GOOD LIFE Living Well: Summer weather here in Mid Winter..Great classic dishes and other treats

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Summer weather here in Mid Winter..Great classic dishes and other treats

Well the weather has changed remarkably in a week...it has gone from 20 degrees lower than normal to 20 degrees above normal.
The result of which has played havoc with my vegetable plants, I lost my pepper plants and eggplants that I had had for over 2 years, yet my cold protected tomatoes now bear fruit!
Today it is going to be low 80's in my back garden, so I have done my prep. early so I can go out and enjoy the sunshine.

Tomorrow's menu is a fairly simple affair compared to the one on Thursday, 2 great old classic soups, followed by 2 ways to present roasted vegetables ( one as a salad with red kidney beans, chopped cabbage and zucchini and macadamia nuts, and the other with chopped walnuts and pasta); a tabouleh salad with chickpeas and bulgur wheat, so it makes a much more filling dish.

I am also experimenting with some Moroccan Inspired anise bread made with the addition of cornmeal and olive oil to a sour dough base.
They will prove now for 2-3 hours and be baked in steam at 450F for 10 mins then 400f for 25 mins.
So photos of the results later.

No desserts tomorrow as everyone is "watching their figures" at least until Thursday ..lol.

I have mentioned before that I am a trained baker and a 3rd generation pie maker.
I grew up on own made breads, proved overnight in the fireplace in a large bowl, it is easy to make and nothing compares with the aroma and flavor of own made bread.

it is also a good therapy/meditation as the kneading of the dough works out any tensions from the day, so go ahead, find some good recipes ( some are on this blog site), and make your daily bread, you'll be far better off for it mentally and physically. YOU also can control what actually goes IN your bread.