[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, I love beans also, and it has been my most successful crop this disastrous gardening season. I grow them in a waist-high planter on my deck, and I'll get my 3ed picking this weekend. Today I planted more seeds, both green and yellow beans, hoping to beat the frost we usually get around October 15. If it is predicted to be a light frost, I'll toss a blanket or sheet over them to extend the growing season.

[chocomouse]

We had grilled chicken, corn on the cob, orzo salad, and cucumber sticks.

[chocomouse]

Happy Anniversary, BakerAunt! Today is our 55th anniversary. We'll celebrate with a salad supper: seafood salad, cole slaw, and orzo salad. And lemon cookies. Our daughter celebrated 25 years yesterday, and our son will celebrate 22 next week!

[chocomouse]

I had a chopped turkey burger with sweet red pepper, onion, and cheese; and leftover over summer squash and zucchini.

[chocomouse]

I made another batch of the lemon cookies -- for my husband to take to a meeting tonight. From now on, I'm going to double the recipe!

[chocomouse]

We had grilled boneless pork chops, potatoes roasted on the grill, and fresh green, yellow, and purple beans from the deck planter.

[chocomouse]

I do use a bread machine for mixing and kneading bread dough. But I've never done half at a time. Actually, I've found I can increase the amount of flour (including whole grains, seeds, nuts, etc) to around 6 cups and still get excellent results. My current machine is a (inexpensive) Hamilton Beach, and I'm sure it won't last as long as using it to mix only 4 cups of flour. But I can get 2 loaves of bread out of it.

[chocomouse]

Last weekend we went to our favorite bakery in Portland, Maine, Scratch. Previously, we had learned that their Danish didn't arrive in their tiny store until 9:30 a.m. (We had learned the hard way!). So we arrived about 9:45 and stood in line for about 10-15 minutes to get in the door. Sold out!! Of course, we found several other items that were also outstanding, but the Danish is the best I've ever had.

[chocomouse]

I'm sorry you won't be able to enjoy this, BakerAunt. I'm taking it to Maine today, and will serve it at our Dessert Party this weekend - there will be at least 8 of us. I sub Greek yogurt for half of the sour cream, but that doesn't make it much more healthy.

[chocomouse]

Today I made a Berries and Cream Cake. It's an old recipe from 1985 that I discovered when a local newspaper had a recipe contest. I make it every year during blueberry season. It has a shortbread-type crust, pressed into a springform pan. Then a quart of fresh (or frozen) blueberries is poured on top of the crust. A custard of sour cream, egg, sugar, vanilla is poured over it all and then baked for an hour. I have no idea about the origin of it, just the housewife who submitted it to the paper. However, about 20 years later, KAF posted it as its own recipe, with no changes. I discovered today that it is no longer posted on their website. Interesting.

[chocomouse]

Pizza tonight!

[chocomouse]

Yes, Mike it is. Please put it at the top of your list -- I'd love to hear what you think of it.

[chocomouse]

I'm calling this baking, although it was cooked on the grill! I made more of the KAF Asiago Grilled Bread. I made 2 batches with plans to gift some to friends when I go to Maine tomorrow. In the first batch, 12 bread rounds, I used cheddar cheese and some Penzey spices: Foxpoint, and when I ran out of that, Sandwich Sprinkles. In the second batch, I used parmesan and fresh herbs snipped from the planter on the deck. I also experimented with using AP and bread flour, or all AP. Of course, the AP is softer, less chewy than the one with bread flour. All bread flour is too chewy for me, almost tough. But approximately 2 cups of AP and 1 cup of bread flour is my favorite.

[chocomouse]

Our dinner was the bread rounds we grilled earlier - split and filled with tuna salad for my husband and chicken slices for me. We also had cherry tomatoes which I salvaged after chasing off the chipmunk which has been eating all of them from the pot on the deck.

[chocomouse]

We use tick spray every time we work outside. Keep pants tucked into socks. Spray clothing also. Ticks, and Lyme disease, have become a major problem in VT, partly because due to the warming climate they over-winter here. We check our bodies for ticks when we come inside, and shower. I keep tweezers handy for picking them off myself. And we treat our pets, also.

BakerAunt, you might want to look at Carhart clothing, which is tough, "workmen's" type clothing, and made of several different weights of fabric. It's on the expensive side, but my husband wears it all the time, working in the woods and yard. Tractor Supply might also carry heavy weight work clothing. I recall many, many years ago when I was pregnant, searching for heavy-duty maternity clothing for when I was picking all kinds of berries in the northern VT fields and forests!

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