Polly's Lotus - Pink Lips 2014 Update

If you are interested in growing Lotus Plant, I recommend Pink Lips.   It has survived the last four years, and still growing.   Last year's seedlings have grown up also, and I am waiting for it to wake up.
This morning, I caught it greeting the sunrise and slowly releasing its fragrance to make known of its presence.

The seedlings growing up from 2013 Pink Lips.  The container is half the height of the Mother's above.  Hope it will grow a beautiful princess.

July 1, 2014 morning.  Hello, World!
The true color is in the photo below using "Daylight" Setting.    'Flourescent" and "Tungsten" seem to have over emphasized the Pink/Purplish color.    But still Beautiful either way.

Using Camera's  'Daylight' setting.... I think it's more true to its color.

If you have Lotus Plants, please cut open the Seed Pod as soon as they are mature and Germinate them.   Don't wait till the seed is dry and brown.  The outer shell can turn into an extremely rock hard armor to protect it for...  500 years!!

Pink Lips can be purchased from http://tenmilecreeknursery.com/pink-lips-p-154.html

Not sure if the vendor is still in business, but this is some of the information they gave me about this PINK LIPS Lotus.

"We will certainly get a "Pink Lips" to you in a few weeks when we can 
be sure that it will arrive without freezing. This variety is a brand 
new hybrid developed by our friend, Dr. Daike Tian, while he was a 
graduate student at Auburn University. I wanted to check and make sure 
that you realized how big it gets. It will need a large, deep pot 
(about 48" in diameter and 3-4 feet in depth) because it is a large 
lotus. It will probably be between 6-8 feet tall. Does this still 
sound good?"

Because I planted Pink Lips in the Rubbermaid brand Trash Container as a planter, it managed to survive and grew up to 4 feet and reincarnate itself every year after a peaceful dormant winter period.     If the planter is very shallow the lotus could suffer in the winter from frost, rot, and die -- like my CHAWAN BASU and Pink Lady in the shallower planter.

Homemade Sandwich Baguettes

What a wonderful way to appreciate good sandwich with homemade mini-bugettes.

The Tip here is the amount of water added to the dry ingredients.  Make sure the dough has the right amount of water for the condition (storage)/age of your flour.   Make sure the dough does not feel tough already before the kneading starts - add a teaspoon of warm water at a time until the right tenderness of the dough is achieved before kneading begin.  And yes, depending on the type of bread you are trying to make, but tough dough has resulted often in a disappointment with the home oven.
7/1/2014 NOTE:  * Forgot to mention that Preferment / Poolish is part of the important ingredients to make light think crisp crust.     So give yourself a night before to make the Poolish.   Then add to the main dry ingredients. 

 Tender, airy, and light - Whew! 

How to Prep your Oatmeal Breakfast for Microwave cooking

Most likely everyone has experienced with cleaning after a microwave oven's glass tray and bowl covered with gooey overflowed oatmeal.  Whether it's a 800 Watt or 1000 Watt microwave or however large the bowl you use, it just overflow.  To minimize this lava flowing dilemma and the mess, give yourself a 30 minutes head ways before cooking your favorite morning oats and cereal grains by pre-soaking the oatmeal with hot water.   Then, cook the oatmeal in microwave as you would normally. 

The lava effect is much less and you spend time enjoying the oatmeal rather than spending time cleaning and eat a full bowl of oatmeal rather than half less a bowl of it.