Garden Bounty

Here come the Raspberries!

 What a thrill to have the raspberry patch producing - finally!  And are they ever delicious.  There really is nothing so wonderful as fresh raspberries and cream for breakfast with toasted homemade bread..

Have you ever made no-knead dutch oven bread?  It is dead easy and great fun.
Here is what you need for ingredients:  1/4 tsp active dry yeast, 1-1/2 cups warm water, 3 cups  flour plus a bit more for dusting - I used 2 cups wholewheat and 1 cup all purpose flour., 1-1/2 tsp salt.

This recipe originally came from Mother Earth News - I haven't done much adapting.

First of all, in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until blended - get in there with your hands and mix it well.  It will be shaggy and sticky.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let it rest - a long time - I usually do this the night before and let it rest all night on the back of the stove - the recipe says from 8-18 hours - overnight seems to suffice.

The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Turn it out on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a bit of flour and turn it over on itself a couple of times - cover loosely with the plastic wrap and let it rest about 15 minutes.

Then...using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to either the work surface or you - shape it into a ball, cover it again and let it rise about an hour or so - it should have doubled in size and not readily spring back when you poke it.  I have a flexable cutting board I use for this which works well but if  you don't, put the dough on a floured tea towel.

Here is the good part - about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour before the dough is deemed ready, heat your oven to 475 degrees F, and put in your cast iron covered kettle so it will heat as the oven heats.
You can use pyrex or ceramic too - but I have a cast iron dutch oven I use.

When everything is ready, including the dough - carefully remove the kettle from the oven - it will be smoking hot - lift off the lid, slide your hand right under the cutting board or towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. Don't try to pick up the dough.   Don't worry if the dough loses it's shape a bit during this part of the operation - give the pot a couple of shakes once the dough is in there - it will straighten out as it bakes.

Put the lid on and put the whole thing back in the oven for 30 minutes - Then, take off the lid and bake for a further 15 minutes until it browns.

Life the the finished bread round out of the kettle and onto a cooling surface - it makes a very interesting ticking sound as it cools - it will be ready to slice into in about an hour so get the butter and honey ready!

Or, keep it for a cool summer supper with a great salad

I planted Romaine lettuce this spring which I have to tell you is just delicious - and carrots too of course because our Rabbit - name of Picasso - absolutely loves carrot tops - and baby carrots - he is a gourmand!

Now is the time we are reaping the rewards of all the hard spring planting work. Hard to believe it is the end of July already.  I'm off to pick more Raspberries. 

Circles and Lines

I have been on the road for the past three weeks- on a driving trip that took me from Calgary, through the mountains and out to British Columbia, stopping frequently along the way to visit family and friends. 

I'm fond of circles.  It is possible to do this trip without backtracking too much.  I determined to drive out through the southern Crows Nest Pass - nostalgia really - when I was a child travelling with my parents, the "Crow" was the only way to get from Alberta to BC and even then we had to dip down over the US border or brave the gravel road they called "the hump" which struck terror into my mother's heart.  The road has improved vastly over the years - and other than the rain, which followed me all the way to the Okanagan, it was a lovely drive.

My buddy libby - who as it happens is a wonderful travelling companion.  She rides shotgun - until I get out of the car at which time she moves over behind the wheel....and waits patiently.

The idea was to dip ourselves into the Pacific ocean, but we did a lot of river and lake dipping along the way - and of course a lot of rock diving.  And we did a lot of hiking.

Green is the colour of the forest on the West coast, ferns, evergreens, broadleaf maples make for a shaded walk, even if it does turn out to be 10 kilometres!  Island shores are rocky which suits libby very well, being a rock girl.

There are distinct advantages to being part of a big generous family with cozy beds for the taking, and big gardens for the eating.

I was quite impressed with Kathie's raised beds covered in cloth chuck wagon tents and full of carrots, tomatoes, herbs, beets, and all manor of wonderful veggies we were able to bring to the table for family dinners when I got to Quadra Island
And then, it was time to turn for home.  Keeping in mind circles, I backtracked a bit, down to Victoria, across Georgia Strait on BC Ferries and up through the northern route on  the Coquihalla highway and home.
I was quite pleased with myself. I managed this trip after a very difficult winter and a serious back injury- it was fun.  I think I'm going to be OK now.  Sometimes you just need to get away, have a change, see new things - to prove to yourself life is good - oh, and have a sock to knit

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