Rock 'n roll is NOT over, baby! Rock 'n roll NEVER DIES!

Baking with beer.... funnn-o! I was a little intimidated at first. Four hours? I don't like beer! I've never baked. All these other people bake! I hate beer! Ahh! I better get out of here before I'm discovered as a fraud! But as the teacher started talking, and we got into the swing of things, I relaxed and started to enjoy myself -- and ignore all the other experienced bakers (hello! there were Bakehouse employees in the class!) -- and the four hours actually flew by pretty quickly (in a good, having fun kind of way). I've never before considered baking bread at home, but I think I may actually do so in the future. Especially since baked goods make such great gifts! Anyway, we started first with a rye porter bread (of course. I hate rye!) -- and I got to knead dough for the first time. We had to let this one sit and fiddle with it a few times before it finally went in the oven a few hours later, so it was the last one we got to pull out of the oven. Apparently, caroway seeds are typically in rye bread, and that's what makes it smell like pickles (nastay!) -- this rye bread had no seeds. Wee! So I actually enjoyed the taste. Score! Note S shape on loaf. Oh yeah, I did that. Oh, and this would be delish with some spinach dip!

Next up was a quick beer bread -- literally, quick.... like five ingredients, a few quick stirs, and then into the oven! Very tasty, dense and filling, but an excellent side bread. PERFECT for dipping in cheddar ale soup. I would definitely make this loaf again. Whereas the rye bread baked on a stone in the oven, this one just got dumped in a loaf pan and fired right up. Easy peasy.

Third in line were cheddar beer crackers. VERY TASTY. And easy! That reminds me.... Gotta bake up my leftover dough (we only cooked half to save some for later)!

And last... but DEF not least... apricot beer scones. YUM. I could have gobbled all of these up -- and it was tempting, trust me. But I have some (very little, but some) self control and quickly got as many of these out of the house as possible. :)

In addition to many new baking tips... I was also reminded that being immature never gets old. And getting busted is even better. I mean come on -- four hours of "look at the size of that loaf" and "it's like tossing a salad"? How is it possible that Lisa and I were the only ones giggling and smirking? And how awesome that, to thwart our immaturity, the dreamy teacher actually said, "Lisa? Did you have a question?" Classic.

Thursday night it was back to Novi for Hooters and double feature... This week we were treated to Wild Zero. I won't give anything away -- you simply MUST see it. But here are some peeks into the amazingness that was Wild Zero: "Love has no borders, nationalities, or genders!" "Stop being so shitty!" "You scared shit out of me!" "ROCK AND ROLL!" "No waaaaaaaay! No effing waaaaaay! Anything but that!".... and an evil Asian man in Peter Pan wig and hot pants.

Then Friday, Rachel and Floyd came over for a visit, and we took a lovely walk. Say hello to our little blonde mafia:

PS. I caught up with the last two episodes of Eli Stone today, including the season finale.... This show is SO GOOD. Love love love it. I'm so sad it's over for the year. It BETTER come back in the fall!!!!