Posts from the ‘Food’ category

Wacky weather week

It feels like it has been a long week. I spent all of Monday clearing snow. Tuesday, I was worn out from Monday. Wednesday, I finally got back in the work groove and then yesterday had a dentist appointment midday so a run to town.

I decided a treat was in order for Friday.

Feta and Chive Sour Cream Scones (recipe at the end of the post). Savory scones and a mug of hot tea made for a warm and delicious start to my Friday!

So, the weather…

As noted in the prior post, Monday evening after the record breaking snowfall – 112 year old record broken! – it started raining. And it warmed up. And then it cooled right down to very cold.

Tuesday morning it was VERY ugly as the snow warmed, got heavy and dropped out of the trees bringing branches, needles and sap with it.

The Chairs say: “UGGGGLLLYYY !!”

Bear was sticking to the cleared driveway after somewhat disastrous results trying to negotiate snow up to his neck. He took a snoot full and it caused him to cough and sputter and he then refused to go off the driveway. The problem is that he will not do serious business on the driveway. I’ve made him some wide paths into a few spots in the woods and he is finally using those.

Auggie is also sticking to cleared paths. After the warm up and then immediate cool down – it has been very cold except for the overnight warming mess. There is a crust on top of the snow. So smarty pants tried walking on that crust…and fell through. I was watching and rescued him. Since then, he has stayed on the paths and sticks near Bear and I.

Wacky weather week!

Feta Chive Sour Cream Scones (makes 4 large or 6 small square scones)

adapted and halved from Joy the Baker

120 grams white pastry flour
60 grams whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
3/8 cup cold, unsalted butter (I shred it, you can cube or otherwise break it down, but keep it cold)
1 egg beaten & divided
3/8 cup sour cream
1 1/2 T cold water
2 T chives (I used dried)
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
coarse or kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and smoked paprika for topping

Preheat oven to 400 and prep a baking sheet as you’d like. I used parchment paper.

Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper. Whisk or sift all to combine thoroughly. Add butter and mix with hands (my preferred method) or pastry blender until all is a pea sized crumble. Combine 1/2 beaten egg, sour cream and water until well blended. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix enough to form a soft, shaggy dough. Add the chives and feta and mix slightly. Dump the mix on counter or pastry cloth and pat into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut into 4 large squares or 6 smaller squares. Place on the baking sheet. Add some water to the remaining 1/2 beaten egg to make an egg wash. Brush tops with the egg wash and sprinkle salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Bake for 12-15 minutes … mine are taking 15.

These are wonderful fresh out of the oven, but it seems like they develop a bit more flavor after they have cooled. So have some fresh out of the oven and the rest later :) I’ve also split them, topped with some roast grape tomatoes and a bit more cheese and stuck them under the broiler. That works also.

Happy Friday!

Staying warm

The forecast was correct: cold, windy…COLD and WINDY!

But clear skies and sun that sparkled in the trees…

And Wind that blew the snow off the trees.

Auggie watched.

He wanted out and I did let him out several times after the temperature hit 12F. But, I kept an eye on him and a timer. He came in before the timer all three times.

It is COLD and WINDY!

Lots of the little nuthatches out and about and they gave Auggie something to watch.

And you can see how thick his coat is. Like Bear, he has a double coat.

Although, the wind direction is such that we are mostly in its shadow, every so often a gust swirls down bringing snow off the trees: tree avalanche.

And despite the blue sky…it is COLD and WINDY.

Bear and I had several walks. Short walks. But, he still took a moment for a look from Beardog Point.

Inside…a bit of baking.

More on this bread another time, but if you have ever been to Della Fattoria in Petaluma, this is my version of their signature bread: Meyer Lemon – Rosemary Campagne Boule. I’ve never tasted the original, but mine looked right and the taste … out of this world, good! (***this is my second loaf. The first, I made yesterday (Sunday) was gone in a flash!)

We are staying warm.

Getting there

Geez…I am still adjusting to being home. I’m in bed about 6:30 and up at 3:30-4:00 a.m. I was a bit out of whack time-wise the last days of the trip, but the additional darkness at home is making it easy to stay that way. However, since it is just me and the boys and I don’t do social stuff, I just go with it.

I’ve had times of being a bit upside-down on time before.

The good news is that I get a LOT done in the morning…the very LONG morning!

If you were “along” on the trip, you may remember that about 10 days ago, in Provo, UT, I found a wonderful natural food market: Sprout’s Farmer’s Market. (see the post: Sometimes it is nice to be in a big city) One of the items I found was Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour.

This morning…this very early morning…I went online to see what others might have said about it. I didn’t find anything from other’s experience, but I did read the Bob’s Red Mill info and all of the info on the packaging. In addition to the flour being a high protein bread flour, it had the addition of malt barley flour. Further reading disclosed that the malt barley additive had enzymes that increased rise. The package had a no knead recipe which was very close in proportion of flour/water/salt/yeast to what I’ve been doing so I decided to go with that for my first try with this flour.

Yowza…it looks wonderful! I did do 1/2 the recipe to make a smallish-baguetteish loaf.

I wish I could have recorded the crack of the crust. This is the BEST crust ever. The crumb is great…no big “ciabatta” holes, but it was a perfect texture.

And the main thing – the taste – it was better than anything I’ve made to date.

