Correction....

The entire logo did show this time. Excellent!!!!

New Logo

Actually, I've had this logo for a while, but it will be new to the blog. Unfortunatly, the entire logo will not show here, but it gives you a good idea!

Keep watching for the change!

Vanilla Orchid

Earlier in the year, I purchased a vanilla orchid culture at the Land at Disney World. This is my third attempt as they seem to be tricky, but so far so good at this point.

I do hope that it will continue to grow well and eventually get beans from it. (From what I read I will need to hand pollinate but that's ok!)

Although the plant doesn't look all that large, it started from a culture only a few inches high!

Visitor Count Vanished????

I wonder what happened to my visitor map? The count disappeared! There were thousands in the count and the map was full of location spots. Hmmm...... Sad as it was very interesting to see where everyone was from, all over the world!

Panera Going Cage Free

Just a quick note:

I got a brief quote in this article at Forbes

For All Who Celebrate

Happy Thanksgiving!

Starting from Seed

I like to try starting things from seed. So, I thought I would try my hand at some citrus. My key lime tree is over a year old, and the smaller seedlings are orange trees.

I do seem to be running into a slight problem with the key lime, as you can see, some of the leaves are folding in on themselves. Usually means that something is up with it. Now I have to pin it down.

Drying Sourdough Starter

I have so much extra starter, like 3 quart jars full. When I have to remove some starter from my crock at "feeding time", I hate to throw it away, so I would just put it in jars and stick it in the fridge. I would then use it as back up in case something went wrong with my crock, use for giveaways, etc. However, not many people that I know bake bread, so it builds quickly. And the jars are taking up space.

As a result, I have begun to dry the starter, a jar at a time. It is easy to do. (Pictures below, in order of steps.)

I place parchment paper on a platter or cookie sheet. I then spread a thin layer of starter on it, set in an out of the way place (where no dust is flying and little kitty paws can't disturb), and just let it air dry. (Oven or dehydration heat can affect the yeast.) When THROUGHLY dry,  I then peel off the paper (which you can reuse) and  break into small pieces. You can store in pieces or grind into a powder, which will be what I will do next. Store in dry, airtight jar.

Note that I always make sure that the starter is active before I dry it. So the jar that I am drying the contents of, is kept out of the fridge, and fed once a day (sometimes every other day) until I have dried it all.