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| Bumblebee on teasle |
My
email is full of “Christmas in July” promotions, and I love it! Holiday movies,
recipe previews, new holiday fabrics, special doll dresses and costumes – it’s
all there.
Often
in July we have a spell of cooler weather here in the Inland Northwest, and it
seems to be upon us. The morning low is around 60 while the afternoon high is about
80. Wheat and garbanzo fields enjoy this respite from the heat. The tomato and
zucchini plants take the opportunity to grow and produce. The breeze is so
pleasant. We don’t even close the house.
I
took advantage of the cooler temps to bake cookies. In keeping with “Christmas
in July,” I made spicy gingersnaps. At least, I thought I did.
“What kind of cookies are these,” queried Mike, as he munched away. “Molasses sugar cookies?”
“Gingersnaps,” I replied, wondering what was the matter with him anyway that he didn’t recognize the old standby.
“I can taste the molasses,” he said, tentatively.
And that’s when I realized I left out the ginger! So disappointing! I felt like I should just start over and bake another batch. That’s what I get for not double checking the recipe, although even that is no guarantee. Mike graciously said they were fine, but they lack pizzazz.
We came to the farm on Sunday (July 18) in the big old pick-up. We brought the pole saw with us, and Mike sawed several limbs off the big pine at the woodshed to make room for the little maples to stretch upward. Then we loaded a lot of stuff to take back to town -- the pole saw, the splitter, fencing and fence posts, a borrowed post-hole digger, a smelly garbage can, rummage sale items – you know, stuff that would be hard to carry in the Jeep.
Mike, Hallie, and Nick had installed the fencing years ago to protect the lilacs. I called it my compound, but yesterday we took it down. I’ll miss that fence, but the lilacs had outgrown the enclosure and the fence made mowing and trimming difficult. We brought the fencing to town to protect the Leyland Cypress trees on the bank behind the house.
The hummingbirds are drinking much less nectar. We just don’t have as many eager customers. With this last trip I brought another wide-mouth feeder – so much easier to fill and clean!
We saw a rattler in the road Tuesday morning -- #4 for the year. He was lethargic – didn’t even bother to coil or rattle when Mike nudged him. Probably cold.
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| A smokey day last week |
The smoke from wildfires has drifted in and out, but this morning was as clear as we've seen since it all began earlier this month. Unfortunately, I left the camera in town this trip.
KW
Maybe you could find a recipe for a ginger frosting or glaze to bring back some pizzaz to your cookies.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I've only gotten one holiday email. Well, maybe a couple. I went through my emails a while ago and unsubscribed from many places and I actually need to do it again. Too many to wade through when I'm more interested in stitching than looking.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, in the kitchen I'm finding I need to check and recheck my recipe before I think I've put everything in. Strange things happen if I don't! You're not alone!!
Icing is a good idea, Hallie, but then the cookies aren't packable. I made these for Mike to take on his road trip.
ReplyDeleteI sign up for email from fabric and yarn retailers. I love to see what's new, and though I buy little, I want to see the deals. It doesn't take me long to discard any message that doesn't interest me. I see it moving more and more to Facebook, though, and that will be the deal breaker for me.
It's good to know I'm not alone in my kitchen difficulties. It's been happening to me for years, though. I might leave out the salt or the yeast or some other essential ingredient. And then there's the scorching. That happens, too. One of my favorite stories is when Harriet left the sugar out of the pies she brought to our Thanksgiving dinner, and we politely didn't tell her.
Hey, those cookies are just fine.
ReplyDeleteI remember the pie incident. 🤗
ReplyDelete