EVEN A SHORT WINTER IS A WINTER IN MONTANA

We made our spring trek back to Montana this weekend, bringing with us a few things, symbolizing the beginning of our move back home. We still have a while to go, and a few things to accomplish before we officially come back, but it's exciting to begin this much anticipated process

Bozeman pass is the highest elevation we encounter on our journeys to Montana. Even this time of year after a short winter like the one we just had, it reminds us of where we live and why we choose to live here. JIR

NO-KNEAD FRENCH BREAD AND OTHER BAKED GOODIES

Second trial at no-knead dough, this time french bread and pizza dough. The texture of the bread was great-crusty on the outside  soft and chewy inside. The pizza dough was not as good, perhaps because it was too cold as a result of me forgetting to take it out of the fridge before it was time to bake it. No-knead dough is wetter and runnier than regular dough so it was challenging to keep it from "spilling" over the sides of the bread mold.

Linda made cream cheese danish from Thibeault's Table: Cream Cheese Danish, which was yummy. We lowered the guilt factor without compromising flavor too much by using lite sour cream and lo-fat cream cheese

How 'bout them home made bagels in 3 flavors: plain, raisin and...

                               ...onion. Great recipe, also from Thibeault's Table Thibeault's Table Bagel Recipe

                                                                         Time to eat.

                                                                                                                          JIR

ABUELA AT WORK

It's not too early for this abuela to get busy making some very special "minkee" blankets for the nieto we are expecting. This baby is going to be plenty warm and very happy! JIR

 

Thibeault's Table: Cream Cheese Danish

I want to make this, it looks so yummy: (Linda)

Thibeault's Table: Cream Cheese Danish: This is probably my favourite sweet yeast dessert. Actually, I love it for breakfast. And the recipe makes four large danish that freeze b...

NIGHTLY SCENE

This is Jake and Gidget's nightly version of dog spooning. Never fails. Linda and I sit on the recliner couch and put our feet up. Gidget is the first one to lay down at our feet, but under the foot rests and against the couch. Then giant Jake comes along, in one smooth motion sinks down to the floor in between the foot rests, squeezes Gidget, and eventually stretches out alongside her. What a pair! JIR

NO APRIL FOOL'S JOKE

We love an early spring, but 81 degrees and sunny on March 31st and April 1st gets a bit bright and hot!

It has been so dry, and the moisture we have received so minimal, I watered and fertilized our trees today. The flowering crab apples are blooming, and the pansies that started growing in our rock garden last year are already beginning to show.

The maples and the linden tree are holding back a bit, but this pear tree is taking off big time, with the apples trailing behind. The temperatures are supposed to drop tomorrow, going below freezing during the night, an inevitable peril of such an early spring. JIR

I FEEL THE NEED NOT TO KNEAD

Being the bread baker I am, it made me feel momentarily inadequate not to have known about Jim Lahey's no-knead bread popularity dating back to 2006. I have to thank Steve and Chicky's friend Kentz for introducing me to this great option for making bread. So here is my first try at it, the Irish Beer Bread Kentz made for our St Patty's Day dinner. After the uneventful initial 24 hour rise, and the second rise in the towel, the only tricky part was getting the dough not to flop too much when dropping it into the hot dutch oven. As you can see, it recovered quite a bit, judging by the air holes in the bread, but I think a "bigger" loaf could be produced if this step did not require to "drop" the dough. Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome. Next will be Jim Lahey's standard bread recipe. JIR