Green Hill Farm

A week and a day from my last post and it's still nasty outside. Wind gusts to 45mph today, cold and piercing, coming from the north. Weatherman said this storm began in sunny California. Now that's a joke! So much for their sun!
Oh, well, it's been a fun day and we are looking forward to a fun weekend. Kal & Kade are coming tomorrow while Mom works and Dad is at a German immersion weekend with some students near Bemidji. Our good fortune! Kade will probably help Grampa and Kal will help me finish planting cucs, squash and those kinds of veggies plus get him a container of green onions (he loves green onions!) that he can take home and watch grow. We'll make tacos for Kade and meatloaf for Kal.

I ordered "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" and finished the first 6 chapters today. Instructions are to read the first 6 and master that before attempting the rest of the book. I have bread dough in an ice cream bucket on the counter; after it rises and begins to fall, it will go in the fridge. When I am ready to make a loaf of bread (boule, baguette, whatever) I will take a grapefruit sized piece out and shape it, let it sit about half an hour and bake it. The dough will last up to 14 days and can be used for quite a few different kinds and forms. Lynn Betker tuned me into this with her whole wheat bread. Tried that, it was very good, and got hooked on this bread baking process all over again. Her recipe makes 3 loaves which lasts quite a while for us (unless we have visitors); it makes wonderful toast. (Lynn & Ernie have a vineyard north of Hudson; he brought a bottle of his special wine to dinner one evening; I am sure it is one of the very best red wines we have ever had!) Today is the kind of day when we want to do something warm and comfortable - bread and soup, that's about as good as it gets. The boys and I will give it a try tomorrow. Probably will need to do it again Sunday for them to take home!

Asparagus is cleaned off - just needs to come up so we can pick it. Strawberries are all covered with fresh straw waiting for them to peek up through it. The yard has been rolled, raked, thatched, fed and has begun to be really green. The geese are in heaven with the pond open. Only Belle would chase a goose running clear around the pond while the goose swims lazily around in the middle!

It's Friday night fish fry - our big night of the week!