Lead Story

    Basic Bread 101 – Part One

    I learned about breadmaking as a child, watching grandmothers, great aunts, and my mother.  All the women in our family made bread, though some more than others.    Basic white breads were a staple, as were hot rolls, cinnamon bread, and later, honey whole wheat bread.  The recipe I first learned was a basic white bread, [...]

    [continue reading...]

Birds and Beasts

Give me geese!

Geese are, by far, the most entertaining of the barnyard birds.  We've two kinds, a small flock of American Buffs and ...

Morning light

Morning light can be harsh. After a long night's work on predator patrol, a dog needs his sleep. Someone should find him ...

Alien cattle

Somewhere there's an alien cow barn missing a calf. Look, the alien calf's big sister came to visit, too. It's an alien ...

Garden

Spring seedlings

Another sign of spring’s approach - flats of seedlings growing under lights.  On the left are tiny petunia seedlings, which can be a challenge to grow.  I start with pelleted seed, which is more expensive, but worth it since I get much better results.  Pelleted seeds are covered with a coating that dissolves in water.  The [...]

Good Eats Here

Rich Crusty Apple Pie

This isn’t your mother’s apple pie.  This probably isn’t like any apple pie you’ve ever had.  It’s big and flat and so delectibly flavorful you’ll never want plain old apple pie again.  Probably.  And it’s definitely not low calorie.
Turn the oven on to 425 degrees to preheat while you prepare the pie.

Start with two cups [...]

Wild Things

Trumpeter Swan Sighting

There I was, driving down a blacktop road on the way home to the farm — and driving too fast, too.  The sun had sunk low in the sky, and in the glare I nearly missed seeing them.  My brain first registered ‘Canada Geese’, which is a reasonable quick assumption because that’s the type of big wild [...]

Perspectives

Priorities

While I was looking through the digital photos on my hard drive, I came across a couple of photos I took on the way home from my son’s wedding.

I’d say it’s a Southern thing, but I know a few people in the Midwest who’d put the National Bird Dog Museum under the must-see column on their vacation lists [...]