Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Manic Batching Sunday

I don't know if you can see just how much rain is coming down in this picture, but it's our first good rain in months. It's unusual to go so long without here behind the Redwood Curtain. It's been so long that I'm actually very happy to see it, as is my well, my garden, and my youngest, who is currently out frolicking in the rain getting soaked to the bone. I think I'll be making a fire tonight.

My main point in this picture is, that it turns out to be a perfect day to stay inside and do some batch cooking and canning. Yesterday was nice and sunny, and I'm happy I took the opportunity to spend some time collecting seeds and working on my garden. Today, is an inside kind of day.

So...... I made some banana muffins (needed to use up those super ripe banana's) to have as an option for breakfast on those busy weekday mornings.


Then I got a batch of bread dough going so I can attempt to make some pecan sticky rolls tomorrow as another breakfast option, and so I can have some nice warm fresh baked bread for dinner one night in the next week. (I could just eat the bread for dinner and skip everything else!)
Then I started in on batching up some breakfast burritos as just one more option for breakfast. I should be covered for the next 3 weeks with all this. I thought about pancakes and waffles too, but we've been eating off my last two batches for the last month or two and everyone is sick of them, so on to something new and fresh. I was inspired by the Homesteading Housewife to do the burritos. You can find her post on this here:
http://homesteadinghousewife.blogspot.com/2009/01/breakfast-burritos-batch-cooking.html.

I don't have near as big a family as her so I don't need to make 84 burrito's, so my recipe is about 1/3 of hers. I technically should have used 2 dozen eggs, but didn't have enough to spare and used 1 dozen otherwise my recipe was about a third of hers. I ended up with 18 burrito's (probably would've been about 10 more if I'd used 2 dozen eggs), which is plenty.

I started with 1 lb of bulk breakfast sausage ( I highly recommend Loleta Meat Market for this) 1/2 chopped bell pepper and one small chopped white onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Cook until sausage is brown.
I added the beaten eggs and cooked. I then shredded the cheddar cheese. I set up my assembly line for putting the burritos together.
I recommend you warm the tortillas before folding into a burrito, they're more pliable that way and less likely to tear.

Once you've placed a spoonful of the sausage/egg mixture and a glob of cheese, fold into a burrito, then wrap in foil. (As much as I love to cook and eat Mexican food, I'm completely inept when it comes to folding a burrito. I can make Mole' sauce, but can't wrap a burrito! Go Figure!)
Once they're all wrapped, place them in Ziplock freezer bags and label. You're good to go!
Happy harvest!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Loleta Bakery

I woke up this morning to my husband "gone fishin' " and not a single drop or speck of coffee in the house. Ugh! I was mortified! But then! My foggy mind woke up just enough to remember we have a new bakery in town and they serve good strong fresh hot coffee starting at 7 am every morning (except Monday and Tuesday). Today is Saturday and I looked at the clock. 7:36 am. Yeah! I was stoked! Coffee! My oldest woke up right about that time and I told her, "I think I'm going to run to the bakery and get some coffee."

Her response, "Awesome! Get me one of those chocolate filled croissants please."

Well, you can't just buy a $2.00 cup of coffee on a debit card and feel okay about that can you? So down I went. I got my large cup of coffee, a ham and cheese muffin for me (OMG was it good!) and two chocolate filled croissants for the girls.

Here's the front window of our new little bakery. The sign was just painted on yesterday:
Here's the bakery right next door to the Loleta Meat Market. (The Butcher, the Baker, where's our Candlestick Maker? - apparently we have one, but he sells his wares in Ferndale - I'll settle for our cheese maker instead - Loleta Cheese Factory, just up a block from the Butcher and Baker)

Here is what I came home with, minus the croissant my oldest snapped up before I could get a picture. (And yeah, I took a bite out of the muffin on the way home.) As my daughter sat savoring every last bite of her pastry, she commented, "I wish this croissant was an everlasting croissant so I could keep coming back and eating another bite, all day long, and it would still be warm." They had just come out of the oven when I got there. They were so nice and warm, I thought she was going to cuddle with it rather than eat it. If you live in Humboldt come try out our new bakery in Loleta, or if you're traveling through Humboldt on highway 101, stop by for a cup of coffee and some sweets. They also make panini sandwiches, and I've been told they plan to make soups from local ingredients for lunches. You can find them by taking the Loleta exit and heading west. You can't miss them in the little downtown area in the gold building at 348 Main St. 707-733-1789

http://www.loletabakery.com/index.htm