Sunday....day off finally!!

After having a screwy schedule for the last month and a half, John and I finally have a day off together! So we decided to head to the auction in Hamilton. We are looking for a pressure washer....there was one there...brand new.....price went too high for us. We bought a doggie cookie jar, some really really old kids books (I think), a small shop vac to keep by the wood burning stove in the winter, a little wire stand that I think I am going to use in my display at the farmer's market...and I think that's about it. As for the farmer's market....I think I pretty much have found my staple breads...sourdough (had a repeat customer!), german rye, cinnamon raisin walnut, pumpernickel, multigrain and seeded multigrain. I am going to make a cinnamon raisin swirl for next week also. I made it for this week (I stayed up to 4:30 am to bake it) but was not happy with the outcome. But the good news was that I only had ONE loaf left over! It was a pumpernickel...so I don't mind that too much because I like to add it to my homemade croutons to make it more interesting! Speaking of those....I sold 3 out of 4 so not too bad! Don't really expect to carry those every week though. Not too much else, I have to make lotion bars this week, I was totally wiped out! We even had to tear down the display because I did not have any tins left! Well that's about all for now, gotta finish cleaning....

Baking Disaster....almost!

So I think I kinda have my system down pretty good by now...still might be a few glitches to work out here and there. Except for this morning's glitch! I got my first loaves out of the oven by I think 6:30am and was getting ready to bake my sourdough.....OUT OF GAS!! John is not home, I have two other breads in different stages of their development and what do I do(except to call mom and cry)??? Thankfully John was due home in about an hour......so I quickly made room in the fridge and threw the doughs in there to retard them. When John got home he quickly ran to the next town to get propane.....thankfully disaster averted!!

News on this end...

Ok, so I am feeling a little under-prepared for this weekend...but I guess it will all come together. As far as the baking end, I am definately ditching the cookies...not sure what I will replace it with. But this weekend will probably be breads, homemade croutons....and well, I guess that's it! As for the other side of the business....I have two orders for gift baskets....one is from Aunt Lindy, so not sure if that counts or not and the other order I just got today from Lori at work. And the BIG news is that our local (again in Hamilton) bulk/health food store, called Rainbow's End, is considering carrying my soaps and lotion bars. I have to stop back next week to discuss things! Well, it's late and I just got home from work....heading to bed now.

Happiness Is......

Yesterday was the happiest day of my life......ok, well, second happiest day of my life (I guess I would (or should) say next to the day I married John. JUST KIDDING) !!! All joking aside...after two years of waiting and praying....hoping that one day a stand mixer would just fall from the sky like manna from heaven....John forced me to buy one. Now I say "forced" because he took me to the store...where I drive by every day and drool over the mixer in the window...and I guess when push came to shove, I just did not want to part with the $. But seems we made a deal (I seem to have dementia....as I do not remember this)....he told me that when my sales at the farmers market reaced over XXX amount of dollars we would go and buy one. Well yesterday's market was that day! I TRIPLED my sales from last week. I sold out of german rye and sourdough again. I also sold out of my multigrain and my cinnamon raisin walnut. I also sold 1 loaf of pumpernickle. But I thought I would give italian a try again....this time just spice it up with herbs (called it Herbed Italian) but NO SALE!! I thought I was going to sell a loaf, but then she spotted the multigrain and bought that instead. Last week I also did not sell a single solid lotion bar...this week was a different story though....sold out of 3 out of my 7 scents! AND I made some soap this week and debated as to whether I should make another batch of Lemon Poppyseed....good thing I did. I don't think my current stock will hold until this batch cures (4 weeks).

Oh, back to the mixer.....our local (and I mean in Hamilton....20 miles away) kitchen store did not carry KitchenAid Mixers...only Cuisinart. So after doing some research I found that they appear to be rated over KitchenAids anyway (don't mean to offend any KitchenAid supporters out there) and they are A LOT lighter AND I seem to think (can't remember for sure right now) that their top motor was either 575 or 625 watts. This Cuisinart has 1000 watts! Now I understand what the recipes means when it says be careful not to over mix. I think that would be easy to do with this!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.....How Does YOUR Garden Grow??

I just thought I would share with you all our first attempts at Montana gardening. Thie first picture are of our Irises. Ok, so we really didn't have anything truly to do with these. They we here when we got here. But the ONLY one that has a flower is one of the ones we transplated. I guess we should thin some more out this fall?? Not too sure when that should be done....guess I'll have to consult with the gardening expert....Nan! Now here are our tomato plants....although they don't look too healthy but we do have a tomato!

