Keeping A Simple Eye

I've been wanting to simplify my life ... but then I tried to bake bread. I purchased hundreds of pounds of grain and a hand crank grain mill (just in case the electricity went out.)  Then came the bread machine, followed by an electric grain mill.  I can now grind large quanitities of fresh flour, but my bread machine doesn't seem to like it.  It does a beautiful job with store bought bread flour, but it gives me bricks when I use my whole wheat.  I obviously don't know what I'm doing.  Aren't we women supposed to know how to do this sort of stuff?  How come I can't even bake a simple wholesome loaf of bread - the staff of life - for my family?

(1)

Time to haul out the books, watch YouTube videos, and get down to basics.  I've got a stone for the oven and my 'peel' is on order.  (I love throwing this word about.  I didn't even know what one was.  They're those big wonderful wooden paddles that you place your bread or pizza on to slide them into the oven.)

So, I've decided to venture into the world of 'Artisan Baking'with whole grains.  I love my food storage and all those lovely buckets of grain, but you just can't stand there forever gazing fondly at your oat groats.  You need to use your food storage.  I am rather pleased at the prospect of being able to bake bread under any set of circumstances though, especially if you can't get to the store BECAUSE OF A SNOWSTORM THAT JUST WON'T GO AWAY! 

Here's my first batch of goop.

7 1/2 cups white hard winter wheat flour (fresh from my grinder)

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) vital wheat gluten

4 cups lukewarm water

1-2 tablespoons of whole seed mixture for sprinkling on top. 
Flax and Sesame seeds are good. 

Get yourself a nice big bowl and mix all the dry ingredients together first.  Then add the water, which will form a very wet dough.  Cover it with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for a couple of hours or so.  Don't punch the dough down or deflate it.  You want to try and keep the gas from escaping.  Refrigerate and use over the next 14 days.  When you're ready to bake, just tear off a grapefruit size section of dough and shape it into a loaf.  Since it's pretty sticky, coat your hands with flour.  You and your wedding ring will be a lot happier.  Note:  It seems like I get a better lift on my loaves if I let the dough set a few days.

This is baking day.  After I pull off a section of dough, I round it and tuck the edges under as I rotate it in my hands.  Kneading is not necessary.  This I like!  I let it rest on the pizza peel or parchment paper, and let it rise for about 90 minutes. TIP:  Sprinkle your surface with cornmeal.  It prevents the loaf from sticking.

I've already placed a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven, and a rimmed cookie sheet on the bottom rack. Then I preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  With my serrated knife I gently slice the top of the loaf with 1/4 inch deep cuts.  I slide the loaf onto the hot stone, then carefully pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the cookie sheet below to create a nice steamy environment for the bread to cook in.

Here are the results from my first try.   After the bread cooked for 30 minutes, I took it out and placed it on a rack to cool.  I didn't get much of a rise this time. Apparently whole grains need a longer rest time than white doughs.  It's not your pretty puffy store bread, but I tell you, I am more satisfied after eating one slice of this bread than the bread I buy at the store.   What's more, you don't have the chemicals found in single acting baking powder, nor the aluminum salt found in the double acting baking powder which may be harmful to one's health. (2) 

Practise makes perfect.  Here's a picture of a loaf I baked after I let the dough set in the frig a couple of days.  It seemed to hold a better shape ... or maybe I was just starting to get the hang of it.

(1) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
(2) "Baking powders are available both with and without aluminum compounds.[15] Some people prefer not to use baking powder with aluminum because they believe it gives food a vaguely metallic taste, and because of a possible (but controversial) link between aluminum consumption and Alzheimer's disease (see Aluminum).[16]"
SOURCE:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder

Shenandoah Valley Snowstorm - Feb, 2010

I don't think an explanation is necessary.  These shots were taken after the first storm hit us.  Our 4-rail fence looks like a 2-rail fence here and the horses are getting downright stir crazy.  Will spring ever arrive?  Frosty ponies, hens wanting to sit on frozen eggs, and little "hunka munkas" trying to squeeze into warm places - like my house - are just as impatient.
 
BradyCat has proven himself the ultimate mouser this year though.  He spends long periods of time staring between the refrigerator and dishwasher, listening for little scratching sounds.  He eventually pounces, I scream, we scurry around the room - me trying to save the mouse and Brady trying to kill it.  Then Cody Bear has to get in on the action.  It's quite a commotion.  If I succeed, hunka gets a free ride to the woods.  If Brady wins, its little body is placed in the garage for our screech owl to find.  I'm pathetic.
Oh well.  At least my garden seeds have arrived.  I ordered them as soon as the garden catalogs began to trickle in.  I was finally able to find Candy Roaster Squash seeds, but I've missed out on the True Red Cranberry Pole Dry Beans and the Mennonite Hyacinth Color Pole Bean seeds. They were sold out for the season.

