I'm hip, busy with baguettes, and winnowing

Hip update: three sessions of Will's exercises and the hip has subsided, much better, clearly the right approach. It's not all gone but the sharp and sharper jab at each turn is down to a pinch. I'll take it. I also did other exercises, toe raises, sit to stands, sideways stepping, all that.

I don't like pie much, even on Pi Day, so baguettes it was. This time I used one third whole-wheat with the ap, and added in vital wheat gluten to compensate. I had to add extra water to get the dough to cohere. It went fine.

Here's a bit broken off to show you the crumb. There's more flavor with the whole wheat, the added gluten made a better rise, and again the crust was great.

I'd taken out a container of strawberries earlier from the freezer with the vague thought of strawberry shake, but realized a bit of strawberry jam wouldn't go amiss with warm baguette. 

Strawberry preserve, to be technically annoying, because there are fruit pieces in there.

Then with hauling out the overstuffed  three ring binder for the baguette instructions,  I realized for the 83rd time that I needed to organize it.

A lot of the entries were either aspirational or more trouble than they were worth, or I just don't fancy them.

So after an afternoon of knitting, reading and sorting, strengthened by toasted  buttered, strawberry-preserved baguette, I got through it.

Quite a few recipes came out for the recycle, and I found a couple I've now noted to make because I'd forgotten about them, raisin bread! I have raisins! and I'm Freecycling a bunch of page protectors.

At some point I need to do likewise with  several binders of knitting patterns hardly any of which I need now, with my limited current knitting arena. But not today.

Happy day everyone, if you're in the windstorms, we're just at the edge, we hope your power stays in, sez Ted and Big Ursy and Pony.

 

Tea outdoors, and strawberry jam happens

The weather veering wildly from summer to fall, complete with high winds, and back again, any afternoon that allows for walking then tea on the deck is welcome. 

 
Here's the last slice of banana bread with a nice spoonful of labneh, great contrast, between the sweeter, fruity bread and the tart labneh, a favorite of mine. And a couple of shock horror, bought cookies! Goya Maries to be exact.

The book is Second Honeymoon by Joanna Trollope, great deck reading.  This is one I got enough of before the end, though, since there's a lot about actors and their lives, and it's sadly tedious stuff, as theater is to me, when it's just talking about it.  I've known quite a few actors over the years, and they're most interesting when they're on stage interpreting other people's words and thoughts.

And strawberry jam happened. I remembered having frozen a couple of containers of strawberries after eating some fresh, and last evening thought it would be good to have a little something to spread on bread.  Also to give to helpful neighbors who have been very good lately, what with setting up my washing machine after the plumbing adventure, the kind of job that's too small to get anyone to do for pay, but way beyond my strength to just do.  You need burly relatives or friends, and fortunately I have burly neighbors.

They are both mad for my bread, and the preserves, sooooo, a breakfast kit is going to happen for them soon.  And I need to buy more strawberries before the season ends.  Next jam plan is ginger and lemon, already prepped and in the freezer, the ingredients, that is.

Making jam, or in this case preserves, whole fruit in there, is not a big deal.  This small batch took half an hour start to finish.  It's just a matter of remembering to do it.  It used about one and a half strawberry containers.  Small batch is not only good to make, it's very good to taste.  And it's well received, since homebaked bread and jam is just not available even at the poshest stores.  Boutique food, even the best, has been packed and shipped.  Mine travels about fifty feet to its destination. I like this.