And Finally our (well, ok probably my) pride and joy.....the roses. We planted 3 rose bushes when we got here and so far two out the the three have roses getting ready to blossom. I would have to say that John is definately more excited about the tomato, though!!

Sunset and Moonscape

Last night after John left for work Daisy and I walked down to the end of our driveway to get some pictures ....The first time, it was pretty, but just wasn't what I was after....

So we had to walk down again.....Daisy didn't mind at all! This is what we were after....

Breads....

I forgot I had taken these. I thought I would share them with you. I am trying something different this week. Instead of baking ahead (which I did not like any way); all my bread will be baked on Friday before work...work is 3-11...and then I plan on staying up and baking anything that did not get done. I really need to be as efficient as possible...there is really no time for any down time or errors. Wish me luck! I think I have my two replacements figured out for this week......I am keeping the Italian as a base, but am adding spices and herbs for an Italian Herb and then I am going to make an Cinnamon Raisin Walnut....got the recipe out of a book I have. The first pic is of my German Rye bread, the next is of my Multigrain and the final picture is of my Sourdough. I guess I did not take any pictures of my Italian or my White...but I guess they weren't too impressive anyway!!

Quickie Post

I can't believe that last week at this time we had a fire built and it was snowing(in Missoula). Today it is supposed to be 80 degrees!! What a change. Last night I left for work early because it was such a pretty night. I snapped this photo at the end of our driveway. I used my camera phone, so pardon the poor quality.....little did I know our good camera was actually in the car with me the whole time! That's the moon....really cool! Since it was so full last night, I might try to snap some better pictures tonight.

First Farmer's Market.

Today was my first farmer's market (they actually started in May...but with the move, I decided to sit out for a while to get settled). My permanent spot is directly under an tree and I was completly shaded! So there I sat with a blanket wraped around me.....guess I will appreciate the shade in the hot summer though. I went into this expecting not to sell anything today...but did not do half bad. They say it takes about a year for people to get to know you and your product...any way. I had 5 different kinds of bread. Sourdough, German Rye, Italian, Whole Grain, and White. I sold out of the sourdough and the rye and I sold half of my whole grain. I did not sell a single loaf of Italian or white. Now it's back to the drawing board to figure out what to replace them with. I sold some cookies, some bath bombs. Most of my money today came from my soap sales! I guess from what the market manager said, today was a slow day. There are a TON of things going on....Mule Days in Hamilton, Cheif Victor Days in Victor and Western Heritage Days in Stevensville. Lori (from work) says that when veggies are in season, you can't even move around, the streets are so packed. Since we don't have any kids, Gary and I are splitting a shift. I am working the first half and he is working the second. So I am thinking about going to the Heritage Days in Stevi. Huey Lewis is giving a free concert there tonight. He lives in the Stevi area. Other famous Bitterrooters.....Lindsey Wagner, Hank Williams Jr(I don't think he owns a place here anymore though...but have not heard too many nice things about him), Mel Gibson (I heard owns a place in Darby) and the professor from the Back to the Future movies (I think he's dead now....but he owned a place in Darby and his wife had an art gallery there). Just interesting pieces of info I thought I would share.....I think John took some pictures of my booth set up, so I will post those when I get home from work......

No snow.....

How disappointing is that? Get our hopes up calling for all that snow....and then it doesn't. It definately snowed in the higher elevations...you can see the snow line. But I guess it just stayed too warm here in the valley. I guess Missoula had snow pretty much all day. But here, it just rained and rained and rained some more. It was a good day for baking....I'm getting ready for my first famer's market.

Be sure to check out our main site.....just in today!!! Check out the true wildlife encounters page.

Winter Storm Warning.....

No kidding we are under a winter storm warning! We did have some snow here in the valley yesterday, nothing that was anything to speak of.....flakes in the sky, but did not hit or stick to the ground......today however we are under a winterstorm warning until noon today. We are expecting 3 to 5 inches of snow. Right now is it 0645....and no snow yet, so if we are going to get 5 inches by noon, it had better hurry up! I got cold yesterday while John was sleeping, so I built a fire.....I was having trouble, since my kindling (the pinecones.....they are good for something!!) was wet. He woke up once (on his own) and came to my rescue and got it going better. It was just enough to take the chill off the house.

