A very busy weekend

a selection of bagels
savory bagels and scones with whipped butter
unimpressive casserole
does this look like $100 worth of dirt?
my first section of seeds
Well, I've done a lot since my last post. The garden has gone in and I started planting. So far it has lettuce, spinach and pea seeds. I've seen a few tiny signs of green. I can't wait until they sprout!! I also started some broccoli, leeks and herbs inside. The broccoli has sprouted like crazy!

Also, I hosted a brunch for my family this weekend. I got a few pics after the food had been gotten into. I made cinnamon rolls, bagels (cinnamon raisin, cranberry, cinnamon/sugar, asiago, asiago W/ garlic, onion and poppy seeds), cranberry scones, hash brown casserole, eggs and bacon. We also made a cranberry punch. The cranberry theme really wasn't intentional, but I do love cranberries. Everything turned out really good, but I didn't like the hash browns. It was supposed to be a knock off of Cracker Barrels, but I don't think it tasted anything like them. I sent them home with Dad because he loved them.

The bagels were even better this time than they were last time. The only real change I made was to use the high gluten flour. I made them a little smaller, too. My only complaint is that I can't figure out how to keep them fresh. They tasted a bit stale the next day and continued to get worse until they were gone. They only lasted 3 days. I should try freezing them, but I'm afraid they'll be awful and then I'll have wasted perfectly yummy bagels. DH is trying to get his hands on a commercial mixer for me. I spent 40 minutes straight kneading while making brunch. My arms were killing me. This was the day after I helped wheel 3 yards of dirt up hill!!

Anyway, here are some pics. I can't seem to figure out how to put them where I want them. It's a little annoying.

More baking

Here are some recent goodies. The center multi grain bread has become our daily bread. I've been making about 4 loaves/week. It's awesome for sandwiches and toast. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. My DH insisted that we had to have store bought bread because homemade wasn't good for sandwiches. It became my life's work(or at least a months) to prove him wrong. I tried many recipes looking for one that was "sandwich worthy" and this is the winner. It's all natural and yummy. We haven't purchased bread since it's discovery.

I also posted my perfect cranberry scones. Well, technically, they aren't my recipe. It's from Farmgirlfare, my favorite food blog. They are light and flaky, but not too sweet.

Finally, is the "Hearth Bread" that was on a package of flour. It looks good and tasted good, but didn't make the cut. I've become a bit of a bread snob and this one was a little too bland.

I still haven't made the brioche I was planning for this week. Hopefully, I'll get to it this week.

Cinnamon Rolls

Here are the cinnamon roll pictures that I promised. Let me say, I have eaten and baked many, many cinnamon rolls in my lifetime and these are by far the absolute best!!! I honestly can't imagine improving upon them. The dough is light and airy with just the perfect amount of sweetness. I wish that I could get away with eating them daily, because I would.

Now, for the garden news... There isn't any. It was snowy until yesterday, when it started raining. I've been unable to get my dirt. As I'm sure you know, a garden without dirt doesn't accomplish much. I'm praying for next week. I need it to dry out a bit first though because the garden is in the back, up hill. I can't lug 3 yards of dirt up a slippery hill. Not fun.

BAGELS!!!!

This was my first attempt at homemade bagels and they were awesome!! I used Peter Reinhart's recipe from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice". I did not have the malt powder or high-gluten flour. Next time I will try and find those ingredients. These bagels were chewy, but not "hurt your jaw" chewy. They were soft and crispy. I used a little too much cinnamon sugar, so they were kind of sticky. Next time I'm going to try asiago cheese (my favorite) and cinnamon raisin (the kids' favorite). I really enjoyed making these. The dough is really stiff and easy to work with. They sat in the fridge for over a day before I got around to making them. I want to try and freeze some formed dough next time. I'd love to be able to make them with less planning. All in all, a huge success. Tomorrow, I'll be making my traditional Easter cinnamon rolls. I'm trying Peter's recipe for those as well. Stay tuned for pics.

This afternoon the kids and I went to "A Garden Affair" at the library. Unfortunately, I missed one of the speakers I really wanted to see. She was one of the farmers from the CSA we belonged to last year. I did see a cooking demo by Bev Shaffer. She is the chef and instructor at Mustard Seed Market. I have always wanted to attend one of her classes and today I got to do it for free! The class was on using herbs. We also got to sample what she made. This made the kids happy. It was very interesting and informative. I'm even more impatient to get into the garden now. However, we currently have a high of 27 degrees and snow. Not great gardening weather.

My cinnamon rolls are currently proofing. I'll put them in the fridge on my way to bed and then take them out around 7am for an 8:30am baking. I feel a little guilty. I tweaked the recipe. Normally I don't have guilt for doing this, but it seems very presumptuous to tweak the recipe of a master baker. I couldn't help myself though!! His recipe did not call for any butter on the rolled dough. I always butter the dough before I sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar. I debated for several minutes, but in the end...I buttered. Not a lot, just a thin coating of unsalted, softened butter. I can't wait to try these. I made them larger than I usually do, so I'll have 8 huge rolls. I may not be able to wait until 8:3o to bake them. We may end up having an early morning breakfast.

Intro

Ok, so this is a working title. I will be posting a year in pics of my new organic, raised, deep bed garden. Located in Northeastern Ohio where yesterday it was 79 degrees and today it's snowing. I will also include the piles of Ohio grown goodness that I pick up at local farmers markets. My goal during our relatively short growing season, is to eat locally. I'd like to commit to 100%, but this is OH, not CA. I will, however, commit to 75%. Anything that is available, I will buy locally. My bananas will still come from where ever they come from.
I will also be posting recipes of some of my yummiest creations. And, being that I'm a new bread baking addict, I'm sure there will be plenty of "Crusts and Crumbs".
This year I plan to do a lot of picking!! There are local blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and green beans to be had. I'd love to fill my big freezer with veggies and berries to tide me over during the long winter. I will definitely be putting up jam this year!!
I'm hoping to beg(or bribe) my MIL to send me a bushel of peaches from SC this year. I realize it's not local, but they are so good. Two years ago we went down for a visit and I refused to leave the state without a bushel. No big deal, except that our car was literally packed to capacity with a weeks worth of clothes, snacks, beach stuff, and 2 kids!! So, when it came time to get them in the car, it just wasn't going to happen. (or so DH thought) I ended up riding the 12 hours home with stuff packed around me in order to accommodate my treasure. But it was worth it!! I made peach cobbler, peach jam, peach~cantaloupe jam, peach muffins, peach sauce and grilled peaches. It was a good week. We just recently finished off the last of the jam, so now I'm ready for more.
I forgot to introduce myself. I'm a 30ish SAHM of two great kids, 12 &9. My DH and I have moved around a bit in our nearly 13 years of marriage. In each home, my real joy was the garden. They have all had their own challenges and blessings.

We first lived in Parma in an apartment over a store. There it was a small container herb garden that got me started. Then, Parma Hts where I had my first real garden. I started with a manageable 4x4 and it grew a bit each year. It was very basic. Tomatoes, green beans, peppers and mint. Yep, I made the mistake of planting mint. By the time we moved, there was an entire bed of mint that I couldn't tame. ooopppss.

After that, we moved to southeastern Ohio, out in the boonies. Literally, miles from anyone else. That garden was my pride and joy. It was huge!! Bigger than my entire yard now. It was there that I first grew corn(much appreciated by the raccoons), potatoes, radishes, lettuces, cucumbers and tons of different kinds of tomatoes. We had an ample supply of veggies all summer despite my involuntary sharing with the local wildlife and my chickens. Then it was onto Gerry,NY near Lake Chautauqua. Here I had a nice sized, semi-raised bed. This garden was not in a good location, with poor soil, but it still gave us a nice selection. My best crop here was potatoes. I grew several varieties.

Now we are back in Ohio. Our first summer here I tore out the bushes behind the house and planted my tomatoes,broccoli and lettuce there. Not ideal, but they did ok. Last year, I joined a local CSA so I didn't need much. Still I planted yellow squash and tomatoes. The squash did great, as did the CSA's, and the tomatoes did nothing. Luckily, the CSA fared better than I did, so we had tomatoes aplenty.

This year I decided to go deep. I don't have much room. Even less of it has sun, thanks to my neighbors giant oak tree. After reading "The Vegetable Gardeners Bible", I decided this was the way to go. We will see. The bed is 4x12. I'll be having dirt delivered as soon as the temp is above freezing. Then I'll plant my peas and lettuce. I'm starting broccoli, leeks and squash indoors. I will purchase tomatoes, peppers and tomatilloes from the CSA.
To be continued...