I can't wait to see and taste the different varieties of heirloom tomatoes I've chosen.  Amazon Chocolate Tomato, Grandma Josie's White Tomato, the Sabre Ukrainian Heirloom Tomato, Chalks Early Gem (one of the few great tomatoes listed in 'Slow Food USA Ark of Taste'), Amish Canner and Riesentomate aus Siebenburgen are new for me.  I've decided the Amish Canner will be my main canning tomato and the San Marzano will do nicely for sauces.  And just for fun I've ordered Dinosaur Kale for the grandkids.

I swear I'm going to chart everything carefully this year!!  I've plotted rotations, estimated dates for spring, summer and fall plantings, and dedicated raised beds for polycultural plantings.  I'm trying hulless oats, corn, and wheat in the upper garden. This will also be my first year working with soybeans and a combination of rye & vetch for biomass.  I still need to find some more space for herbs though. 

Don't you just love the planning stage?  I'm a great planner, but the doer in me can tend to get hung up on the little things and gardening can turn out to be downright costly if you're not careful.  I mean, when 5 seeds can run you $2.50 you want to be sure you know what you're doing.  So it's time to get serious.  This is a year for making gardening count.

Our First Snow

It's Currier & Ives time!  Our first snow of the season is softly falling over the land, as well as, the last of my purple pansies.  I will miss them.

The garlic beds have been mulched ...

and my plans for a new cobblestone path down to a covered well is hidden from sight.  Perhaps it's for the best.  I don't think my husband can handle the idea of another project right now.  You can see the main hen house and raised condo's in the back.  I think the girls deserve some nice warm oatmeal with bugs on a day like today. 

Next year I'll be 60 and I'm beginning to feel the extra steps and deeper bends more than ever. I'm also in the process of removing everything permanent from the upper garden.  It's such a mess.  I'm just going to have it plowed under.  Well, at least it got it's year of rest. From now on it will be dedicated to cover crops and grains.

The two raised beds I had in the main garden have been hauled down to the back yard.  A total of ten 4x15 ft. raised beds will be set up close to the house.  No chance of out-of-sight, out-of-mind happening here.  They will be so much easier to water, too.  The first two beds (shown above) are filled with sheet composting.  I've used this method in the past following the directions found in the book "Gaia's Garden, A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture" by Toby Hemenway.  You wouldn't believe all the life I found in my garden soil the following spring. 

Well ... time to give the girls their warm oatmeal ...  I'm sure the dogs will want to go with me ...

UPDATE:  6:30 p.m. - 5 inches of snow on the back deck railing.

Group Horseback Riding

What a beautiful time of year to go horseback riding - no flys or sweltering heat.  Neighbor George had a Trail Ride Extravaganza this year and I wanted to make sure I got some photos even though I missed out on the ride itself.

Misty and Jerry on matching buckskins, Mike on Peaches, Steve on Lakoda, and Jared bringing up the rear on Waco.

(photo courtesy of Neighbor George)

Saturday, October 31, 2009:   It's so great to have access to trails right in our own backyard. George was good enough to volunteer Lakoda for me and swore they'd put me UP on him and take me OFF. Lakoda is probably the steadiest of all, but it's still a matter of what could happen in between. It was SO tempting though. Next year for sure!

 I managed to get some shots after everyone came back.  The guys were just finishing up bathing the horses when I arrived. 

Here's Lakoda drying off.

And Mike finishing off his little mare, Peaches.  She's only 4.  Combination Paso Fino/Quarter horse.

A pretty little BLM mustang.

And a downright irritable looking herd after all was said and done.

So next year, Major and I are going to give it a try ... with a little help from good neighbors.

Sunday, November 1, 2009:  Everyone was off for the big trail ride over at Andy Guest Shenandoah River State Park in Bentonville,VA this morning. There were about 15 riders in all.  Some decided not to show up due to the rains we had early this morning.  The park borders the Shenandoah River and has some really nice views.  Since I didn't make it, George is going to let me use some of the shots he took today.  You can find more information about the park by going to www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/and.shtml.

(Here are some of George's shots of the trailride.)

Steve holding Shiloh, and here's Neighbor George (middle) with his son Jared (right) who just turned 16.

Breaktime.  This part looks pretty easy to me.

Even the wooded trails seem manageable.

Trailriders Denise and Dorothy.  Looks like so much fun.  Thanks George for the photos!

*      *      *      *      *

So, I'm waiting back at the ranch ... No mishaps that I know of.  It looked like everyone had a great time.

 

Here's the old gentleman of the herd, Lakoda.  They just finished unloading him.  Looks like he's anxious to get back to the barn.

Isn't it about time to eat?

Horses come first. 

I must not forget ... Neighbor Tammy (George's wife) layed out a terrific spread.  She's such a good cook!

Black Walnuts

What a glorious morning. 

