Bread and Water

That is Miss Topkapi, as I like to call her. Yes, she is drinking water out of a glass. This is what I mean by having the most spoiled snakes on the planet. She has a water bowl in her cage, of course, and for about the first year, she used to drink out of that. She would wait until I grabbed the bowl, cleaned it and then put fresh water. She would then drink, all stretched out in her cage, first the water droplets around the bowl and then lightly placing her mouth into the water.
I don't know how it happened, but somehow she got hooked on water glasses. Every morning, when I take her out to let her walk around a bit, she starts looking around. I then have to get a glass, it could even be a teacup, and pour her fresh water. I have to hold her though, otherwise she doesn't drink.
This is beyond adorable, except when for some reason I am out of town and I have someone else taking care of her. She just doesn't drink. It seems ridiculous, and I hope that if she gets very thirsty she will drink, but it worries me anyways. My sister and I went to New Orleans for a week and I had my mother looking after my snakes. When we came back I took her out and she drank water for about half an hour. She is sooo spoiled!
Here is a closeup


Anyways, right this minute I have bread baking in the oven and it smells delicious. It's my first attempt at bread, so we'll see how it comes out. I'll include a picture as soon as it is done, and also the recipe.

Okay, here is the recipe for Brioche

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3 1/4 cups flour
Egg Glaze: 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbs.milk

Sprinkle yeast into water, stir until dissolved. Heat milk, just warm. Beat butter, add sugar, salt, eggs, and egg yolk. Add milk and yeast mixture. Add the flour gradually. Knead on lightly floured board. Place in greased bowl. Butter top of dough and cover with towel. Let rise until double about an hour and a half. Knead again. Shape into ball or braid, place in greased pan, let rise 40 minutes. Brush with egg glaze, and bake at 375 F oven 30-35 minutes, or until loaf sounds hollow.