Saturday, January 19, 2008

land of bread and honey

Christmas Eve we did a grab bag gift exchange (with a fun little game that involved stealing gifts etc). Mark's dad, Everett, and Marlene brought jars of honey made in Rochester, Minnesota, as their grab bag gifts. Mark ended up with one (yay! way to go, Mark!!). This honey is sooooo good - and as a bonus, it qualifies as locally grown food. Later Marlene told me to check out their website, Johnston Honey, because they have their beautiful gardens featured on the site. I've been checking them out, and they are indeed beautiful. So I thought I should share them with my blogger friends - especially because so many of you, like me, are looking at snow and/or cold instead of lovely flowers right now. I couldn't see that they have a slideshow feature, so the site is kind of cumbersome to use, but well worth the time. Let me know what you think.

Today (and for the next few days) we are hovering right around zero for highs, so I made homemade vegetable soup and crusty rolls for tonight's dinner. The rolls look really good, and I may have to sneak one before dinner time! But I wanted to show you the breadboard Mark made me. I read (was it in Artisan Bread??) that the best way to store cut crusty bread was with the cut side down on a breadboard. One night last week we had to go out for awhile, and I couldn't leave the bread on the pullout breadboard because Mr Kobie would have helped himself to it while we were gone. So I told Mark I needed a small breadboard that I could set back on the counter. Two days later I had this lovely board. He used maple and walnut to make it, and it is beautiful. He's taking over the garage with his woodshop, but I'm thinking it might not be a bad thing! :)
Hope you all are surviving this cold weather (or enjoying the warm temps if that's your reality!!). I'm hoping to get back into the blogging stuff soon.

15 comments:

Kitt said...

Handy hubby! You're very lucky. The board is beautiful. The bread looks nice, too!

Diana LaMarre said...

Thanks for the link, Kris. I enjoyed looking at some beautiful gardens on this bitterly cold day.

I thought the Red Silver ornamental grass in James' garden was quite stunning.

Your rolls look delicious on your new cutting board. Now you need to make some biscuits for that honey! :)

Susie said...

Your rolls look wonderful. I bet they were perfect with the veggie soup. Mark did a wonderful job on that breadboard.
x0

Forebears said...

Not only is the board lovely, but the bread is gorgeous. I can never make my bread look that pretty!

kate said...

It looks as if Mark's taking over the garage is a great thing! The bread board is a thing of beauty. And those rolls must taste delicious, since they certainly look it.

Gina said...

I enjoyed the link {daylily gorgeous} and noticed they have some nice recipes using honey including several bread recipes!

Your rolls look scrummy, we had homegrown zucchini and potato soup with my focaccia for tea LOL.
I must make your herb loaf next time.

Your board is fantastic, however did you manage to get it so soon after mentioning?? My hubby is very crafty with wood too but has trouble finishing off things! Always starting a new project LOL :O)

Greenie Gardens said...

What a handy husband! Those rolls make my mouth water they look soooo good! I love the local honey we get in Michigan. There is a guy in Ann Arbor that puts it in used jars and leaves it on his porch with a box for the money! His is the best!

Giddy said...

As we say here in Maine, that cutting board is right handsome! And those rolls look so wonderful. I can almost smell the aroma wafting clear over here. Wait! That's my bread in the oven! Can't thank you enough for posting that wonderful recipe. I'm hooked.

Anonymous said...

Oh that bread!!! I'm coming over there right now for some soup and i can eat all that bread!

violetlady said...

Hi, Kris - just checking in. I love homemade soup and crusty bread, especially in cold weather. How do you make your rolls?

Reginas Cottage said...

Wonderful bread and very simple.
Here in Germany we had not cold weather,it's to warm for this time.
Have a nice evening
Regina

Trailhead said...

I'm going to go show this breadboard to Mr. T. And by "show" I mean ask him when he's going to get back in his wood shop and make something that cool.

Peter Hoh said...

Kris, just went through and caught up on all the news I've missed by hibernating this past month. Congrats on having a grandchild on the way! The rolls look great. Nice photos from the arboretum. I've got to work at increasing winter interest in my garden.

Connie said...

I followed your link to view some of the wonderful gardens....the SUMMER pics are the ones I enjoyed the most. My eyes are craving COLOR with all the whiteness that surrounds us right now.
Great looking bread and very nice of your hubby to make the pretty bread board!

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Yummy looking bread and a beautiful bread board.