OBX Laughing Gulls

Laughing Gulls - Leucophaeus atricilla - are probably the most common gulls on the North Carolina coast.

They are shameless moochers, always looking for handouts. Here are some from our Cedar Island to Ocracoke ferry trip, and some others on Shackleford and Core Banks.

Pea Island NWR

Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is on Hatteras Island, just south of the Oregon Inlet bridge.

It is part of the Charles Kuralt Trail -  On the Refuge Road, which comprises several NWR's in northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia.

Pea Island is one of our favorite stopping points on NC Highway 12, the Outer Banks roadway that runs from Corolla and the Currituck National Estuarine Reserve in the north to the outskirts of the Down East village of Sea Level in Carteret County. It makes up 148 miles of the Outer Banks Scenic Byway.

Here are a few shots of the beach, and from the nature trail that runs out into the salt marshes on the sound side.

Shackleford Banks

Shackleford Banks is part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore; it is the southernmost island in the park. Barden's Inlet is at the east end, with Beaufort Inlet at the west.

Shackleford is one of Leece's favorite places.

Here are a few shots of our most recent visit, in June 2015:

At the west end of Shackleford, with Beaufort Inlet in the background.

Some of the famous Shackleford ponies. They have a Facebook page.

Snowy egret. The island is a haven for a large number of shore and marsh birds.

Leece in the dunes behind the maritime forest.

Looking up the island, ocean-side, to the Cape Lookout lighthouse on Core Banks.

New foal on the western end.

Looking across Barden's Inlet to the lighthouse on Core Banks.

Shelling in the shallows, in the bight of Cape Lookout, east end of Shackleford.

Juvenile laughing gull probing for eats.

Sand dollar heaven.

Whole spelt and whole einkorn

This is a good one. It's a basic whole wheat recipe, but we sub whole spelt flour from Vitamin Cottage for the whole wheat, and whole einkorn from Jovial for the bread flour.

We also add a quarter cup of brown flax seed, and a half cup of our special whole grain mix. For that, we take rolled oats, bulghur wheat, sunflower seeds, and Vitamin Cottage's 9-grain cereal, and run it through the blender to form a coarse flour.

Any basic whole wheat recipe will do; just make the flour substitutions as noted.

This is extremely good toasted, with butter and red plum preserves. Any other good fruit preserves will do as well.

"A View of Forever ..."

Leece posts about our recent visit to Pikes Peak:

"A View of Forever ..."

Focaccia

These are both from the same basic recipe. The only difference is the toppings.

Asiago/garlic focaccia

Parmesan/rosemary focaccia

The recipe:

2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rising dry yeast (1 packet)

1/2 teaspoon diastatic malt

1 1/2 cup warm water

2 tablespoons sugar or 4 tablespoons honey

3 1/2 to 4 cups flour

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

This is made with stand mixer.

Place the warm water, the yeast, and the sugar or honey in the mixer bowl. Blend it and let it set for three or four minutes. It will foam a bit. When that happens, it's time to start adding flour, a cup at a time.

When the flour is added and the kneading is underway, then dissolve the salt in a few tablespoons - two or three - and add that.

After that, add the olive oil.

Continue to knead on low. If the dough is too 'tough' add a bit more water, a tablespoon at a time. The dough should be smooth and elastic, but sticky, and it should not be 'heavy.'

You may have to stop the mixer and pull the dough off the hook from time-to-time. 

Dump the doughball onto a lightly floured surface, and fold it over itself several times, pushing it down. Kind of a knead, but not really.

Form it into a ball, and put it into a large bowl that has been well-oiled with olive oil. Turn the doughball until it is coated; this will keep it from drying out.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour. It should double in size.

Place parchment paper on a baking tin, lightly flour it - cornmeal is also acceptable for this - and turn the dough out onto this. Shape the dough into a rectangular loaf about an inch thick. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle toppings of choice - cheeses, olives, rosemary, Italian herbs, etc. Let it rise for another half hour, then bake at 425 degrees for 20 -25 minutes. Watch it carefully or you can overdo it at the end.

DinkyDau Billy's Ciabatta

Actually based on a French recipe from up around Quang Tri.

The street baker there in Cam Lộ didn't have a bread machine; what he did have was a kneading mixer taken from a nearby abandoned French air base. The motor had long given up the ghost, but the baker, being one to adapt, improvise, and overcome, rigged a treadmill powered by three or four of those yellowish-brown street curs. That turned the mechanism in the kneader. Not being a wastrel, as the street curs became less effective, the baker would cause them to end up in the soup pot, and a replacement would be drafted off the street.

Place ingredients into the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle, and Start. Dough will be quite sticky and wet once cycle is completed; resist the temptation to add more flour.

Place dough on a generously floured layer of parchment paper on a baking sheet, cover with a large bowl and let rise for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Spritz loaves with water. Place loaves in the oven, positioned on the middle rack. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

1 1/2 cups water
 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
 3 tblspoons honey
 1 tablespoon olive oil
 3 1/4 cups bread flour
 1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

If you want it dark, like this one, brush it with egg white. The original recipe uses duck egg white. If not, just spritz it with water.

Either way, you can sprinkle it with coarse salt. You can also, about ten minutes before finishing, sprinkle some minced garlic on top, as well as some grated Parmesan.