Say's Phoebe in the blossoming almond tree I saw yesterday morning
Cherry tree blooming:
(You have to imagine all the twittering, chirping and singing from finches and phoebes and bluebirds and song sparrows.)
So much springtime!
Spotted the bird again this morning. Unusual in our area.
Also a gratuitous photo of almond blossoms because spring and almond blossoms also worth noting
Toast
Challah toast with mascarpone, sliced pear and balsamic syrup
Turkey Turnovers: the portable feast
Leftover turkey, potatoes, stuffing, veg, etc.
Circle of dough
Fold, crimp, poke steam vents.
Bake 400F for 10 minutes
Enjoy banquet anywhere, 1 handed.
Good w cranberry sauce, gravy, soup, or mustard on the side for dipping.
Here’s my fave dough for this. You can use any dough you like:
For that matter, use any leftovers you like, too.
Mushroom Turnovers
Buy premade pie crust, biscuit dough, puff pastry or pizza dough, or make homemade:
Then, make filling:
Saute sliced crimini mushrooms over high heat until toasted golden.
Add chopped shallot, lemon juice, salt and black pepper to taste. Reduce heat and saute until shallot is cooked. Add onion powder.
Optional: can add pieces of cooked potato or broccoli, thyme, spinach, and/or cheese crumbles.
Set aside to cool.
Assemble:
Roll dough thin, cut large circles using lid of 1qt pot.
Put 1 tbs mascapone on each dough circle, some mushroom filling, and a sprinkle of parmesan.
Fold over to make half moon shape, seal with fork. Important: poke vent holes!!
Optional: glaze w/egg yolk.
Bake 400F for 10 minutes.
Ok to sprinkle w shredded cheese during last few minutes.
Cool slightly, or completely.
Pack for picnic or tailgate or lunchbox–or snitch off the tray as soon as they are cool enough not to scorch fingers and mouth.
Also good dipped in mustard, salsa, or malt vinegar.
Lakin's Gorges Cheese
With the restaurants all closed, this little farm has lots of artisanal food to sell, and not enough customers to sell it to.
Avoid the stores: stay home and mail order cheese direct from a small farmer: https://lakinsgorgescheese.com/
Here are pictures of the actually adorable small farm where the cheese is handmade:
Dining in a lot lately? Treat yourself to the good stuff.
Or send a care package to someone you love . . . or someone who just really, really needs food right now . . .
More small farms available at
https://extension.umaine.edu/agriculture/farm-product-and-pickup-directory/
Great holiday gift idea! Mail order a beautiful package of cheese! All cheeses from this farm use microbial rennet - it’s non-gmo, and vegetarian.
Imagine who you might have invited over to share a cheese board and a glass of wine if you weren’t isolating. Then order a package to ship to each home, get together and eat it online while feeling good about supporting a small family farm.
Hair stick shaped like a ginko leaf, dyed with tumeric and yellow onion skin.
Barley bread
Good soup deserves good bread
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup barley flour
1 cup water
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
Mix all the ingredients together.
Shape into a ball.
Dust baking pan with barley meal or corn meal, put the ball of dough on it.
Leave it sit several hours. Somewhere between 5 and 10. Go do something else for a while.
Bake in 375F oven until interior temp is 197F.
I used a cloche on mine for the first 5 minutes to get the crust, but this is not strictly necessary.
I couldn't find barley flour, so I threw some pearl barley in the blender. Sifted it and had nice flour, and enough leftover grit to dust the tray so it wouldn't stick.
A hearty bread that makes me feel satisfied a good long while. A small loaf goes further than the same amount of wheat bread. Soft crumbly interior texture. Beautiful flavor.
Very good dunked in soup, or dipped in a small dish of balsamic vinegar and salt. Also pairs well with sharp white cheddar and tart apples.
THIS LOOKS AMAZING
Turns out it is better on the second day, like rye bread.
How did barley wind up getting pushed out of the baking aisle into the soup beans aisle?
All these years chasing tricky rye breads, and never quite getting there, and then this ridiculously easy thing makes my perfect rustic loaf.
I need to find out more about barley now. I wonder what else it does well?
Note: measuring by volume is inexact. If the dough is too wet to shape into a ball, put some flour on the table and dump the slack dough into the flour.
Dust it around until it gets a good skin on it, then shape it. Keep tucking the edges under the bottom and dusting the top until the skin holds.
Purple bearded iris
NO ID: it just showed up in my garden. I can’t recall buying, nicking, or planting it.
But, purple! And velvet. And a two-toned purple and gold beard!
A beauty. I shall refer to it as “Unexpected Guest” until someone gives me another idea what it might be.
I’m really not sure which bearded iris this is, but if i had to guess, I think it is Hell’s Fire.
From the photos I can find online, Hell’s Fire is a bit more brick and a little less magenta, but everything else matches.
Bearded irises. Mostly Follow the Fleet, I think.
Purple bearded iris.
I have no idea of the variety. It was a gift from a neighbor.
Any ideas what it might be?