Saturday Adventures

Through the week our normal wake up time is 6am. Which I really don't mind. It's the getting everyone our the door part that I wish could be delay. But most Saturdays no one has to be anywhere too early and we can wake up without an alarm, sip tea or coffee for the hubby and just relax. The hubby and I usually visit some sort of feed store, seed store, hardware store or make a run to a local mill where we like to buy our flour and wheat berries. I was feeling a bit ambitious this Saturday and we purchased 25 pounds of unbleached white flour, so be expecting lots of baking photos from this girl. We also pulled all our garlic up. I am so excited about growing garlic. In the fall of 2015 I purchased siberian garlic from our local farmers market. I planted 17 little cloves and all of them grew and produced lovely garlic bulbs. We saved 34 cloves and planted them in the fall of 2016 and I am happy to report that all 34 of the siberian garlic produced bulbs. We tried a few other varieties but they didn't do as well. I think we will stick with what we started with. I am undecided on which is best having my own garlic or making garlic scape pesto. With more garlic this year came more scapes and I was able to make and freeze 7 1/2 cups of pesto. I froze it in 1/2 portions to eat on pasta, meat, add in soups or stews and on fresh baked bread or crackers.

If you would like to give garlic growing a try its pretty simple. In the fall buy some organic garlic. Plant it at the end of October. Cover with leaves and just do nothing. I do water mine when I start planting other vegetables outside in the spring. You can take the leaves off if you want. Don't be worried when it starts growing in the winter if you have a few warm days. It will be fine. The leaves on the garlic look like big flat grass and they get pretty tall but then around May you will notice that there is a round grass thing growing out and that is the scape. Once the scrape curls around in a circle its time to cut it off and make pesto. You keep your garlic in the ground until the leaves start yellowing, This may all sound weird but I promise it all makes sense once you see it in action.

Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe Ingredients 1 pound garlic scapes, cut into 2-inch pieces 1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (you can use pine nuts or any nuts you like) 1 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice salt and ground black pepper to taste Directions Blend the garlic scapes, sunflower seeds, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper together in a food processor until smooth. I thought I would also try to make my own saltine crackers today as well. I was super pleased with the first time batch.

Homemade Saltines 1 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 2 Tablespoons shortening 1/3 cup milk Mix together, form into ball, roll out thin, cut out into squares, poke holes so it doesnt bubble while baking. Bake at 375 degress 6-8 minutes. I rolled mine out to about the thickness of a tortilla. I will probably try to roll mine through the pasta machine next time for a more even thickness. You really have to watch them on the oven once they start browning it goes fast. So dont start looking around Pinterest of your crackers will burn. True Story.