Lammastide baking

For Lammas, I always bake a loaf, despite the ridiculousness of baking in that heat in our climate. Lammas is obviously a holiday invented by non-Texans! Yesterday, I fed the starter, and this afternoon, I'll mix and knead the dough. I'll bake tomorrow morning. Why go through this senselessness? It's my mother's birthday, and I'll also bake a cake. If it weren't her birthday, I doubt I'd commemorate it. As it is, I feel an extra pull to celebrate the feast of loaves; it's also baking I do on any day of the week, whenever the holiday falls. I'll return to the summer baking break, after this day.

Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

I should get more time to post in detail my way of making chicken fried steak and gravy. I make home made mashed potatoes from scratch, too. For now, I'll just tease that this is our menu, and fill in the recipe later.

Hot Wings

Tonight's supper will be a rare summer treat - hot wings in the oven. I don't have any other meat ready, so I took them down from the freezer. Normally, I would grill outdoors such a meal in late July. However, the new grill yet awaits a new part. The old grill is defunct. That leaves the indoor grill (too small for such a meal) or the oven. So, I'll bake them in lots of butter for 45 minutes, then toss them with a sauce of Louisiana hot sauce, honey and more butter. I could fry them, but I don't have enough oil, until I go shopping tomorrow. I would serve homemade ranch along side, but the Vintner prefers store bought ranch (sigh.)

Prawn Cakes, Again

I've started adding Louisiana style hot sauce to the batter. It works well. In addition, I now fry in a combination of bacon grease and coconut oil. The ginger is a good addition.

Pickling Cucumbers

Today, I'll be pickling cucumbers with the lacto-fermentation method. Check back in a few days to see how they turn out. I'm a pickle lover, so I've got high hopes.