The Long Winter

It's snowing. Again.

Anyway!

Here's yesterday's bread, a wheat germ loaf that is maybe The Best Bread Ever.

And for dinner, lemon & feta risotto, which never really photographs that well, alas, but was very good. And some sautéed spinach. Again, not the most photogenic, but pleasing nonetheless. Unlike the snow, which, though also not that easy to photograph, is—sigh—not that pleasing either. Yes: pretty... for a while, but then—.

And here's my helper, dutifully watching while I shovel the driveway yet again. I don't know why I bother since the roads (hills!) are treacherous here so I'm not going anywhere, but one likes to feel like one could, maybe.

Another snowy day

It's snowing. Again. That's all there is to say about that.

I've got some wheat germ bread in progress, but for now: croutons made from the harvest grains bread and chunky tomato soup. Why chunky? Because I didn't feel like puréeing it. Messy. Also, I like the actual tomatoes still visible. Seems hearty, and appropriate for a cold day.

To the finished soup, I added a little buttermilk blue cheese. 

As for the snow, I guess I can say this: the flakes are movie-sized but coming down a tad faster than they would on the big screen. 

My heron, and other things

The great blue heron—mine—is back. Photos don't do him justice.

The snow is also back. And the frigid temps too. The perfect weather for a rich dish like pasta with vodka. The recipe is from my friend David's book Seasoning, which I highly recommend. I hope this version, with whole wheat gemelli, meets with his approval.

My dog mostly always likes this weather—so long as his paws don't get too cold. 

And yes: he is very handsome.

Snowy, Sunny, Windy, Cold

—that was today. A good day for cooking and baking.

Here's the Ruby Swiss chard and white bean soup again.

And here's a lovely salad: farro, roasted sweet potatoes, kale, dried cherries, feta. 

I made that bread this morning. Harvest grains. KAF. 

The snow really wasn't much, which is maybe why my cat got brave and went out for a few minutes. She's intrepid, and quite beautiful.

A note or three

About that no-knead bread: I used...

• bread flour, whole wheat flour, & oats.
• KAF's SAF Red Instant Yeast, no proofing. 
• KAF's whole grain bread improver. Did it make a difference? I dunno. But this was one of the best loaves I've ever made (crust and crumb), and that's not nothing.

January

Catching up, again. And just hitting the highlights.

Buttermilk bread:

Eggplant and zucchini parmigiana. An excellent Lidia Bastianich recipe. Lots of pics of the process:

No-knead oat bread. 10-hour rise (overnight). Again, excellent. KAF recipe.

A couple of sewing projects. Apron #2, the whimsical one, with a pocket. 

And a faux fur collar. Still needs a hook & eye, but it looks done, which is good enough for picture-taking.

The pattern came from one of my favorite sewing blogs, Tilly and the Buttons. 

Then there was more baking... chocolate muffins. 

And last, and best, here's a young buck who kindly posed for a photo.