Food!

One thing on my bucket list is to learn to make bread. Somehow this is very intimidating to me especially because when people have shown me how to make bread they have a fancy mixer to do it in. Well, while food blog hopping I came across a recipe for french bread that was extremely detailed and thus I thought I might be able to pull it off. But she made it in a mixer and so I was still a little nervous but it turned out great. Okay, actually I think I should have kneaded a little longer but the bread tasted great. I might also need to work on my loaf shaping skills but you'll just have to trust me that it tasted delicious.

We've started harvesting lettuce from the garden. This is my second bagful and I have lots more out there that's ready. I love my fresh veggies and herbs (used the basil in marinara sauce, YUM!). Some of the lettuce leaves are a bit bitter but I read online that if I pick, wash and leave them in the fridge a day or two that the bitterness disappears and guess what? It worked! I think I didn't harvest soon enough and the heat can turn the leaf lettuces bitter. Gardening, like bread making, is still a learn-as-you-go sort of hobby for me.

This week we finished our garden project by putting rocks between our beds. I love how it turned out almost as much as I love finally having the project done. Plus the plants are finally growing. I think I planted too early and then now that the heat finally hit the tomatoes and peppers are doing great. My cucumbers are still small which is strange because I've always had great cucumber plants with lots of produce. Like the Nephites, I have to pray over my crops. I figured that's at least half the reason for a successful harvest. My thumbs are not exactly green.

See those are the small cucumbers in that first box.