What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning all. I didn't get anything done on the sunroom yesterday. I did finish the shower curtain hanging on the chicken run. The weather was pretty decent. Near 50F and occasional sunshine. I've made sourdough English muffins frequently in the past so here's my take: the ingredients are pretty much the same however instead of fresh whole milk it calls for powdered milk and cornmeal is used for dusting only. Let the dough have one rise, then punch down and roll out dough then shape or cut into 3 inch rounds. Mine get "baked" on a stove top griddle. If they are really thick I do finish them off in a 350 degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes just to make sure they are cooked in the center. When cooking them on the griddle be sure to use a medium low heat. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. Good news, apparently certain veterans will be "granted" commissary privileges starting in January. For me personally, I'm not all that close to one but it might be worth checking out to determine if it will save me some money after accounting for the gas mileage. I have shopping errands today, however since the warm temps are sticking around I hope to get some outside work accomplished. Have a great day everyone.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I thought I would share the sourdough English muffin recipe I use. I got it from the King Arthur Flour website.


Sourdough English Muffins

PREP25 mins BAKE20 to 34 mins TOTAL2 hrs 45 mins YIELD2 dozen large muffins

Ingredients Instructions

2 tablespoons (25g) sugar

2 cups (454g) warm water (110° F-115°F)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast or instant yeast

1 cup (227g) sourdough starter, ripe (fed) or discard; ripe will give you a more vigorous rise

7 cups (843g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup (43g) Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 57g) butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon salt 1/4 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid), optional; for enhanced sour flavor

semolina or cornmeal, for coating



Combine all of the dough ingredients, except the cornmeal/semolina, in a large bowl.

1 Mix and knead — by hand, electric mixer, or bread machine — to form a smooth dough. The dough should be soft and elastic, but not particularly sticky; add additional flour if necessary.

2 Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and set it aside to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, or until it's noticeably puffy. For most pronounced sour flavor, cover the bowl, and immediately place it in the refrigerator (without rising first). Let the dough chill for 24 hours; this will develop its flavor.

3 Gently deflate the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, cover it, and let it sit for a few minutes, to relax the gluten. Divide the dough in half. Working with one piece at a time, roll 1/2" thick, and cut in 3" rounds. Re-roll and cut any remaining scraps. Repeat with the remaining half of dough.

4 Alternatively, divide the dough into 24 pieces (total). Shape each piece into a round ball, then flatten each ball into a 3" round. For a somewhat more even rise as the muffins cook, flatten each ball slightly larger than 3", and trim edges with a 3" cutter (or trim all around the edge with a pair of scissors). Muffins with cut (rather than flattened) sides will rise more evenly.

5 Place the rounds, evenly spaced, onto cornmeal- or semolina-sprinkled baking sheets (12 per sheet). Sprinkle them with additional cornmeal or semolina, cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise until light and puffy, about 45 to 60 minutes. If the dough has been refrigerated overnight, the rise time will be about 2 hours.

6 Carefully transfer the rounds (as many as a time that will fit without crowding) right-side up to a large electric griddle preheated to 350°F, or to an ungreased frying pan that has been preheated over medium-low heat.

7 Cook the muffins for about 10 to 12 minutes on each side, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of a muffin registers 190°F. The edges may feel a bit soft; that's OK.

8 Remove the muffins from the griddle, and cool on a rack. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature for 4 or 5 days; freeze for longer storage.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners

I did a quick tour around the backyard on my break this morning. The sun is out, the birds are singing and the clouds are gone for now. It's a wee chilly in the shade yet though.

The hibiscus is leaning again I'm going to have to dig it out and replant in a deeper hole I think. I might throw out some grass seed before the rain next week and see if it helps fill in the dog yard too.

The artichoke, mustard, peas and carrots are doing great. There's only 1 echinacea that sprouted but some broccoli has come up as well. I have a few gold potatoes that have eyes on them. I'm going to get some soil after work today and plant those in the grow bags I bought. I'm going to demand the greenhouse gets setup this weekend too.

Have a great day everyone

PS @Acre4Me glad you're feeling better today!

 

[pennyJo1960]

I’ve made a successful batch of EM before (years ago), and tried again recently -another recipe that was a total failure. Your recipe looks similar to the one that worked. Question on the rise: I see your recipe says knead then punch down, but usually there is a rise step before punch down. So, is there a rise in the bowl, punch down, then cut out rounds, and rise again? Or is it only one rise after they are cut out?

I do not follow that strict the recipe turned into a work in progress I do not let it rise till they are cut.

 

[karenerwin]

I finally finished cutting up the last of the pumpkins and throwing the frozen and thawed flesh and skins into the garden. I made 8 cups of seasoned pumpkin seeds ( I still have another 4 cups of seeds waiting ).
My hubby and I drove 2 hours towards my son's house and had them drive 1 hour towards us so that we could meet and give him the venison ( except the ground venison).
We treated them to subs at Subway and then came back home.
All I have left on my to do list is to work on the deer hide. I'm thinking I may bring it in the kitchen and try to scrap it using the side of a 5 gallon bucket as the back pressure. I dunno if that will work or not, but I figure it's worth a try! The kitchen is definitely warmer than outside! Not sure how my hubby will feel about it, but he's taking a nap at the moment.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Then worth it never processed one to keep had a friend in Juneau did our he was in Taxidermy as a living did a bear rug

 

[igorsMistress]

Good evening all

Today was a busy day! I trimmed the willow acacia in the coop yard and tossed the trimmings onto the compost pile

Weeded the garden, here's a few snaps

The wee ones are starting their integration, first trip out of their coop.

Have a great night all.

 

[WthrLady]

Meant to get some mulching done today in the old rock bed. Went to put the new tire on the tractor to move mulch and the tire place put it on the rim the wrong way around. SO another wasted 4 hours to go back into town again. UGH.

Wandered into a new shop called AtHome while I waited. OH my. You could really blow so much money in there. I've never seen so many Christmas trees on display in one place before. There must have been at least 80!

 

[pennyJo1960]

IM love you setup there but could not live there.. Wthr I cannot do a fake tree but have to agree they are everywhere

 

[karenerwin]

Butchered our Thanksgiving turkey today. Made a flank steak in the crockpot. Took some fresh pumpkin puree over to a friend. She gave me a baggie of chocolate walnut fudge!
Burned more of the brush from the invasive honeysuckle I cut back a few days ago.