Shepard Lane Garden

   OK - trying this another time with some of the baking info I gleaned this morning looking at how different recipes are constructed.  Cooking is really just chemistry with easily obtainable ingredients and a stove.... the result was a little chewy on the outside, maybe one less egg white is in order?, but a good sweet but not too sweet inside of the cake that complemented cherry jelly nicely. 1 cup flour 1/2 cup granulated white sugar 1.5 tsp cream of tartar 1/2 tsp salt (mixed the cream of tartar and salt together well, then sifted it through the flour, then added the sugar and stirred it all up) melted 1/2 stick butter and separated into six Jumbo muffin pan wells started the oven heating to 400 degrees separated 4 eggs from our very productive chickens, and beat the whites together added 1 tsp vanilla extract added 1/2 cup milk beat that just a little to mix  put the pan with the butter in it in the oven to heat up added it all at once to the dry materials and b...

M ade another iteration of the popover-like recipe, not a failure, still needs 'something'... used a new baking pan with deep muffin wells and they came out of the pan like a dream, and were great with maple syrup, but still a bit heavy. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 1 c. flour, 1 tsp salt (little less), 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbsp white sugar, sifted together. Melt 1/2 stick butter, spoon about 1 tbsp into each of 6 wells. Place pan with butter in it in the oven. Dump the rest of the melted butter into 3/4 cup milk, add 1 tsp vanilla, add two medium-to-large chicken eggs and beat. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture and then remove pan carefully to oven (butter should be bubbling), evenly divide mixture between six wells, place back in oven and reduce heat to 400 degrees. Bake about 25 minutes undisturbed in oven. Remove pan and tarts? should come out of pan easily to place on a plate. // thinking how this would go with cheese, or blueberries, or other things includ...

some of the raised beds in the garden where I practice my odd form of gardening the snowball bush in bloom   Not sure what it is, will have to look it up - has a green 'endive' type smell  I haven't posted anywhere else about this yet, just here.  For the past few months I've been doing what I've told myself is 'The Productivity Project'... and it is slightly based off of something I did with the Puttytribe called 'Jumpstart January' back in 2020. The first thing is to examine your goals, and pick something you think you can keep up for at least an hour almost every day for a few months - something productive, that you might not let yourself spend that much time on.  The JJ thing wasn't an hour, just a list of promises to tick off you had done them.  Some people did language learning, others did sketching, or other arts, or fitness or music goals.  I did a little of those things, too - some great paintings and a lot of Welsh. But with the Product...

Thursday afternoon with cleared off cars It had started snowing on Sunday.  Then it snowed again on Tuesday, Wednesday and a little bit in the early morning today.  We hope it is done and will melt by Saturday.  We haven't been out to town since then, and there are numerous accidents in the nearby towns on the roads, so trying not to until we have to. Mark and Esme are making chili downstairs. Esme and I took some things up to Grandma's house today pulling it on the sled.  I had her go down the hill by the garage a couple of times. Our chickens have been doing well.  Some of those single digit temperature days it was really hard to keep water for them, and the little birds from the woods were all over their food so I've been giving lots of extra (and throwing some into the woods) so everybody gets some.  They have continued to give us a few eggs almost every day - they are Cinnamon Queen chickens, and very good girls.   Wednesday afternoon   the ...

  Experimented today and made this recipe - would definitely like to make it again. 1/2 cup brown rice washed and rinsed bring to boil on stove with 1.5 cups of water, salt and olive oil reduce heat and cover 3/4 way, cook for about 30 to 45 minutes stirring until liquid is absorbed stir in can of pieces and stems mushrooms with liquid, add frozen okra add black pepper, celery seed and salt (used seasoning salt) let sit on low, stirring occasionally until the liquid from the mushroom can is almost absorbed add approximately two to three tablespoons shredded hard white English cheddar (used Kerrygold aged English cheddar) and 1 tablespoon Irish full-fat butter add dried oregano and more black pepper let sit on low, stirring often until shredded cheddar and butter combine with remaining liquid to make a consistency 'risotto' should be firm with all liquid absorbed serve on warmed plate made 2 servings

Cooking is Essential.   It is a Life Skill and an expression of Creativity.   And soup - it can make something out of a little. And yet many are just rediscovering cooking, especially in 2020 among my generation. During the pandemic, a lot of people have learned to cook 'for the first time in their lives.'  That seems so odd, but I do understand it having seen so many others in my generation with vastly different upbringings.  Some got to have frozen microwave meals and fast food.  We didn't.  Even when we lived in the house 'in town' and not miles and miles out in the forest (the rest of the time) we cooked from scratch most of the time.  I've been doing a lot more cooking this week just trying to sort out some of the things I use to cook on a regular basis.  The family cookbook I am working on contains things we all like to eat and also a variety of things like the Stone Soup recipe at the end of this post that I learned to cook from ...

  I tried to recreate this recipe yesterday, ended up close to a couple of Internet recipes but going to document it here as a 'first attempt' at what I used to make on a regular basis. Important equipment : parchment paper, large baking pan, rolling pin Heat oven to 450 degrees Ingredients : 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder Choose your spices : 1 tsp oregano (Italian seasoning, or any other flavor of herb you like), 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp strong garlic powder granules, dash of tangy ground dill weed herb. Mix all of this together in a bowl, stir well to combine. SETUP : important!  Do these now while your hands are clean Put up to 1/2 cup extra flour in a cup next to your cutting board. Tear off a piece of parchment paper (not wax paper) and place it on your prepared baking sheet on top of the stove. Warm up 1/4 cup of water (do it now, because it will be more difficult in a minute when your hands are full) Proceed :  Get out 2 tb...