We're Rototilling The Garden...In Shorts !

I don't know what to say... i really don't....i was just upstairs with Teddy putting the SPRING sheets on the bed and The Weather Channel was on...i don't know what's going on...it is FREEZING out there....and it's 80 here today....again..well, to tell you the truth the whole month of January has been 80 degrees. We bbqed chicken in the garden last night...i'm not kidding you either. had beans and corn on the cob too. just like SUMMER. see that picture there...that's John..in his shorts..rototilling the garden.... had to come in because he got too hot.....

and there they are...Whiskey Sour and Teddy...in their FAVORITE spot...sunning by the kitchen door....

The Journey To Sourdough Bread Thanks To Octoberfarm

there it is...one week in the making...and it wouldn't be here if it wasn't for OCTOBERFARM. we all know blogging is FUN...but this was REALLY fun. but it did have it's moments...i would be lying if i said it was easy. it wasn't. and i almost gave up... more than once...i tried making sourdough bread a couple of years ago and i failed, miserably. and i have never tried again. until now...and it is because i had a very PATIENT and WONDERFUL teacher. Octoberfarm.

it all started one week ago...making a "seed culture". you feed it every day for 4 to 5 days depending on how bubbly it is getting...and i was pretty lucky with the heat wave...the culture loved the warm...i let it bask in the sun on the farm table for days....feeding it....loving it..although there was a couple of days that i lost interest...the bread at the bakery looked really good this morning..what am i doing? nope...i am sticking with this...i am not giving up. i want to make my own sourdough bread. right here in Farmhouse Kitchen.

after you have made the "seed culture" you turn it into a starter or barm...and let that go overnight in the fridge...

and then the bread making begins...i ran out of flour right in the middle of making the bread and had to run to the organic hippie store around the corner...i hoped this wasn't a bad sign....

it wasn't bad luck....this dough looks beautiful...i cut it in half

and rolled it into two balls....

put it to sleep last night in the fridge...and this morning was BAKE DAY. i have admit i was nervous...after a week's worth of work i hoped it would turn out...and with the help and encouragement of Octoberfarm... it did.

last night's line-up. 2 bowls of bread and a bowl of starter...gave me a good excuse for cleaning out the fridge

and there it is...i might have let it go about 5 minutes too long...but i think this is a process...learning the bread and how your oven works. i know mine does run hot. so i am so proud of my first loaf of real sourdough....THANK YOU OCTOBERFARM !!!!! what a great teacher i had....i NEVER could have done it without you, my friend. Oh, and john gets his wish...BLT'S on SOURDOUGH tonight !!!!!

octoberfarm said we are SOURDOUGH SISTERS..we are indeed, my friend

Eggplant Lasagne Love

i am always buying eggplant...i just can't help myself...i just LOVE EGGPLANT...

yesterday i decided to make an eggplant lasagne...just kind of using what was around the kitchen...so i sliced up the eggplant and floured it....

look who was helping... i was going to try and clean up the picture but decided to give it to you Full Throttle...just as it is... messy couch, piles of pillows for Teddy, newspaper, Teddy's owl upside down feet straight up...see the mess in the back on the window seat....somebody likes to get into mommy's purse and bags from shopping...the big old giant bag of Purina is for shaking out the kitchen door to the strays that come...we are about up to 5 now... they come and go...but Pixie Rose Marie and Vera Wang are a constant...

dug around the cheese box and scored a big block of gruyere...and a few other scraps...

i just floured the slices and sauteed them in my cast iron skillet ....i used olive oil...to reduce the guilt factor of all that oil.....

i didn't make the pasta this go around...didn't feel like cleaning all of that up...and i just layered it in a pie plate....

pasta, eggplant, a jar of Muir Glen sauce...how lazy is that...a jar of sauce..in my EMERGENCY section of the pantry...for just such occassions...my friend Molly calls it "DOGOMAR"....."don't go to the market"...you know those days when you just feel like staying home...making supper from what's in the pantry and fridge...

i'm gonna tell ya...if you like eggplant...this is for you. it is GOOD.

what a beauty....

since we are in the kitchen...i'll show you what's on the drainboard...SPRING.

here is my windowsill...MEZE is a new neighborhood restaurant around the corner we are dying to try... you can see my reflection in the window... you can even see the birdbath way out back in the garden through the open french door....and the window clingers...what can i say...that section in Michaels with all the seasonal window clingers makes me so HAPPY...

the darling little creamer is from my dear friend julie of julie whitmore pottery on ETSY. i have a big bouquet of baby white carnations on my piano...snuck a few out and added some pineapple sage from my garden...i get such an old fashion off of baby carnations...white or soft pink or yellow...gives me a valentines feeling...of days gone by....

there he is again...sunning himself in his favorite spot. WHISKEY SOUR is loving that sun. i snapped that this morning...

we had a COLD SNAP yesterday..it went down to 75 degrees...heat wave is back today..80 degrees...what is going on? it's January !!!! sending love, my friends.....

