Quick Update

Just a quick note to let you know I may not be blogging twice a week for the next while as I am busy painting the kitchen.  Since the kitchen is in disarray, it is hard to do any new food blogs.

The weather has improved and most of the snow is gone, so Lulu is enjoying the great outdoors.  She goes out for several hours a day except on windy days as she hates the wind.  Lulu spends her time wandering around the yard finding new spots to dig and explore.  I check on her regularly and am surprised at the amount of ground she covers. 

Lulu is NOT an asset when it comes to painting.  I have drop clothes for painting but use newspaper under the paint cans and tray.  Lulu loves to come around and rip the paper and try to eat it.  So on windy days, I either put her downstairs in her dirtbath (which keeps her busy for an hour or two) or put her on her window table in the living room with wheatgrass to keep her occupied.  What a little pest!

Anyway, take care and we'll be back soon.  Joan and Lulu

David's Pancakes

When my sons were young, they were Cub Scouts.  On many of their camping trips, they were lucky to have David go along as a cook.  David had a boy in the pack and helped out by getting meals ready when the cubs were busy hiking, doing crafts, etc.  He made wonderful pancakes and shared the recipe with us.

These pancakes are thin - almost crepe-like.  We used his recipe at home often but cut it down in size.  My boys loved the pancakes and would eat them cold with peanut butter.

We often made a big batch and froze the extras so my boys could zap them in the microwave on school days when they watched pancakes instead of cereal or toast.

Here is David's recipe if you are cooking for a crowd and my cut down recipe follows.

Ingredients

15 eggs
12 1/2 c flour
4 c sugar
4 tsp salt
2 c oil
20 Tbsp baking powder
5 liters milk

for a smaller batch - about 1 1/2 dozen 7" pancakes
2 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c oil
3 Tbsp baking powder
1 liter milk


Mix up the batter and let rest for a few minutes.  It also can be made ahead and used later.

Ladle or pour batter into a pre-heated greased fry pan.  I used a 1/3 cup ladle and made one in the pan but you can make smaller ones if you want.  When bubbles form on the one side, turn pancake.

 

 Cook second side until done.

 

 

Stack pancakes on a plate and keep warm until all are cooked. 

 

 

Eat with butter and syrup or jam.  Enjoy!

The pancakes freeze very well.  I put enough for a serving between wax paper and stack in an ice cream pail to freeze or in freezer bags.  If you use freezer bags, make sure the pancakes are frozen solid before setting anything on top of them.  This way you can take out a serving whenever you want to heat them up. 

 

 

 



Sourdough Sharing - Flatbreads

This month's sourdough challenge at Sourdough Surprises was flatbread.  I decided to give both tortillas and naan a try.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Tortillas
My starting point was these two recipes - here and here .

Ingredients
4 c flour (I used all whole wheat)
1 c milk
1 c sourdough
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together sourdough, milk and salt.

 

Slowly add in flour mixing until the dough forms a ball and is not too sticky.  Then knead the dough for 2 - 3 minutes.

 

Transfer to a well-greased bowl, grease top of dough, cover and let sit overnight.

 



My dough had a bit of a crust on it the next day but nothing too bad.

 

Divide the dough into balls and heat up a cast iron or non-stick fry pan.

  

 

Use olive oil to grease rolling pin and rolling surface.  Roll dough balls flat and thin. 

 

Place your tortilla into pre-heated pan and cook briefly on both sides. 

 

It took less than a minute per tortilla.  I turned the pan down to medium to medium low because the cast iron holds the heat and I didn't want my tortillas to burn. 

 

The recipe makes between 1 1/2 dozen to 2 dozen depending on the size.

These were very good.  I ate some warm and froze the rest for later.  Next time I make them, I will try to make them a bit larger and rounder so I can use them for quesadillas.


Sourdough Naan
My starting point was here and here .

Ingredients
1 c sourdough
1/2 c warm milk
1/4 c Greek yogurt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 c flour (I used all whole wheat)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme


Mix sourdough, milk, and yogurt.  Add dry ingredients and mix together, adding more flour if dough is too sticky.

 

 Knead a couple of minutes.

 

Turn onto floured board and knead several times until dough is smooth.  Place in a greased bowl and let rest several hours. 

 

Divide dough into 8 pieces and heat up fry pan.  Again I started at medium high and then turned down the heat.

 

Roll dough on floured board.  I found the dough a bit stickier than the tortilla dough and a bit harder to manage.

