Indiana, Anderson - Wednesday, May 21, 2014 - Timberline Valley RV Resort

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDSON KYLE!!

Yesterday we put up our flags.  We forgot to put the stand under the tire when we set up so Greg unhooked all of the utilities outside and I secured the cookie jar inside.  As Greg moved the coach about 8” forward I slid the flag pole stand in so the tire would sit on it as he backed up the 8 “ and put us back where we started.

The wind has been whipping all day but we have avoided getting any rain.  As I write this a little after 5:00, it looks like we might not continue to be so lucky.  Naturally, when I went out to take a picture the wind died down.

 

 

Today was a recipe testing day.  My first test was a bread recipe that had only four ingredients; flour, yeast, salt and honey plus water.  I was intrigued by the ingredients and wondered if it might not be a simple recipe granddaughter Kenzie could use for her 4-H project this year.  It was good, but not extra special.  If I am going to go to the trouble of making bread from scratch only an extra special recipe is a keeper.  I don’t have a heavy duty stand mixer, so I’m mixing by hand and then kneading for about 10 minutes.  I’m also puzzled that it didn’t round up in the pan.  After it had risen the second time it was rounded up slightly over the top of the pan, but it fell somewhat during baking.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the hot air that is circulating in the convection oven.  The texture was fine and it didn’t look as if it had fallen, I’ll see if the next bread recipe does the same thing.

I made broccoli cheddar soup for lunch.  This wasn’t a test, I had made it before.  You'll note that I keep forgetting to take nice pictures before we jump in for the taste test.

Daughter Desira gave us some rhubarb so the next test was a rhubarb cake with a cinnamon crunch topping.  Once again good, but we decided we liked rhubarb crisp better.  We aren’t throwing this out, but it isn’t on the keeper list.

Spinach Artichoke Dip was next, definitely a keeper, but I need to add more cheese than the recipe called for to make it a little looser.

Glazed Sausage and Pineapple Bits turned out really good.  I saw a recipe but I didn’t have what it called for to make the sauce, so I made one from half orange sauce and half barbeque sauce.  The recipe called for them to be baked for 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees.  I picked 20 minutes, I think 15 would have been better.

Last on the list was Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.  I had never tried dipped fruit and the strawberries were so nice I just couldn’t resist giving it a try.  I used the semi-sweet chocolate I prefer rather than the milk chocolate Greg prefers.  I hate he won’t really like them J. 

Needless to say, after all of our taste testing I didn’t fix an actual meal for this evening.