Saturday in the Kitchen

I had lofty goals for my Saturday off and I'd say I pretty much pulled them off.  After running errands in the morning, which included a stop at the Farmer's Market, and getting some yard work in before the day got too hot, I set out on a productive day in my kitchen.

English Muffins were first on the list since it would take 2 hours for the dough to rise.  This is the second attempt at English Muffins, albeit the better of the 2 I still have some perfecting to do.  I think my third attempt will involve more of a sourdough method.  For now though this batch will do just fine and I am tickled at the idea that I made them from ingredients I already had on hand.

I also revisited my old friend, the inspiration for this blog, canning yesterday.  I made a batch of the favored Peach Lavender Jam as well as a Blueberry Citrus Jam, which happened to be quite tasty on some of the above mentioned English Muffin fresh from the oven.  The intermittent popping of the seals on the jars makes me giggle like a school girl, every time.  

Somewhere in there I also baked off about 3 1/2 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies and I started a batch of "Old World" Mustard, which will need to be pureed a little later today.

The container garden is doing well and I saw the first signs of cucumbers and a watermelon!

I don't think I will have another Saturday in the kitchen for a week or 2 but I suppose that gives me time to plan my next projects.  It's getting to be about time to start another kombucha...and what if I just went for it and made ricotta?!  We'll just have to wait and see....

Coming Along

The container garden on the deck is doing well!  This morning my squash was in bloom and the tomatoes are on their way to ripeness.  The pepper is meant to be miniature but the teeth marks left by the squirrel hopefully will not destroy its chances for life.  Other things aren't progressing as quickly...but pics will come when they do!

New Way of Life

It's been nearly 3 years since my last post and I am back with a new name and a new way of life.
I changed up the Chicago life for a Colorado life and am a first-time homeowner!  I love my little 1910 Victorian house and all the possibilities it comes with.  

The front yard is surprising me on a daily basis with the leftover landscaping of homeowners past.  So far, in order, I have be delighted with Forsythia bushes, Grape Hyacinth, Japanese Iris, Poppies, Violets and today Tiger Lilies bloomed!  There is still another bush yet to bloom what I am told will be pink flowers.  That's just the front yard!  

The backyard leaves some work to be done but has amazing potential.  I just completed a transplant of what Japanese Iris and Tiger Lily existed back there.  There is an existing garden bed in the back that I am focusing my efforts on preparing the soil for next season.  Later this summer I have a project in mind to build small greenhouses out of old reclaimed windows.  

In the meanwhile I am still itching to grow food so I repurposed an over-the-door shoe organizer to plant various herbs and veggies.  I also scored on a wooden cranberry crate that is now my lettuce bed.  

In other news I have successfully brewed my first batch of kombucha tea, grape flavored, and though the process is quite simple and rewarding I just can't drink that much kombucha....  

I also had a hankering for some English muffins and decided to make them instead of buy them.  The first round, whole wheat, turned out quite delicious but a bit dense.  I am looking forward to the second round with some tweaks.  

I have so many ideas I don't know where to start!  I'm coming up on 2 months of home-ownership and I know that there will be plenty of time for this new way of living!