(Houghton) Barnhart Bread and Brownie Baking Bonanza

As the Houghton Barnharts are in the beginning days of "stay home, stay safe," the baking has been a highlight of our days indoors.  
 



We had been perfecting pies....
 






(It was Pi Day....had to eat pies!)








And Elisabeth has been working on muffins (of amazing deliciousness).  She makes them for breakfast on Tuesday mornings, and usually saves three to share with the Cischke ladies (who are very grateful for a delicious treat mid-morning). 
 
Because the governor issued an executive order on Monday requiring us to "stay home, stay safe" effective midnight Monday, she decided to do her breakfast baking early....and deliver 5 muffins on Monday evening for their usual Tuesday mid-morning snack (we've increased the number since Kit and Cameron are home now as well).  These are the Rhubarb-filled Streusel Muffins from King Arthur Flour's website.  There were still nearly 20 left for the Barnharts to consume....very willingly over a couple of days.


 
 But today....our third day of "confinement"...was bread and brownie day! 

 Our sourdough is a regular Thursday dinner item, usually accompanying a big pot of soup.  We've been using this batch of sourdough starter for a little over 10 years now.  Our technique has definitely improved in that time, as well as having an increased number of sourdough consumers.  It was especially excellent today....the whole wheat dough had a nice long rise before baking.  Bread is usually made by Rachel, though Ella may try her hand at it next week after watching the process this morning.

After dinner, Elisabeth decided that we should have dessert, and we had all of the ingredients on hand for a "big batch of brownies" (exactly what my recipe says).  They were most excellent, though we did make a slight modification and used some coconut oil for part of the butter (I'm trying to ration my butter until grocery day).  They were still warm!

Oh Shannon Dogs!

to be sung to the tune of Danny Boy

Oh Shannon Dogs the dinner bell is ringing,

A call to all from near and far to come.

To taste once more the wonder of the Shannon Dog,

To know that this old recipe is still alive.

Who would have known that celery and hot dogs,

and onions sauted would be so good with cheese?

When baked so gently the tastes are more than we can say 

and all who taste will sing their love of thee dear Shannon Dog.

A Beautiful Evening for Apples

We picked our first early fall apples this evening - McIntosh and these lovely unnamed green apples with a blush. They grow on what seems to be a wild tree out in the middle of the field - maybe planted by a farmer's apple core or a passing deer.

Timothy was a willing helper.

A Lovely Meal at the Fitz

Rachel and I enjoyed a late anniversary celebratory meal this past weekend by driving up to one of our favorite restaurants - Fitzgerald's.  Sitting on the scenic Eagle River beach with views of Lake Superior sunsets and wind surfers, the restaurant is well known for its excellent smoked meat, accompanying sides, and drinks.  

Poutine

We always like to get the poutine as an appetizer.  Crispy french fries are covered with sauteed pearl onions, white cheddar cheese curds, and a light gravy.  It's practically a meal in itself (if you get it with smoked meat on top, it would be for sure).

Douglass Houghton's Anchor

This is the first time we've gotten Douglass Houghton's Anchor - a hefty platter that must be split.  Smoked pork sandwich, ribs, and brisket with three kinds of barbeque sauce and sides.  Eagle River has the ominous distinction of being the place where Douglas Houghton died a young death.  His boat sank in a storm just off shore.  If we had finished his namesake meal, I do think we would have ended up on the bottom of Lake Superior somehow.  Gladly, we did not - and went on to enjoy a piece of caramel cheesecake to top off the meal.

Caramel Cheesecake

The Harvest Approaches

I snapped a few photos of the summer harvest and coming wheat harvest yesterday.  The strawberries are done for the year (hooray!) but the sweet corn has a way to go.  Potato bug harvest is underway - we've been picking them since spring.  Thimbleberries are ripe and ready to pick!  And the wheat is getting close.  It's great to see God's provision!

Sweet corn, strawberries, potatoes, and wheat

Thimbleberries

Wheat

First Fresh Produce of the Year

We just dug this out of the garden yesterday (under a foot of snow).  I've been anticipating this first harvest of the year since about the time I forgot how much work the fall harvest was. Can you guess what it is?

April 2 Edit: No this wasn't an early April Fools joke and since people are having a hard time guessing, I'll give a few hints.  Ella guessed that these are parsnips.  They are not.  Nor are they carrots, ginger, or some odd kind of turnip or radish.  By the way, did you know that they grow ginseng up here?  It is not ginseng.  Lisa said they look like something that should not be eaten.  She's partly right.  You would not want to take a chomp out of this strongly flavored food.  It's usually eaten in small quantities mixed with other ingredients or foods.

April 8 Edit: Ok, I misled you a bit in the preceding paragraph.  It is, indeed, some (odd) kind of radish.  If you need a more direct hint, check out this link: Hungry for Horseradish.

Feeling Sappy

I'm not usually accused of having a sappy personality.  Silly for sure, or even maybe crazy - but not sappy.  But this year we're all feeling a little sappy after drilling a bunch of little holes in maple trees and hanging bags on them to catch the lifeblood of the trees (you'll never enjoy pure maple syrup innocently again).

We've collected around 100 gallons of sap so far and boiled much of it down on an evaporator we got from a very generous friend who was getting out of maple sugaring.  The evaporator is a wood fired stove with a couple big pans that sit on top, directly over the flame.  

 

 

We haven't drawn off any finished syrup yet, but should get about 2 gallons from what we've collected so far.  We have yet to see how much longer the trees will bleed flow and what our potential for production is this year.  I don't think we'll run out of wood, but we might run out of time.  Each finished gallon takes about 8 hours to boil down - and that's time that could be spent grafting and pruning apple trees.