Bakin' and bikin'

I'm spoiled.

I have a live-in chef. His name is Kyle. He makes pretty much all meals but breakfast and dessert (yes, dessert is considered a meal in this house; and both of those are my specialty).

And I love it.

But when I get a chance to shine I take full advantage.

The ever-popular berry tart, my new summer fave.

Lately I've gotten the baking bug. Luckily it has been unseasonably cool the past week or so, and so the oven has been runnin' full steam on my days off.

See, I have this list written down of things I want to do this year, and it's a reference for me when I'm sitting around saying "I'm bored" (I know, hard to believe that happens here where there are so many things to do, but sometimes I need a little reminder to get me off the couch...). On this list are a few foods that I wanted to hand-make instead of buy, like bread and jam. I made jam before and it was actually really fun and satisfying, AND I haven't had to buy the expensive all-natural, organic jam like I used to at the store since last fall -- even better!

So this week I decided to tackle high-altitude bread baking. Whitefish is at about 3,000 feet which is just at the cut-off for needing to adjust for altitude. So I found some recipes online and gave it a shot.

First attempt - ehh not entirely stoked at the final product. Especially since the loaf rolled off the counter onto the floor and just about busted into pieces (by some miracle it stayed together...) when I was dumping it out of the pan. The flavor was nice and nutty (100% whole wheat) but it didn't rise much so was really dense and short.

Second attempt - voila! More yeast and kneading and the thing rose to the heavens! AND the second recipe didn't have any oil so FAT FREE (though more honey next time, definitely more honey).

So of course I HAD to make some blackberry jam to go with this delicious bread. I found a recipe (by the way, the bread and jam came from http://highaltitudecooking.blogspot.com) that didn't require ANY sugar, just honey, berries and citrus, and used gelatin instead of pectin. Good and good for ya, even better!

AND to top it all off I made a zucchini and yellow squash quiche. My very first pie crust and very first quiche. Not too shabby, and quite tasty!

I don't know how long this kick will last, but both Kyle and I are enjoying it while it does, that's for sure.

And oh yes, I had a nice trail ride the other night and just wanted to share, once again, why I love Montana. (Though I could have done without the black and blue leg from tumbling end over end down the singletrack after attempting to go over a huge log...but that just comes with the territory and my penchant for hurting myself).