And .. . on to bread.

After my successful foray into barley soup, I decided to tackle sandwich rolls.  My oldest son wanted a sandwich from a particular, locally owned (oh, I've trained him well!) sandwich shop this past weekend. Unfortunately, said shop is closed on Sundays.  This of course spawned my newest quest, which was to create a sandwich roll just like theirs.  And .. . . I think I did it!

Above is the picture of the first batch.  It was universally declared "good" by the family.  But they weren't quite right . . .not exactly what I was after.  So, I tried again. 

This time I kneaded the dough a lot longer.  I also placed them closer together on the cookie sheet (so the sides are softer where you tear them apart.  And I didn't cook them quite as long.  Soooooo good!  Next time I think I'll do as I did this second batch, though I'll cook them a smidge longer.  The recipe was one I adapted from allrecipes.com (it was originally for a bread machine).

Honey Wheat Sub Sandwich Rolls

1 1/4 cup warm milk

1/4 cup honey

2 1/4 tsp (one packet) yeast

2 T melted butter

1 egg, beaten

3/4 tsp salt

2 -3 cups bread flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

Mix together milk, honey and yeast in large bowl, and let proof for approximately 10 minutes (should be a little bubbly).  Add butter, egg, salt and 2 3/4 cup bread flour, and all of wheat flour.  Mix together into a shaggy dough.

Remove dough from bowl and knead.  Add bread flour as needed to keep dough from being too sticky.  When dough can pass the windowpane test, put in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled (approx. 1 hour). 

Remove dough from bowl, punch down and shape into rolls.  I roll them into log shaped dough and then tuck the ends under, so the ends are square.  Place a few inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.  Let rise for approx. 30 min.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake rolls for approximately 10 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet to cool (otherwise bottoms will become gummy).

I just knew it!

Yesterday I just knew I had to make barley soup....it was a deep rooted need I didn't understand. Well, I did make it. And it was wonderful. My husband requested an IV . . .he said it was that good! So, I'm feeling somewhat triumphant today. This is the soup (with a slice of homemade wheat bread, which is another favorite around here). I'll work on posting the recipe.

I'm not feeling as triumphant over the weather. Lately I have been bundling up and going out . . .even though the weather is less than ideal. What a feeling to finally beat the weather! Well, today is downright nasty. Side-blowing rain. Cold and miserable. So, today I am staying inside. Cooper was supposed to be outside guarding the chickens, but then it started to rain sideways so he voted otherwise. And since I am inside, and have the time, I am cooking. My mission now is to work through the stash in my freezer. Today I'm working on turkey meatloaf . . .with reclaimed breadcrumbs. And for dessert . . .

frozen zucchini, soon to be butterscotch zucchini bars. Yummm!

Needing some inspiration (or barley soup recipes)

I've got the basics. Now I just need some inspiration. You see, I need to make barley soup. I really need to. I don't know why, but I do. I have had this bag of barley in my pantry since early summer. I can't remember why I bought it, but I'm sure I had a good reason. And now it needs to be soup. I just haven't been able to find any recipes that sound good enough to make. I'll keep looking . . .

In the meantime, look who I caught lounging on the couch. Doesn't he look guilty?

Summer Fun

Well, I did it . .. I completed my first half-marathon. My time was 2:12, which I am pretty proud of. I set out just to finish the race and really felt good while running. More than anything, I was pleased at how fun it was and how good I still felt at the end. It was the inaugural Rock n' Roll Marathon/Half-Marathon in Seattle. I went up with a bunch of girlfriends to run it. We all had a great weekend and it was a fun race.

I've also finished the greenhouse (finally). It's far too hot to do anything with it now, but it is ready and waiting for cold weather growing (or at least attempts at growing).

The new raised beds are working out great! The garden is much easier to keep weed free (those aren't weeds you see . . .those are volunteers) and we are enjoying food from the garden already. At the moment we are dining on raspberries, sugar snap peas, onions, beets and starting just a few days ago . .. squash. I love the summertime eating.

Finishing up those big projects really lifts my spirits. I have a list a mile long of projects big and small. It seems like this should discourage me, but it really keeps me going whenever I finish just one of those projects. I have to remember that we moved here because we were out of projects at the old house. Next up: improvements/repairs to the chicken setup, replacing all the burned out bulbs (alas, there are SO many), fixing the diningchairs, figuring out what is wrong with the automatic door on the barn . . .and the list goes on.

Next up . . .camping.

Here chicky, chicky, chicky

Well, the girls are growing. They don't look like babies anymore, and definitely not like grown chickens. Just sort of in that (very) awkward, in between stage. They live in the garage now. They have graduated from kind of smelly, to downright stinky! I'm counting down the days they have left in the garage. And I spend my time with them trying to teach them to come to, "Here chicky, chicky, chicky." I have the feeling it is time poorly spent.

The weather has been terrible. Absolutely drenching downpours, gale winds, and then inexplicable sunshine. So weird. Annoying too, because it really prevents any work in the yard. I suppose it is a good thing I waited to plant the veggie transplants. Maybe this weekend. Rumor has it that we have some warmish sunshine headed our way.

They Grow Up So Fast

Here we are, finishing up week two and heading into number three. Already they have many feathers (some more than others), they seem to have all the basics down (eating, pooping, scratching--for food, scratching--as in curing an itch, stretching, flying, worm eating). We had warm weather and sun for a few days so they got plenty of outside time. They look so different from even a few days ago.

This little black one is the boldest of the bunch. She can be counted on to come running any time you show up with a worm.

This is a close-up of their current feather growth. Most already have these tails sprouting, and every day they get a new patch of wings.

And here she is showing off her latest talents of wing spread and walking the balance beam.

Between chickens and garden chores we sure are keeping busy around here these days.

Easter Peeps . . .the REAL ones!

We had two kinds of peeps this Easter and neither one contained marshmallow. First to arrive were the peeps coming from our new chicks. Wee babes, born this past Wednesday, they were relocated from the feed store to our house on Friday. Three belong to a neighbor, but the other four will move to our coop this summer.The second set of "peeps" was the group of friends that gathered for our annual Easter brunch.

As always, too much tasty food! I ate it for brunch, then again for dinner, again today . . .I need the leftovers to be gone, and soon!

Here are the chickees today. They grow so much every day it is incredible. I'm hoping to let them have some outside time later this week when it warms up.

How is it that my Easter has come to this? None of the pictures in the magazines shows two bedraggled boys who are overdue for a shower and wearing muddy shoes and sour expressions. I scoff at the idea of us getting a real holiday picture in our household . . . it would belong only on the front of one of those prank cards.

Recap of the week: We lost our first hen to a mystery predator. For now the other ladies are confined. At least the weather is crummy so they don't seem to mind so much. We thought we had another hen that was sick, but it turns out she was just molting The first of the seeds has sprouted in the new raised beds, so far we have lettuce, spinach and a radish or two. Next up is building the rest of the raised beds and then levelling off the ground to install the greenhouse. Now, if only the weather will cooperate by turning off the rain and giving us some sunshine!