In this Facebook era, has our definition of boundaries changed so drastically that even those who want to maintain their sense of boundary cannot? Are we all being sucked into this new norm of a blurred sense of privacy and over sharing, whether intentional or not?
I am a rather private person. However, even I cannot hide from the internet (hence the blog!). As part of the generation that grew up just as the internet was gaining full steam, I have been lucky to be able to remember a time when I had complete control over the information made public about my life.
Now, I have to stay diligent over who has my information. The other day I received a strange text message on my cell phone from some random sender. Normally, it can be dismissed as a spam message with strategically placed info to make it seem personal. But this time it was too close to home. They knew my first name, used a very familiar tone and referenced my facebook profile. I don’t normally get creeped out by these random spam messages in my email, but I was with this one because it was sent to my personal cell phone.
This just means I have to be even more diligent. Unlike the old days where I was in complete control, now I have to use even more time and effort to re-gain control.
All this effort takes too much energy…I need a beer and some carbs. How about at the same time?
Beer Batter Cheese Bread (adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book)
12.5 oz (2 1/2 cups) all purpose flour
4 oz (1 cup) shredded Gruyere cheese (I was a bit shy of 4 oz…it still worked)
3 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper (I did twelve turns of the grinder for fresh black pepper)
1 1/4 cup beer (it is recommended to use lighter beers like ales, lagers and pilsners, not the heavier stuff like stouts and porters. I used Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold. Like they say, never cook with something you won’t drink. I drank the rest.)
4 tablespoons melted and cooled unsalted butter plus a little extra for brushing on top later.
Preheat the oven to 375 degF and grease, parchment sling, grease and flour an 8×4 loaf pan.
In a large bowl combine the flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper.
Add in the beer and butter and stir until just combined. Don’t over mix it.
Pour batter into the prepped loaf pan and brush the top with the butter.
Bake for about 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a skewer in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then lift out via the sling and let it rest for an hour on a wire rack before digging in.
Thanks to the beer, the batter has that awesome yeasty dough smell (I’m weird..I know). The bread itself is moist with a nice crunchy top. It tastes awesome warm from the oven, and goes great with something like chili.
It has a nice cheesy flavor with a very subtle beer flavor. A very homey savory quick bread that takes just a few minutes to pull together.
And now back to monitoring the interwebs! Has anyone else received creepy spam texts? Or is it just me?
ChezSylvia 