Hot buns fresh from the oven...

Or the freezer.

I love old recipes and this one is no exception. My mother-in-law gave it to me and she got it from her friend way back when. These buns are light, a little sweet and so good. They work well as a side roll with dinner, for sandwiches or as hamburger buns. My man says they remind him of cottages - that's were he first ate them. I love them because they're easy to make.

You can freeze the buns and reheat in a 375° oven for 8 minutes. They get a nice crust on them but are still soft and warm inside.

Betty Russell's Air Buns

Proof yeast
1 pkg	yeast
½ Cup	warm water
1 tsp	sugar
In a large bread bowl
3½ Cup	warm water
½ Cup	sugar
½ Cup	melted shortening
2 tsp	salt
Add
1 Tbsp	vinegar
Add yeast to bowl
Add
5 Cups	flour, work 'til smooth
Add
5 Cups	flour, work 'til smooth, sticky/soft dough

I knead the dough a bit to get all the flour worked in but that's it.

Let the dough sit out 2hours or overnight (my MIL does this but it can overflow the bowl so keep that in mind).
Punch the dough down and let it rest 1 hour.
Shape into buns, put on pans (I line mine with parchment) and let rise 2 hours.
Bake in a 375° oven for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!

My patience rewarded

Do you ever think of purple as a fall colour? Not red, not orange, not golden yellow, think bright purple. Here, let me help by showing you my Toad Lily:

It might have a strange name but it's a beautiful flower that blooms in my shade garden in the fall. After a disappointing fall last year where the buds were killed off by an early frost, I'm excited to see the blooms this year!

For when it's cold outside...

...and rainy.

Curried carrot soup

Sorry there's no scratch and snitch because the aroma is devine.

We had a roast chicken last night so I made stock with the carcass. In the fall/winter season, I'll often steam root veggies in a bit of broth and then puree it with an immersion blender for an easy soup for lunch. Just use whatever veggie you like and add some seasoning, spice or herbs. If you're feeling decadent, add a bit of cream or sautee the veggies first in butter.

For today's soup I sauteed three carrots in butter and curry powder. I then added some chicken stock to steam the carrots. When they were soft, I pureed, then added enough stock to thin to the right consistency. After adjusting for taste and bringing the temp back up, I had a satisfying lunch of soup, homemade bread and butter, and a pear for dessert. yum!

PS. curses on cold butter!

Walking through the farm

The kids are in school - have been for a week - and I'm breathing a sigh of relief. Back to routines, back to some quiet time for me to do with as I choose. Echo and I go for long walks. We may not live in the country but we can pretend. Come with us...

Ash Lane in the Experimental Farm

We went the long way round

Some odd looking fungus

The sky threatened rain and then the sun shone through

Morningside Lane

One happy dog

Of course there are cows on Cow Lane

A stump on the forest path