i forgot that i made rosemary bread before (rosemary feta cheese as a matter of fact). i couldn't really taste the rosemary that time, and i couldn't really taste it this time either. nor could i really taste the garlic (which were sprinkled throughout the bread in soft pieces). the best no-knead bread flavor seems to be plain, with a garlic-salt-olive oil dipping sauce.

shape-wise, the bread came out fine: soft and puffy on the inside, crispy crust on the outside. this is proof i can made good bread in my house during the winter, despite the cold weather. for the fermentation i did leave the dough on top of the refrigerator, and for the 2-hour rise i put the dough on a rack over the hot air vent in the kitchen and then later near the hot air exhaust on the stove when i began to preheat the oven. i'm still not getting the rise that i want (supposedly it should be at least 2x the original size, but i didn't see it), but the bread still comes out fine.

while the bread was in the oven i couldn't really smell the rosemary nor the garlic but the house had this savory aroma similar to baking a thanksgiving turkey. it was a nice smell on this grey friday. although the storm had passed by early this morning (there was a potential for up to an inch of snow but i saw none of that) the sun stayed hidden until late afternoon. i didn't bother going out anyway because it was cold (30's).

my couch is dangerous: watching a few episodes of happy endings, i fell asleep around 7:00, waking up 2 hours later. this will probably mean i'll have a hard time falling asleep tonight. i finished the rest of my risotto for dinner. leftover risotto definitely doesn't taste as good as fresh risotto; it was essentially an unevenly-heated sludge.