Category: Construction

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dark Cherries and Almond Flour

Anya made me birthday cookies! I wanted to save the recipe because they turned out really well.

 
Ingredients:
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup frozen dark cherries, roughly chopped
Instructions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with the maple syrup until well mixed. The mixture will be looser than a typical creamed butter-sugar mixture due to the syrup.
  4. Mix in the Greek yogurt until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
  5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. The dough will be a bit softer due to the syrup and yogurt.
  6. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and frozen dark cherries until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
  7. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie to allow for spreading.
  8. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centers are set but still soft. If you made really big cookies, this may be more like 20 minutes!
  9. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Greenhouse Reinforcement

The biggest problem I’ve seen with the cheap metal frame / plastic covering high tunnel greenhouses is that water will pool up on the top, and the weight of the water will collapse the whole thing.

I’ve seen a few different approaches to preventing the plastic from forming a dish and holding gallons of water. We opted for a simpler route that has, thus far, proven effective. We bought three EMT tubes — metal tubes — to create a firmer ridge-line in the greenhouse. I had 1/2″ CPVC tubing from the low tunnel greenhouse. From being held in an arch over several seasons, it was permanently bent. We cut those tubes in half, and placed them above the ridge line tubes. The ends were then pulled under the next set of horizontal bars of the greenhouse frame. This holds them in place firmly. They prevent water from pooling — the last section of the greenhouse still does pool, so I will eventually add something else in that section. It is, however, a small enough weight that the greenhouse frame can support it.

Greenhouse Repair

Last year, we built a 26′ greenhouse in the garden. It took a few days to get everything sorted, and we tried a few different methods to adhere the thing to the ground without any stunning successes. As we disconnected our most recent attempt, our phones blared a weather alert. A severe thunderstorm was headed our way! Looking to the west, it was really close. Rain started to fall and thunder cracked. We ran inside. For the next half hour, we all stood at the front windows watching the greenhouse not budge in this storm. Until …

My lovely greenhouse went somersaulting across the yard and became impaled on a tree. We extracted it and checked it over — some bent metal tubes, a broken tube, and several holes in the cover. It was so late in the year that we decided we didn’t actually need a greenhouse for the year & left it as a project for early spring this year. We did, however, purchase a few sections of 10′ EMT last year in preparation for the repair. Well, it’s early spring!

Scott pounded the end of an EMT and bent it in the vice, then drilled it to recreate the broken bottom pole. We fastened an EMT to a few bent tubes.

He then cut a section of copper tube and cross-drilled it so it could fit across the two sides of a broken tube.

A little more bending and straightening, and we were ready to put the cover on again. This time, there are dozens of concrete blocks holding it down. It’s been up for more than 24 hours … so we’re doing better than last year! Tomorrow, we’ll move the started plants into the greenhouse.

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf French bread (~16 ounces)
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Dash salt

Directions

Slice bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, and fresh whipped cream.