For years, I battled bread dough. I could never get it to rise properly and it made me crazy. I would put the yeast away, refusing to attempt something I would fail at. Then, one night it just clicked. I don't know if it was just finally "my time" or I found the proper descriptions over at The Fresh Loaf but I finally got a beautiful loaf of artisan-style bread.
This is the base recipe I use to start all of The Wright Taste's crusty artisan-style breads. I change a few ingredients around when I want a different flavor.
Play with it - see what kind of success YOU can have!
Bread Making 101 - Easy Artisan Bread
Good luck!
Wednesday
Sunday
A Simple Supper, An Early Night
Saturdays wear us out!
For the first time since March, Harry had a Saturday night off work. YAY! No coming home exhausted from the market-short porch break-nap-choking down dinner-another nap-he goes to work kind of day. We had such grand plans for this rare event.
A relaxing, enjoy-being-in-the-kitchen-just-for-us EARLY dinner, watch the sun set behind the extremely tall corn, maybe a snack, some TV and then a good night's sleep.
Somehow, it didn't quite work out that way. Harry had a breast collar to repair and deliver. While he was gone, I chopped the veggies for the salad. Tomatoes, cukes, OUR green onions, someone else's candy onion, half of a medium-hot banana pepper, a green bell and a really awesome tasting chocolate pepper that the organic vendor just threw in with my other peppers.
Usually, I won't even dress this salad but I made the super-easy honey-lemon dressing with honey from the Delaware market that was harvested Thursday - so light and clear! I only buy honey from local producers but I keep my eyes open for special tasting honey for dressings and sauces.
I cleaned the corn, got the green beans ready to fry (yes, FRY) in bacon grease (yes, BACON GREASE) with onions and peppers so the man would eat them with me, par-boiled the country ribs we found on markdown and made a great barbecue sauce!
I sat on the porch while he grilled the ribs, running in to start the corn and beans right before the ribs were ready. We filled our plates, ate dinner...
and went right to bed. It might have been 7:30 or so.
I slept until 4:00 AM - like a rock, missing the storm that I think rolled through here last night. I've read dozens of articles, tweeted, FB and caught up on some of my blog reading.
I think I'll take a nap today.
For the first time since March, Harry had a Saturday night off work. YAY! No coming home exhausted from the market-short porch break-nap-choking down dinner-another nap-he goes to work kind of day. We had such grand plans for this rare event.
A relaxing, enjoy-being-in-the-kitchen-just-for-us EARLY dinner, watch the sun set behind the extremely tall corn, maybe a snack, some TV and then a good night's sleep.
Somehow, it didn't quite work out that way. Harry had a breast collar to repair and deliver. While he was gone, I chopped the veggies for the salad. Tomatoes, cukes, OUR green onions, someone else's candy onion, half of a medium-hot banana pepper, a green bell and a really awesome tasting chocolate pepper that the organic vendor just threw in with my other peppers.
Usually, I won't even dress this salad but I made the super-easy honey-lemon dressing with honey from the Delaware market that was harvested Thursday - so light and clear! I only buy honey from local producers but I keep my eyes open for special tasting honey for dressings and sauces.
I cleaned the corn, got the green beans ready to fry (yes, FRY) in bacon grease (yes, BACON GREASE) with onions and peppers so the man would eat them with me, par-boiled the country ribs we found on markdown and made a great barbecue sauce!
I sat on the porch while he grilled the ribs, running in to start the corn and beans right before the ribs were ready. We filled our plates, ate dinner...
and went right to bed. It might have been 7:30 or so.
I slept until 4:00 AM - like a rock, missing the storm that I think rolled through here last night. I've read dozens of articles, tweeted, FB and caught up on some of my blog reading.
I think I'll take a nap today.
Wednesday
Our Favorite Winery...
We've been to The Ridge Winery Tasting Room more than a dozen times. Every time we're in the area, we make a point of dropping by.
Sitting on the huge deck with a bottle of wine, watching the Ohio River traffic, is one of the most relaxing ways to spend an afternoon I can think of.
The very first web article I ever published was a review of The Ridge Winery Tasting Room in Vevay, IN.
Read more...
Sitting on the huge deck with a bottle of wine, watching the Ohio River traffic, is one of the most relaxing ways to spend an afternoon I can think of.
The very first web article I ever published was a review of The Ridge Winery Tasting Room in Vevay, IN.
Read more...
Monday
Safer Summer Salads: Keep Salads Cold to Prevent Food Poisoning
Summer means cooking and eating outdoors. We grill outside at home and we carry along food to eat at other locations when camping or visiting friends.
