Pictures with the New Camera

I got a new camera, so I took it out to play with it today.

I love winter gardening.  Everything grows so much slower, 

so it's easier to keep up with.  The bugs move slower, too.  Love that.
You don't have to kill yourself watering so much, and it's hard to
get heat stroke working in a winter garden.
Everything is just much more forgiving.

Got the onions planted.  Last year the Texas Early Whites kicked butt in the
keeper category.  They lasted 'til November before they started sprouting.
All the rest long since had.  So I definitely planted more of them.  

And since there's no such thing as a bad onion, I had to plant some of all
the others, too.  There are few things better than a red onion
pulled fresh from the ground.  I love to eat them with mayo and bacon.
My own version of a BLT - a BOM.

Pretty purple Brussels sprouts with Swiss chard, kale, kohlrabi,
and little ol' leeks in the front corner.

Sprouts are hard to grow in Texas.  They're really new "branches" or "heads"
of the plant growing on the sides of the stalk, so need a long, stable cold
period to grow without wanting to open up their little leaves.  Mine are already
starting to open, probably because it was 82 degrees the other day.
But since the entire plant is edible (and I love them the most),
I think they're worth a spot in the garden.  

Purple, red and blue colors in fruits and vegetables are from anthocyanins.
While they are antioxidants, it hasn't been proven that they actually do us
any good.  I disagree.  Since seeing so much purple in my garden
and then on my plate makes me deliriously happy
- because PURPLE! -
I claim it DOES do me a lot of good.

Collards in the front.  Time to make a mess of them.  Mama was from Jackson, Mississippi, so I come by my love of them honestly.

Cauliflower and Romanesco, just starting to head up.
See how the leaves in the center are all pursed together like they're
puckering up for a kiss?  There's your sign.

More kale.  The one on the right is one of my favorites - Red Russian.

Dino Kale, aka Lacinato or Nero Tuscano.  

Makes some badass kale chips.

Hon Tsai Tai sprouting broccoli.  I want to harvest some, 

but the bees are loving it so much I'd feel guilty.

But maybe there's enough for me, too.

And the artichokes.  I need to fertilize them and give them some compost.

I've really neglected them, but they keep giving me 'chokes every year anyway.

Not bad for a glorified weed.  A thistle.

Pretty, giant, yummy thistles.

It's so interesting how the same type and cultivar of plants can have such
different leaves.  Georgia collards do that, too.

Mmmmmm, dinner.  I ate it up with some butter and chicken

fried up in my cast iron skillet.

Nomnomnomnomnom.

Pretty in Purple

Purple.

Purplepurplepurplepurplepurple.

I love purple.

It's pretty with green.

It's pretty alongside green.

And it's pretty instead of green.

The Perfect White Cake

The Perfect White Cake, from Cooks Illustrated by way of I Am Baker.

This is the best, most useful white cake I've ever baked or tasted. I haven't tried a LOT of white cake recipes because once I tried this one, it was so far and away better than any other I've ever baked or tasted that I quit searching for "The One."  Because it IS "The One."

The latest Perfect White Cake I just baked this afternoon using
gluten free flour (garbonzo bean based), fresh out of the oven
and still hot. Baked at 325F for one hour and fifteen minutes.
This one was even lighter than the one baked yesterday at a
lower temp for longer time.

I've made this in all kinds of ways: regular wheat, gluten free, all purpose flour instead of cake flour (*without* added corn starch), even forgot the vanilla once (accidentally putting in extra almond flavor instead), and it has always been fab.

It's springy-soft, but dense enough for fondant and stacking. (Full disclosure - I have yet to stack anything bigger than a three-tier, 8"-6"-4", so not sure how it'd hold up if you try stacking a 14" one or so, but I'd think it'd do well with good support.)

It isn't bright, clear white, but if you need that level of whiteness for a wedding or such, I'd try bleached white cake flour, clear vanilla, and substitute solid-at-room-temp coconut oil for the butter. I've used coconut oil instead of butter or shortening in other baked recipes, and it's always great. Make sure your almond flavor's clear, too. I've not tried this level of changing up the recipe so you would want to do a test run of course, but can't imagine that it wouldn't work quite well.

Just a note: bleached white flour is just that - bleached.  So in no way is it organic or even halfway healthy.  Would I ever use it?  I'm not sure.  Maybe.  Only if it was a very special circumstance when regular yellowish flour wouldn't work.  But I surely wouldn't do it often.  Everything in moderation.

Also, it may need baking for longer than the 25-30 minutes given in the recipe. Test at that time and see how you come out with it. I can't remember for sure how long at 350F, but experimenting today with baking lower and longer to get it lighter on the outside, it took an hour and fifteen minutes at 325. Came out beautifully.

