Experiments

After having a half dozen people ask if I'd be making any hot sauce while I'm here (they'd gotten some from my son), I pulled together a California version. Buying spices from the bulk section in the market, canning jars instead of flasks, and hoping for the best, I gave some Bajan heat a try.

Instead of wax and raffia, I am going to check out some yarn from Janet's wool mill...we'll see how it goes. But the important part is, it tastes great! Honey Heat next!

While waiting for the various processes of making hot sauce to move along, I figured I might as well make some bread (get back on the horse, all that). For luck, I took an extra bit of dough to make a design on the top. Here's what happened.

Culebra snake, meet California slug

It rose beautifully and I'm happy.

A good long day, topped off by an almost full moon

Today we're headed over to a friend of Elijah's to help her help a friend. Just like home. Nice.

Have a take it to the limit Tuesday! Do something with torque.

Baking bread...one loaf at a time

I've finally made myself do something about the bread situation, after talking about it for a year or so (I move on extreme island time about certain things). I think there are two reasons why I've been so slow about this. One, I'm not really a big bread person. I mean, I like good bread, but after years of being terrifically excited if there is actually rye bread to buy, it sort of tempers bread desires. And secondly, beyond all reason, baking bread scares me. The possibilities for failure seem endless. Not that I'm real scared of failure; it's the way to learn, in my life experiences; it just seems like such a waste of ingredients! Give me a muffin recipe, a quick bread, NO FEAR! But yeast bread? That exact thing, which is the exact thing I don't do well? Fear. However, my desire for rye bread when I want it is overcoming that.

So yesterday, the first loaf came out of the bread machine. I can't type the sound I want to, but if you know a good Jewish grandmother or auntie, you'd know the sound. It is accompanied by a one-shouldered shrug and maybe is sort of like...ynah. The bread isn't great. But. The bread isn't bad! Whole wheat with lots of grains and seeds, warm and a slide of butter? Pretty good. A small bit of apricot jam? Even better! But three hours? Not so good. So now it's on to the next experiment...I'll let you know how that goes. And if it works? Rye bread is next!

In the meantime, watching the dawn is much easier and goes more quickly! If you haven't seen this time of day for awhile, I assure you it is well worth getting up for. I stand there in the yard silently yelling, GET UP! GET UP! (that's to humans, not to the sun or the birds, who are silently and not so silently already rising and quite awake).

Minutes apart, drama rolls

There was one bird photo, but alas, too fast for me!

Have a tangy Tuesday! Do something timely.