First
of all, welcome to my new follower hiddenhavenhomestead!
The
weather is still gloomy here but the light levels are better than
yesterday and at last, we can see some small streaks of cloud.We
went on our walk yesterday, just the 3 of us still as E. is still
recuperating from her broken leg.
We think we may have to change our
name to The Lost Walkers. This time though, we believe the map attached
to the walk was incorrect. Apparently, we needed to turn left at a T junction but
only came across a Y junction, where we reckoned we needed to turn
right, especially as it referred to the village we were trying to walk to.
Anyhow,
we duly turned left at the Y junction as instructed and carried on for another mile
or so. Arriving at a village not on our map, we realised we needed to
go back. Luckily we had noted several public highways leading back to
where we began and took one. After coming out of this lovely wood:
the
only place not shrouded in fog by the way, we were not sure whether to turn left
and carry on with said route so headed back to where we had begun.
After more zig zagging, 2 toilet stops, and very, very hungry and thirsty
by now, we arrived back at the car 1 hour and 40 minutes later, having walked around 4 miles. All
in all, a lovely walk, but the fog was thick so not a lot to see.All the above refers to the gloomy reference in my title. The gloupy bit refers to not following my instinct and listening to Paul Hollywood on how to make wet bread dough manageable by using oil rather than flour. Yeah, right Paul. The picture below shows my wet dough, plus lots of oil, some 10 minutes into kneading.
In the end, DB had to un-stick me with lots of oiled implements so I could finish this part of bread making. I'll post a photograph of said bread if and when it is finished. It may turn out well, but in future I'll stick to what I know works for me with regard to making bread. Here it is:
Finally, a sunny bit of info. As you know, we love beetroot soup. Our beetroot crop had failed as had that of a friend but she gave me her little bunch of golden beetroot. Not quite enough to make beetroot soup so I added a bit of swede and a few carrots - in keeping with the golden theme. Here they are, freshly peeled, diced and ready to go.
Now doesn't that colour cheer you up on such a dull day.
Now doesn't that colour cheer you up on such a dull day.
The soup was a little pithy in places so we liquidized it and that helped. Despite being made with golden beetroot and a few extra veg, the smell and taste was almost the same. Anyway, we served it with home made bread, salt & pepper and a dash of soy sauce.
Whilst the bread was still rising and the oven on, I made a 1/2 quantity of Granola. It has just come out, had its dried fruits added and is now cooling. The kitchen is as warm as toast and smells wonderful.
I saved a little bread dough to make a pizza for tea, which we had with some fresh tomatoes. The base was covered with some of the beetroot soup with added tomato paste and garlic. Then a layer of pepper, ham and cheese finished it off.
Whilst the bread was still rising and the oven on, I made a 1/2 quantity of Granola. It has just come out, had its dried fruits added and is now cooling. The kitchen is as warm as toast and smells wonderful.
I saved a little bread dough to make a pizza for tea, which we had with some fresh tomatoes. The base was covered with some of the beetroot soup with added tomato paste and garlic. Then a layer of pepper, ham and cheese finished it off.
you should see the photos on my blog today, as we had a gloomy foggy day yesterday.
ReplyDeleteGill
I have, just about the same as on our walk. The fog seems to have lifted now so although it will be getting much colder for up to 10 days or so, hopefully we might get some clear skies and sunny weather.
DeleteYou are really such a good cook - very inventive - the pizza looks great.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lizzie, what a lovely thing to say. I am lucky though, that I have over the years, had my husband (and son when at home) always eaten what I have produced (disasters as well). I hold dear to that saying, "necessity is the mother of invention".
DeleteWe have had a week and a half of gloomy days like that lately, but luckily the sun shines today :)
ReplyDeleteYou have been very busy lately, it was so nice to catch up on your latest posts.
The soup and pizza looks yummy!!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend :)
(oh, and I haven't forgot about the knit pattern I promised you. Sorry about the delay, I will get round to it eventually...)