Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies in Demarle Bon Cook Round 6 Tray

Yesterday I was with a friend having lunch at the local bakery/bread company.

The display case there is such a treat to see.  And in the case there were cookies in this large round shape.

We agreed we have to try this.

Today she's coming for dinner with her husband and I decided to have these for dessert.

It took three tries to get the baking time and temp. correct.

Each one of these very large cookies are about the same amount as 5 cookies.  I ended up cutting them in wedges and sharing around.

Each regular batch of Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies makes 8 to 9 cookies this size.

Fill the tray about 1/2 to 2/3 full and bake at 325 degrees for 23 minutes.

Here they are before removing from the tray:

This is not necessarily something I will repeat.  But I wanted to do it once anyway.

Honey Boat Delicata Squash and a Handmade Rib Basket

A few days ago I was basket weaving with friends and our hostess shared her delight in finding Honey Boat Delicata Squash at our local farm stand.

Today we made a special trip out to the country and picked up a couple.

In the background of the photo are the saved seeds and maybe I will be in the mood to plant them next spring.

This special sweet squash was developed by Dr. James Baggett of Oregon State University.

And we did enjoy it for supper tonight seasoned with "Maldon Sea Salt Flakes" (another story for another time), avocado oil and thin sliced shallots.  Baked at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Before baking:

 

After Baking: 

My new large rib basket.  Started last spring and finished this past week.  

It took three classes to finish this one.  Orange, red and yellow. 

Today's farm stand purchases:  Honey Nut Squash, Honey Boat Squash, Heirloom tomatoes.

Another photo in better lighting:

Ripening Green Tomatoes

This year I wasn't going to plant tomatoes.

And then a friend gave me two cherry tomato plants.

This year our first frost came October 7th, which is about two weeks early.

And I brought in all the green tomatoes and put them on plates in front of the French doors.

 

Within 5 days many had ripened so I baked the ripe ones 

plus there were more than fit in the pan that day.  

The next photo shows the baked cherry tomatoes sprinkled with avocado oil and sea salt.  These were done at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Then we turned the oven off and left them in the oven with the door closed.  

Here they are some of the consolidated tomatoes.  Not shown: large round bowl was also full and didn't make it in the photo.

 

Today is October 25th and I just baked the last of the tomatoes except the few in this small dish:

  They ripened within 3 weeks.

In years past, I have gathered green heirloom tomatoes from frozen vines and laid them out to ripen.  We used them as they turned red and we were eating the last of them in January. 

Looks like the cherry tomatoes ripen much faster off the vine than the heirlooms.

Rose Petal Jelly

Thirteen heirloom "Ebbtide" roses became rose petal jelly today.

Two years ago I was browsing the Internet and found an article about making rose petal jelly.

I had never heard of such a thing and thought I might like to make it some day.

Now the roses are in bloom and I needed several from one plant.

Today's creation is my second attempt and it did not set up right....until I added some boiling time.

The first attempt from last week was an utter failure.  And I followed the recipe to the letter because not long ago someone made what they thought was a helpful remark after reading my pie making attempts that I should consider following instructions when I am cooking.

Since following the instructions didn't work on the first batch I found a new recipe and promptly altered it because I only had 2 cups of petals instead of three as written in the instructions.


And to get that many fresh, organic, pesticide free petals all at the same time may take another year.

Here is the altered recipe which makes 3.5 cups:

2  cups organic, heirloom Ebbtide rose petals.
4 cups fresh water
1 lemon, juiced and strained
1 package of Sure Jell pectin
2 cups sugar

Bring the water and rose petals to a boil and then reduce to barely a simmer for 15 minutes.

Soon the petals lose their color.

Strain the petals from the juice and press on the petals to get all of the liquid out.

Add lemon juice.  This preserves the jelly and restores the beautiful color.

Return mixture to the pan and whisk in a slow stream of pectin.  Mix thoroughly.

Place the pan back on a burner and bring to a boil. Stirring as you bring it back to a boil.

