[chocomouse]

I made the Onion-Wild Rice bread by Reinhart again - it is really, really good. I will serve a selection of breads at our party on Saturday: Onion-Wild Rice, Rye, Oatmeal-Whole Wheat, Frank Sands original White, and a foccacia.

[chocomouse]

I think all of our hummers left last week. Lots of goldfinches here too. Only a few orioles, earlier this summer, when they ate tons of our oranges and grape jelly, and then suddenly stopped showing up. Our bluebird pair raised two families, but have been gone a month or so. Since we don't feed the birds much at all from April-Dec, when the bears are out and about, we don't have as many birds as we used to. But bears have become a huge problem in VT/NH, and we're told to bring in the feeders. Several have opened doors and entered homes, and one lady called Fish and Game for help while locked in her bathroom!

[chocomouse]

Blueberry cobbler would be good with your stir fry! We should plan for all of our Kitchen friends to meet somewhere for a potluck -- what an amazing meal that would be!

[chocomouse]

Do you have any leftovers, Len? I'll be there in a minute!

[chocomouse]

Happy Anniversary, BakerAunt!! I wish you many more years, as you reach the same number as us. We reach #54 tomorrow! and celebrate our anniversary, son's (49) and daughter's (47) birthdays, grandson's (20) birthday, son's anniversary (21) and daughter's anniversary (25). August has been a busy month for us! We're celebrating with a corn roast here on Saturday.

[chocomouse]

I made 2 loaves of rye bread early this morning. I have the beginnings of a blackberry cobbler on the counter, waiting for my husband to come in with a quart or so of blackberries for it. 91* earlier and now down to 86 with high humidity. I've been on the Maine coast since the middle of last week, and it was low 90s and humid there, too.

[chocomouse]

It's raining!! It smells so good! Not a downpour, but also not a gentle rain! We had 1/2 inch on July 25, and .07 inch on August 2. We are in a drought area, but we've received even less than what is reported for the area; the few rainstorms around here have passed either to the north or south of us. We need at least an inch a week for the garden and berries to produce a decent crop. We've been watering and have an OK but minimal system of buried soaker hoses, really just maintenance level. I'm so excited; I live for gardening and consuming the produce year-round!

[chocomouse]

I found a new recipe to help use some of my cauliflower - a bumper crop this year, compared to the one teeny head I got last summer. The cauliflower salad recipe includes bacon and chedder cheese in a garlicky mayo-sour cream dressing. What's not to like about that? !

I also put ingredients for the blueberry cobbler into a mason jar, with the filling ingredients in a sandwich baggy and squeezed in also. I included dry buttermilk powder to use in place of fresh, and I will put a stick of butter and 5 cups of fresh blueberries into a cooler, along with the cauliflower salad and some of whatever is ripe in the garden. Tomorrow I'm headed to Maine again for an extended weekend away. It was 98* here today, thundering now but no rain, yet, and I'm hoping the Maine coast will be more pleasant for outdoor activities.

[chocomouse]

We had Italian sausages, along with cole slaw, broccoli salad, and steamed summer squash

[chocomouse]

Today I baked two loaves of rye bread, and a blackberry pie. My weather station says the high was 91*, but I figured as long as my husband was expecting the pie, I might as well heat up the kitchen a little more for the bread.

[chocomouse]

Ham and cheese omelets, and English muffins with peanut butter and peach jam.

[chocomouse]

Tonight we had grilled chicken thighs, potatoes roasted on the grill, cole slaw with cabbage fresh from the garden, and mixed zucchini and summer squash. Dessert was blueberry cobbler.

[chocomouse]

I made a blueberry cobbler following the recipe on onceuponachef. It was excellent! I've made many a cobbler, crisp, buckle, etc through the years, but never really liked any of them. This is perfect. I will reduce the 6 Tablespoons of sugar in the filling to 5 Tablespoons next time, as it is a little sweet. I might reduce it more later if it is still too sweet. The directions are a bit confusing - as the amount of butter (and sugar) called for in the ingredient list is to be split and used in both the filling and topping. I'm going to rewrite the instructions to clarify and make it easier and faster to follow. Now, I just need to pick berries faster!!

[chocomouse]

Baker Aunt, I had just now printed out the directions I had saved when you posted on August 3, 2019!! What a coincidence. Now, I will check that new link you posted. I am about to go out on the deck, it's 89*, and pick more of our bumper crop of green and yellow beans. The first picking I did was made into bean salad, and we will finish that off with dinner tonight. This is my 2nd season growing them in a raised planter on the deck, and they produce there just as well as in the in-ground garden - but no bending over or crawling on my knees to pick!

[chocomouse]

Odd menu for us too! My husband had an egg salad sandwich, and I had sauteed zucchini, summer squash, and onions, with Penzey's Fox Point seasoning.

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