Even the bottom was beautiful. I lined the pan with parchment
paper only - no grease or flour or anything else.

It freezes well, too. I did an experiment with one once: wrapped it in three layers of plastic wrap, then in a ziploc freezer bag, froze it and kept taking it out periodically to taste test it, sometimes letting the whole thing defrost and sometimes just cutting a piece off and putting it back. Six months later and it was still *really* good, as good or better than when first baked.

And, if all that's not enough, since the flavor is so neutral (yet still OH-SO-TASTY!!), you can use just about any filling or frosting or icing or ganache you can think of.  ... Well, maybe not avocado.  Yeah, probably not that.  But I bet it would even be good with cheese.  Mmmmm cheddar.  And bacon.  Ooooooh!  Bacon cake with chocolate ganache!  Nomnomnom.  I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow...

~*~

The Perfect White Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour (or all-purpose - just substitute 2 Tbsps per cup with same amount of cornstarch - if you don't have cornstarch, it'll still be very tasty, just a bit more dense, like pound cake)
1 cup milk at room temperature
6 large egg whites at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract (or leave out, subbing ONE extra tsp vanilla)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool (if all you have is salted butter, just leave out the salt above)

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans.
• Make sure milk and eggs are room temperature. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into medium bowl and whisk until blended.
• Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter, cut into cubes and continue beating on low for about 1-2 minutes.
• Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to flour mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat for about 1 minute.
• Pour batter evenly between two prepared cake pans.
• Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 27 to 30 minutes, though could be much longer depending on your oven.
• Alternately, for a lighter crust: Bake at 325 for one hour, test, and bake for an additional 15 minutes if not quite done.

~*~

Three-tier, gluten-free Perfect White Cake with cream cheese frosting. Made July, 2014.

 ~*~

Snow Cake ~ January, 2015

 ~*~

Kentucky Christmas Cake ~ Fruitcake

Since it's Christmastime, I thought I'd try a sort of fruitcake.  The one I chose is called Kentucky Christmas Cake.  I made it the same week I decorated and took it to work and it was kind of dry.  I think next time I'll do the traditional "feeding" - cooking it a month or more ahead of time and pouring whiskey or bourbon over it every week.

I also made homemade marshmallows to top it with.  I was aiming for a "naked cake" look; stacked, un-iced cakes.  Then have the marshmallows running down the "mountain" like snow.  In order to do that, I had to work quickly, putting a bit in between each layer, stacking it, then pouring it down the cake from the top down.  It didn't quite turn out like I'd hoped, partly I think because I didn't work quickly enough and they cooled off too much to run down the cake really well, but I still liked it a lot.

Kentucky Christmas Cake

2 tsp nutmeg
¼ cup whiskey
1 lb. pecans, coarsely chopped
½ lb. raisins or sultanas
1½ cups flour, divided
1 cup butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp baking soda
⅛ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325°.  Grease and flour a 10" tube pan, or two 8" cake pans.
Soak the nutmeg in the whiskey for ten minutes.  Stir together pecans, raisins, and ¼ cup flour.  Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.  Fold in remaining flour, along with cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, soaked nutmeg, pecans, and raisins/sultanas, until well combined.

Spoon into prepared pans and bake for one hour and fifteen minutes, or until cake pulls away slightly from the edge of the pan.  Let stand in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack for complete cooling.


Homemade Marshmallows
from The Barefoot Contessa

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

With a sieve, generously dust an 8 by 12-inch nonmetal baking dish with confectioners' sugar. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top, and dust with more confectioners' sugar. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out.

Turn the marshmallows onto a board and cut them in squares. Dust them with more confectioners' sugar.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake - September's Cakes

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

with Chocolate Ganache and Fresh Strawberries

2¼ cups cake flour
¼ tsp salt
2½ tsp baking powder
½ cup butter
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup crushed, fresh strawberries
1 cup cream
½ cup milk


Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate Ganache


Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.  In separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat for 3 minutes.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with strawberries.  Beat for 2 minutes.
Pour into two 8" baking pans and bake for 350° for 25 minutes (or 325° for longer).

Ice with cream cheese icing, stacking as you go, and cover with a thick chocolate ganache.  Decorate with a few fresh strawberries.

And some people wonder why we eat them...

First thing I do when I get out of bed in the morning is let the dogs out.  Then I swing by the coffee maker to turn it on before heading back to bed until it's brewed.  Then it's time to hit the floor, jump into some clothes, put my face on, and head out.  It usually goes uneventfully.

But not today.  This morning had to be different.

As I was getting ready, the dogs started barking.  And kept barking.  And kept barking some more.  I ignored them, thinking that asshole squirrel was sitting on top of the well house taunting them again, the little jerk.  About the time I started thinking I should go out there and intervene, they quit.