Summer also means a higher occurrence of food poisoning due to two factors: bacteria multiply more quickly at warmer temperatures and we don't have the safety factor of our refrigerators and kitchen sinks. When eating away from home, be sure to carry your digital food thermometer to assure your food is at the proper temperatures recommended by the USDA.
read more
Summer also means a higher occurrence of food poisoning due to two factors: bacteria multiply more quickly at warmer temperatures and we don't have the safety factor of our refrigerators and kitchen sinks. When eating away from home, be sure to carry your digital food thermometer to assure your food is at the proper temperatures recommended by the USDA.
read more
Thursday
Loving Farmers Market Season!
Central Ohioans really do get hosed when it comes to tomatoes!
When I was younger, I didn't remember the difference - the taste, the texture. I would go ahead and buy those picked-too-early red rocks at the grocery store, take them home, stick them in the fridge and add them to salads and sandwiches. Then, I remembered.
I remembered the taste of a warm tomato fresh off the vine, eating it like an apple in the middle of the garden.
And I became a tomato snob. Oh, I'll occasionally buy a package of cherry or grape tomatoes in the middle of the winter because I want those red things in my salad. I'm always disappointed. Other than that, I don't buy tomatoes unless they were grown close to me. Fortunately, there's a hydroponic tomato farm about 4 miles down the road in Sparta. Buckeye Produce's tomatoes are usually ready around the beginning of May and I stand on tiptoe when I'm at the Mount Vernon market, waiting for signs of life in their little spot on the square. Then, it's BLTs for dinner! In Columbus, if you buy tomatoes at Carfagna's or Hills Market that say "Ohio tomatoes" on the sign, you are eating these tomatoes.
When we pulled into the Mount Vernon market to set up last Saturday, I was shocked to see sweet corn! LOCAL sweet corn! I asked Richard (the farmer) if he sprinkled fairy dust on the fields because Knox County doesn't usually see sweet corn before July 15. We got a dozen to take to the river and it was summer in our hands. OK, it was 90 degrees in the shade but the corn was crisp, sweet, dripping with butter, salt and pepper. We also got our first local field tomatoes - even better than hydros.
With the visit to the river (and Mom's insistence on sending things back with us) I now have too many veggies! Not really, but I've got all I need for a few more days.
I will probably pick up a few more small summer squash this weekend to make a Farmers Market dinner Saturday night. So simple, all homemade and perfect for a hot summer evening! Try the honey-lemon salad dressing - the easiest thing I've ever made, fat-free and refreshing!
Simple Summer Farmers Market Dinner - ENJOY!
When I was younger, I didn't remember the difference - the taste, the texture. I would go ahead and buy those picked-too-early red rocks at the grocery store, take them home, stick them in the fridge and add them to salads and sandwiches. Then, I remembered.
I remembered the taste of a warm tomato fresh off the vine, eating it like an apple in the middle of the garden.
And I became a tomato snob. Oh, I'll occasionally buy a package of cherry or grape tomatoes in the middle of the winter because I want those red things in my salad. I'm always disappointed. Other than that, I don't buy tomatoes unless they were grown close to me. Fortunately, there's a hydroponic tomato farm about 4 miles down the road in Sparta. Buckeye Produce's tomatoes are usually ready around the beginning of May and I stand on tiptoe when I'm at the Mount Vernon market, waiting for signs of life in their little spot on the square. Then, it's BLTs for dinner! In Columbus, if you buy tomatoes at Carfagna's or Hills Market that say "Ohio tomatoes" on the sign, you are eating these tomatoes.
When we pulled into the Mount Vernon market to set up last Saturday, I was shocked to see sweet corn! LOCAL sweet corn! I asked Richard (the farmer) if he sprinkled fairy dust on the fields because Knox County doesn't usually see sweet corn before July 15. We got a dozen to take to the river and it was summer in our hands. OK, it was 90 degrees in the shade but the corn was crisp, sweet, dripping with butter, salt and pepper. We also got our first local field tomatoes - even better than hydros.
With the visit to the river (and Mom's insistence on sending things back with us) I now have too many veggies! Not really, but I've got all I need for a few more days.
I will probably pick up a few more small summer squash this weekend to make a Farmers Market dinner Saturday night. So simple, all homemade and perfect for a hot summer evening! Try the honey-lemon salad dressing - the easiest thing I've ever made, fat-free and refreshing!
Simple Summer Farmers Market Dinner - ENJOY!
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