Taming The Garden

I was going to tell you about the recipe I found in the bread book last night, but the weather was unexpectedly nice (at least, non-rainy) for a bit after work, so I went out to see how the plot was doing. Oooh boy, am I glad I went. Here's what I saw as I walked in:

My pumpkins, as I feared, were trying to cross the walkway and invade the neighbor's plot. I trimmed them back and tried to organize them—somewhat, they are sprawling vines, after all.

But even before I saw the spread, I noticed the yellowing and dying leaves. Perhaps because of all the rain? So I trimmed back some of the dead tendrils too.

And I think I might have mentioned earlier that one of our tomatoes is really intended for container gardening. It's a very stubby, short plant, and it can't quite get the support it needs from the tomato cage.

So I lifted it up and tried to tie it up to the cage. We'll see how well it does.

I was going to stay longer, and report on the peppers and the strawberry (which seemed at a quick glance to be doing well), but I kind of noticed it was getting cooler and breezier. Then I looked up and saw that the sky looked like this

and like this

so I headed for the car as fast as I could, just in case. (Actually, it looks like the storm cell headed for us split up and went around to the north and the south. But I didn't know that from seeing the sky.)

I'll make bread tomorrow, or biscuits or something (maybe not biscuits; I made brownies this evening and we're low on butter). Till then, 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 .

Banana Bread! Yum!

I was going to make some other kind of bread on Wednesday, but it was pointed out that we had a number of bananas that were ready to go—more than we were going to eat. And we didn't have long to eat them, so could I please do something with them? Four of these—perfect for banana bread. So I looked for a recipe with plenty of bananas, and guess what? Leslie Bilderback came through again! Thanks Leslie! (Note: I think I've described this before? But not with pictures like this.) Banana Bread ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter ¾ cup granulated sugar 3 ripe bananas 1 egg ¼ cup sour cream (I actually used closer to ½) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt (Optional; I don't usually bother) 1 cup chopped walnuts Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C; Gas Mark 4). (Here Leslie gives instructions for prepping a 9" x 5" loaf pan with "pan spray" and parc...

It's Friday!

I may or may not go to get rye flour tonight to make the awesome bread I was talking about the other day. (I don't think I'll be going for long hikes or climbing mountains while waiting for the bread, though. Especially not in near-100 degree heat.) I would like to make sure this is popular with Herself as well, of course. And "raisins and walnuts"—I know we have walnuts, but I'd leave out the raisins; I've never been a fan of raisins in bread. Not even cinnamon bread. The other recipe that got my attention recently was from the same blog, and not even a bread recipe (!): Chilled Peach And Ginger Soup . I've never had a cold soup before; this sounds wonderful. But what bread would go with it? God speed, and remember, All sorrows are less with bread .

Bread Makes The Meal

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