Buttermilk Lemon Tarragon Bread

I tried a new herb! I am pretty proud of myself, as silly as that is. The herb I decided to try is Tarragon. I made this my first in the herb list, because of the recipe I found.  It is for Buttermilk Lemon Tarragon Bread, over at From My Sweet Heart. Just to let you know how big a challenge this was, and how little I use fresh herbs, I wasn't sure if my store even sold this. I figured my best bet was in going to the co-op. At first I could only find parsley and cilantro, but then I found another section with herbs! And, there was even a nice little package of tarragon.  Success!

From some reading I did I tarragon, I learned that it would have a sweet anise flavor. I have not been a huge fan of anise flavored foods in the past, so I was concerned that I may not be pleased with the flavor. But, it's delicious! I sampled a bit of a leaf before baking the bread, and it passed my first inspection, so I went on with the recipe. This bread is absolutely wonderful. It is amazingly moist.  Such a range of flavors.... from the fragrant tarragon, a nice hit from the black pepper, and the wonderful bit of lemon. You must try this! 

I am excited to try tarragon in other foods now, as well as learn about other herbs!

Buttermilk Lemon Tarragon Bread  (Source From My Sweet Heart)

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 T. sugar

1 T.  finely chopped fresh tarragon

1 T. lemon zest

4 T. unsalted butter, melted

1 c. buttermilk

1/4 c. sour cream  (I substituted Greek Yogurt)

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare an 8 x 3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  Melt butter and set aside.  

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, sugar, tarragon and lemon zest.  In another bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream and buttermilk.  Pour the melted butter and the egg mixture over the flour mixture and combine just to moisten the dry ingredients.  

Spoon dough into prepared bread pan.  Bake for about 50-55 minutes or until the top springs back lightly when touched in the center.  Place the pan on a cooling rack until just warm.  This bread will keep at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap for 1 week.

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The Gardening Season Begins

 The garden was just a blank canvas staring at me this weekend. It's size is well over doubled from last year.
The year before, my garden was about 3' by 3'. 

Quite an expansion! Now where to begin??

 

200 onion plants. Walla Walla, Candy, and Texas 1015. They were the first to get planted.

I am so excited for them to be ready to join us for a dinner!

 

So excited to get everything in the ground.... 

Lettuce, spinach, peas, beans, squash, pumpkins.... to name a few.

I did not see my man much this weekend.  

He was home from truck driving, but out in the tractor working on planting.

I always have one of these little companions near by. Isn't he cute?

Lemon Brownies

I feel like I have been getting really stuck in some food ruts lately, so I am challenging myself this month to get out of the ruts and try some new recipes and ingredients.

Another goal for this season is to start using more fresh herbs. I can grow almost any herb this season, so I want to learn how to use them and take advantage of them. More to follow on this goal and challenge for myself.

This week, in my baking, I was breaking away from the chocolate and peanut butter routine, and experimenting with a couple lemon recipes. I had a lemon cookie failure, that was probably more the fault of my oven than the baker :) Then success with lemon brownies! These are such a nice change of pace. Bright lemony flavor. Quick and easy. 

Lemon Brownies  (source Rita's Recipes)

3/4 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c.butter, soft

2 eggs

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1T)

zest from 1/2 lemon (about 1t)

Glaze

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 T lemon juice

additional lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 8 x8 baking pan.  Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the softened butter. In another bowl, whisk eggs with the lemon juice and zest. Add to the larger bowl and mix well.

Pour into prepared 8X8 pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.  

Mix together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest.  Pour over brownies.

Growing Chickens

I don't know when birds officially move from being called "chicks" to "chickens", but my flock is getting so big, I think they now qualify as chickens!

 

Everyone is growing like crazy. The Cornish will be sent off to be butchered in about two weeks.

The Reds should be laying eggs, anywhere from two to four months from now.

The Reds LOVE the new perch I put up for them.  

It's so fun re-purposing old junk into functional stuff for the girls!

Lots of lessons learned and tons of ideas for when we expand the flock. 

This week we learned that they love to eat nettles! Keep eating girls, lots more to go!