Warm Weather Food

I know that some of you sweet people still have snow on the ground. But with our temperatures over 80 today, my mind is on summer!

My favorite summer meal is sandwiches--with the sandwich filling stuffed into Pita Bread! Pita is quite possibly one of the easiest yeast breads to make. I've been making it for years and we never tire of it.

This is my favorite recipe. Sometimes I do add a teaspoon of salt to the ingredients, but the original recipe does not call for it. The three ingredients listed are all there is to it.

Pita Bread

1 tbsp. yeast

1 ¼ cup tepid water

3 to 4 cups whole wheat flour or ½ white ( I usually use only one cup of wheat flour in this recipe, but I have made it with all whole wheat and it works very well).

Dissolve yeast in tepid water. Stir in two cups of flour. Beat with 50 vigorous strokes to work up the gluten and add air.

Add the rest of the flour a half cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and can be kneaded.

Knead the dough in the bowl or on a floured board for about 10 minutes, adding flour if needed unto the dough is elastic and smooth and no longer sticks to your fingers.

Shape the dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter. I usually make 10 balls from this amount of dough. Flatten each ball on a lightly floured surface and with a rolling pin, roll each ball into an approximately 5 inch round, one quarter inch thick. The final size of the round may vary, just try to keep the thickness even and about ¼ inch.

Put on baking sheets and let rise 45 minutes or until slightly risen. Preheat over 500 degrees (must be very hot for bread to ’puff’). Turn the rounds upside down on to the baking sheet just before you put them in the oven.

Place baking sheet on oven rack and bake 5 minutes, or until they are well puffed. They will be hard when they first come out of the oven, but will soften as they cool. They’ll keep unfrozen 4-6 days, depending on the temperature, and can be frozen for 6 months.

NOTE: THERE IS NO FAT OR OIL IN THIS RECIPE.THERE IS NO SALT IN THIS RECIPE

I hope you try this sometime and enjoy the results!

R~Mary

Sunday Afternoon

It is a beautiful Sunday afternoon here at the house. We will probably see 80 degrees by sometime later today. Almost a little too warm. I love temperatures in the 70s, but we are known for going straight from winter to summer around here, so we don't always get those lovely mild temps for very long.

Our church service was short this morning~only Sunday School and then singing. Our pastor's sweet wife fell and broke her hip late yesterday and is having surgery today. All of you please keep her in your prayers. Her name is Jeanie.

A blessed Sunday to you all,

R~Mary

Beautiful Tuesday Morning!

It is nice and frosty and cold (20s) outside this morning~and sunny!!!! After all the rain we've had for the past few weeks, I'll take the nip if it means sunshine!

Spring has finally really come to these mountains. I rode the back roads with my hubby on Friday and yesterday, and all the dogwoods and red buds are really gorgeous. I tried to take some pictures of the dogwoods, but they just didn't show up very well.

I am anxious to get my herb beds cleaned out and also to get some new things planted. I'll probably wait another week, at least, on planting anything outdoors, just to be on the safe side. Our 'frost date' is just a couple of days away, but I've been fooled by it more than once!

One thing I'm getting ready to plant in some peat pots is Black-eyed Susan vine. Have any of you ever grown it? It is a very pretty little vine, but very hard to start from seed. Last year, I planted some in a tub outside and it took over 2 months for it to come up! I'd really forgotten all about it by the time it made its appearance!

So, how is your spring coming along? Do you have any plants already started indoors?

Happy spring,

R~Mary

April Showers. . .

They say that April showers bring May flowers. . .well, we're going to deserve a lot of those flowers with all of the rain we've been having! It seems we have been under a lot of flood warnings these past few weeks.



We don't have to worry about it flooding right here at our home~but sometimes getting out of here to town can be a little dangerous for anyone that doesn't wait for the water to recede from the low water bridge at the end of the road.

Yesterday, I rode with my husband back in the mountains and the sky was dark and looked ready to pour for most of the day. It never really rained on us, though, which I was thankful for.

Above is a picture I snapped from out back at one of the remote stations we visited. I hope to get some really pretty pictures to share with all of you, once we get past all this crazy weather.

The dogwoods and red buds are starting to bloom in my yard and quite a few dandelions are springing up. They look so cheery in this gloomy weather!


R~Mary