Okay - I've been surviving on 100% homemade (by me, that is) bread for about a year now, and yet today I didn't realize that I'd set the oven temperature 100 degrees (!) too high until the fire alarm went off. Ah well. The loaves actually came out fine, aside from the black on the bottom of the one that was on the lower shelf. In fact, more than fine: they were some of the best-looking loaves I've made, though of course that has nothing to do with the temperature.

In the meantime, oat groats, those much-made-fun-of (at least in my family) Harbingers of Health and Ridiculously Rhyming Foods, have definitely entered my cooking repertoire. They made the bread look really awesome today, and the little crunchy effect in the bread is really nice too. I also had them in a ridiculously healthy dish the other day (beans, oat groats, spinach, mushrooms), and they were kinda nice.. If they didn't take forever to cook, they might make a nicer breakfast cereal than rolled/instant oats.

And finally, from another blog:
A guy and his Saint-Bernard walk into a bar. The guy says to the bartender, "This dog knows everything about music and can answer any question you have."

The bartender says, "You're nuts!" The guy says, "Go ahead -- ask him something."

So the bartender says to the dog, "OK, who was the greatest contrapuntal composer of the 17th century?" The dog replies,"BACH." The bartender says, "Aw, c'mon he's just barking, he doesn't know anything."

The guy says, "Hey, go ahead, ask him something else." The bartender tries again. "OK, who was the greatest composer of Lieder of the late 19th century?"

The dog replies, "Wolf." The bartender says, "This is ridiculous -- he's just barking. Get lost!"

The guy says, "No he's not -- go ahead, one more time, ask him a question." Disgustedly, the bartender tries again. "Who was the greatest German composer between the two world wars?" The dog answers, "Orff."

The bartender says, "That's it!" and proceeds to physically toss the guy and his dog out of the bar onto the sidewalk on their behinds. The dog looks back at the guy and, from the street, tries once more:

"Hindemith?"