I have been on another vacation from blogging.....back now.
Nothing has changed with our weather. It has just been more of the same. We finished the driest July on record and the third hottest July. Records which I could have easily skipped. The difference today is we are having quite a breeze.
We are still watering some things,the trees in the orchard where I can see new leaves developing; the tomatoes, the peppers and sweet potatoes and the strawberry row.
I try to hit the berry patch now and then and we have watered some trees in the yard. We turn the sprinkler on the chicken yard twice a day too.
My tomatoes are not ripening very fast and are not setting new fruit. My neighbor has given me enough from her early garden so that I have canned 8 pints. I baked her a loaf of bread.
Sweet corn was a bust so we are feeding the forage to the two heifers and the ears to the chickens. They are both very happy with it. We trapped a raccoon in the garden yesterday and have relocated two box turtles.
It is hard to keep your spirits up in this kind of weather. We are getting more and more worried about the cows. If we start feeding hay soon, we may run out before winter is over. I want to sell some but DH is holding on......I will bow to his judgment.
My days are filled with routine mundane things, cleaning, cooking, baking and, of course, reading.
Cooking
I have recently doubled my bread recipe from two loaves to 4. My oven is large and can hold 4-loaf pans on one shelf. It seemed wasteful to have that oven on without using it to its full capacity. Also my new KA mixer can handle it. I also decided to just use the highest quality flour I could buy. I decided on King Arthur which I can get at our Dillon's (Kroger) Stores. It is slightly less expensive than Hogsden Mills flours. The result has been much higher rise with the breads and it has been consistent. I am a believer now! Even DH has noticed the difference.
This is the 10 grain one:
and even though I wasn't out of bread, I made just the simple whole wheat (light on white wheat because I didn't have enough)recipe so I could give a loaf to our neighbor as a thank you for the tomatoes she had given me. I made one loaf into buns and had two for the freezer. Hers was already wrapped and not in the picture.
Nothing has changed with our weather. It has just been more of the same. We finished the driest July on record and the third hottest July. Records which I could have easily skipped. The difference today is we are having quite a breeze.
We are still watering some things,the trees in the orchard where I can see new leaves developing; the tomatoes, the peppers and sweet potatoes and the strawberry row.
I try to hit the berry patch now and then and we have watered some trees in the yard. We turn the sprinkler on the chicken yard twice a day too.
My tomatoes are not ripening very fast and are not setting new fruit. My neighbor has given me enough from her early garden so that I have canned 8 pints. I baked her a loaf of bread.
Sweet corn was a bust so we are feeding the forage to the two heifers and the ears to the chickens. They are both very happy with it. We trapped a raccoon in the garden yesterday and have relocated two box turtles.
It is hard to keep your spirits up in this kind of weather. We are getting more and more worried about the cows. If we start feeding hay soon, we may run out before winter is over. I want to sell some but DH is holding on......I will bow to his judgment.
My days are filled with routine mundane things, cleaning, cooking, baking and, of course, reading.
Cooking
I have recently doubled my bread recipe from two loaves to 4. My oven is large and can hold 4-loaf pans on one shelf. It seemed wasteful to have that oven on without using it to its full capacity. Also my new KA mixer can handle it. I also decided to just use the highest quality flour I could buy. I decided on King Arthur which I can get at our Dillon's (Kroger) Stores. It is slightly less expensive than Hogsden Mills flours. The result has been much higher rise with the breads and it has been consistent. I am a believer now! Even DH has noticed the difference.
This is the 10 grain one:
and even though I wasn't out of bread, I made just the simple whole wheat (light on white wheat because I didn't have enough)recipe so I could give a loaf to our neighbor as a thank you for the tomatoes she had given me. I made one loaf into buns and had two for the freezer. Hers was already wrapped and not in the picture.
