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