Baking and gardening

 Or something like it.

Since it's warmish, I can't use my wood stove anymore (it has some draft issues if the weather is warm). It was easy to cook food that required a long time to simmer on wood burner, but I prefer faster coocking dishes now. Like pizzas, or pies/pasties.

Yesterday I made some minced meat pasties, they are easy. Only time consuming part is making dough - I make all dough by hand, I don't have mixer. Since I found podcasts from our national broadcasting company, I have found working the dough is so much funnier. Or funnier... I've learnt a lot about evolution of writing, vaccines, gmo, space travel, far right movements, deep sea recearch.

Now when I'm cooking or baking, I have my phone on.

(on the sidenote, it's raining hail now, and squirrels are trying to find food from bird feeders and at the same time they try to stay in cover; there's plenty of extra seeds on the ground - actually, I think we'll have thunder!)

Anyway, meat pasties: basic yeast bread dough, minced fried meat, cooked rice, spices and a raw egg. They can be deep fried or baked in the oven, I prefer the oven. They are not like pierogies, because dough is made with yeast, but the idea is the same. And filling can be just about everything, veggies, meats and even sweet like fruit jam (most common apple compote).

I should make them more often.

Ok, toda I'll bake kind of doughnuts. Again I'm making yeast dough (sweet this time), and I'm deep frying doughnuts. They are rolled in sugar after frying and they are soooo goood... And a lot of work. I stumbled upon a churro receipe, so while I have hot oil, I might try to bake churros, too. I've never tried them, so I've no idea if kids like them or not.

Gardening, on the other hand. I've sowed some seeds, my tomatoes and okra are quite nice, spinach and kale have just sprouted. Tomorrow I'll need to sow corn and pumpkins and zucchinis, and soon all cabbages and such. And I still don't have my polytunnel up.

But boys have been busy raking the lawn, so first time in ages it resembles something like a real lawn. I've cut several bushes, and our Siberian pea bushes had suffered because of the snow load so there were quite a meny broken or badlybending branches. I used handsaw to cut them, they look so much better now. But I still have many other bushes to tackle - all next week, of course.

And I need to visit Ikea (to replace those broken plates) and we'll be going to movies! There's a special showing of the film Sisu (not for the faint hearted OR serious minded), my brother arranged it!