Cheese Bread

We're having Mexican West Virginia hot dogs and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with homemade ice cream tonite, but here's a great little recipe for a quick loaf of bread to go with that pot of soup you are making. No yeast, and you probably have all the ingredients on hand; the 'seasonings' can of course be adjusted to suit your cuisine of the moment. The recipe doubles well; I am not sure how well it keeps as there's never any left.


Cheese Bread

4 oz grated Parmesan
3 cups AP flour
1 TBS baking powder
Cayenne pepper
Salt
Black pepper
4 oz cheddar, cubed
1 1/4 cup milk
3 TBS melted butter
1 egg
3/4 cup sour cream

1). Heat oven to 350F;

2). Whisk flour, salt, peppers, cheddar, and half the Parmesan together in a big bowl;

3). Whisk up the melted butter, egg, milk, and sour cream in another bowl;

4). Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, just until combined;

4). Scrape into loaf pan and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan; it's okay to use extra, go for it!

5). Bake, about 45 minutes;

6). Cool about five minutes, invert onto a rack, turn right side up;

7). Slice and enjoy!

Pecan Season

Is nearly upon us, pretty much on the same schedule as the election. One of Higher Ground's many past incarnations was as a pecan orchard and a lot of the old trees are still standing (and dropping enormous branches). We'll have a couple tons of nuts on the ground, the vast majority of which will stay there. The local farm stand folks will sell them but that would be a huge effort; it's like haying, one must have the proper equipment to make it worthwhile.

Myself, Granny, and Princess Jay will fill up a cooler, hook up a trailer to the golf cart, take a couple of picker-uppers (they look like a slinky on a stick), and pick up pecans till the trailer is full or the cooler is empty, whichever comes first, The nuts will be spread out on a big screen for a few days to dry out and provide our resident squirrel population a veritable Bonanza. The next weekend we'll shell out whatever the squirrels leave for us, bag them up, and give away most for Christmas presents. I keep about ten pounds for our use; there's lots of nut allergies in the family or we'd easily double that amount.

Pecans generally bear biannually. They are the last to leaf out in the spring, and flower around May. They like a lot of water, and most of the fancy cultivars require lots of special nutrition and frquent spraying. Fortunately these old, unimproved natives are very low maintenance.

Excitement!

So, while talking to the Kommandant on the phone, a terrifying sound came from somewhere outside, the sound of VOLTAGE, lots of it. After recovering from the second cardiac event in less than two weeks, it turned out to be a fallen tree (or part thereof anyway) which took down our power line and placed it conviently in the driveway for unsuspecting visitors to discover. The power truck was here in 18 minutes; didn't even get to put up my sign!

Light's! Action! Hay!

Mistakes we're made. The Noble Steeds and All of Donkey World were allowed to hang around the trailer while it was unloaded (not my idea!). This had the considerable advantage of Sailor finding the overlooked apples that had fallen out of the bag, and thus preventing a mess in my mom's truck. (They are now requesting carrots too, next time the Hay Trailer comes to their barn).

On the other hand, it resulted in my Big Girl, Candy Canes, getting the idea of jumping flat footed over the trailer tongue/hitch, clearing the tailgate at the apex of her leap. She is fine, I however was just released from the Cardiac Unit. Just in time to install new barn lights before dinner!

Fixing' Fences

The holidays are almost here, with all that en'tails'. Our Equine Guests are getting some upgrades, five strands, and hopefully an extension on the pole barn.

They're Here!

Hog sign: