Monday, January 30, 2017

Cook'n by the Creek: Round or Square

Cook'n by the Creek: Round or Square: What could the pick be?  What is there round and square that we can make choices?  I really haven't thought about it until the other mor...

Round or Square

What could the pick be?  What is there round and square that we can make choices?  I really haven't thought about it until the other morning when I was making Buttermilk Biscuits.  Yes, I capitalized them....they are that important at Cook'n by the Creek.  I have never made square ones but the thought hit as I was pressing out the dough and it just happened to look more square than round.  So I made a definite square of the dough.  Brought out my favorite wide chopping knife and cut perfect squares for biscuits.  I liked them!  All the dough was used up  and no pressing the leftover dough like I do for the round cutter.  The less you work biscuit dough and rolled cookie dough the more tender the finished product.  Now I am thinking.........how did it take me so long to figure something so simple out?  I would like to think the brain cells are getting better with age. 
How about it?  Square biscuits and they taste just
as good as the round ones!  Some with sausage gravy
and a few with wild raspberry jam.
The next choice we prefer round.  Hay for our horse of course!  The square bales are so much more work from field to barn and feeding.  They are all handled by hand, lifting, throwing and stacking.  Then lifting and carrying again when we feed through the winter.  Now that big round bale is lifted by the hydraulics on the tractor.  Stab it in the field, lift it to the trailer to haul home and then use the tractor to get it off the trailer and stacked in the barn.  When winter comes it is the same, use the tractor and drive it to the field.  We never put a whole round bale in the field because we have a wild horse that loves to play with it.  He will push it, pull it, climb on it until it is spread all over.  We just pull some off the round bale and drive it back in the barn to keep it dry.  We have a very spoiled horse that has no idea just how lucky he is to be loved so much.

A couple months ago Dick bought some female Guinea Hens to go with our males.  Hopefully this spring we will  have a hen or two nesting.  They are noisy barnyard birds but also fun to watch. They are like watch dogs that give a warning when something comes near.  This winter we have had a fox, opossum and Red Tail Hawks after the chickens.  When the chicken stay in the barn we know there is a hawk out hawking them.  Now that winter is on the down hill slide we are thinking of when and how many peeps to get.  Our laying hens are down to 9 and 4 of them are getting old.  They are laying big eggs and not to frequent but giving us enough eggs to keep us happy.  I like to have extras to share with our neighbor. 

My favorite saying, it is going to get worse before it gets better.  This is what I say when a tangent hits to remodel, redecorate or haul out and reorganize.  The haul out and reorganize is what has been going on in my kitchen.  17 years with the same white dishes, time for a change.  I went completely out of my usual color picks.  Orange, brown and black is the new look around here.  The brown and black is a 4 place setting from my favorite potter, Kay Brooks from Belmont, NY.  The orange is a 4 place setting from Italy that I found on Amazon.  Still looking for another 4 place setting in maybe a deep olive green.  No luck so far but no hurry something will give the zing to buy.  Notice each 4 place setting is different.  For some reason I want variety this time and a mix of color on the table.  Alright back to the saying.  I had the kitchen cabinets emptied and contents all over the place.  All the white dishes along with dishes, glasses, cups, soup bowls, etc. are all wrapped and packed ready to go to the Salvation Army or Thrift Store.  The new dishes arrived and they are all in place.  Cabinets look like they should with lots of room which makes it easier to locate what is needed.  I found dishes that I forgot about and had not used in years.  Some was tough to let go but seriously I am enjoying organized cabinets.  Next.............the bedroom........the basement..............then the hubs junk/tool room.  The last one could be tricky!  I wanna clean like I'm moving.

Out with the old.


It did get better!
All finished!
If you live in our area and love winter it has been a beautiful weekend with lots of snow and cold temperatures.  Just the way we like it. The snowshoes will be coming out this week for a hike in the woods to look for animal tracks and our winter hot dog roast.