Sorry, gotta post my cooking photos!

Food - Bread and Calzones

It may or may not be evident from some of my previous posts, but I love to cook. I've even been baking my own bread all summer, using the book The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It's a technique that requires no kneading at all - just mix the dough up, let it sit for a while, then come back later, shape a loaf or whatever, and bake it. (There's also a website: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ )

I made a loaf of their Buttermilk Bread yesterday - using yogurt as a substitute for actual buttermilk - and it turned out so good, so perfect, so pretty, that I decided I was going to have to post a photo of it.

It tasted wonderful, too!

But that wasn't all.

Going to town

As if Munising Falls weren't an exciting shift, today I got to work at the Interagency Visitor Center in town! Munising Falls was basically the same as Miner's Castle, with just minor differences in how things are arranged. But the Interagency Center, which has both National Park Service and National Forest Service staff, is a different setup entirely. Even the store is different - it's a different supplier, so I couldn't use the cash registers. Also, this is where everyone has to come to purchase backcountry permits in order to go backpacking in the park - basically reserving your campsite in advance. I couldn't make out the permits, either - but I did help a lot of people to figure out what their options were and make their final decision. I also helped a lot of people with more general questions about the area, while the other rangers at the desk took care of sales and permits. It was pretty slow at times, but when people showed up they kept doing it in bursts, so there would be a rush of activity and several people talking at once - then, empty! It was fun, though - it's a totally different dynamic. And it was fun getting to catch up with some of the people who I've only seen now and then since the beginning of the summer.

Another stroll through the marsh

I always have a hard time making myself actually go out and do anything after work, but I psyched myself up to go right after work and walk the loop at Sand Point Marsh. It's been a couple of months since I was through there, and I wanted to catch things before fall really got started.

If you want to compare these with pictures I took earlier this summer, check out these entries:

http://naturebrenda.blogspot.com/2014/05/first-explorations-of-pictured-rocks.html

http://naturebrenda.blogspot.com/2014/07/this-week-was-pretty-special-because-my.html

http://naturebrenda.blogspot.com/2014/07/sand-point-marsh-trail.html

There's a lot more growing out in the water than there was during that first walk-through in May! 

Shaking things up...

On Friday, and again today, I worked at the Munising Falls visitor center instead of at Miner's Castle. I think they wanted to make sure we all get at least a chance to see what the other visitor centers are like. 

It was pretty quiet, but it's been quiet at Miner's Castle as well. Mostly the conversations were similar, just telling about the waterfall walk instead of the overlook walk. It was nice being just down the street from my house instead of fifteen minutes away!

Whitney is usually the one who works at Munising Falls, and I had to take a picture of the amazing drawing she has done on the dry-erase board. Not everyone would have the patience to get this kind of detail!

Alternate Plan

I've been having more bike trouble! Earlier this summer when I brought my bicycle in to get the seat fixed, I also told them that the front brake had stopped working. They were able to pop it back into place right then, and I guessed that I had somehow pulled it loose when I was getting the bike on and off the bike rack. When I got the bike home I went to ride down the street  a little to see how the new seat felt - and the front brake wasn't working! I managed to get it back on by looking at how the rear brake was attached, and I figured it must have been putting it on the bike rack to bring it back that popped it loose again.

Then on Monday I decided to go for a short ride after work - just up the street to take some pictures of the jewelweed that is blooming all along the road. I rode out over the lawn - a little bumpy - and found that the brake was popped out...

I fixed it and went on riding - and when I got to the jewelweed and tried to stop, the front brake wasn't working! This is a very unpleasant sensation! The rear brake still worked but that doesn't do as much, and it takes longer to stop and it feels like you're out of even more out of control. So I went to pop the brake back in, and as I was looking at the rear one to compare, I noticed that the front  one looked bent. The brake wasn't being held into place like it should. I rode back to the house, very carefully - I'd have to take the bike back into the shop. At least I got some photos of the jewelweed.

More on the Monarchs

I haven't seen any monarchs for the last few days, because it's been pouring rain. But up until then, they've been all over the flowers across from the visitor center. I was talking to a visitor who lives in the area, and she said she's been watching the caterpillars all over the milkweed plants in her yard, and that this most recent generation is the one that will actually make it to Mexico. I had thought the ones I was seeing had flown in from Canada - and so they might have, but apparently a lot of them are just the latest generation.

I looked it up online, and it turns out that Monarchs have three or four generations each summer, but the last one is triggered by weather changes to develop differently, both in physiology and behavior - which is why they are able to make that long journey to overwinter down in Mexico. Amazing!

Foraging in the kitchen

Last night I looked up serviceberry recipes. Serviceberries are apparently also called Juneberries or Saskatoons. I really wanted to actually make something with all that fruit, not just eat it plain. I ended up making jam using this recipe. It's pretty simple - just fruit, sugar, a little water and lemon juice. Apparently the berries have enough natural pectin that it's not necessary to add more - it makes sense, since they're similar to apples, and that's what storebought pectin is made from.

I had an empty jam jar from the grocery store, and I sterilized it in boiling water. Then I washed the berries, put about half of them in the food processor and pulsed it a few times, and put everything together in a pot with a little water. The original recipe was for four cups of fruit; I had about two and a half. I actually reduced the sugar by half again, as comments from several jam recipes had said it turned out very sweet - and the fruit is already quite sweet. I didn't have a lemon to add zest with, but I did have lemon juice, so I added a squirt of that, then got it simmering and let it cook until it thickened. I carefully spooned it into the sterilized jar, and screwed the lid on tight. Later, when it had cooled some, I checked and the lid had sealed! I'm still keeping it in the refrigerator, but it was interesting to see that the lid resealed under the correct conditions.

I did keep some of the jam out, scraping it from the pot into a small container to try later! I've just been eating the blueberries and huckleberries, but if I get a lot the next time I pick behind the house, I may have to do some more recipe searches!