Best Ever Pancakes

Ricotta Cheese has become a staple at Hollyhock Hill. Long ago and far away, when home made cheese was on the front burner, I made ricotta.  It is actually made from the whey left over from making other cheese.  And nothing is as good as home made.



 But, store bought works pretty well, and is a lot quicker.  Anyway, Ricotta Cheese is great in a main dish, a dessert, an appetizer, or even a side dish like pancakes. 

My Handsome Prince says these are the best pancakes I have ever made.  I think he might be right.

Whisk together:

1 1/2 cup Flour
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
3 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

In a separate bowl, whisk:
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
2 tablespoons melted Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/4 cups Milk

Combine the two mixtures and stir just until they are combined.  Do not over mix. The batter will be a little lumpy.







Bake on a hot skillet, first on one side till bubbles start to appear,

then flip to the other side and bake until cooked through.

Because we had blackberries on hand, they went on top, with a little powdered sugar.  They were so delicious, with a slice of left over quiche, and some home made apple syrup.  

Sliced strawberries would be good on top, or you might fold in a few blueberries before you bake the pancakes, and add a few more on top.
Yummm!

Let's Get Organized!

 

Still winter outside. 

More snow last night,
                    and we are very thankful for it.

It is a good day to organize the kitchen.  

 A dedicated baking center is a necessity here at Hollyhock Hill.

Having everything at arm's reach  is a wonderful time saver.  

Spices and flavorings in alphabetical order,
  and on lazy susans so each one is easy to get at.

Bread making bowls...

Honestly, most of the recipes I use are on my computer.

This book just looks like it belongs here.

 A shallow drawer is fabulous.

    A place for everything, and everything in it's place.   Well, for now anyway. 

And right where I need it.

    The dipper spoons are great - the small one is just right for mini-muffins and candy, like divinity.
    The large one is perfect for full size muffins or sandwich filling.  Just the right amount for one sandwich.
    The medium one is great for cookies.



  

The bottom drawer is very deep.  Lots of room for staples.  This one looks a little messy, but it will evolve.
   Recycled three gallon buckets with snap on lids are great for flour and sugar, big enough that they don't have to be refilled constantly, and small enough to lift up on the counter.

   So, that is the baking center.  Pretty much everything in a three foot space.  And next to the fridge.  Now, to see how it works.......

What a Difference a Day Makes!

The back yard this morning, and still snowing!
We planted potatoes and onions there just a few days ago.   No gardening today!

I could clean the house, but wait, let's do something in the kitchen instead.



My mother made this brown bread in her bread machine for years.  I modified it a little (not too much) and we love it.

Our good neighbor, Dixie, grinds flour from grain that they grow - a mixture of wheat and rye.  It is the perfect flour for this Multi-Grain Bread.

In a small bowl, combine:
3/4 cup Water
1 teaspoon Sugar
Heat to lukewarm, 22 seconds in my microwave.

Add:
1 1/2 Tablespoons Yeast
Let it 'work' until it is bubbly.

In a separate bowl:
1 1/2 Tablespoons of melted Butter (put it in a glass bowl, nuke it, then add the rest)
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
2 teaspoons Salt
1 Tablespoon Molasses
1/3 cup Honey
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Rolled Oats
Heat to Lukewarm. (45 seconds in my microwave)

Combine this with the yeast mixture, which is now nice and bubbly.

Then add:
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups White Bread Flour (or regular white flour)
2 Tablespoons ground Flax Seed
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
1/4 cup Pine Nuts
Knead for 4 minutes with a dough hook and electric mixer, or 8 minutes by hand.
Knead in up to 1 more cup of flour, as necessary to form a soft, somewhat sticky dough.
Place in a greased bowl, cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down, and form into 2 loaves.

Let rise, again, in a warm place, about 1 hour











Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
Slice, Eat, Enjoy!

A Beautiful Surprise

A wonderful surprise Friday night - The timing was perfect - Turn up the sound, then click the play button to see what it was.

 

 Thursday we planted 5# of red seed potatoes. The package said we can expect a harvest of 50 to 75 pounds of potatoes. They just looked so good on the package.

 
  And when you plant potatoes, you must plant onions - white, red and yellow onions.  My Handsome Prince wanted to plant green onions, but i assured him that we only had onion sets for white, red and yellow.




  The funny thing is, because we mostly eat low carb, we rarely eat potatoes.  In spite of that, apparently, we thought we needed more.  So....on Friday we planted white potatoes, and more yellow onions, and the first radish crop.
 
  Trimmed trees in the front yard, and planted Corn Flowers and Gaillarida. 
  The Red Stick Dogwoods are so pretty in the winter, and the birds just love the berries all year long.