So…while I’ve had no complaints about my Wheat Montana breads, as I read, it appears that Wheat Montana flours do not have added malt, whereas many commercial/store flours do. I’ve ordered several malt powders (diastatic, non-diastatic, malted powder) from King Arthur and will try those with my Wheat Montana flour and see what happens.

Much experimenting to be done, but meanwhile I have the better part of 2 bags of the Bob’s Red Mill to play with.

That was the morning.

I still got to work before 8:00 a.m.

By lunchtime, I really needed a break.

Bear and I headed to Wayfarer’s Park for a walk by the lake…

Still a low cloud deck, but to the very south the sun was breaking through…

A gorgeous contrast to the gray.

And on the way home, on the road home…more sun break!

At home, real sun.

We are getting there.

Snippets from the weekend

My mom and I made Meyer Lemon-Huckleberry Marmalade Saturday late morning…progress photos on Instagram.

We think it has been 50 years since we jammed together! I was not a fan of the process 50 years ago, when I was 9. It involved picking fruit in hot and humid Northwest Ohio and then the canning process was also hot and humid.

The nice thing about citrus marmalades is that citrus is in season in Winter. Just after leaving Montana (Oct 24), I received notice from Lemon Ladies Orchard that Meyer Lemons were ready for shipping. I ordered some to be delivered to my folks. I had frozen huckleberries along so we were set!

Jams, jellies and marmalades take some experience and maybe a good bit of luck, I think. The variation in the amount of sugar in fruit and juice … it can be tricky getting consistent consistency. Between us, we adjusted things and ultimately got both consistency and flavor that we are both very happy with. It was iffy for awhile so a lot of fun when all came together as we hoped.

I enjoyed the results on Sunday morning.

Bear and I walked. I did a little work. We all watched some sports together. We ate wonderful food.

It was a nice, quiet weekend of good things.

I’m writing this Monday morning as I wait for it to warm up. It is 8F this morning – the coldest night so far on this trip. The rv plumbing stayed warm. Bear, Auggie and I were not toasty, but warm enough. The sun is rising in a clear sky so things should warm quickly.

I haven’t decided on the route yet, but this morning after going back and forth about 6 times yesterday, am leaning toward heading west over Wolf Creek Pass to Cortez, then through Moab brushing Arches National Park and North through Utah. It would be nice to return a different and also slightly warmer route.

Later, from the road, but meanwhile a few more snippets from the weekend:

Food for the road

I typically cook on the road like I do at home. I love my RV kitchen – the propane cooktop is wonderful. Most RVrs cannot stand the propane oven, but I have no issue with it and make bread, crackers, pizza and even pie with no problems. But, to each their own!

Often, I do prep some things for when I’m driving several days in a row and also working before and/or after the day’s drive – which is the case for this Friday-Saturday-Sunday. AND, I had some things that store more compactly when cooked so this morning:

Chipotle-Tomato-beef sauce, broccoli, cauliflower and chicken breasts were popped into the oven very early and then into the refrigerator to cool.

The broccoli and cauliflower are in mason jars to be used as side dishes or quick snacks.

The sauce and chicken are packed in single serving snack zips and then a larger zip and in the freezer. I started freezing single servings of sauce, meat, rice, beans, fruit and vegetables about 6 months ago and really like that I can pull out what I want for what I feel like eating. That kind of de-constructed freezing instead of freezing a specific meal lets me make soup, pasta, tacos or burrito, etc. The little zips thaw enough fairly fast to allow emptying them into a sauce pan to warm. And I don’t have a huge amount of leftover whatever that MUST BE EATEN whether it sounds good or not. Again, to each their own…leftovers once is fine, after that I mostly am ready for something different.

Tonight, there was enough “leftover” sauce and broccoli that did not fit in the containers to make my supper.

Some spaghetti squash is hiding under the sauce so it was squash with tomato beef sauce, roast broccoli and a bit of pecorino-romano with some crusty bread..

Food for the road and for the last supper before hitting the road. We roll tomorrow!

Apple Hand Pies to start Tuesday

I have a couple of days with no meetings, no work sessions…just work on my own tasks. I’m enjoying the flexibility in my schedule!

Yesterday, Bear and I went to Wayfarer’s park before lunch (see my Instagram for photos). We are having another bit of summer-like weather before what NOAA calls “THE BIG CHANGE” happens this weekend – a cold and wet front to take us back to Fall.

My neighbor was to come for coffee this morning but a bug in the family altered plans. The hand pies were already in the oven…

I’m going to have mine!! (AND, you bet I scooped up all of that caramel-y overflow!) …but, I’ll freeze the rest for when all feel better.

Apple Hand Pies to start Tuesday.

*** My method for the Hand Pies:
I had my own Brioche dough in the freezer packaged in large lemon sized rounds each 1 perfect for a hand pie. Last night I got 5 rounds out and put them in the frig. This morning, after the dough warmed up, I lightly rolled each round into a 5 inch circle and covered while I sliced 3 apples. I mixed a bit of lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt with the apples, divided between the 5 pies – stuff them VERY full as apples bake down, little bits of butter, fold over the top, slice some vents, brush with egg wash and into the oven (350 for 30 minutes). That’s it! The apples today were local McIntosh from my farmer’s market. I also like Granny Smith’s. AND…this mix is good with a bit of country pork sausage (pre-cooked) in with the apples.

I guarantee that these taste multitudes better than any toaster fruit pie :) !