The Garden in the First Week of April

The first week of April, 2020 is ending.   We have been impatiently waiting.  This fall, we planted
100 daffodils
50 tête a tête (little) daffodils
50 naturalizing (small-bulb) daffodils
50 Emperor Tulips
50 "value" tulips
75 of three types of alliums ‘Atropurpureum & Nigrum’ and ‘Bulgaricum’
48 crocus
plus several peonies, iris, and daylilies
All this is in addition to the bulbs, daylilies, and hostas we transplanted from the farm.

So far, we have seen crocus.  These are blooming near some daylilies along the front walk.

We also have crocus around the sundial.














The very healthy looking plant on the right is fritillaria.  It smells just like skunk.  (I'll post pics when it blooms - probably toward the end of April.)


Today after watching and watching, we finally saw our first daffodil open.

This was taken in the early morning, and it's not open yet.  The sad part of this picture is the plants to the left.  During the night one of our resident critters ate the tulips to the ground.  We thought we could distract critters by surrounding the tulips with daffodils, which no one eats.  They didn't either - they just ignored the daffs and went for the very tasty tulips.

It finally opened later in the day.

But the tulips are still eaten.

D has spent the rest of the day fencing the gardens.  

Let's hope it was not baby creatures that can get through the holes.

The strawberries have started poking through the mulch.

 I am really ready for fresh strawberries!

 Yesterday, in the hedgerow, we discovered violets.  We don't remember them from last year!

That's it for the first week in April, 2020, in the little house in the city.

Quick Easy and Delicious for Supper

We are always looking for something different for supper.  And now that we are self-isolating during the COVID-19 worries, food becomes even more important.

Now, as background, you should know that the few times we go out for meals, we never choose a diner or traditional food.  Out first choices tend to be Thai or Vietnamese.   In a pinch any other Asian or Indian will do.  Last winter, sick of all the same-old, same-old at home, we decided to check out an Asian supermarket in the Binghamton area.  That was an interesting experience, and we got all kinds of noodles and small cans of sauces.

We also got this sauce:

I guess I just liked the looks, because we had never tried it before.

You can get more information and store locator at the company website:

https://www.mayakaimal.com/  The store locator was helpful, since there is no way we could remember which store had this!  Turns out that it's available in nearby towns, but not here. . . 

In the fridge there were carrots, celery, mushrooms, and the cupboards had rice and onions.

The freezer had partial packages of shrimp and scallops.

I par-cooked some of the veggies in the microwave, then put them in a pot with the sauce.

The rice was cooking away while the veggies warmed in the sauce.

At the last minute the seafood went in (so as not to overcook).

It was excellent!  Not very pretty, but very tasty!

We have put this on the list for future dinners. 

Only half the jar was used for this meal.

There is a chicken breast in the freezer and with veggies from the fridge, we're set for another dinner!

Looking forward to it!

...

For the "What did you learn today?" file:

Food stylists earn their salary!

I am not a food stylist.

Enriched Bread - Challah - Raisin Bread

Here are some tricks and tips to make some delicious bread.

I started with the challah recipe by Rose Behrens.  It's an enriched bread, in that, in addition to flour, water, yeast, and salt, it has egg and sweetener - in this case honey.

RECIPE:

• 7 cups flour

• 1 T salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
• 2 pkg yeast + 1/3 cup warm water (if using bulk yeast, it’s 1-1/2 tablespoons, or 4-1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cold water

350° 30 minutes 

TIP:  I put the ingredient list in the notes on my iPhone, and I can check them off as I add them.

I can also add notes (such as the date and that it took 6 cups of flour but I forgot 1/3 cup of water, since I bloomed the yeast in the mixing bowl - and I forgot. . . )

This will make two loaves of raisin bread, some rolls, and one loaf of challah (braided bread).

The first rise was pretty impressive.  I knocked it back and cut into four pieces.

I like to work directly on a cookie sheet.  I know I can keep it more sanitary than a countertop or table.

TIP:  To keep the cookie sheet from slipping, I use this square of shelf-liner (Thanks, Karen) under the cookie sheet.  (TIP:  make sure that the liner does not stick to the cookie sheet when you put it in the oven.  This is the Voice of Experience speaking.)

   Another TIP:  this square is great at gripping stubborn jar lids.

For the challah, I used a four strand braid.  Pinch together four ropes of bread.  Take the rope on the left and move it over the two next to it.  Then take the rope on the right, and move it over two next to it.  (TIP:  I practiced with ribbons or shoelaces until it made sense to me.)  There are lots of youtube videos on how to braid.

To make the rolls, I cut it into pieces, and stretched and pinched to make a round roll.

For the cinnamon sugar, I use confectioners sugar and lots (3 heaping teaspoons) of cinnamon.

After spreading the dough (kind of like pizza), I smoothed the cinnamon sugar mix onto the dough.

Tip:  ATK suggests that you sprinkle the sugar with water and that will keep the rolled dough from separating and making holes in the swirled bread.  We'll see.  I keep a water-only sprayer (the green one) in the kitchen.

For the raisin bread, I used a total of 13.5 ounces of raisins.

Each loaf gets about 2/3 cup of cinnamon sugar.

TIP:  To substitute for a proofing drawer, get out the fry-pan and fill it with boiling water.  It warms the oven just a bit, and it adds moisture, and that helps the bread rise without drying out.

When the dough has risen, take it out, leave the fry pan in, and preheat the oven.

Leave the pan in while it preheats.  I leave it in while it cooks, too, but it may make a tough crust.

The house smells wonderful!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that was only a partial success.

The rolls are excellent.  

The challah is lovely.

The raisin bread looks great in the pan!

The flavor is excellent, 

but the dreaded separation in the raisin bread is just awful!

I have a couple of things to try next time.

1)  Soak the raisins to soften them so they don't try to take the liquid from the dough.

2)  Go for a slow, maybe even a refrigerator rise.

If you think of something else to try, let me know!

Hermès Scarf - Plissée

Here's a new (to me) type of Hermès scarf.  It's called plissée.
Plissée means "pleated".  And this is one example:

At first, I was quite disappointed because it does not have the luxurious silky smooth feel of the other silk scarves.

But I noticed it's much easier to wear.

There are lots of fancy tying tricks shown on youtube, but simple works best.

It's very comfortable to wear and does not slip as much.

I miss the silky feel, though.

I found a blue scarf in the same

"Qu'Import le Flacon" design.

It's not pleated.

It should be here in a few days, so check back.

Or at the top of the page you could

"Subscribe by Email" and it would come to you.

Some Tricks for Homemade Chicken Soup

Two frozen chicken breasts, salted, and put in a 180ºF oven (yes, that's less than 200ºF) for 2-3 hours will be done and tender and no-muss-no-fuss.  One will be used to make 16 cups of soup.  One will be dinner for the next couple of days.

While they are cooking, slice two ribs of celery, 1/2 large onion.
Add some olive oil to your pot ((I use the 7-quart Cuisinart cast iron and enamel pot  (Yep, it's the same one I use for no-knead bread.)) and lightly cook the onion and celery.
Add water and Minor's Flavor - it's a vast improvement on bouillon.  (You can get it on Amazon, if it's not in your store, and it probably isn't.)

Peel and put 1 large carrot into the microwave to precook.  (My microwave has a sensor-cook setting.  Don't know what yours has.)  A precooked carrot is a breeze to slice/chop.

Add sliced carrot and sliced mushrooms (two huge ones were plenty) to the stock pot.
Here's a trick I learned from America's Test Kitchen.  Into a cup of water, float a couple of teaspoons of gelatin.  When it softens, mix it up and add it to the pot.  It sounds odd, but gelatin is released by bones during the long simmer of a chicken.  This recipe has no bone-broth, so you can fake it with gelatin.  It improves the mouth-feel of the soup.  It's what makes soup taste rich and smooth, not thin.

When the veggies are done, add pasta.  My choice would be Israeli Couscous - which are little balls, bigger than B-Bs.  But this soup is for D, and the preference is for Orzo.

Orzo looks like rice.  But orzo means barley in Italian.  Go figure.  Actually you can add noodles or any of the small pastas, like tubetti, little shells, bow-ties, alphabets, broken spaghetti, etc.  Don't overcook the pasta, since it continues to cook after the pot is turned off and then expands.  About 100 grams of dry pasta is plenty.

Add the cooked chicken and serve.  The soup freezes well, so we always have containers of soup in the freezer.

Change it Up!

