Bees are Powerful

I posted the first picture to prove that I'm not really unattractive as a general rule because the second picture does not show me in my best light and there's always a chance that someone who doesn't know me reads this. I wasn't really sure about posting the picture at all but it's just so fascinating. Two tiny, tiny little stingers from two little bees did quite the job on me. Biology is just so impressive. Mind you, the picture below in two days after the original sting. Thank heavens for ice packs, Benadryl, and anti-itch cream.

Latest Food

We kept not getting the latest cinnamon bread eaten so I made bread pudding for breakfast on Sunday. I'd never done it before. It was delicious. The recipe is basically this one.

We had some broccoli hanging out in the fridge and a lot of eggs so quiche was the obvious choice the other night. I found this recipe and made only a couple of minor adjustments based on what we had...okay, not so minor; minor for me? Bacon was about 1/4 lb. of ends that I had left from a batch we bought from a local farmer, Swiss cheese got replaced by cheddar, butter got left out, I used a can of evaporated milk instead of fresh, and added broccoli. Eggs, flour, salt and onion were unchanged. Not having the crust on it really cut down on the prep time and we didn't miss it. The egg/flour was enough to make it almost bready so it held form well but it was also very moist and gooey at the same time.

Q decided that both of these recipes need to make it into the rotation.

Saturday's Highlights

We got the bees transferred to the new hive, pictures coming soon. I didn't get pics when we were done today because I was too busy nursing my stings. I irritated them a bit and wasn't wearing a net so I got stung on my upper lip and on my eyebrow. They're still swollen and super tender to the touch but it could be worse. Q was the one wearing a net and gloves so he escaped unscathed. They had five frames in the original box and we were amazed how much progress they've already made in building comb on them. They've already almost completely filled one of the frames. We're choosing a biodynamic beekeeping route and, rather than giving them foundation we're just giving empty frames and letting them build their own comb. So far, they're doing a great job. We'll have to keep a close eye on them during this major blossom time so they don't run out of room.

We went up to Portland this afternoon to the peerless Portland Nursery to get our grapes. We already missed bare root season and I didn't want them to run out of the potted varieties that we wanted. We got a Concord (for juice and jelly), a Niagara (white table grape), a Muller Thurgau, and a Muscat Ottenel. The last two are wine grapes whose juices apparently work well on their own or blended with each other. We also got a raspberry. It's going to be anticlimactic when the finished product is at first just posts with wire strung between them and sticks planted between them but I'm looking forward to watching them develop. We also picked up a raspberry for the final section of that area, farthest from the street.

They have some great looking apple trees that are grafted M27 rootstock, which only becomes about 4' trees. I think that we'll use the bed at the far side of the driveway and put in a half-dozen to help feed our cider making in the future. We'll have to figure out how we could get them home...

Speaking of cider, we bottled 20 bottles tonight. This batch is the clearest we've made yet and, judging by taste we got from the tail end of the bottle, it's going to mature into our best tasting batch to date.

Making Cinnamon Bread

I've been trying to perfect cinnamon bread, the standard being what I remember of my grandmother's. I've got her recipe. I've got her cinnamon and sugar shaker. I had lessons from her as an adult before she died. It seems like it should be easier than this. :)

Most importantly - roll out the dough really, really long. Second most importantly - listen to her voice in your head constantly saying, "well, maybe a little more than that" and "don't forget the edges". I've started shaking it on thickly then spritzing it down with a mister of water, then sprinkling again.


Using the above method, I finally got visible rings in this last batch. It was sort of an unattractive loaf but it was also gluten-free so the dough was a major pain to work with. It was still yummy though.

The recipe as I've adapted it (the recipe as it was created)

• 1 1/2 cups whey - constantly trying to use it up from yogurt making (1 1/8 c scalded milk + 6T warm water for dissolving the yeast)
• 2 T sugar (1/4 c + 2 T sugar)
• 1 1/2 t salt (same)
• 1 egg (same)
• 5 c flour - I've been using spelt or rice/tapioca/potato starch/xanthan gum blends (5 c white flour)
• 1 T yeast (same)

I've been making the dough in the bread machine - liquids in first, sugar and salt second, flour on top, yeast poured into a hollow made in the flour mountain. I then prepare the loaf, let it have a final rise and bake it at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Digit and String

Digit's had a thing for strings since he was a kitten. His latest best friend is a piece of a tie that was too long from a shirt I made. We often hear a loud insistent meow nearby, whether we're in bed or watching TV or making dinner, and turn to see a cat intensely, pointedly looking up at us and then down at "String". He sleeps with it and carries it around the house, and now, thanks to the magic of video, makes a fool of himself on the internet with it. The first one (before we were filming) was better. He got going faster and faster until it finally flew off the end of his tail. It was totally like he was, inadvertently, teaching String how to play crack-the-whip.

Pollen Question Answered

Thank you internet! That site along with a little bit of other research has led me to believe that the orange pollen is probably dandelions and the yellow is probably the cherry tree. I'm totally going to have to keep my eyes open to see what pollen colors the bees bring back throughout the season.

Bees wear Legwarmers?

I haven't been able to capture it in a photograph but the bees are coming back with full pollen baskets from two different sources. Many return with neon orange or bright yellow huge fuzzy clumps on their back legs. They seriously look exactly like Flashdance bees. I wonder what plants the different colors are from. Hmmmm...keeping bees just keeps raising more and more questions.Isn't this a great picture of my many pets. Digit and Binky love the fact that I have the door open so I can hear the buzzing and that I'm hanging out with them in their favorite sun spot. Cat heaven.

Blueberry in bloom, a picture I promised my Colorado mama (who still is living under the threat of spring snows). It was prettier, with more fresh blossoms, last week but I forgot to take a picture.