This is the FLOUR & FLOWER blog, but this time I will first take a side trip with this post...haha.  

     I thought I would write about traveling.

     For my husband and me, we have always thoroughly planned our vacations, primarily because both of us worked and had only a certain amount of time we could dedicate to travel.  I know we could have hopped on a plane to arrive sooner, but instead have opted to drive everywhere.  Why?  Both of us like to view the scenery along the way.  We even took many family trips by car and tried to teach our children to appreciate this as well.  Grant it, the miles begin to wear on a person after a couple of days.  I remember a long car trip to California when I was eight.  My mom and dad would switch off putting either my brother or me in-between them in the front to allow our older sister only one other passenger in the back with her.  We would not have made many miles with all three kids on the back seat of our Oldsmobile.  My husband and I try to choose a destination that is possible in a one to two-day period.  Also, he enjoys driving and actually does relax during the process.  Traveling in this way also provides more of an opportunity to talk and share things between just two people or the entire family.

      

This is a live oak tree.  It was part of the scenery on a trip we made to Georgia.

     The only thing I have considered changing now about our way of traveling is to have a day or so that is unplanned.  That's right.  Just get in the car and go.  Don't use a map.  Let what you see rule what you do.  Take the first turn you meet.  Stop for lunch in a small unknown town.  Spend the afternoon antiquing in a new area.  Or just take an alternate route to your chosen location.  Choose a place to spend the night along the way that is new to you.  Eat in one of the local restaurants.  Walk in the downtown area.  Enjoy riding bikes in one of their parks.  
     I remember once my husband and I chose to spend the night in an unknown town.  Then the plan was to get up the next day and continue driving to our designated spot.  We decided that evening to eat in one of the local restaurants, not a chain.  We learned from reading a poster there that a band concert was to be held that evening in the town gazebo.  We could easily walk to the concert after our meal.  The concert was really enjoyable and concluded a fun evening, just because we tried something different.

     So that's just my two cents worth.  Whether you travel by car, plane, ship or whatever; enjoy the time you have together.  My wish would be to take an entirely unplanned trip in the future.  I wonder where we would end up?

FLOUR

Lemon Balm Herb Bread

     I found a recipe for Lemon Balm Herb Bread recently and made it this week.  To me, it is more like a cake.  It is light and really lemony with lemon zest and lemon balm and includes a thin lemon glaze on top.  This is what I would call a real (hot or iced) tea bread.  It would also be great with coffee or even a glass of milk.  Anyway, I  wanted to share this and have gained nothing from it but the joy of making it myself.

Lemon Balm Herb Bread - taken from A Celebration of Herbs, published by the Memphis Herb Society 1991.


2/3 c. melted oleo or butter          3 c. flour
2 1/2 c. sugar                                    1 c. sweet milk
                                              4 eggs                                                 2 tsp. grated lemon peel (zest)
                                             1/2 tsp. baking powder                   1 c. chopped nuts (I did not use.)
                                             1 tsp. salt                                           4 tsp. chopped fresh lemon balm
                                             1/2 tsp. almond extract
Glaze:     6 tsp. lemon juice and 1/2 c. sugar

     Blend oleo and sugar well.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add almond extract.  Sift dry ingredients and add to mixture alternately with milk.  Stir in lemon peel and nuts last.  Bake in loaf pans for 50 to 60 minutes in 350 degree oven. (It took less time in my oven.)
     Glaze:  Heat lemon juice and sugar until sugar dissolves.  (I heated the ingredients in the microwave.)  Pour over hot bread as soon as it comes from the oven.  Let cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan.  Makes 4 small loaves.  Delicious sliced thin and spread with butter or cream cheese.
     

 & FLOWER

                                                 
     Below are Annabelle Hydrangeas.  I have three large bushes of these.  The Annabelle is also known as a smooth hydrangea, wild hydrangea or sevenbark.  For about a month I have been cutting several of these and taking them to farmers' market with me.  Most people like them and comment about how they are different from the traditional mophead blue and pink kinds.  Several ladies have asked about whether a cutting will root in order to make a new plant.  One woman wanted to root a cutting by placing it atop the ground and braced by a rock.  Others wanted to know if a cutting would root in a pot.  I am familiar with weighing down a living branch on the ground until a new plant begins to grow.  I am more confident with taking a cutting, dipping the end in water then rooting hormone and putting it in a pot filled with soil.  I think either method would work.  One would just have to remember to check on the progress of the branch that would be weighed down for rooting.  The cutting would have to be checked on for proper moisture and lighting.  Too much of both could cause the cutting not to root.

Annabelle Hydrangeas