Porky in the Tree

I saw this porcupine near Elk Island Park, Alberta and snapped a few shots.  It didn't like getting its photo taken and kept turning away so I had many shot of the back of the porcupine.  I persevered and got a few to include with this poem.  Enjoy!  ;)

 

 

How to Pet a Porcupine?

 

 

How do you pet a porcupine?

 With that hair a fright?

 

 How do you pet a porcupine?

 

 Without a painful bite.

 

 How do you pet those needles?

 

 Without your hand going through it.

 

 The answer is quite simple…

 

Get your sister to do it.

 

 

By Evan James Griffin

Sourdough Sharing - Brownies

This month's sourdough challenge was brownies.  I decided to try a blondie recipe that I have made in the past and a new brownie recipe.

Now I love to eat them - both brownies and blondies but often seem to have trouble with the centres falling.  Help anyone?  It doesn't seem to matter which recipe I try (regular or sourdough) my brownies often have a cakelike texture around the edges and are almost sticky in the centre.  If I bake them longer, the edges get too dry with the centre usually not being much different from before (just a little more cooked).  Ideas?  Suggestions?

My brownies were taken from Rita Davenport's Sourdough Cookery book.  
Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies.

Ingredients
1/4 c butter
2 squares unsweetened chocolate (I substituted 3 Tbsp cocoa and 1 Tbsp butter for each square.)
1 c sugar
1/4 c peanut butter (I used chunky)
2 eggs
1/2 c sourdough
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

You are to melt the butter and chocolate over low heat.  Then add sugar and peanut butter.  For this step, I just used very soft marg. and my mixer.

 

Add eggs, sourdough and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients and stir into batter.

 

Spread in a greased 9" x 9" pan.  Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes.  Cool and then frost, if desired.  I don't usually frost mine.

 

Here you can see the sunken middle.  :(

 

Here is one middle piece and one edge piece.  The brownies taste great with the chocolate and the peanut butter.  I will try them again, once I get help with the sunken middle problem.



The blondies are from a Robin Hood Flour pamphlet on sourdough.
Sherwood Blond Brownies

Ingredients
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c sourdough
1/4 c butter, melted
1 egg
1 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c chopped nuts or coconut

Beat together sugar, sourdough, butter and egg.  Again I used softened not melted butter.  (You don't think that is my problem, do you?)  Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

 

Spread batter in a greased 8" x 8" pan.  Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Again you can see the dropped centre.  It is not as bad as the chocolate ones, though.

Again you can see how much higher and drier the edge piece was compared to the middle piece.  These taste great with the brown sugar and nuts - a nutty butterscotchy flavor.

 

Check below for other great brownie and blondie recipes to try.  Enjoy!  ;)

  



Lulu and the Perogy

Lulu and I stopped in Glendon, AB to check out the big perogy.  She had already seen the pysanka and the kielbasa so we decided to check it out.

 

It was large and made me hungry (I love perogies).

 

Lulu wasn't too happy though and it was very wet in the park with lots of water.

 

She couldn't wander around looking for treats so she had to stay on the cement pad.  Poor girl.  I stopped a while later along the road where she could scratch in the grass and weeds looking for bugs and seeds.   ;)   

Carrot Seeds

Did you know that carrots are biennial?  That means that in order to get seeds from them you need to wait until their second year.  Well, I decided to take the challenge and give it a try.

What you do is save some carrots from the previous harvest year.  I stored mine in a plastic grocery bag that I loosely tied shut so they would still get some air.  You don't want it completely sealed or they might rot.  You keep them in a cool place - I kept mine in the extra fridge downstairs.  This is what they looked like this spring.

 

I dug a trench at the end of a flower-saving garden in the back yard.

 

I stuck the carrots in the trench.

 

Then I covered them up to the top of the carrot.

 

The carrot blossoms are supposed to be a bee magnet.  We will see what happens as summer progresses and keep you informed.

 

 

Lulu and the Dragonfly

Lulu and I were on the road again - this time to visit Barry in Bonnyville, AB and to move the trailer up there from winter storage in Red Deer, AB.

We stopped to check out the dragonfly in Wabamun, Alberta.

 

They don't claim it is the "World's Largest Dragonfly" but it is "Canada's Largest Dragonfly".  I checked on Google and the have the "World's Largest" at Ottertail, MN. 

 

Lulu wasn't impressed because from her view, all she saw was a tall pole.

 

Lulu also didn't like the fact that most of the grass was still brown.

It was too early for her to have green grass yet.

 

But she gave in and ate brown grass, picking through it for tender morsels of new green blades of grass.

 

Onward we go!  Lulu, the travelling chicken and Joan, the chicken chauffeur.  ;)

 

Sourdough Banana Cake

There were many interesting cakes in March's Sourdough Sharing.  Since I had some ripe bananas on hand, I decided to give Amanda's cake a try.  She posted a link to this recipe.

Ingredients

1 c sourdough 

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1/4 c oil

1/4 c plain yogurt

1 1/2 c bananas

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp ginger

In mixing bowl beat together sourdough, egg, oil, sugars, yogurt, vanilla and bananas.  I did not mash the banana a lot because I wanted chunks of banana in the cake.  Mix together dry ingredients - flour, spices and baking soda.  Add to mixing bowl and stir only until combined.  Pour into greased cake pan - either 9" by 13" or a bundt pan. 

 

Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes (9x13) or 40 to 45 minutes (bundt) or until toothpick comes clean.

 



 

You can add a glaze, if you wish, but I found the cake tasty and moist without it.



Pasta Dryer

When I blogged about my homemade pasta here,  I got many comments about my pasta dryer.  I was looking on line for one several years ago but didn't like most of them.  I wanted something sturdy yet easy to store.  I also wanted it to hold lots of pasta because I never seem to do anything in a small way.

Barry looked a several photos and decided to make me one.  He didn't use a plan - he's good with wood that way.  :)

Here are all the pieces of the dryer.

 

The two side pieces have a notched top and a single notch for the cross piece.

 

Here are the top pieces and the cross piece.  Notice how nice and smooth Barry got them all.

 

 

This is a closer look at the top edge.

And the bottom.

Here the rack is standing nice and sturdy with the cross piece.

 

Now fit in the drying strips and you are ready to go!

And here is the finished dryer - all together and ready to go.

 

I think Barry and I work well together.  I come up with the ideas and he takes them and turns them into reality! 

 

Lucky me!  ;)