Sometimes I put sliced garlic into the soup.
I have also added sliced lemon to the simmering stock depending on my mood.
A splash of white wine is good!
Fresh herbs at the last minute are great.  We like parsley and chives. (Thanks, Karen, for the chive plants!)
If you like a more "yellow" broth, do not use red onions (we use what we have. . . ) or mushrooms.

Italians often sprinkle parmesan cheese on their soup at the table.
I like to let little chunks of cheddar cheese melt in my bowl.

~*~*~*~*~

If you have discovered other tips, please share them!

One friend buys a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket and enjoys several roast-chicken meals.  Then she puts the carcass into the stock pot and simmers to make her stock!  Great idea, Mary!

How 'bout Pizza for Supper?

So after a couple of weeks of social distancing (my house began March 12), the freezer is full - raisin bread, cookies, ciabatta, sandwich rolls, currant lemon muffins, chicken soup.  I made Altoids yesterday. I have roasted chicken in the fridge for dinner. D still has two days of apple crisp for breakfast, so it’s too soon to make pumpkin. 

Now what? Ahhhh. New pizza recipe.

Patrick Ryan Pizza Dough

  https://www.ilovecooking.ie/food-tv/patrick-ryans-no-fuss-sourdough-pizza/

3/27/20 - Here’s the beginning of the starter. (10AM)

100g ww pie pastry flour

100g water

1 g yeast

Now watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3GcHQoxrYA  Love his oven.  Not available in the US.  I wonder why? Everyone I know likes the doors, but I have not found that type door anywhere here.

Pizza Dough

Strong white flour 500g
Semolina 50g
Salt 10g
Sourdough starter 200g
Fresh yeast 1g / 1/4 tsp of dried yeast
Water 325ml
Olive oil 50m

After an overnight rest, the dough is shaped into balls to rest for an hour or so before shaping.

3/28/20

After a rest, it's time to shape.

Toppings

Tomato Sauce

sauce from our tomatoes made with:
hot italian sausage
ground beef
pepperoni
garlic
onion
mushrooms
Parmesan cheese
basil
parsley

Add your choice of sausage, meatball, pepperoni, black olive, anchovies, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan. 

This one has no tomato sauce, some meat, and lots of cheeses.

This one is meatless.

Well, reviews are mixed. Our favorite continues to be the original Nina's, which in now in Chittenango, and it's a bit different from what we remember. The oven temperature and timing are a problem. This may be the last trial - (at least until oldtimer's disease takes hold, we forget, and we get inspired to try again.)

And depressing as doing a lot of work with not-so-good results, this was in the inbox today from the NY Times:
"Kitchen failures will happen and especially these days, as so many of us cook more regularly at home. Recall that Ted Williams was one of the best hitters in baseball history. His lifetime batting average was .344. You are doing just fine. We are all of us doing the best that we can."  Sam Sifton, e-mail, 3/29/20.

Well, I Don't Have to Do That Again. . . .

One of the folk in my swim class (cancelled now by COVID-19) had me laughing when we discussed our Christmas holidays,  "I've lived for 83 years without ever making a Bûche de Noël, and it will be another 83 years before I ever try that again!"  Well, I haven't lived quite as long, but this winter lets me identify two "I Don't Have to Do That Again" experiences. 

The latest to get on the never-list is stuffed shells.  

I like them, and I ran into a sale on the Jumbo Shells.

I was already making a pot of pasta sauce with sausage, beef, mushrooms, and our own heirloom tomatoes we canned forever ago.

So I got out my super-duper lasagna pan got ready.

I added the shells to a pot of boiling salted water:

They recommend only cooking them for 9 minutes so they are still too "al dente" to enjoy,

and then drain them on a cookie sheet until cool enough to handle.

In the meantime, I mixed ricotta, herbs, parmesan, and mozzarella:

Then it was time to stuff the shells. This is a bit of a messy job.

I had enough cheese made for about 2/3 of the shells, so I just added the rest of the hollow shells to the pan and baked everything, covered with foil, for 40 minutes.  Then I uncovered it and sauced it and added mozzarella cheese.

Sadly, the result has about the same visual appeal as the lasagna.

It did taste good, but the looks. . . 

I Don't Have to Do That Again. . . .

You can see the earlier 

"don't have to"

lasagna here/