[chocomouse]

Dinner tonight was grilled steak, Greek pasta salad, and fresh asparagus from our garden!

[chocomouse]

We've had bears in the area for years, but they seem to stay down in the lower cornfields and not up on our hill. A few weeks ago we had a bobcat, our first, hanging around for a couple of days. We've always had fox (I love to watch the kits roll around and play, just like puppies and kittens), coyotes, lots of deer, moose, but we seem to have a wider variety this year.

[chocomouse]

Welcome back, CW! That Harvest Grain Bread is one of my favorites. Have you tried their Super 10 Blend? It's similar, and another favorite of mine.

[chocomouse]

We had ribs, potatoes and green salad, on the grill tonight. And an unexpected dinner guest - a bear. While we were eating, one of our security cameras alerted us to a visitor. The bear was wandering in the backyard, nose in the air. I thought it smelled our ribs and might show up on the deck any minute. Then it headed to the 2 bird feeders which we had just restocked with meal worms for the bluebirds and Baltimore orioles yesterday. We always bring our feeders in by April 1, which is unfortunate since migrating birds have limited food supplies at that time, but so do bears leaving their dens. This year, we decided to provide our birds with a feast - oranges, grape jelly, meal worms, suet, nuts and seeds as well as hummingbird liquid. We yelled and chased the bear off, it came back twice, but has not returned for over an hour now. I don't know what we'll do about feeding the birds -- bears do not forget where they have located potential meals.

[chocomouse]

KAF had a local news article this week that they have contracted with a new mill to help process and bag wheat for some of their AP flour, since their usual mills were unable to keep up with the demand and the supply of raw wheat. They're bagging it in 3 pound resealable bags. And since it is not a nut-free, allergen free facility, the flour is not certified allergen free. It is a temporary plan, to solve a hopefully, temporary problem. I wonder when we will start to see those bags in the markets.

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, do you find the potato flour helps with moisture and keeping the bread longer? And BakerAunt, I'm curious about why you stopped using it to other recipes, and whether you found it improved the bread.

[chocomouse]

We had chicken-grape salad.

[chocomouse]

I use buttermilk in most all of my baking, and have 2 loaves of honey-oatmeal bread cooling on my counter right now. It is my standard go-to sandwich loaf, made with 2 cups AP, 1 cup oatmeal, and 2 cups of whole wheat. I often substitute 12 grain, Super 10 Blend, or some other whole grain mix for 1 cup of the whole wheat. And sometimes I use maple syrup instead of honey. Also the usual 2 tsp yeast, 1 tsp salt, and 1 2/3 cups of buttermilk. Although I measure ingredients, I almost always need to increase the buttermilk by up to 1/4 cup to get the right consistency. And when the buttermilk (Kate's) is getting used up, I fill the container with milk, and let it sit out in the warm kitchen up 8-12 hours, so I buy fresh only every few months. I also use it in most sweet baked goods.

I recently discovered 2 bags of potato flour in my pantry, so I've started adding 2-3 tablespoons of that to each batch of bread dough. Supposedly, it helps it retain moisture and stays fresh longer. Do any of you use it?

• This reply was modified 4 years, 11 months ago by chocomouse.

[chocomouse]

One of the local small breweries here has switched to making hand sanitizer, and is selling it for $10 a bottle, all proceeds to go to a first responder fund. And people are making and donating masks to hospitals, organizations, and having huge drives at schoolyards, churches, parking lots, etc to give them to anyone who wants one. It's just amazing how everyone has come together to support people in need. Individuals are donating restaurant meals for employees at the post office, police department, bank, recycling center, etc. And the volunteer fire department is delivering groceries and meals to residents of an independent living center and other isolated residents, both ordered by those residents themselves or donated by more fortunate folks.

[chocomouse]

My pizza was hot sausage, mushrooms, peppers, onion, cheddar and mozarella, sprinkled with Penzey's Salsa and Pico seasoning. I made the sauce from tomatoes from last year's garden, with plenty of garlic. I have plenty leftover for lunches.

[chocomouse]

Thanks everyone who was able to join us last night for pizza - it was fun. I've checked out one of my older tablets, and think next time I will have video available. Yes, I'm up for brunch or tea, sweet or savory! So many choices, how do I narrow down what to serve?

[chocomouse]

Pizza is baked. I'm connected to the Zoom site and just going to wait for the meeting to open. Thanks Mike and Aaron for getting this organized and set up for us! See you all shortly.

[chocomouse]

Brats for dinner, on the deck, under a tornado watch - almost unheard of in Vermont.

[chocomouse]

Ooops -- just seeing that is Central Time! OK. Glad I saw that.

[chocomouse]

BLTs with organic greenhouse tomatoes; not the same as August tomatoes, for sure. Our farmers' market opens this Saturday - masks mandatory and don't handle the produce! Wind is 10+ mph, and going down to mid 20s overnight, so a freeze warning. Tomorrow I plant lettuce and spinach seeds outside.

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