Heat Wave, What Heat Wave?

Well after Erynn mentioned that they were on our site a couple of times a week and that they never showed up.....magically the next day Frisco,TX appears on my map.....must have woke the monkeys up that are operating the maping system and started them working! I looked....Frisco, TX is like 10 miles from where they live. Anyway, no response from Mountain View, CA. John seems to think that that might be us logging on from our home computer. Since we live way out in the sticks, we have to have satellite based internet and who knows where that signal is coming from?!!?

For the rest of the country that seems to be in a heat wave.....we are calling for snow tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday. Don't think it will amount to anything, but nonetheless....snow in June. We can still see LOTS of snow in the mountains. So by my predictions....(not that I know anything) I think the snow in the mountains will be totally gone by sometime in mid/end of July. And then reappear in October. So that means two whole months of not seeing any snow. According to Lori (from my work)....the latest she has seen it snow here (in the valley) was July 4th! Crazy Montana weather!!

Sunday afternoon stroll.

Sunday was a beautiful day here in Montana. The sun was shining....the temperatures were bearable (unlike the other parts of the country). It was a breezy, comfortable 58 degrees. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon hike. So John, Daisy and I loaded into the blazer and headed to the trailhead that is about 1 mile from our house. I wasn't quite up to walking to the the trailhead and then hiking....and then having to walk home. So I convinced John to drive us there. We have no idea exactly how long the trail is (Kootenai Creek Trailhead) or if it joins any other trails...ect. There was no maps available at the trailhead and we were not able to find any information on it on the state parks website. So we did not venture too far. I would say we only did about 1 mile. It is an easy/moderate hike....some slight uphill climbs. If anyone comes to visit....this is a definate must do. Especially since it is so close to our house. Be sure to check out the pictures posted on the main site...the album is under Stevensville, MT. Once you click on that you can't miss it....it says "NEW" Kootenai Creek TRAIL. Hope you enjoy!!

Just Curious....

As I am sure you have noticed....in the upper right hand corner of the blog, I added a map to track the places from which my blog was viewed. The "idea" was actually stolen from my cousin Peg's blog. Anyway, we don't get too many views....especially compared to the Texas Twins blog. So this has just gotten my curiosity up.....could the person from Mountain View, CA area please identify themselves? When I input the name into mapquest, it appears as though there are 2 Mountain View, CAs....one is near San Jose and the other is near Hepsperia/Victorville. The reason I am mentioning this is because when I log onto the page at work.....I believe I am the Fort Harrison MT listing. Anyway, I am just curious if we know you or you have just happened upon our page or if you happened upon us from my cousin's sites. Please, I really would like to know who you are....

Busy day in the Kitchen...

I have been busy in the kitchen all morning..........

This is my sourdough bread in its initial rise. I think I will finally be able to actually bake it today!!! This bread has been a week long process just to get to this stage! The first part was making a wild yeast starter. Which is then made into a barm, which you must feed in order for it to remain active...then only yesterday was I able to actually start making the bread itself......then refridgerate overnight and then today make the final dough. There is absolutely no commercial yeast of any type, just basically water and flour (bread flour and high gluten flour). I hope it was well worth the wait and the workout....I had to knead this dough for about 30 minutes to get it to pass the windowpane test. This is how you know that your bread has been sufficiently kneaded.....cut off a small piece of dough and begin to stretch it into a thin membrane. If the dough breaks apart before a membrane can be acheived....you must knead somemore. Now I have to let it rise for 3-4 hours.....shape and then let rise for another 2-3. Luckily I don't have to be to work today until 11pm. It is better to let the bread rise slowly, rather than encourage it to raise more quickly; a slow rise allows the flavors more time to develop. I will let you know how it turns out.

This was my next project for today. Right now it is still cooling in the oven. There are two main points to acheiving a great cheesecake.....do not over mix the ingredients......I only use a mixer for the initial mixing of the sugar and cream cheese and mix the rest by hand and to let it cool in a closed oven for about 5 hours. Cooling in the oven will prevent the cheesecake from cracking and falling, while not overmixing will ensure a creamy consistency. I also bake my cheesecakes in a water bath. So this is a new recipe also...will let you know how this turns out as well.

