Q&A | Bad Ads, bread freezing, and do I still bake bread/use my SLR?

Ok, first up, based on some emails: if you run across an ad on my blog that is auto-playing with sound, or is covering up the post, something is wrong! 

My ad settings are supposed to prevent any ad from automatically running with sound, and they definitely are not supposed to cover up the words I type. 

I reached out to Mediavine (my ad company) and they confirmed this to be true. However, sometimes a rogue ad pops through their controls, and if that happens, there should be a button in the lower left corner of the ad where you can report a Bad Ad. 

Also, it would be great if you could send me a screenshot of it, and then I can forward it onto Mediavine. 

We all get served different ads, so I may never see the rogue ad you see. Which is why it’s so helpful to use the Bad Ad reporting button, or to send me a screenshot.

Thank you in advance! 🙂 

On to questions:

How should I store extra bread? It’s just me and 3 loaves are much more than I would eat in 2 days and I don’t have neighbors to give it to. Thank you.

-Athena

My best answer: use your freezer! You can freeze whole loaves, of course. But since it’s just you, I’d slice each loaf and then freeze it. That way you can grab out just a few slices at a time.

Just make sure to let the bread cool fully before you slice and freeze it, and make sure to use a nice air-tight bag. 

Incidentally, the fridge is not a good solution; that actually causes bread to get dry and stale faster because it speeds up starch retrogradation. Bread will stay much fresher in the freezer than the fridge. 

Also, I’m guessing you wrote this in response to my egg bread recipe, which makes three loaves. You can definitely cut that recipe down and just make two loaves, which would be more manageable, especially if you have limited freezer space. 

I know it doesn’t divide super neatly given that it calls for four eggs, but I’d probably just throw three eggs in and call it good. Yeast baking is pretty forgiving when it come to things like that. 

And for the yeast, you can just use 3 teaspoons if you want to size down to two loaves. 

Do you have much time for SLR photography now that you’re working as a nurse and doing a BSN program? If so, what equipment and photo editing software are you using these days? I used to really enjoy your photography how-to posts.

Also, do you still make much bread? Also loved those posts. But I’m happy to read about your new, independent life.

Thanks,

Reader Kate in Canada

Honestly, I rely on my iPhone for almost all of the pictures you see here these days. That’s because it’s just faster to use, and fast is the name of the game for me these days. 

 

 

 

I do still vastly prefer the quality of SLR photos, but there are more steps involved in getting photos from my SLR to my computer. Maybe once I settle into the groove of working, I will use it more? I don’t know.

Also holding me back a little: my SLR camera body is pretty old by now, as I got in in 2010!

I have thought about buying a newer camera body because SLRs have made a lot of improvements in the last 15 years, particularly when it comes to how good they are in lower light situations. 

If I had a new camera body, I’d honestly probably use it more, so it might be worth the investment. But I’d have to do some research first about what to buy, and that has been low on my priority list.

Maybe I’ll buy my dream car first (Civic with a sunroof!) and then I’ll set my sights on a camera body. 

For editing: when I do have SLR photos to import, I use my desktop version of Lightroom to sort them and do edits like cropping, adjusting light, and sharpening. 

Lightroom is really all you need for general photo editing; Photoshop is overkill for the average photographer, in my opinion. It’s more helpful if you are doing things that tend toward design, not just basic editing. 

As far as bread-making goes: that too has fallen to the wayside quite a bit in the last few years.

Part of it is the smaller household issue, and part of it is just that my life has been busy in ways that have taken me outside of the house more than before.

Obviously, I used to be very busy with homeschooling four children, managing a household, running a blog, etc. But I was at my house more with that kind of busyness, and that makes it easier to do things like making bread. 

I do still make special occasion things like overnight cinnamon rolls at holidays (Zoe and I can plow through a pan of those pretty fast!), but I bake far, far less often than I used to.

My yogurt-making is still pretty consistent, though.

And I make my no-stir granola fairly often as well. 

Click here for an archive of my yeast bread recipes, with clickable pictures. 

Any bread tips for Athena? And I’m curious: what frugal habits have you given up as time has gone by/life has changed?

(such as the bread-making habit for me!)