It Collapsed....

Again...  The websites are saying to use less yeast.  So I'll try that next time.  It tastes better than last time.  But I don't know...  I guess I'm not thrilled with it.

Just Label It!

Hey folks...  Go here to join the movement to let FDA and Congress know that we want our food labeled if they contain GMOs:

http://justlabelit.org/

And check out this video as well, about the facts and the myths about GMOs:

Potatoes!

I've got two pots of potatoes going!  These are Kennebee seed potatoes...  I let them sprout.  And I planted them in two bunches.  So in the picture below, some of the potatoes have already been cut, and the seeds already planted.

Kennebee seed potatoes

Two plantings, a few weeks apart

The Cat and the Harvested Veggies

I harvested a bunch of turnips and lettuce leaves last weekend.  I dropped them at the door while I did a couple of other things.  When I came back, I caught the cat snacking!

Homemade Bread

A friend is letting me borrow her breadmaker, to see if I like it.  So far I've baked two loaves, though I'm baking another loaf now.  Last weekend I made two loaves, tweaking the recipe each time.

Here is the recipe I'm working with:  http://www.heatherdriveblog.com/2008/07/best-breadmaker-sandwich-bread.html

It claims to be super soft.  But I'm probably not using the same flour she's using, as I've not been able to find "bread flour" anywhere (Target, Vons, Henry's, Trader Joes).

The first loaf I made is pictured below.  I follwed her recipe precisely, except the 2 1/2 cups of bread flour I swapped for whole wheat flour.   So a total of four cups of whole wheat flour.  I thought this loaf was too dense, and too salty.

Here is my first loaf.  Turned out nice, but was too dense and too salty.  

So in the next loaf I baked, that same day, I went 2 cups of whole wheat flour, and 2 cups of just regular white flour.  I also kept the salt the same, and added some honey.  As you can see below, the thing erupted.  It tasted better, but was a disaster.

Tasted a little bit better on the 2nd loaf, with a tweak to the recipe

So now, a week later, I'm baking another loaf.  1 cup of regular white flour, 3 cups of whole wheat, honey, a bit more sugar, and a bit less salt.

Will keep you posted.

Went to the Zoo Again

We checked out their veggies again (see a previous post).  Here was a big kohlrabi that was growing.  I've never eaten kohlrabi -- but I should probably try it sometime.

Kohlrabi

We saw a neat kiosk off in some remote corner of the zoo where you could type in your garden pests (or browse for them) and then see how to get rid of them.  I was looking up aphids.

Crazy Lettuce

Ive got sooooo much lettuce!  I gave one bag to a friend, have 2 bags in the fridge, and I have plenty more lettuce outside!!  I've probably got 6 variteties of lettuce here, and spinach and swiss chard.