 

Cook each side until done.  It smelled very nice cooking with the herbs in the dough.

 

 

 

The naan took a little longer to cook than the tortillas because the dough was a bit thicker.  I also found it harder to keep the naan round.

 

The naan were good but my preference is the tortillas - partly because they were less trouble and partly because I have eaten more tortillas in the past than naan. 

 

Enjoy both recipes as well as the links to other flatbreads below.  ;)

Seedy Saturday

Lillooet held their 5th annual Seedy Saturday this past weekend.  This was the fourth one I've attended, missing only last year. 

There were info booths on seed saving, weeds, indigenous plants and berries and much more.  They also had seeds for sale that are open-pollinated, heritage and heirloom, organic from a number of smaller seed companies.   

To me the highlight is always the seed swap.  Here you can get  seeds saved by local gardeners to try out.  In the past I got some seed potatoes, Deer Tongue Lettuce and a variety of beans.  This year I got some seed potatoes again - 2 red (Red Dutch and Desiree) and 2 white (Russet Norkotah and German Butterball).

This was the first year, I was able to contribute some of my seeds.  I donated a half dozen varieties of lettuce and greens, two kinds of spinach and a number of herbs.

They also have a raffle every year with numerous prizes from a load of manure to home canning, pottery and seeds, to teas and gardening books.

Lulu came along for the ride but waited in the car especially since it was raining quite heavily.  When we returned home, it had just stopped raining so I left Lulu out for some fresh air.  When she was coming in, it took her a long time to climb the stairs because she was drinking the raindrops had were hanging from the stairs and table right next to the stairs.  She reminds me of a curious little kid - always checking things out that most of us don't even stop and notice.

Later in the afternoon, I got a call that I won one of the raffle prizes. :)

 

My prize was a tortilla chip and dip tray, 3 squash, a jar of pickled garlic scapes and a quart of canned apricots. 

 

All in all, it was a great day!  Everyone had thoughts of the up and coming growing season as the rain washed away a number of  snow banks.  Yippee!  Spring is on the way! 

 

 

 



Happy Valentines Day

Have a great Valentines Day!
 

 

 

With love from Lulu!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Lulu's Tail Feathers

Once upon a time, Lulu had lovely tail feathers. 

 

 

She had a full tail that any chicken would be proud of. 

 

 It was fairly even and nice and full.

 

When she molted, however, she lost her long tail feathers. 

Now look at Lulu's short tail feathers.

 

When she walks she looks like she has a round butt. 

 

But look!  This winter she started growing some new longer feathers!

 

 So far Lulu has three new tail feathers.

 

The strange thing is that they all curl to the one side. 

 

I'm not sure if this is the extent of Lulu's new tail feathers but she has had only three for a number of months now.

 

Looking at the feathers from the side, they look pretty scruffy.  Notice all the small feathers curl too.

 

Now when Lulu walks her long tail feathers sometimes drag because she doesn't walk with her butt up like most chickens.  No matter - I love Lulu and all her quirks.  ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Library Quilts

I haven't spent much time in the local library since we moved here but did visit it more often while my cousin, Tina was staying with me.  One day I noticed the quilts hanging over the book shelves and decided I needed to get pictures of them.

I previously showed quilts from our local quilters group here .

I noticed that the quilts worked with the Dewey Decimal system of sorting books in many libraries.

 

These show 363 - environment and 400 - languages.

 

523- solar system and 581 - plants

 

598 - birds and 599 - animals

 

The neat thing about the banners is that they hang over the shelves of books they represent.

 

If you are looking for books about gardening or pets, you would look on these shelves.

 

Parenting and families - look here.

 

Some of the quilts have additions sewn on to them.  These have jewelry  and tiny quilts added.

 

These have actual examples of weaving and crocheting attached to the quilt squares.

 

The librarian I spoke to said it saves many steps by being able to say to someone looking for a book on music to look under the quilt square with the music notes on it.

 

The quilters have done a great job of picking the perfect fabrics.  Many of the borders also reflect the subject.  Look at the hockey sticks and skaters surrounding the below.

 

They have used many styles of quilting including applique and piece work. 

 

I spent alot of time admiring the quilts while Tina was choosing books, movies and Cd's.

 

I hope you are enjoying this walk around my local library with me.

 

The photos don't do the quilt justice but unless you are coming to visit, it is the best I can do.

 

Enjoy! ;)