1 Degree Days Are Perfect For Bread Baking

January has been extremely cold, one morning when I left for work the temperature was negative 14. This makes it easy to stay in the house with the roaring pellet stove & two lap cats. This being said, with the extra time I've been spending around the house, I decided to try something fairly new to me - baking bread. I've attempted to make it a couple times before, it came out "ok", but I'd like to master a recipe & make it my own.

I started with mix of a couple recipes that I found by searching on-line for a standard french bread. I added a little extra yeast (because that is what was in my yeast packet). I also ended up adding extra flour because the dough seemed very sticky- looking back, perhaps it was supposed to be that sticky, I'm certainly not a bread expert...yet. 

 I started by dissolving the yeast in warm water

Other ingredients in this recipe were salt, touch of sugar, flour, olive oil & whatever you want to top the breads with for flavor. 

I topped the breads with garlic, parmesan & cheddar cheese & brushed with olive oil before baking.

My counter looked like this: 

The final product! 

I am very happy with how these loafs came out but am looking forward to mastering the recipe & toppings! I think my next attempt will include roasted garlic. 

Screw It, I'm Gardening!

Okay, so the photo below isn't really me, but it very well could be, and might be if we don't get some warm spring days to melt the snow away soon. 

I take no credit for this photo-found it online

I love planting seeds & checking back every day to see who is going to pop out of the dirt first. I used to always start seedlings inside next to a sunny window. Now there is a killer of plants in my house and her name is Moose. We have 2 cats, Moose who is just about to turn 5 and Casper, who is almost 4. Moose gets into EVERYTHING, but that's another blog entry- the point right now is that she destroys plants. 

On a typical summer morning I jump out of bed, grab some coffee & run to the garden to check what is happening out there. One of my favorite things to do is pick green beans, eating as I collect.  I'll usually start inside my fenced garden gathering veggies- then convince my husband to walk around our property picking miscellaneous thimbleberries, blueberries & blackberries. 

 This weekend consists of Spring Cleaning projects inside the house, so I better get started. But be sure to check back tomorrow as I talk about celebrating St. Patrick's Day & how I learned from my Mom (known as Mum, to me & my sister) how to cook a boiled corned beef dinner. 

Welcome

I'm new to blogging and I'm not sure what I'm doing. What I do know, is that I live in an amazing location where we get to enjoy the changing weather of the four seasons here in New England-and this excites me. 

I'm an amateur gardener & baker who enjoys harvesting what each season has to offer. I have a small garden at my home where I grow cucumbers to pickle & tomatoes to freeze for winter sauces. The fall brings some of my favorite activities- apple & pumpkin picking. My family has spent many cool afternoons circling the pumpkin patch waiting while I try to find the perfect pumpkin, every year. I spend a lot of time baking in the winter- my Christmas presents usually involve cookies, homemade fall applesauce or fudge. Spring is when I look forward go planting, pruning & gathering flower ideas. 

So I guess that is what this blog will be about-oh, and my cats, because I love them as though they are my children. 

I hope you check back often & enjoy this work in progress!