Ok, so I didn't make all of these soaps today, but I just thought I would share with you....I have 7 different kinds of soap made(and many more ideas kicking aournd in my head)....I made 2 batches yesterday and cut them both today. They are on the "curing rack" Cold-process soap must cure for about 4 weeks before it is ready to use. This gives it suffiencent time to dry and ensure a harder, long lasting bar of soap. Starting in the back left.....lemon poppyseed (poppyseed for exfoilating), moving right, coffee house kitchen soap, it is made with coffee and has coffee grounds in it for an exfoilant. It is a kitchen soap b/c the coffee removes smells from your hands such as onion, garlic, ect. Next to it is my Honey Oats (made with goat's milk)....oats for exfoilating....this version is unscented. Next to it on the very end is basically the same thing only it is lightly scented. In the front row is beer soap made with our local brew...Moose Drool. The purple soap in the middle is Lavender Goats Milk and finally Vanilla Goats Milk. I have been thinking about participating in Daly Days in Hamilton...they are looking for artisians to demonstrate and sell their wares...things that were made at the turn of the century. Marcus Daly is pretty much the founding father of Hamilton...I believe he was a copper baron. The event will be held at his mansion which is now a museum.

Who was right, who was wrong??

Here is and update on the weed or flower debate: Ok, I am not necessarily admitting to defeat, BUT....the weed that I wanted to remove, now has a flower on it. I still say it is just a flowering weed, but it is still cool looking. I couldn't get the second picture to come out real well, but I wanted to show the backside of the flower too....

I was also not quite feeling ready to dive into the farmer's market this Saturday.....well my prayers were answered....I am not invited to this Saturday's market. I guess you had to sign up to be a part of some sort of fundraiser going on this Saturday, so since I did not register...I get a whole extra week to prepare. Also on another note...after weeks of "stalking" my old neighborhood. I have finally gotten my answer. There is someone moving into our old apartment. They must have taken posession of it on the first. So that is a relief that they won't be docking our security deposit and holding us responsible for rent until the end of our lease (which was up at the end of June). So now we just have to wait.....and wait...and wait for the refund to come!!

Daisy May and the Magpies....PART 2

We gave her the bone yesterday afternoon and were able to capture some pictures. Although they are pretty birds(and rather large), they are a nuisance not only to humans, but to the birds world as well. They are just like the blue jays back home. They are scavengers and also raiders. They raid other birds nests and take the eggs. We do not have blue jays out here. We do have a "cousin" of the blue jay, but not at this altitude. They tend to live farther up in the mountains. They are the stellar jay. They are mainly blue but have a dark gray/black head. As you can see in the second picture (of the magpie) they also have blue/black sheen. When they are in the sunlight, the back part of their body and tail look bluish. These are also now Daisy's new trigger. Instead of yelling "SQUIRRELS", now we say "GET THE BIRDS". They also tend to be a little more fun for her to chase. They squawk at her and taunt her. They play the game better than the squirrels. They also call for reinforcments. If Daisy gets too outnumbered, we go and pick up the bone and put it in a "safe place" for her.

They fly from tree to tree making Daisy chase them....while another one circles back to scavenge some more!!

Already June....

It's hard to believe it is already June....wow, where did the time go? I can't believe we have been here almost 6 months!! It just doesn't seem possible. Any way....we finally do have internet ...YEAH!! He came on Saturday AND he came EARLY! Wonders never cease. Not a whole lot exciting going on around here. Daisy has had a new experience....We stopped at a local butcher to check on the price of their ground beef and...(since their price was too high) we decided to just buy Daisy a smoked bone....a VERY LARGE bone. Well she has buried it on us twice and we(well, ok John) had to go searching to find it. The new experience for her is that she has to protect and guard it from the birds out here. She was resting on the porch after she had spent a good while working on it and then the magpies appreared. They landed and started picking away at her bone. She had to chase them away a couple of times before she started heading off again to bury it...luckily John caught her and put it in a safe place for later. She just couldn't figure out why those stupid birds would want her bone...never happened back in PA??! Unfortunately I wasn't home to see it...but I guess it was rather comical. Also the big news for Stevensville....Bill Clinton stopped in yesterday to campaign for Hillary. You can read the article in our local paper. I guess about 1400 people showed up....sounds to be just about the entire population of Stevi (local lingo for Stevensville).

That's about all for now.....I think John has posted some new pics on the main site, so be sure to check them out. Also be sure to scroll down the entire way on the home page of the main site to check out the beautiful pic of a rainbow John managed to capture yesterday on his walk(I was at work).