More From The Garden

When I started this blog, it was going to be all about bread. But our garden is doing so well (and isn't the food you grow or make for yourself great in any form?).

We got a really late start planting in the community garden; we had to use starter plants rather than seeds. So what we have are two green pepper bushes, two tomato plants, a strawberry, and six pumpkins (that someone else donated, actually). Not much, it seemed, for a ten by ten plot, especially when one of the pumpkin plants died in the heat. That's what I thought until I walked into the garden last night:

Pumpkin vines taking over the garden plot.

The pumpkins are trying to take over! I really hope we have enough room; even the two biggest ones could probably occupy the plot all by themselves; and we have three more, plus the rest of the veggies (and the strawberry hanging out in the middle).

The pepper and the tomatoes are doing well.

The one tomato plant isn't very tall, but I think I counted thirteen tomatoes on it, which is respectable. The other one is much stubbier; I think it's really intended more for container gardening. But it still has four or five tomatoes. Not bad considering the clayey, acidic ground (somewhat ameliorated, at least, with lime and fertilizer). I am a bit worried about one pumpkin vine, though. The leaves have some kind of gray on them that rubs off. A few other people have pumpkins or zucchini with the same problem.

Overall, though, I'm happy. I'm looking forward to the tomatoes especially: BLT sandwiches on homemade rosemary bread (recipe to follow tomorrow).

God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread.

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The Consistency Of Coarse Meal

I decided to make biscuits this afternoon, and as I was following the recipe, I saw that I needed to mix flour, salt, and baking powder, then cut in shortening (butter is better than mar but marge is what we had). The recipe said to cut the shortening in "to the consistency of coarse meal." Now what the heck is that supposed to mean? I mean, I know what (for example) corn meal looks like; but does the casual baker? How are they supposed to know? It means this. Not that you'd go far wrong with these biscuits, anyway. I mean, it's the Pillsbury cookbook. The only problem I had is that, at some time in the past, I put a note in to myself to use 3 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of the recipe's 2. Well, I'm marking that back down. These are edible, but definitely taste of baking powder. Oh well, live and relearn, I guess. The finished product. Yum! Godspeed, and remember, All things are better with bread .

More Random Thoughts

I don't usually make bread during the week (I could , but we'd rapidly run out of space to store the bread!). But last night I did, just plain white bread for sandwiches today. I have to watch myself carefully. I'm not taking the time I need to shape the bread; it doesn't look as nice and even as it should. But it's got a lovely crust, a bit sweetish, and should make a great sandwich. Herself (who has informed me that she would like to be referred to forthwith as Nancie) made a great sandwich on this for lunch. She is the Sandwich Queen :-) Buffalo chicken, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and a wee little bit of pepper. I can't wait for lunch! I was going to post something about the awful state of my bread ingredient cupboard, but this has cheered me up enough that I don't feel like griping about it :-) God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread .

We Need A Bigger Kitchen

Evidence: I was baking this afternoon while Nancie was trying to frost a cake. I wish I had a picture of the result; but here's where I wound up trying to mix and raise the bread: In case you're not sure, I'm doing this on the stove (next to the cookie sheet and loaf pans that I had to take out of the oven because we were baking the cake). What you see in the background is the microwave on the counter and the various things we have to have there in order to keep them off the counter. We manage, though. Somehow or other :-) So what I'm making right now is Tuscan White Hearth Bread from Everything Bread . This is unusual in that it has no salt. Or sugar; just water, flour, and yeast. It's the perfect kind of bread to use with spaghetti that has a lot of sauce on it. It might even be the excuse to make a little bit of extra sauce for the pasta! Tuscan White Hearth Bread 1¼ cups warm water 1¾ tsp. active dry yeast (1 package) ¼ cup whole whe...

Bread Makes The Meal

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