Balmy November

Warm enough for shirtsleeves today as the sun is going down.


R appreciates Charlie's hard work on his bone.

Grissini

Grissini, thick and thin and all ready for Thanksgiving. Whole wheat glazed with butter and honey; whole grain herb and garlic; seeded sourdough. 

Hibiscus Bento

Carrots and a radish rose; lemon hibiscus apples that I canned on Saturday, with oranges; organic granola bar and almonds; cheddar and whole grain crackers on spinach salad; and cherry-flavored dried cranberries in the center.
 
I canned a lot of apples this weekend. My generous neighbor Becky always gives us the apples from her unsprayed tree in October, but this year they were all black at the center (codling moth?), so we only got a couple of jars of pie filling out of them. I finally broke down and used store-bought apples, because we love opening jars of spiced apples and applesauce all year long. I made spiced apples for pie filling, and tried something new with dried hibiscus blossoms. Hibiscus blossoms are high in vitamin C and anti-oxidants, and they have a lot of heart-healthy compounds. They give the apples a fresh, citrusy taste that is complemented by fresh lemons. I infused green tea in the syrup, but the flavor didn't come through. The blossoms turn the apples a beautiful natural rosy color. I sweetened the apples lightly with agave.
 
R really likes these, and the jars look so pretty lined up on a shelf with the sun shining through. The dried blossoms make a nice tea too, either added to black or green tea, or by themselves with honey and lemon.

Lemon Raspberry Birthday Cake

My lovely cousin Lara had a birthday yesterday, and I made her a lemon cake with raspberry syrup and lemon curd in between the layers, frosted with lemon buttercream. Sometimes short, two-layer cakes are nice. I used lemon extract, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, so it was really zing-y and lemony. I kept the raspberry syrup on the tart side too.


I made a mini-cake with the leftover batter for D & R. I frosted it with whipped cream (that I whipped a little too long, it almost turned into butter). They loved it, but they were sad it wasn't bigger.

Rustic Ciabatta

Cooler weather makes me want to start baking bread again, keeping a starter and experimenting. I have been reading this book by Jim Lahey, the originator of the no-knead bread method that was popularized by Mark Bittman in the New York Times. I have been playing around with it, using a sourdough starter and then following the book's instructions for proofing and baking. Pre-heating a dutch oven and then baking the dough in the hot pan is one secret to the brick-oven like crust and fantastic oven rise. Today I made a dough so wet that it had to be poured into the heated pan. I was hoping for a very free-form flat ciabatta, with a big open crumb and blistered crust. The dough is mostly white bread flour, with some rye and whole wheat flours, wheat germ and flax meal added.

It made such a beautiful, messy rustic loaf. 

I dusted the top with kosher salt before baking, and it developed a shattering, crisp crust almost like a handmade pretzel.

The crumb could have been more open, but the flecks of flax and wheat germ, and the grey cast of the rye flour, make it interesting. This differed from the no-knead method in that I used a sourdough starter, and proofed it for only six hours instead of the 18-24 the book recommends. I have half of this dough on a slow rise in the refrigerator. I'll bake that off tomorrow and see what the difference is. In the meantime, a fantastic loaf for sandwiches or just eating plain. D loves it.

Flower Bento

Mangoes and raspberries; green grapes; ranch dressing; raisins and carrots; green salad; turkey sandwich on oatmeal bread with carrot curls, cheddar flower and spinach leaf; gingerbread elephant & dog in the middle.

Halloween Costume 2011

R wanted to be Kate the alpha wolf from her favorite movie, Alpha & Omega. She was disappointed that Charlie didn't think she was a real wolf. He was fairly mellow in the face of all the fierceness.
This wolf has dog treats in her paws.