FLOUR

     I never made a hot cross bun much less eaten one until yesterday.  However I have always liked the idea behind making these sweet breads for Good Friday as the Pioneer Woman explains in her link below.  The most important thing to remember is that they are very tasty little rolls and would be a good accompaniment to your Good Friday breakfast or Easter brunch.  They remind me of a cinnamon roll without all the butter.  Mine include raisins, cinnamon and sugar, plus a pinch of nutmeg.  I followed the Pioneer Woman's recipe and I'm glad I did.  The only thing that would have made them better would be if my yeast had not been (apparently) old.  These buns spread out, but should have raised more.  When I realized the age of my yeast packet, I decided to continue the recipe if only to show its effect.  The buns still taste good though.  And I'm glad they do!
 

 HOT CROSS BUNS

FOR RECIPE: www.thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/hot-cross-buns/

     I remember my mom occasionally stopping by a popular bakery when I was very young.  I loved going inside with her as I was just the right height to see the sweet treats through the glass front cases.  One of my very favorites were the brownies.  They were perfectly square-cut chocolate bars, probably three-quarters of an inch thick.  When I say bar, I mean when you bit into a brownie, your bite was not one of chocolate gooeyness or dry crust, but of fudge-like consistency.  The icing was thin, but able to stand up to the perfection underneath.  But even after taking all that into account, the piece de re'sistance was the sugary coating on the bottom of each brownie.  Not a saturation of sugar, but just the right amount to give the fudgy bite a crisp finish in your mouth.  Outstanding! 

     So in honor of that memory, I found a brownie recipe from Southern Living to try and decided I would also give each one the touch of sugar underneath.  The link below gives the recipe I used.  When they were completely cooled, I pulled the pan of brownies out by the parchment paper that I overlapped on the sides of the pan.  I cut the brownies, dipping my knife in a glass of water, every time I thought it became sluggish while I worked.  Then I dabbed each brownie in the sugar that covered the bottom of a plate.  The picture above shows the underside with the sugar coating in the top brownie and then the bottom one shows the actual brownie.  I decided I would give these to my husband for an Easter treat.  Do you think doing so will keep me from eating one?

www.myrecipes.com/recipe/so-good-brownies 

& FLOWER 

 

     I realize you can see a few of the green rose bush shoots and just part of my shovel at the base of the picture.  I was attempting to dig up this shrub to transplant it in another part of our yard.  This was one of several I had planted in a bed designated only for roses.  Last year I transplanted part of them.  This year I'm moving the rest because I have other plans for this large area.

 

     So transplanting, you know, when you have the shovel in the ground going around and around a bush and you keep waiting, pushing in the shovel, pulling up the dirt mound with part of the bush, then wait, yep, POP!  You heard it.  You broke through the root system.  Now comes the lifting and moving of your garden baby.  I used to be scared to try it, thinking that was certain death for whatever got moved.  Experience helps to change your mind however.  Over the years I've talked to others who have moved several plants and read about DIY projects in magazines that involved transplanting.  Then necessity played a part in the decision at times when I knew a shrub had overgrown its location, but I still wanted to keep it.  So I moved it.

 

     I've repotted several things from small pots to larger pots and been downright hard on the plants that I moved.  If I move a shrub, I cut it back before I dig it up.  Then when I maneuver it from its hole, I cut back its root system, before planting it again in a different spot.  If I move a plant to a larger pot, I also cut it back before pulling out the entire plant.  Take a fern for example.   I cut it back, remove it from the smaller pot, then take a shovel and forcefully chop through the middle of the plant to divide it.  Sometimes I make two, three or four plants out of one.

 

     Now I'm not going tell you that every one of these transplanted beauties has been happy with me afterward, but most of them have.  Transplanting to the correct environment is only part of the story.  The owner still must keep up with watering, fertilizer, deadheading, etc.  It is really satisfying to see a shrub or even a small house plant like an African violet send out new growth after it has experienced transplanting.

FLOUR

     I made these Morning Glory Muffins yesterday.  I have wanted to try this recipe ever since I saw it a few months ago in my daughter's copy of Paleo Comfort Foods, Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen, by Julie & Charles Mayfield.

     First of all, these muffins are delicious, wholesome and naturally sweet.  Part of what makes them special are some of my favorite ingredients: grated carrot and apple, raisins, coconut, honey, cinnamon and vanilla. The bits of carrot and fruit help to make them moist and good warm or cold.

     These muffins are considered a Paleo food item because they are made from real,  unprocessed ingredients. What makes them gluten-free is the use of almond flour instead of regular wheat flour.  The texture of the almond flour is naturally different, but does not take away from the enjoyment of eating these muffins.  You may have noticed in the grocery store that the price of gluten-free flour, including almond flour, is more expensive.  If anyone is interested there is a link below that may help to cut the cost of buying almond flour/meal.  The site explains how to grind almonds to make your own product at home.

    My reasons for making the muffins have to do with my desire to eat healthier in hopes of lowering my cholesterol.  I also would like to maintain my weight, if not lose a few pounds.  Also our daughter follows a gluten-free diet and I thought learning to make this recipe would give me another food choice I could make for her when she visits.

      The first link below is by the cookbook authors and includes the entire recipe and a sweet story of its origin.  Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins, a Paleo/Gluten-Free recipe

For recipe:
www.paleocomfortfoods.com/recipes/morning-glory-muffins/ 


Information about almonds:
www.simplywholefoods.com/2013/09/19/4-simple-steps-to-making-your-own-almond-flour/ 

& FLOWER 

     I have some garden chores I like to complete early each spring in order for my beds, shrubs and trees to look good and grow as well as possible.  I've only worked in one bed so far thinking I had time before things began full scale blooming.  Now this week our temperatures are up and we have rain.  I look around in our town and there are flowers and blooms everywhere .  I've got to get busy!  I know I referred to these activities as chores, but to me they are necessities.  I believe many of you home gardeners probably feel the same.  Enjoy getting ready for the bloom!

These are dead stalks from lilies last summer.  I left them in this bed to provide a little more mulch or cover for the winter.  Now they need to be composted. 

Early each spring I cut back all of my liriope or lilyturf to just a couple of inches above ground.  The plants appear fuller and less like they have suffered when they do grow back.

 

This is a white Knockout Rose bush.  As you can see, there is a lot going on in this mass of shoots and branches.  I plan to prune this bush so that none of the branches are intersecting and inhibiting growth.  At least I will attempt this.  Sometimes this task is not easy with a Knockout Rose.