No Yeast – No Rise!

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What’s for dinner?  I had no idea!  So I thought, I’ll make a focaccia, I’m sure something will come together then.

Whipped up a batch of my baguette recipe, spread it onto some baking paper to rise, and wandered off to do a few things.  When I returned it was still the same – it hadn’t risen!  Tilted my head this way and that, yes, it still hadn’t risen…  Then a light bulb moment – I hadn’t added the yeast – no yeast, no rise!!!

I’d already washed up and put away the stand mixer, and being lazy, just reached into the drawer for a bowl , scraped the dough/batter into the bowl, sprinkled over the dry yeast, used up a bit of elbow grease and mixed and mixed by hand.  There were little dots of yeast through the batter, I kind of new that it wasn’t right, but perservered, put down another sheet of baking paper, spread out the dough/batter, and set it to rise…  Did a few more things, still no rise.

OK, out comes the stand mixer, again, scraped in the dough, spread it out, went away did some more jobs, come back, a little bit of rise… finished the top off with sprinkling of salt flakes and freshly picked rosemary and put it in the oven to bake.

Gluten Free Focaccia
Gluten Free Focaccia
Gluten Free Focaccia
Gluten Free Focaccia
Gluten Free Focaccia

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We have a Mulberry Tree in Our Garden

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We planted our mulberry tree not long after we moved into our home, seven years ago. It was planted during a lengthy and severe drought, and survived with minimal attention.

Mulberry tree a month or two after being planted in 2016 (It even has a few berries!)

With the end of the drought we experience a couple of much welcome wet years, not so welcome when it come to fruit crops, given the high humidity bringing on brown rot – so frustrating!

While this year has been, what you would call, a little more “normal”, mother nature has still thrown us some curve balls!  Several weeks ago, we had much yearned for warm weather,  but it come with horrendous gale force winds. Bush fires errupted just 20-30km to the north east of where we live, and continued to burn out of control for a few weeks, before being listed as ‘contained’.  We witnessed convoys of CFA (Country Fire Authority) units from around the state as they traveled past our home to join the battle, and relieve the local crews. Continue reading →

There will be Rhubarb & Rose Petal Jam this year!

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A day in the garden is fabulous for the soul, it’s peaceful and calming, allowing time for observation, contemplation and planning.

The weather at the moment is perfect spring weather, warm days and cool nights, although we really could do with a good rain, it has been a dry winter, and the soil is showing it.   We have finished clearing and it’s now time to work on the soil, mulch and prepare for, what they are predicting will be, a hot, dry summer.  The laundry bed is done,

Dutch Iris “Angel Wing”s in The Laundry Garden
Dutch Iris “Angel Wings”
A single golden freesia
The Laundry Garden

and the citrus bed, needs just a little more work, water and mulch so that it will be easy to maintain. Continue reading →

The Great Outdoors – Foraging and Shinrin-Yoku

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My dearest Gary once said that I am at my most relaxed when I am outdoors.

A month or two back I was on a mission, that mission to find somewhere where I could forage for pine mushrooms.  This meant time out with a special friend, who, I must say, I’ve had a few adventures with.  Maggie is loads of fun and loves a bit of adventure, so a date and time was set.

On the day, I met Maggie at hers, transferred my baskets to her truck and we headed off, chatting, laughing, catching up and looking for a suitable place to forage.  Many plantations were off limits due to logging, but when we had almost given up, the last one on the list was logging free.  She parked the truck, we gathered our tools (baskets and knives, and entered the edge of the plantation.  As we collected our bounty of mushrooms and pine cones we both found ourselves becoming more and more relaxed in our surrounds, wandering off in different directions, and coming together again, this led us to chatting about forest bathing and the benefits afforded by such a simple pastime.

I was a little surprised to hear that Maggie had never foraged for mushrooms and wasn’t game to try the ones that I had collected. But that was Ok, I brought them all home and cooked, pickled and dehydrated them, Mushroom Bourguinon anyone?

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Zygocactus – Bringing beauty to a cold winter

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First time flowering, it’s hard to believe that this beautiful Zygocactus was rescued as a stick, nurtured, and then planted into a pretty coffee pot, that I fell in love with, and purchased from a local op- shop.  It grew beautifully, but never flowered.

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