Baking fool!

Baking has always been a great part of my life! Yeast bread/rolls, sweets, etc..  Today I am all about trying to make english muffins.  As you can see my dough has risen greatly!

 I love my electric skillet, it gives me the opportunity to "bake" my english muffins.
One side flipped the other side baking.  Next after these is danishes.

 

They actually taste pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  The nooks and crannies were not as deep as the store bought kinds, but they looked pretty good.  I think next time that they will be a little bigger.  I used my medium biscuit cutter, my large biscuit cutter would be too big, we like breakfast sandwiches and the larger one would be too much.  Ah the experiment continues.

I am grateful I have found a few great baking groups on Facebook and have made some great friends and discoveries.  I am attempting to reduce some of the processed foods in my life and my latest experiments are helping!!  I have been baking bread for a while and am completely in love with Debra Collins Easy White Bread recipe.  I have turned it from bread to dinner rolls and others have made  hamburger and hot dog rolls from it.  Not sure about hot dog rolls, but hamburger rolls will be pretty easy!

I am not saying that all my food comes from a box, because it doesn't.  I do have  processed foods just like most people do, condiments, cheese products, pasta and sauces.  I do not rely a lot on store bought canned items as I have been a canner for years and have a great supply of veggies, pickles, salsas, fruit and the odds 'n ends.  This year my attempt is to get more tomato products canned.  Yes I put up 14 quarts of spaghetti sauce, and that was not enough!  Going for 28 or more sauce would be a great start!!  Along with whole and crushed tomatoes and other tomato products.. maybe I will try my hand at ketchup and bbq sauces, but that is a discussion for another day!

What have you completely removed from your grocery budget and make??  I would love to know.

Melissa

March Madness

Ok, so its not the typical March Madness surrounding basketball, my MMadness is around the weather!!  Mother nature has deemed that winter is not OVER regardless if the calendar says SPRING!!  Today's weather a mix of everything that is frozen!!  Yep snow, rain, mist you got it!  Tonight is suppose to have freezing rain and mist!! Yep slippery everything.

On another note, this past weekends spinning event went wonderfully!!!  I bought some amazing fiber from a few of our vendors.  Highland Handmades had this beautiful colorway that has the name "You never leave a party til the very, very, very end!" and HH Trees, pictured below!  The picture does not do it justice.. it is VIBRANT PINK.. blinding!! I am hoping once spun, the black, grey areas will tone down the vibrancy!!

Definitely  a color out of my comfort zone.. but it called to me!!   I wish Highland Handmades had the other colorway up on their website, you would love it!

Tonight will be family night.. and who knows.. I may just try a new recipe 

April Fool's Day

Good morning, how many of you play practical jokes because today is April Fool's Day??  Mother nature is definitely playing a joke on us. Maine weather today is going to be in the high 50's, but then turn bitter cold over the weekend, with I dare say it...SNOW at some point Sunday into Monday.  Yep the flowers are popping up, my peepers are peeping in the bog behind me.  A very happy welcome to warmer weather, but like I said Mother nature is playing jokes on us!!

Crafty wise I was able to sit with my friends and spin last night!  I finished one ball of this pale pink with white that will be amazing plied on itself after the other ball is spun.  Not quite sure what I am going to knit/crochet with it, but it will be soft and beautiful.  I have laid out the projects I have to make for this coming Christmas!  I know its only April 1, but spinning to knit isn't a one day thing, so I will start early.  I am actually pretty happy, I have been participating, over the last few years, in a secret Santa swap with my spinning group.  Well this year I am ahead of the game.  I have my fiber to spin and I have my pattern I am spinning for!!  If you knew me, you would know I never really know what I am going to make with my yarn as I am spinning, I just wait for inspiration to hit me.

My homestead is coming along...with the warmer weather brings coop cleaning!! Yep Sunday if its nice I will be cleaning out my coop!!  Yep get my coop clean from the winter poo pile up and give them some fresh footing and a "New" coop smell.  Egg production is on the rise as the longer warmer days help my chicks turn from heat production to laying!!

Cooking this weekend is a definite thing!!  Going to make another batch of homemade danish, Saturday night will make another batch of homemade yogurt, a new type of granola and whatever my fancy decides to whip up.  I might try my hand at donuts!! What do you have on your agenda this weekend?