Once the mixture is boiling, continue stirring as you add the sugar.

Now boil two minutes.

NOTE: The next day, since it did not set up, I put it back in a pan, brought it to a boil and set the timer for two minutes.  This time it worked perfectly.

So I have added this note today to boil it for 4 minutes.  However, be cautious about this because it might matter how rapidly it is boiling.

The first time, I boiled it gently for two minutes and the second time I boiled it at a hotter temperature and it would have been considered a rapid boil.

Pour into sterilized jars.

I am not planning to seal the jars.

Instead, I'm going to put some in the freezer and use up the rest in the recommended two months by sharing and giving tea parties.

Next morning:  locally made rustic bread, toasted with lots of real butter and rose petal jelly:

It tasted amazing.  Just the right balance of tart and sweet.  I love how it tastes like I imagined...like heirloom roses smell.

After the first batch failed, my amazing, supportive husband recommended that I just keep at it until it works.  He says not many things in life are a total success the first time through.  Love that man!

Homemade Sausage and Kale Sprouts

This post is dedicated to my niece, "J".

We had a phone conversation today and we shared things we love to do and a few things we are enjoying in the moment.

"J" loved her delicious oatmeal for breakfast and is enjoying having one of her older sisters/husband come home for a visit.

She loves math and is breezing through her fractions.  She also loves to read and is currently enjoying Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

I'm celebrating that "J" came into my life.

"J", I said I would send photos of my breakfast.  But then I took it a little further as you can see.

And I look forward to our call next week to report all the fun we had this week.

I have some amazing people in my life.

I am also fortunate to have a grown daughter who among other things, likes to research.

She's generously shares many things she learns and today I'm specifically thinking about healthy food.

It just makes sense to primarily eat fresh food without artificial preservatives.

We like breakfast meat around here, so I set out to make my own sausage with the most pure ingredients I could reasonably obtain.

This is my favorite "go to" cookbook.

This is the recipe:

You can see I made a note about the cinnamon.  Some of the children said it was too much and requested it be left out.  However, I like it. When they aren't around, cinnamon goes in.

Last night I made up a batch so it was all ready to go for breakfast this morning.  Rather than patties, I just made it crumbled.  It's so easy to warm up that way and add it to an omelette.

This morning when I went out to the garden to take out the crushed egg shells (great calcium for homegrown tomatoes), I found, much to my delight, a big patch of volunteer kale sprouts just to the right of the path.

  I took a handful to apply to the top of my breakfast.  Yum!

And right there beside it is a bunch of peppermint coming up.  It is so invasive, so it's going to have to be taken out.   But some will be turned into tea...and bath herbs too.

 I did not have my camera with me so I went back out after breakfast with the camera and picked another handful of kale sprouts for my lunch today.

Breakfast:  Egg, Homemade Sausage, Kale Sprouts.

And another batch cleaned and drying for lunch:

And just because it's so beautiful even when we are having a spring rain I had to take a photo of the very welcome green grass, daffodils and service berry tea just beginning to blossom.

Basket Weaving and Birthday Tea

For awhile now a plan has been in place to weave baskets on a certain day.  The reason being that it was spring break and our family members who are students could be included without skipping school.
 
A fun time was had by all and it wasn't all about the baskets.  We laughed and enjoyed the time.  Taking a hand crafted basket home at the end of the day was a bonus.

So that I may respect the privacy of others, I'm including a photo of our basket party without heads:

Inside my picnic basket I now have a smaller basket to hold a bottle of olive oil, a bottle of flavored vinegar and a travel cup.  I usually take a salad on a picnic (and to basket making class) and those bottles/cup used to roll around a bit in the basket.  No more, I've made a basket customized for the task:

Here is the basket I finished the week before, though this is the unfinished version of it.

And the one before that which was from my mother's birthday:

And now that we have family visiting from another city and a birthday is coming up, it was fun to prepare for it the day before and arrive home from basket class to have a birthday tea party waiting in the fridge.