Cost of making a loaf of white bread!

For fun, I computed what it actually costs to make a loaf of bread in a bread maker from West Bend. I used a traditional recipe (see insert), containing bread flower, sugar, salt, 2% milk and bread machine yeast. Here is the result:

Ingredient	Amt in grams	Unit cost
Yeast	10	$0.40
Flour	549	$0.33
Butter	28	$0.26
Milk	312	$0.32
Electricity	.5 kWh	$0.05
Total		$1.36

When compared to the cost of a regular loaf of commercial bread this seems quite sane. Also, there are no preservatives in the bread, which will shorten the shelf life, but that’s OK with me!

Here was the end result!

Where is winter? Not in my cold frames!

It’s mid November and after a string of seventy degree days, the temperatures have dropped all the way down to the sixties! Wow. I can hardly believe how nice it is right at the moment! A quick excursion out to my small cold frames disclosed some very happy campers in the forms of lettuce, kale and even basil!

Now, I’m aware that it’s going to get cold at some point with even some frigid days thrown in when January hits, but all the same, it’s great to get some added food on the table this time of year.

A mini November harvest!

Actually, it's still fall and will be until December the 21st! But, after going through a few frosty nights now, I was surprised once again by how vegetables do endure. That came home to me when I went out back to harvest some kale to make for my dinner tonight. I harvested a few leaves and then noticed a nice bell pepper hanging on a pant that was devoid of leaves. I then discovered three beautiful and ripe cherry tomatoes! And just when I thought my cup had already 'runnith over', I cam across radishes that were huge! I brought a few inside thinking that they must be pretty tough, but again I was wrong. They tasted fabulous!

OK, I am now ready for winter! Maybe....