November weekend -

 

This week has been busy around the house.

Our guy did the crawlspace work under the house - took out old

and replaced new waterproof vapor barrier, made sure insulation

was secure, and checked there was no mold. . . . . or a large

black snake such as found in a close by neighbor's crawl space recently!

Now, any mice sheltering in winter have a safe, squeaky clean area

to play in!

I was in the kitchen doing my usual flipping through cookbooks, searching

 for something new to bake, but resorted to a batch of pistachio muffins,

 most of which went into the freezer.

Made the quiche to use up last week's eggs and a bag of baby spinach.

 I ordered two dozen eggs for this week from my farm lady Linda - picked

 them up yesterday - as her chickens are laying well again so I wasn't

 limited to just a dozen as during the past couple of months.

I changed up the quiche a bit this time. Added a big dollop of that

pumpkin seed pesto to 1/2 cup of Ricotta cheese. That was

spread on the bottom crust after the 15 min. par-bake, then 

added the grated Gruyere cheese, the chopped spinach, the

 egg/milk/cream mixture, and topped with the remaining Gruyere. 

Baked as usual and was pleasantly surprised when I cut it and

 found all the layers visible, making it look really neat.

Also it was very tasty!

Garden chores to be revisited today as the weather is lovely - mostly

 emptying/cleaning the summer pots remaining. Still some basil which won't 

survive winter, the dahlias which are just about over, and annuals now

 on their last legs!  Planning to scrub out the bird baths also, they're a mess.

Amaryllis bulbs did get planted up in narrow pots on Thursday - they

 like to be snug - four large bulbs and one surprise bulblet. 

My fingers are crossed they will all grow.  

I have few areas to place them where they will get enough sunlight,

the best being right here on the dining room table.

Note I've already stuck a twig in each pot ready for tying up

leaves and hopefully tall blooms!

Boxes of Christmas cards are at the ready - I plan to start writing a

 few a day which is easier for me with this often achy shoulder/arm. 

Rotator cuff surgery is still on my To Do list, needless to say it's close

 to the bottom as I'm not excited by the thought of being out of commission

 for several months. I plan to wait as long as I can!

One cooking pumpkin remaining - will prep it this weekend.

I bought a few holiday items, including this door mat, when at Target

 this week - and must say I now feel better about Christmas coming.  

At first it sounded all too much to bother with during these

stressful times, now I'm going to make the most of it with

perhaps a bit less baking as I won't be throwing my usual

parties/meals, but plenty of decorating, roaring fires, candles 

lighting up the winter nights, and of course, as always,

 will be hoping for a White Christmas!

What are you planning for this November weekend?

Whatever, I hope it's relaxing and fun.

Fading beauty. . . . . . . .

The peonies, like me, are fading now.

Their beauty is short lived in days, sadly their blooms don't last for months.

 We care for them from the thrilling day when that tight, round bud appears,

then opens with the assistance of tiny ants (never rinse off the ants, they

 are needed according to nature). For a week or so we breathe the

 fragrance as the blooms grow large, beautiful, stunning to look at, and

 one feels especially glad to be at home.

Now they've even passed the blowsy stage when petals loosen and droop. 

Tinges of rusty shades are encroaching on the fading ballet pink. Yellow stamens 

are curling into fine threads. To me they are still so lovely in their old age. 

I feel a need to record them even this way - so I've been out there with the

camera to watch them change before they fall forever.

THOUGHTS - This weekend arrived very quickly and although every day is

 somewhat the same, I still enjoy the feeling of Saturday and Sunday. 

I hope those who are still working can enjoy some time for relaxation - something

 we elderly retirees are already used to.  

So, more time for the garden - both working and relaxing there.

Weight gain is noticed - me rather than Bob, not fair because I eat

less than him!  No bread baking - crusty loaves slathered with butter

now off the menu for a while, as are pistachio muffins. The farm fresh

strawberries are now being served naked without whipped cream!

Must walk more - grocery shopping is not exercise and we actually 

didn't even do that this week as we've too much food in the house.

The weather is warming up - high of 89F today - so I'm leaving you

for now and grabbing my walking shoes and sunhat.

Enjoy your Saturday.

It's been a long time. . . . . . .

. . . . . . since I baked bread!

I recall trying it back in the sixties, loaves and pizza dough, but didn't have

much success.  Being a young homemaker, taking care of the family took up a

 lot of time. Bread making was a lengthy process. Besides, bread was less

 expensive then, one of the more affordable items on the weekly shopping list

when the budget was tight. 

These days a really good loaf from an artisan bakery can cost several dollars.

Maybe it's time to get back to home baking.

Perhaps I'm late to the 'Faster No Knead Bread' Party!

My good friend Ruth in England recently sent me instructions for making this

 loaf in a Le Creuset Dutch oven. 

When looking online to determine whether anyone else knew about this easy
 sounding homemade bread, and to determine the temperature in Fahrenheit
 rather than Centigrade which Ruth sent, I was astonished to find everyone seems
 to be using this easy recipe!
For me the presentation and recipe from former talk-show host and comedian,
 Jenny Jones won me over.

 I particularly enjoyed watching Jenny's video which you can
 view HERE along with the Faster No Knead Bread recipe on her blog.
Jenny is so much fun to bake along with, go check!

 Here is the first loaf I baked following her recipe. 

 I was truly thrilled with the finished loaf and will be making it again, often.
 I will try some other types of bread using the same basic recipe, sometimes
changing the flour (I used King Arthur unbleached all-purpose white here)
 adding things such as nuts, raisins, cranberries, perhaps Parmesan cheese
 and rosemary etc., the breads I find to be very expensive at the bakery.

This white bread is just as good any I've bought from a bakery. The crust 
was crunchy, the crumb tender and flavorful. Right out of the oven it was
 delicious - 5 days later it was still being toasted for breakfast - and for me
 that's the test of good bread, crunchy toast which stays that way even with
 butter and marmalade! Knowing there are no preservatives and unhealthy
 additives in the bread is definitely another plus. 

Adorable hare and tulips plate, Anthropologie, a gift from granddaughter Jasmin.

Butter pat from my vintage collection. French linen towel with cheese design.

Black 'Scrumptious' cheese board, gift from my daughter Kim, HomeGoods. 

These gals seem to know just what I like!

I have to tell you that although I do have a lot of great Le Creuset baking dishes,

 I don't have one of their beautiful Dutch oven cast iron pots.

 (Santa - I've been good this year!)

I do however have 'knock off' versions of Dutch ovens - two sizes of bright red

 Martha Stewart, and a small cream IKEA one for soups.

For this bread I used the large MS, and because it doesn't have a metal handle 

on the lid, I did wrap my knob in aluminum foil to protect it from the high heat 

the bread needs for the initial baking. That worked out fine.

For the second bake, with lid removed, in my oven I found that 10 minutes, no

 longer, was ample time to get the beautiful rich golden crisp crust, so watch carefully.

Let me know if you have made this bread or, if like me, you're late to the 

party, will perhaps give it a go! 

 You won't be sorry. 

Slicing into your very own home baked crunchy loaf will make your day I can assure you.