Saturday, April 6, 2013

The gift that smells delicious and can become a sandwich

 
Breadmaking is somewhat an obsession of mine. I love the alchemy of yeast, liquid and flour combining and then changing into something totally better than the sum of it's parts. Each year, for my birthday I (well really my MIL and friends treat me) to purchases I usually don't indulge in. No jewelery, no furs, no purses or shoes- nope for me it's kitchen equipment and specialty ingredients.
This year my fabulous husband took me on a whirlwind trip to Harry's Market, also known in some parts of the country as Whole Foods. A mecca for organic, specialty and unique food items- it was heaven. So what did my cart look like: Rye Flour, Spelt, Steel Cut Oats, Wheat Germ, Couscous, Blood Oranges, really good Rice Vineager, Seseame Oil.... and the like.
When I got home, I opened my two new bread books (another gift from the in-laws- my husband has great parents)) and began perusing recipes. I found a wonderful Whole Wheat and Rye Bread that I tried and am now obsessed with. Lovely Caraway Seeds give it a lovely texture and the mix of Rye and whole wheat make for the sometimes over-powering bitterness of the rye to just be pleasant.
My birthday is over, and sadly the rye flour bin is just about empty- but our anniversary is in July and Mother's Day is before that. I can't wait!


Sunday, March 3, 2013

Chick Days


So here in North Georgia it is still chilly enough to have some snow flurries, but in the nursery it is toasty warm. The sound of new chickies means that Chick Days are here- my favorite time of the year.
We started out with 4, 2 Partridge Rocks and 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes. Several days later Jim and I took a short over-night trip to Blue Ridge. At each "chick" sign we stopped. Eventually finding 2 Buff Brahmas. Even they were 5 days behind and quite a bit smaller- they fit in well. The bigger ones seem like they are protecting the little ones whenever a ruckus is a foot.
I have taken to carrying "chick" boxes in my car, should another chick opportunity present itself- afterall Chick Days are here!