Eggplant Lasagne

Slice an eggplant , flour the slices and saute in olive oil till brown. salt lightly

Boil some lasagne noodles, rinse and drain

Layer pasta, red sauce, cheese and eggplant till everything is used up...in just used the cheese i had on hand...some gruyere and mozzarella...your regular lasagne type cheeses

Bake at 375 for about 40 to 45 minutes or till hot and bubbly

Let settle a few minutes before cutting

Cozy food...even if it is 80 degrees

Blueberry Upsidedown Cake

julie...have you been looking for this book ? i found it in my bookshelf.....it is such a cute book...all about baking a THANK YOU...i just LOVE that idea....

i had some blueberries and was going to make a blueberry crisp but decided on a blueberry upsidedown cake instead...

you start by melting the butter and brown sugar right on the stovetop in the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan....

i made the cake in the mixer...and this must be the MOST FORGIVING cake on the planet. i did EVERYTHING wrong. i don't know what i was thinking...a friend mentioned that i might have had heat stroke...that's funny...maybe i did...i added cornstarch instead of baking powder...when i realized what i had done wrong..i just went ahead and added the baking powder too...the butter and egg mixture looked funny....uh oh...i forgot to add the sugar and added it in AFTER i had added the flour...now i am really wondering if this cake is going to work.
milk? what? i don't have any milk..so i used half and half...i didn't have enough blueberries..it called for 2 cups...i only had one cup. i guess i'll go ahead and bake it...what do i have to lose?

i spread the batter into the pan...

i can't beleive it...but it worked...

it sure smelled good in the kitchen....

we ended up having a wonderful dessert...blueberry upsidedown cake. Heat wave update: we are in shorts and flip-flops...i am NOT kidding you guys..and we are BBQing burgers in the garden tonight...wish you were here.....



Blueberry Upsidedown Cake

adapted from Sweet Gratitude by judith sutton

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Blueberry-Lemon Topping

4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest


Melt the butter in a round 9 inch cake pan over low heat. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes till brown and bubbly. Remove pan from the heat and add blueberries and lemon zest.

Cake

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons ( 1 stick ) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/2 cup whole milk

For the cake: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium till light and fluffy. Scape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla and lemon zest. On low speed, beat in half the flour, then beat in the milk. Beat in the remaining flour just until incorporated.

Spoon the batter in large dollops over the blueberries. Carefully spread out the batter.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean. I found it only took 40 minutes.

Let cake cool in the pan for 3 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a wire rack. Lift off pan.

Serve warm or at room temperature and sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.

80 Degrees ? Are You Kidding Me ?

That's WHISKEY SOUR sunning himself in the sun this morning..we have all the doors and windows wide open...because today our thermometer in the garden read 80 degrees. what is going on? i have been watching the Weather Channel and the whole world is buried in snow. i don't know if 80 degrees is a good thing or a bad thing. it just seems strange....

there is little Teddy outside this morning by the kitchen door in the herb garden...or what will be the herb garden come summer. right now the borage that i planted a couple of years ago has re-seeded and is coming up all over...the bumble bees love it.

this is my Spring Showers ....it is already blooming ...you can see the rose hips on my Berries and Cream rose in the background....

this was the view this morning...january 16th, 2011 from my clothesline in the backyard...notice the palm trees...so california...and that mountain is called Mission Mountain. at Christmas there is a lighted tree on top and at Easter a lighted cross.

my yellow johnny-jump-ups are blooming...leftover from last year...and still going....

my yellow Banks rose was blooming this morning too... i don't know why it is so warm here... i guess i will just go with it...feels like summer so this afternoon i am making a blueberry crisp....

The Gentle Barn

Get Involved

I saw this on Ellen the other day...and it brought me to tears...and I wanted to share it with you. It's called The Gentle Barn and it is an animal rescue in Southern California. It is filled with animals that were neglected and abused...and they have found a home in.... The Gentle Barn.

Click on : Get Involved to visit a most WONDERFUL place.

Sarabeth's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I picked one of the simplest recipes late yesterday afternoon out of my new Sarabeth cookbook. The oatmeal raisin cookies. The recipe in the book calls for sunflower seeds, but I didn't have any and used walnuts instead....and they turned out perfect....

i read this tip years ago...if your butter is cold, grate it...and it works pretty well.....

i threw everything into my mixer and let it go...

i am so IN LOVE with brown eggs. I would really like to get 3 chickens this SPRING but I am worried about my little stray kitty...Pixie Rose Marie...she is so skittish as it is I would be worried that chickens would scare her off....she has been here 3 years now...I always wonder what would have happened to her if I hadn't moved in here...

look at those for a jolt of THE HAPPY. my daffodils are opening up nicely.Sure makes it feel like SPRING in here.

Teddy Getting Cozy On A Sunday

it is 2 o' clock out here in california on sunday and teddy and i are still on the couch...what a cold, lazy day...i am still reading Sarabeth...but haven't made it to the kitchen...yet. see that look in Teddy's eye..we call it "showing whites".... that little look with the cresent moon in his eye...

i managed to get a bouquet of fresh daffodil stems yesterday...i walked downstairs this morning and was greeted by this...(but i still miss the christmas tree)....the little stuffed owl is Teddy's favorite toy...

look at that little nose...i call it my little cinnamon sugar donut....

come on mom..let me snooze on my snowman blankie...can't you go bake something?