We truly are practicing sustainable farming.  The Gaillarida seed originally came from Washington's Mt. Vernon - My kind of souvenir.  This is the third year that I have been able to plant seed saved from those originals.  We purchased the white seed potatoes four years ago, and planted what was left over each year.

Saturday, planted roses into pots for a couple reasons.  It is still freezing every night and last years roses really have not started growing yet, so I can't tell which ones made it through the winter.  The plan is to replace any that did not survive with the new ones.  I love Tea Roses, but they seldom live in our cold winter climate.  So, I just treat them as annuals and if some are still alive in the Spring, it is just a bonus.  We found roses at Menard's for $5, and later for $3.50, and they are ready to grow, as you can see.  They should be great in about six weeks, when it warms up.

This one is going across the walk from a pink florabunda.  Perhaps, with an arbor, they will meet in the middle.  :)

That's all for this week - Tomorrow is the Lord's Day.......

What Happened????

Yes, I did plant the windowsill garden.  The windowsill is still a work in progress, but the indoor fresh herb garden is a reality.

Stevia, Cilantro, Basil, Lemon Basil, and Dill

  
Some of these herbs actually made it into some salsa and biscuits.  I discovered that a little dill, along with some basil, in baking powder biscuits is delicious!



Do you think I should transplant them all into one big pot?

Started spinach, lettuce and radish in the tubs.

 I planted the lettuce way to thick, so we ate most of it when if was really tiny. 

The radishes have wonderful leaves and stems, but no roots. Hmmm...
Can you eat radish leaves?  The spinach is terrific! even if I have to pick it one leaf at a time.



A week ago,  Mother and sister Kay came to start a few seeds. 

Cabbage

They planted flowers.  I planted....

 food, of course.

Chives

Thyme

It was amazing.  Some of them were up in four days!  Now, 8 days later, there are lots of tiny things growing-Ahh the miracle of life....


It is really early, and still below freezing every night, but lots of things are growing outside also.
 

We overplanted the tulips with wildflower seed mix.

 It may be a little too early, but lots of volunteer seeds are coming, so I am hopeful.  It is difficult to overplant when the tulips are much bigger.

These are juusst right.

The Iris are starting - I just love Spring!

Happy New Year - 2013

 

   My Grandmother, Sadie, loved this time of year because the seed catalogs began to arrive in the mail. Patience is not my long suite, so this morning I went online and ordered seeds for 2013.  They are scheduled to arrive in 7 to 10 days.  YIPPEE!

   Now to create a planting schedule so each one will be just right when it is time to put them in the garden.

   The first project is to start an indoor fresh herb garden, just a moderately small container garden with a few varieties of basil and some cilantro.  We have herbs from last year in the freezer: sage, thyme, dill, oregano, chives and basil, but it is so nice to have fresh.  My hope is to have this growing in the kitchen window.

   Also, in the greenhouse, where it is quite cool now, it will be a good time to start fresh spinach and lettuce.

   Something new this year, we ordered seeds for stevia and tomatillo.

My Handsome Prince loves radishes, so we ordered three different varieties, a total of 1000 seeds.  Too funny! 

It;'s Raining Cats and Dogs......

   You never know what might pop up!  We received over 4 1/2 inches of rain in the last 48 hours, and it is still raining.  Water was running over our road as we returned home last night.  Neighbors in the Pierre area are experiencing more flooding.  The sandbags are holding the rainwater, rather than letting it run off as it normally would.  However, the rain is a blessing for our crops.  It is not REALLY raining cats and dogs, not even toads.  Just growing a few toad stools.  The good news - I don't have to water the garden.  :D

Peony Pandemonium and a New Baby

    The peonies are in full bloom.  They do not last long, usually less than a month, but they are fantastic while they are in bloom.
   Many years ago, Joy Phillips gave me six Peonies that she and Cliff dug out of their yard.  These, and more in other parts of our yard, came from those plants.  I think of Joy each year when they bloom, and the beauty and joy she is still bringing into my life.

Blooms are 5 to 7 inches across.

   They make a very nice, dark green, low growing hedge the rest of the year.






   Thank you to Becky for pulling all the weeds on the rock path.  Also, thank you Ryan, for the new stone path and all the help with the building project.  Come back soon.  :D  
   As you can see in the background, there are still a few flowers and plants left to go into the ground.

    This little guy, still on the nest, and a sibling, hatched out in the back yard.  He is almost ready to fly, and mother makes a terrific racket when we go near.

Finally.....

Wow!  It has been almost a month!  I did not realize it had been so long.  Let's get caught up.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so...........The front yard on May 15th....

and May 29th.......       

The tulips were really amazing this year.                                                               

 Now the tulips are finished and the Iris are starting to bloom. - The Peonies are full of buds......          Just for fun, we have some topsy turvy tomatoes  hanging on the right.....

   The new garden is planted...

We planted potatoes and onions, red, yellow, and white, on April 15th.   Then set out cabbage plants about a week after that, then replanted several cabbage plants in the middle of May.  Little by little we added, carrots, zucchini,  cornflowers, black beans, cauliflower, cucumbers, nasturtium, acorn squash, buttercup squash, tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers, sweet peppers, broccoli, wax beans, green beans, green onions, carnations..... and of course, our little friend showed up to help.

 (\ /)
( . .)♥
c(”)(”)    Help himself, that is.  He is so tame.  The second time I planted broccoli, he did not even wait for me to get out of the garden.  He paid no attention to my loud scolding, and barely moved when I threw my garden digger at him.  

   We are planting the old garden spot to sweet corn - lots of sweet corn - and melons - and extra broccoli.

So it is almost 4:00 and starting to cool off, so time to do more planting.  Until next time........ 

Spring has Sprung

      Mother's Day, May 8, and the earliest Spring flowers have just started to bloom.  It has been a very cold, late spring.  We had snow on April 30th.

     As you can see,  the grass needs mowing, already :-)
   The iris and peony, in the background, are coming along nicely also.

       The plan is to have a long season of color in the front yard.  The tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are the first to appear.  (The hyacinths froze this year, just as they were starting to bloom.)

     Then, as the early blooms fade, the iris, on the other side of the walk, are in bloom.  As the iris start to fade, the peony is in full bloom.

     When the tulips are completely done, I will overplant with annuals.  This year, I think I will use snapdragon and alyssum.  Last year, we had had roses there.  The year before is was four o'clocks.

     This little guy stopped by for a quick breakfast.  

(\ /)

( . .)♥
c(”)(”)    Happy gardening!

One Step at a Time

   Finally, it has stopped snowing - the sun is shining - the wind is not blowing 70 miles an hour (like it was last Saturday) - It just might be garden weather.  :D
   What shall I plant first?   Cabbage will probably go in the garden first.  The onions are about 4 inches tall.  The last time I looked they were not even peeking thru.  Yippy!    One rack of plants moved to the garage to begin the hardening off process.  I have had a few bad experiences because I did not take time for this step.  Now I know........

   Seedlings you buy have been coddled and protected from the elements. After all of this babying, plants need time to acclimate to harsh outdoor conditions. This is called hardening off.    Wind, sun and rain can wreak havoc on delicate seedlings so you need to toughen them up and harden them off. The idea is to expose your plants to the elements gradually, over the course of six to fourteen days, depending on your patience, the temperature and the fragility of your seedlings.  The process is more art than science, so modify depending on the temperature, type of plant and your temperament.

   Day One: Pick a mild day and put your seedlings outside in a protected area out of direct sun for a few hours. Less is more here, you just want to give them a taste of what is to come.

   Day two through five: Increase sun exposure gradually, while keeping plants protected from cold and wind. Keep them watered, but don’t over water.  Don't fertilize them until they are completely hardened off.

   Over the next six to ten days: Lengthen the time your plants are outside, until they can stay out all day and night. You may still need to protect your plants even after they are hardened off in the event of high winds, sudden downpours, or freezing temperatures.

   Hardening off can be a bit of a logistical nightmare. I find the easiest way to do all of this  is to put my seedlings on wagons and garden carts. Then I can simply wheel them in and out of the garage.

     So the little critters got to play outside for two hours today.  Happy gardening!

Mixing Apples with Oranges is a GOOD Idea

   Time to think about where and what to plant.  We should be able to start setting plants out in about three weeks.  Potatoes and onions are already planted.  Strawberries and herbs are growing: chives, sage, thyme, oregano and volunteer cilantro.  The garden moving project is coming along.  (See 'Bringing Dreams to Life')  Half of the plots are tilled.  We will add compost and till again the second week of May.
     So, now, who will be happy living together?

   Companion planting is not a new idea to the gardening world. There is evidence of farmers using these same techniques dating back to ancient Roman times. Many people like to plant in neat, organized  plots and rows.  By planting only one crop or separating crop by type, you are actually creating a situation that requires a dependence on pesticides or herbicides.  It is not very interesting, visually, either.
    A companion planting plan integrates natural traits into your choice of crops. If you examine a  wooded forest lot or a marsh that is still the way God created it, you will see an interrelated system that works in natural harmony within itself. There are bugs that feed the birds, small mammals that maintain a manageable level of ground growth, and larger mammals that manage the level of smaller ones; the system requires no external inputs. This is the type of environment that can be created in one's garden space, making it harmonious for the birds and the bees, while providing a peaceful retreat for family and friends to enjoy.

    Some underlying techniques in companion planting can be found in many places on the internet.  Here are a two links that I like.
    I print out the chart and keep it with my garden tools for easy reference when I am in the garden.

http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/complant.html#chart

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

Have fun and don't be afraid to mix apples with oranges    =^..^=