Busy afternoon/nite yesterday!
Got out of work a little late - there's often one of those "Hey! Are you busy? Can you order some hardware/software for me?!" just as I'm ready to power down. An advantage of working a slightly earlier shift that your coworkers - getting to leave earlier! A disadvantage - they forget you plan to leave earlier!
Rushed home, changed clothes, loaded up the car with shovel, rake, hoe, the last of the tomato cages, all the remaining growies started from seed excluding the tomatoes, seed packs, water, camera, etc... Met up with the neighbors as planned, only a little behind schedule.
From 5:00 to 7:00pm Claire, Miranda, Ainsley and, yeah, even little Connor helped with the gardening! (Well, Connor helped the girls make mud) Claire told me awhile back that the girls would appreciate getting to come out and help start the garden this year - while it doesn't make things real efficient, and requires a lot of supervision, it's definitely entertaining and educational for all involved!
We didn't get as much in the ground as I'd planned to - lots of "no no, THIS is 4 inches apart...that's more like 12...no, that's closer to half an inch.... Let's try again - make a fist, lay it down next to the first seed, and plant the next seed to the other side of your fist. Perfect! Wait...why are you putting the seed over there?" LOL!!!
So we got in most of the taters (planted WAAAAY too close together - I have to plan better and give them more space next year!), more beans (Contender and Dragon Tongue), all the remaining parsley and catnip I'd started from seed but didn't pot up at home, 36 lettuce plants started from seed (three varieties - hope it doesn't get too hot!), okra (two varieties), swiss chard (those I started from seed, plus we tossed some more seeds in) and scarlet runner beans. Poked in a few nasturtiums and zinnias for fun.
STILL need to get squash and pumpkins in the ground!!! Hopefully this Sunday when we're scheduled for a dry day! Plus the tomatoes - oy!!!
The girls did a great job of watering the peppers, beans and onions I planted on the weekend. Boy was there a lot of mud! ;-)
After everyone was hosed off and we drove home, Brett and I watched a little tv while eating leftovers, and then I got started on cookie doughs for his coworker. I don't know why I thought one batch of chocolate crinkle dough would make 4 dozen cookies! So I made a second batch after deciding the first one was two small. Also made the peanut butter cookie dough (I don't do these often - trying the Jif recipe this time), and the sugar cookie dough. Tonite I hope to bake those off, and make the fudge and peanut brittle. Tomorrow I plan to ice the sugar cookies and make the snickerdoodles. We've also got dinner at Pancho & Lefty's with Rick & Carolyn tonite! I can do all this! I can!! (So why does Brett keep saying he's nervous about how little time is left til the cookie trays are due?!?!!)
Sorry no pics today!
13 comments:
fudge? peanut brittle?!!! I can be there in about an hour and fifteen minutes if I drive like a maniac.
Speaking of peanut brittle,I stumbled on a microwave brittle recipe in one of Martha's mags last year and not only is it good, it's so easy I made tons of it for Xmas presents (but I went deeeeeluxe and used cashews and then drizzled chocolate all over it too). I'll dig up the recipe for you.
Regarding kids in the garden, my cousin's son Michael (he's 5) was helping my Uncle (he's 80) water his garden yesterday and announced "This work is too hard for a little kid."
If I had the money to waste, I'd take him to the Third World and show him kids his age that are herding animals, carrying water and farming ALL DAY.
LOL Funny how when you start baking EVERYONE comes outta the wordwork! LOL
Here's the recipe I ended out trying at Christmas - and it worked out really well! My dad went nuts over it (no pun intended!)
http://www.thenutfactory.com/kitchen/dessert/peanut-brittle.html
I have to review it for tomorrow - I don't remember it being a real pain. But microwave hunh? Nice! Do you even have to use a candy thermometer!?
You could also point out that he's splashing and probably wasting water and there are kids that have maybe never seen that much water in a month! (Now I'll feel guilty next time I flush after peeing - great!)
okay here you go, you'll need one of those big glass mixing bowls with a handle, you DO have one don't you? Oh by the way the recipe is in the December 2005 Everyday Food (Martha!)
Ingredients:
nonstick cooking spray
1&1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1&1/2 cups nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 Spray a rimmed baking sheet and a wide metal spatula with cooking spray and set aside
2 In an 2 quart glass measuring cup combine sugar, corn syrup and salt, stirring until sugar is moistened. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Stir in butter and nuts; return to microwave for about 5 minutes, until the sugar mixture is thick, bubbly and very pale brown in color. Mixture is VERY HOT.
3 Remove from microwave, stir in vanilla and baking soda(mixture may foam up). Immediately pour onto prepared baking sheet, spreading as thinly as possible with the prepared spatula. Let stand 20 minutes until hardened then lift off sheet and break into bite-sized pieces.
No candy thermometer and realtively little mess. I made about 15 pounds of it in an afternoon.
I just read that recipe from thenutfactory.com and apart from the water it's basically the same as Martha's, it seems to me all the water is there for is to dissolve water and you're spending all that time boiling to get rid of the water
I started the recipe I used this past Christmas first. Decided to have a "peanut brittle-off" and cook 'em side by side (yes, this could be risky if I'm juggling too many things!)
After getting "my" recipe going on the stove, I started yours. Yours has been done for about 10 minutes now and I'm snacking on the cooled off bits on the spatula. Mine's still cooking - at 250F I stirred in the peanuts and I'm waiting for it to hit 290F to stir in the butter and soda and pour it out.
I DID have to nuke your recipe about 2 1/2 minutes longer to get a good color - was still fairly clear and without color at five minutes. We have a really powerful microwave too. I don't know if this is personal preference on color, the high humidity today, or what...
Better go check the cooking brittle. And snack on more of yours! Yum!
Cool beans, I nuke mine longer too. I had another comment, but it was so rife with bad spelling and grammar I had to discard it.
Oh good to hear you keep yours in the microwave longer! Mine looked so pale and pretty much still clear, so I figured it needed to go longer. Since it was a SECOND batch, and not the one intended for "the client", I wasn't too stressed if it bombed.
And trust me, no worries about grammatic errors 'round here! No judging!
I'm glad the recipe worked out for you, I can't imagine being perched over a hot stove making candy in the freking summer. Regarding the possibility of a recipe bombing, I like to push a new recipe as far as it will go sometimes just to see what will happen, as it turns out i like Martha's recipe better if the nuts are just on the edge of scorching but thats a personal preference, I like bread that's almost burnt as well.
Speaking of scorched nuts, Brett loves those french burnt peanut things - those things gross me out.
Oh those weird sugary things that look like a bag of scabs? No thanks.
This site is one of the best I have ever seen, wish I had one like this.
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