Making Bread

A few weeks ago we went to visit a friend’s farm.

The timing was perfect. It was Earth Day and she had some new lambs. I wanted the kids to see the circle of life, how animals do become food or their hair becomes a product.

Before we went I worried not how to get there but what to bring. I asked and asked the husband but he had no suggestions. Finally I decided on making an apricot bread I have made before and truly enjoyed.

Image from Amazon.com.

This came from the Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway. My mother gave me this book several years ago and there are some great recipes. The Herb Bread was fantastic.

This bread is a nice, sweet but tangy from the dried fruit. I do not make it often enough.

First things first. I cut up enough dried apricots to fill a 1/3 cup measure. It took about 12 of the dried apricots. I might have eaten a few along the way.

 

Thinly slicing the dried apricots

 

I did this first so the next picture will make sense. I love the apricot orange color. After that I gathered the rest of the ingredients.

 

 

The Gathering of Ingredients

 

It takes 2/3 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, 2/3 cup buttermilk, 1 egg, 1 1/3 cups of bread machine flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons apricot preserves and one packet of yeast.

 

In the bread pan

 

I put any liquid in first. So the buttermilk and egg went in first. Then I put in the flours and oatmeal that was topped off with the dried apricots, preserves, salt and yeast. I went with the fruit bread and light  crust settings. Two and a half hours later, the bread was ready.

Cooling

 

The bread smelled good and sweet. It felt light and not too heavy. We took it to my friend and I hope she enjoyed it. I know we loved seeing lambs and chicks and a dog who could play fetch all day long.

Have you made anything tasty in the kitchen lately?

 

 

Another Mother’s Day, Another Day in the Garden.

Well, Mother’s Day has come and gone. 

The kids made some fun crafts, I have a new bracelet from Sam and there is a new hanging basket on my front porch. A new bread machine showed up so now I am going to look for some Oatmeal bread recipes. Plus an MP3 player is going to be loaded with music I like. That will be great for my morning walks. 

The husband made a seafood dinner with a rich chocolate cake for dessert. A nice white Riesling was served with the meal. I am going to have to get some extra walks in to work off that dinner. Plus, I am going to have to work hard to up the ante for Father’s Day. 

The one of best part of the day was doing girl time with my daughter. (The other was listening to our oldest son’s prom tales.) We did our nails (mine is an iridescent grey, hers a deep coral) and talked. But before that I did work in the garden. 

Phlox

 

 In the last few weeks, the phlox under the Dogwood tree has been blooming nicely. This is a favorite perennial in the gardens around my town. In, fact these plants came from a neighbor. But I love these lavender colored blooms. They will not last much longer but the green lasts the rest of the year.  

Star of Bethlehem

 

Another picture I had to take yesterday was this Star of Bethlehem. I have called these St. Mary’s Grass in the past. It is what my mother called it and I assumed she was right. Am I calling for an apology? No way. Chances are she will appreciate knowing the real name of this flower. 

The Star of Bethlehem turns out to be a native Illinois plant and can be found in most of the state. Like most bulb flowers, it comes up at a specific time, flowers and then dies back. I will be removing the dead leaves in a week or so. In an earlier post I stated the flower comes around mid-June. I remembered being surprised by them in the past. 

However, it seems as if everything is blooming sooner this year. The Lilacs are almost done and they are normally starting in mid-may. I have heard of scientific studies asking for people to note the bloom times of their plants to see if bloom time is changing. Please let me know of them if you have specific info about such a study. 

Lilac Bushes. Picture by Can131

 

Speaking of Lilacs, there is a right time and a wrong time to prune the bush. Once the blooms have been gone for about a week or two is the time you want to cut back branches. If you wait later than that or the fall, chances are you are cutting off next year’s flowers. If your Lilac is done blooming, now is the time to shape it and get rid of annoying overhangs that get in your way. That is what I am planning to do to the lilac that lives in my yard this week. 

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook.