Posts from the ‘Front Porch Musings’ category

A real Winter

My first Winters in Northwest Montana – 1994-1997 – had plenty of snow and cold, but even then the locals often commented that it was warmer and less snow than years past.

Since that time we’ve had a number of mild winters. Some started promising with a significant snow and then it warmed – blech! The first two winters in this house (’06/07 and ’07/08) were good winters with plenty of snow and cold. Since then, Winter has been a bit puny give or take a storm or cold spell.

But, this Winter!! It has been wonderful. We’ve had plenty of snow on the ground since mid-December and mostly below freezing temperatures. It might not be the kind of Winter Montana had in many years past but compared to the mild winters of the recent past, this has been a real Winter.

It is March, though and we begin our typical stop-start process towards Spring.

After the snow that did the artwork on the motorhome, we had 2 warm days.

… and the usual lake(s) developed on the driveway as the ground is frozen hard and there is nowhere for melting snow to go.

After a trip to the grocery, I backed the Jeep up the walkway to avoid carrying groceries through icy puddles. The novelty of the Jeep in a “new” spot always intrigues Auggie and he had a fun time playing while I unloaded.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of my tomatoes, avocado and tomatillos – they looked so pretty together. A bit of an eating disappointment as that giant heirloom tomato did NOT taste as good as it looked. It was from Mexico and I hoped it was a sun-ripened tomato but now I think a hothouse and for whatever reason they are pretty tasteless with a mushy texture. Oh, well.

And then…

Yikes!

Bear and I were walking when it started.

My hat after our walk.

Bear after our walk.

My favorite little tree – actually a lilac bush.

Auggie and Bear knew what to do.

Take a nap!

Coffee, Ciabatta and snow: Monday Morning

One of my favorite things is the morning time in the kitchen: making coffee, mixing or shaping dough or just standing and watching. During Winter, a bonus is large flakes of falling snow lit by an outside light. The light and the snow provide plenty of light for me to work quietly and savor a slow, peaceful start to the day.

Three inches of new snow Sunday morning, off and on snow showers forecast through the week and we started Monday with some of that snow shower activity!

Coffee, Ciabatta and Snow: Monday Morning.

Friday!!!

It has been a crazy week: snow and work-wise.

But, this morning dawned with a sky that boded sunshine.

Look at those bits of blue!

I stood, folding kitchen towels, and watched…

…sunrise in my woods.

But it was warm and dripping and Auggie took refuge on the woodpile!

Auggie.

Later, inside.

Sunshine on the rosemary plant.

The over-wintering rosemary plant.

I hate to even say anything about the rosemary…

Friday!!!

Dog biscuits, Ciabatta and a movie

Not “dinner and a movie” :)

Even though the sun was shining, it was cold and snowy and we had bouts of freezing fog. I dislike going out and about when the roads are difficult and typically keep the pantry, frig, freezer and supply closet extra full so that I am not required to go out if conditions are bad.

But this week my inventory control failed me and a very full work schedule and “OH NO!” … the dog biscuit situation was dire!

These biscuits take me about 10 minutes to get in the oven … far less time than a round trip to the grocery. And Bear loves them!

On to Ciabatta.

Ciabatta is Italian for slipper and the bread is called Ciabatta because of its shape – kind of flat and square-ish. It has a reputation for being difficult because the dough is extra moist and cannot be kneaded by hand or easily shaped. It has more moisture than the “no knead”, high moisture artisanal doughs. Most recipes call for mixing with a stand mixer. I don’t have a stand mixer. The short story is that I adapted a sourdough recipe with a bit of mixing with my hand mixer and then used the long rise, stretch and fold method that I use for sourdough.

That is the dough before “shaping” … a blob. But folding it with a bench knife let me know that it was full of good gas for an airy bread.

Cutting and folding for rolls…

Success! As you can see, the “shapes” are not consistent. The extra large roll I “shaped” in a mini loaf pan to bake as a test. The others I folded and cut with a baker’s bench knife. They still spread haphazardly before springing up in the oven.

When I lifted the rolls off the baking stone, I was amazed at how light they were. And that is just right. Ciabatta should have a crispy crust and a very light and airy crumb.

Fresh off my success with Ciabatta, I received an email from the company that makes the movie software I purchased last week. The email noted the release of a movie app for iPhone and Android Phone. I got the app and played a bit…

***This has music. I think it is a bit loud so you might want to turn down your volume before you start the play.

So. Much. Fun.

Video: Morning snowshoe walk

A video! I took this – video at the end – earlier this week before we had a bit of a melt. As noted previously, video is not my favorite thing … I don’t do it well and struggle with editing … primarily because I haven’t spent time to learn. But also because I tend to like the subtle story telling of still photos.

However, some of the action stuff is fun – particularly Auggie, who is often like a “speeding bullet” and also very vocal … about everything!

The people I know, who do some video and might assist, all use iMovie on Apple operating systems. My only Apple device is my phone. I intended to use some of my Christmas holiday break to work through some tutorials and negotiate a bit of the video editing learning curve but kept putting it off and mission NOT accomplished

But, this morning, I did a search for “iMovie for Windows” and found a product that is supposed to be close-ish as in ease of use and powerful features.

Yea!

A promise of 30 minutes. A fun looking interface. I was all in.

I watched a quick tutorial and added my video. And then … AND THEN … it didn’t need editing! I was thinking that there were points where I turned or stumbled or talked baby talk that I wanted to edit out, but it turned out that I was ok with the entire thing. Maybe that is a good first try. The software does seem easy to use. I have some other videos that I KNOW need editing so I’ll take a whack at them.

But meanwhile…nearly 5 minutes of Bear, Auggie and I tromping through the snowy woods. I don’t want to oversell this – it is a simple walk :) !!

One of the stars after we “wrapped” filming…

… just hanging out!

And the other star … lying low.

Wrapping the holidays

I started Saturday with a mocha for motivation.

Putting the Christmas decorations away is never as much fun as getting them out…

Unless you are Auggie!

The boxes and paper are just as much fun in the putting away as they were in the taking out.

All is put away …

…until next year.