Light Wheat Bread & A Garden

I found an amazing and EASY Light Wheat Bread recipe on Smitten Kitchen-(http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/01/light-wheat-bread/), my favorite online source for recipes and cooking inspiration. This bread used a combination of white bread flour and of whole wheat flour. With the addition of a little honey it had a wholesome and sweet flavor and didn't last long. I love homemade bread, typically I enjoy it with an egg on top or toasted and dipped in my coffee! 

 First Garden Salad of the season featured argula blossoms, mustard greens, fennel and sunflower sprouts. I decided to keep it simple and let the spicy greens dominate the salad, dressed in lemon, pepper, salt with thinly sliced fennel bulb and argula blossoms lightly sauteed in olive oil. Delicious!

 My hop plant has sprouted and is nearly an inch tall. I burried the rhizome about a month ago and with persistsent watering and patience it has finially broke the surface!

Snap peas are hand down my favorite plant to grow in my garden. This is the first year I have ventured to grow nearly everything (minus the tomatoes  which i kindly was given from a friend with connections to Love Apple Farms heirloom tomato starts). These little guys are getting me pretty excited and are measuring in at about 2 inches!

A Piglet named Finn

Love at first sight in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Butternut Squash Vegan Lasagna vs. Mushroom Spinach Vegetarian Lasagna

 A delicious meal I created for family and friends featuring two very different lasagnas. In the name of meatless mondays. Butternut Squash Lasagna was seasoned with fresh sage and roasted turnips. A more traditional mushroom spinach cheese lasagna with flavored with basil.

Of course we needed two very different salads to go with the meal. A sprout salad with grated beets, sesame seeds and bell pepper. A herb salad with fresh fennel root, grated golden beet, dandelion leaves and homegrown arugula. Both salads were simply dressed with fresh pressed olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Feeling very blessed and thankful to enjoy such fresh, delicious, wholesome foods during the Winter months!

Pumpkin Muffins

Fall equals pumpkin season
pumpkin season plus fall back equals an extra hour to bake before work!

These simple pumpkin muffins have allowed me to embrace the season and baking early in the morning is such an amazing way to start my day. Perfectly paired with rich coffee or matte tea.

Sugar, vanilla, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, flour, oats, egg, olive oil, and love. Gently Stir together ingredients, do not over mix. Pour into greased muffin pans and bake at 325 for 10-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool... enjoy!

Brewing Kelly's IPA and My Current Beer Drinking Favorites

Final Product! Used an old stamp kit to label each bottle using blank name tags. 

BREWING: This past month I ventured into the land of home brewing. I had been wanting to experiment with home brewing for a couple years now but was to intimidated (and a bit to busy) to actually get the supplies and ingredients to start a batch. The above photo is the initial soak of the grain in warm water.

BREWING: This past month I ventured into the land of home brewing. I had been wanting to experiment with home brewing for a couple years now but was to intimidated (and a bit to busy) to actually get the supplies and ingredients to start a batch. The above photo is the initial soak of the grain in warm water.

First off, BREWING IS SO EASY!! If you can handle making homemade bread you can handle brewing beer. We decided to make an IPA, my Dad's favorite. It took us about 4 hours to complete the boil and since then I have spend an hour each week monitoring and dry hopping the batch.
The above is a photo of the boil while we were stirring in the hops.

After 2 weeks of primary fermentation, I racked the beer into a secondary fermentation vessel, a glass carboy. We added additional hops to the beer, this is termed 'Dry Hopping' because the hops are being added once all the sugar has been converted to alcohol, aka 'dry'.

The beer is still aging in the carboy and we plan to bottle it in the next few weeks!






BEER DRINKING: Here are three beers I have been enjoying lately.

Excellent Double IPA from one of my favorite breweries, Ninkasi, located in Eugene, Oregon.

Lagunitas Lucky 13. A go to brewery for me.

Uncommon Brewers Bacon Brown Ale. An interesting and delicious beer to switch things up!

Hens and roosters

Baby chicks at three days old

This May for my Mom's birthday I brought home nine baby chicks for us to raise and live in the vacant chicken coop that is in the back garden. We have have chickens in the past. Lately we have been missing fresh eggs in the morning so decided to get another batch. 

                                  Chicks at three months old enjoying watermelon, what a treat!

We have three boys, yes three roosters. I have enjoyed waking up to their attempts at cock a doodle doooing but I am not sure how long the three will last in our neighborhood! They are doing a wonderful job at eating all the compost we produce. Stay tuned for fresh eggs, maybe more chicks next spring.

Summer in the garden

       

Fresh basket of produce picked from my backyard. Featuring orange and purple mini carrots, lettuce, sugar snap peas, zucchini, plums, apricots, blackberries and strawberries! 

First flying saucer squash has been harvested ! It is summertime and my garden is full of delicious fruits and veggies. Everyday I look forward to checking on all my plants and seeing what needs tending to or what needs to be brought inside for dinner! I am looking forward to green and red grapes (just netted to keep the birds away), should be ready to pick in a few weeks!