping T Flax Seeds - lightly toasted

3 heaping T Millet Seeds - lightly toasted

3 heaping T Sunflower Seeds - lightly toasted

We lightly toast the add in seeds in a dry skillet.

 

We like this bread in sandwiches or just toasted.  Enjoy!

Barra de Navidad

Hi everyone!

 

We arrived in Barra de Navidad New Years Eve and had a great celebration.

 

After checking in at the Marina and Hotel, we spent a little time at the pool and then went out with our friends Ed and Cornelia Gould from SV Acapella.  Our first stop was the roof top bar at the Alondra hotel for a great view of the sunset.  Then off to restaurant, Mexico Lindo.  They have great Mexican food at very reasonable prices.  Later we went to the hotel Disco but turned in early.  The midnight fireworks woke us up - so we wished each other a Happy New Year and then promptly went back to sleep.

 

Our favorite Barra de Navidad restaurant was closed for New Years, but we did get there on Friday night.  Profumo di Sole is run by a great young Italian couple and they make great food.

 

We'll work on taking more pictures and getting them up on the website soon!

 

We're back on our regular emails, but Internet is expensive here, so we're only on about 1 hour per day.

 

We want to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!

 

Warmest Regards,

Bill & Mary