More Ramblings

At the moment, the sun is shining.

And my youngest son is not accomplishing much in his math today.

In fact, I have had to remove myself from the table at which he sits, for his own safety.

Since he would bolt from the table if I were to go out and enjoy the sunshine, I've decided to spend a little extra time in the kitchen.

Where I can keep at least one eye on him.

One of my favorite blogs is Heavenly Homemakers. Laura always has some great recipes that are easy and nutritious.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Today, I made chocolate chips. From scratch. (Healthy and nutritious...another reason to have my chocolate and eat it too!)


All in all, these are pretty good. It took me the equivalent of 2 candy bars to come to this conclusion, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert now.

An expert who forgot to add the vanilla.

If you try these, don't forget the vanilla, and remember that the sucanat doesn't dissolve the way sugar does. Spread the sucanat out evenly so that you don't have too much bittersweet chocolate.

Truthfully, in a cookie, it shouldn't matter. And to prove my point, I'll be making these later!

My family deserves to know the truth.

I also made 3 loaves of sourdough bread, which turned out perfectly, despite the fact that I forgot to set the timer.

This is my creme freche. Well, technically, it's still a blob of cultured half & half, but in a few hours it will be a delicious condiment.

And a salad dressing ingredient for tonight.

If I don't forget.

I'll try to answer a couple of questions I received about the greenhouse.

Try being the operative word.

The dimensions are 8'x14'. There are doors at each end with vents above them.

This is where we transition plants that are getting ready to be planted in the garden. It gets good morning sun and the heat from the greenhouse keeps the plants from being shocked.

There are benches on both sides the run the entire length of the greenhouse. Our plan is to remove the benches from the left side and build a raised bed on the floor so we can grow tomatoes year-round.

I have a small, solid work area on the other side. This is where I mix up the fertilizer, write on tags and keep my tools/gloves. We're going to cut a piece of pegboard to fit, so we'll have a place to hang the tools.

When it gets too warm, we open the top of the back door and leave the front open to keep the plants from scorching. And believe me, it can get hot in there!

My Mister also built a nice stand that we can mount a box fan onto for air flow. In the winter, we use a small propane heater.

We have fluorescent lights that are run individually, so only the ones we need are turned on.

We always have a thermometer in the greenhouse. Our goal is to keep the temperature between 75 and 82 degrees. It can creep up pretty quickly without a visual reminder!

Looking at the pictures is also a good reminder that the little greenhouse is getting a little greener than normal. Yes, even greenhouses get baths.

*As I finish this, the sun has disappeared. In its place....snow!

I'm guessing that my son is NOT going to finish his math.