As I gathered up my keys and poured that last cup of coffee for the road, they started up again.  I headed out the door, ignoring the chorus of upset heeler and confused weenie dog, thinking how I was running early and would get the store opened and ready to go by the time Boss Man Scott got there, being all happy about that.

Until I see a cow go by with a tarp on her head.  Dragging twenty feet of it behind her.

My heart sank.

Those of you who grew up on a farm or live on one now know that feeling: the sudden stop, holding still for a beat as you shift gears, realizing that your plans for the foreseeable future were just rearranged for you while simultaneously beginning to devise a plan to fix it.

At least I now knew what the dogs were barking about.

I heaved a big sigh and walked to the truck, watching as the cow ran behind it towards the creek and around the corner out of sight, wondering how this one was going to play out.  Again, Country People, y'all know the drill - you just have to go for it, dive right in headfirst and see what happens, hoping a plan presents itself along the way.

I put the truck in reverse and backed it down the close quarters to the creek.  I'm not sure why I backed it down there instead of driving the right way.  I vaguely recall a fleeting thought of chasing her around in reverse like back in my demolition derby days, thinking she might get stuck on her own in the melee, and being in reverse I'd have an out if she got mad and came at me.  But I really didn't have a great idea of what I was doing.  Really.

As I came around the corner and headed down the hill, I saw her standing there on the other side of the creek facing my way, twenty feet of tarp laying in the creek between her and me.  I saw my chance, aimed for the tarp, and gunned it.  In the next four seconds I saw the mud, thought I might get stuck, thought of how it'd put everyone in a bind at work if I couldn't come in because I got the truck stuck, imperceptibly lifted my foot off the gas as I contemplated that versus cow-with-tarp-on-head-home-alone-all-day, saw her move as if to walk away, remembered I have a tractor to pull the truck out, said To HELL with it!, gunned it some more    ...   and   !!!

... landed on the tarp.  WOOT!  SHE WAS MIIIIIIINE!!

As I was looking in my purse for my pocket knife to cut her loose, I thought, "If I'm careful and lucky and avoid becoming a Linda-ka-bob, I might still get to work only a little late!  But Boss Man Scott will never believe this.  Who in the hell in their right mind would?! ... Pictures. ...  I need pictures.  Pictures would definitely make this an excused tardy."


As I got back in the truck to finally start my commute to work, I texted him the third picture on this page, with this message: "Running about ten minutes late. Dumbass cow got stuck in a tarp and I had to rescue her. And people wonder why we eat them..."

She didn't even say thank you.

Stop, Thief!

I inspected my hive Saturday, adding more pollen sub and sugar syrup.  I've been feeding them since, as a new colony, they need a little help since we've been in a dearth (no nectar or pollen) almost since I got them.  Since sugar syrup turns bad in as little as three days in hummingbird feeders, I was concerned about it in the hive as well, even though I don't add that much at one time.  I'd read about adding a tablespoon or two of vinegar to a gallon of syrup to help it keep longer, so thought I'd try it.  I'd also read Michael Bush's admonitions on the BeeSource.com forums that doing that can set off a robbing frenzy, so I watched the hive closely.

Sure enough ... a few hours later I saw what looked like a swarm all around the hive.  TONS of bees flying all over.  Probably from the bee tree across the creek, or from the one over on the Krause's place (not sure exactly where it is, but I beelined it to their fenceline last year so I know it's somewhere over in their east pasture, probably just a quarter mile from my house).

Man, it happened FAST!  I had been looking out there every ten or fifteen minutes, and between one check and the next fifteen minutes later, there was a bee cloud.  Amazing.

I ran out there and watched closely to make sure it wasn't just them still a bit upset from the inspection, saw fighting and lots of bees going in with empty pollen baskets and coming out with full ones.  Yep, robbing.  I knew because of reading everything bee-related I could get my hands on that I had to do something NOW.  I remembered something I'd read - I ran to get a sheet, covered the hive, poured water over it, watched for a while to make sure nobody found any holes I might have left open, and went back inside to think some more.  By this time it was almost dark, so that and the sheet stopped it.  For now.

I uncovered it in the morning and kept a close watch, knowing, again because of what I'd read, that there was a very good chance it would start again.  Sure enough, once the sun got up a bit it started again.  But I was ready.  I robbed a piece of 1/8 hardware cloth off a top feeder I'd just bought, made a Billy Davis robbing screen (thank goodness I'd read about THAT one, too) to cover the top entrance that was getting the most action, and reduced the bottom one.

