Yeasted Bread

The kids and I discovered the wonders of baking our own bread--a great way to pass the time on a rainy day (which seems to be every weekend these days...). Izzy loved kneading and "thwumping" the dough, and she diligently monitored the rising process.

See Mollie Katzen's The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook for a great guide to baking yeasted breads...lots of illustrations and expert advice (+yummy recipes!)

Artichokes!

(Sorry, too lazy to rotate the image!)

We have 4 artichoke plants, which have grown monstrously large this past month... I have been so concerned about the artichoke plants overcrowding my strawberries that I didn't think to look for artichoke blossoms (is that what they are?). We ate our first artichoke tonight, and have 2 more baby artichokes that will be ready to eat in about a week. Rigel and Izzy loved dipping the steamed leaves in Veganaise...Yum! Click here for some great ideas on artichokes from our local paper.