It did just what I'd read - the robbers kept trying to get through the robbing screen directly in front of the entrance, not even finding the open ends.  In just a few minutes, there was a mob of them right there at the hole.  I watched for quite some time, grinning and laughing at them (yeah, schadenfreude - I had it), seeing that some robbers who were coming out of the hive got lucky and found the end exits to get out, but none that I saw figured out how to get back in.  I watched for a bit 'til not many more were coming out, and covered the bottom entrance with wet towels, as well as the ends of the robbing screen, leaving the area over the top entrance open for ventilation (didn't know how long I'd have to leave them like that and was nervous about them overheating).

I went back inside, but kept a close watch on them still.  By nine or ten the bee cloud was gone.  I left it covered for a couple or three more hours, then uncovered it and kept watch closely, thinking I may have to cover it up again.

But it didn't start again!  WOOT!!  Started about 7:30 the night before and was over by noon the next day.  Now, two days later, still no robbing and the girls are still in there, happily working away (yeah, didn't want to disturb them even MORE, but I just had to peek a little).  I'm still looking out there every fifteen minutes, and likely will be every day for the next week or more.  But I'm cautiously optimistic.  Excitedly, but cautiously.

Because I'd read all that, I didn't panic because I knew there was a solution and it was in my brain because of all the reading I've done on forums, on Michael Bush's site, in LoneStarFarms.net's books, and elsewhere.  I just had to stay calm, think for a minute, and find that solution.  And I did.

Some pictures of the hive today with my handy dandy robbing screen.  I've got some more hardware cloth on order and will make one of these screens for every entrance on every hive I ever have.  Billy Davis, you are one smart man.

The bees now have a condo

Worked the bees for the first time today and HOW MUCH FUN WAS IT!!!  I had a BLAST!  Yeah, I really think I'm going to like this beekeeping thing.  I remember liking it when I was a kid helping Daddy, but you know about childhood memories - they rarely live up to the hype when you revisit them.  But this time ... this time they sure did.

I woke up late, about 7:30.  I'd asked Rhonda to come over early so I could get this done while it was still cool out, and she got here about fifteen minutes after I woke up.  We had a little tea and coffee together then got to work.  I rounded up all my tools, handed her the camera and my big hat with the homemade veil, and out we went to the hive.

I got the smoker lit and got into my suit.  It would turn out that I really didn't need to be covered that much.  These bees are so gentle!  They didn't bump me at all, and I only got stung once on the thumb, and that was after I was putting the frames back together and you always squish some.  I don't blame them for being pissed.  And my smoker went out about then, so I couldn't calm them with it.  Despite all that, just one sting.  Nice. 

They tried to sting me a few other times, but not nearly as much as I thought they might.  I'm confident now that I can work them with just a veil, gloves, and long-sleeved shirt.  One of these days I just might be one of those crusty old beekeepers who works them without anything on.  ... I mean bee gear.  (Au natural beekeeping. Now that would be something.) 

I was able to carry out all my plans - get the frame feeder out, inspect all the frames, put more empty frames in the box, and put another box on top.  It went so smoothly and only took about half an hour.  And I was right - they were so out of room.  I should have done this last week.  Bad Beekeeper Linda. But now they have lots of room, an entire box full and then some.

I would have loved to see the queen, but it's not uncommon to not see her, so you look for eggs.  If there are eggs in there, there's a queen.  I couldn't see any eggs, but that's probably because I forgot my glasses in the house, so had to use Rhonda's and they're not as strong as mine.  I was also having a hard time seeing how much brood was in the frames, but thank goodness for Cameraman Rhonda.  She got some really good pictures that, once downloaded, really show how much brood is there.  Relief.  MUCH relief.  The queen is either still in there or at least was last week for sure.  I'll check on them again next week and remember my glasses this time.  If no eggs then, that means no queen and I'll have to get another, but that's not likely.  I think she's in there.  I just missed her.  I need to practice finding her. 

I went out there later in the day and they were back to being their so-calm-I-can-walk-right-up-to-the-hive selves.  So I did.  And took some more pictures.

I also brought them an "I'm Sorry" gift - two hummingbird feeders full of sugar syrup.  I took the little tray-covers off the bottoms so they can get right down into the syrup.  Nomnomnomnom.  I hope they like it.

Squinty McSquint.

Honey, honey, HONEY!

Pry out another frame ...

... and look at it ...

... closely ...

... and still closer. That's honey up top, brood below. See the little grubs in the black holes? Cute little boogers.

Got three out. Working on the rest.

Lumpy, bumpy drone comb.

FULL.

Pull out another one ...

... and look again.

Putting everything back together and squishing some.  They got pissed ...

... so Rhonda and the dogs backed off, ...

... but not before Nellie got hit a time or two.

:)

~*~

7:30 update: Only a handful hanging around the front door,

not too many more than what's in the pictures here.

I'm glad they're more comfortable now.