You want me to get up now???

After booting BradyCat out of bed, I decided to take advantage of the weather and start collecting various nuts around the property.

Black Walnuts and Hickory Nuts

I have just begun!  I stagger a bit (ankle still giving me fits), but I have great hopes that I'll be able to master this new HUGE nut cracker I purchased from Lehman's last year.  I'll continue to update my progress on the nut harvest here. 

I may even try acorns.  Our neighbor has some nice White Oaks.  Since acorns were a staple of the Native Americans, I'm curious about how they processed and cooked these little nuts.

2009 Whobrey-Knight Family Reunion

Every year the family gets together for a small family reunion.  For some of us it's the only time we get to see our cousins, hug our aunts, and try to figure out who all the little ones belong to.  This year there was a 50's theme with period costume, a hula hoop contest, small auction, and lots of good food.  Here are a few highlights.

Christie Eblin welcomed everyone at the front door. 

  Gotta have that classic Green Beans and Potato dish.  Carol Martin made a delicious batch of Settlement Beans, and Paula Whobrey brought a pasta dish and a decadent dessert.  I wish I could remember who brought what.  I do recall chicken and dumplings, homemade chocolate cake, brownies, a refried bean salad, and so much more.  In any event, we ate too much.  Carol, please post the recipe for Settlement Beans in the comment section!

l. to r. Carla (Webb) Fleener, Doris (Whobrey) Web (my aunt), Virginia (Whobrey) Walker (my mother), Sharon (Whobrey) Finney (my cousin).  Mom was 85 this year and Aunt Doris a remarkable 90.

Cousin Gayle (Martin) Eblin worked behind the scenes manning the sound system.  (I think I see her way back in the corner in blue.)  And here's some more cousins!  David Webb, Becky (Webb) Hahn and Carla (Webb) Fleener.

Even the little ones apeared to have fun.  I think this is my cousin Janis' grandson.  I don't know ... I can't keep them straight anymore.

I'm afraid the hat didn't win any prizes.  Here's my sister Debra (Oathout) Stocker and her husband Gene. 

But our family auction did!  We had one of the biggest hauls ever.  Does anyone know where Christie lives?

I'll be looking for more family photos!  E-mail me.  You know who you are. :)))

Tomato Bruschetta - For Lack of a Better Title

What a busy weekend!  We started off power washing  the back deck only to be diverted into a horse roundup.  Neighbor George's herd of red horses found an open gate and decided to visit our herd of horses.  (Very exciting!)  In addition, there was an air show down the road, a classic car show downtown, and a "Dancin' Downtown" event scheduled for later that evening. 

Dearest Friend and I decided to catch a matinee at the little theatre on Main Street though.  I had heard such nice things about the movie "Julie and Julia" that I wanted to see it before it left town.  It's about a young woman who decides to blog her experiences as she tries to master ALL the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook, "Mastering The Fine Art of French Cooking".   We are also given a glimpse into the life of Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep, and how she became a chef extraordinaire.  I must say I loved it, but thank goodness for chocolate raisenettes and popcorn.  To sit through this movie with no sustenance would have been sheer torture.  One of the first dishes we had to endure up on the big screen was fresh Tomato Bruschetta.  Our ooohs and awwws no doubt disturbed the other 2 people in the theatre, but we didn't care.  I whispered to Dearest Friend, "I have a recipe for that at home."

Our theatre feels like it's straight out of the 50's.  I find a great deal of comfort in that.  There's no scooping the mall looking for a parking space, no long lines to wait in while the damp night air ruins your hairdo, and no fear that just as you get to the window the cashier tells you the show's sold out. 

You just walk in and pay Megan at the cash register, and Cheyenne gets your hot buttered popcorn for you.  It's all very civilized.

Historic memorabilia and movie posters adorn the walls.  Here's a photo of how the theatre used to look.

And of course the original "Going My Way" guy, Bing Crosby is not  forgotten.

After the show, we made our way out through the lobby.  There was no one in sight so we took our time looking about.

Plenty of daylight still left ... guess we'll mosy on down Main Street and see what's going on.

There's the old "Weavers" building.  I heard it used to be a fine clothing department store.  Not everyone could afford to buy their clothes there.  If you did, you had money.

And this is where you kept it.

A local barber shop.

Plenty of seating.  Looks like they have two chairs.

The Feed Mill is just beyond the Visitors Center.  My husband and I stop in occasionally for their seafood bread bowl and sweet tea.

Heading down towards the Commons.

They were beginning to block off the street for the evening festivities so we thought it time to head back to the car.  I dropped Dearest Friend off at her house and after I got home the phone rang.  "What's that recipe for Tomato Bruschetta?"  The next day I asked Dearest Friend how the Bruschetta turned out.  She said it was delicious.  *sigh* It was such a lovely weekend.

Since I don't happen to own a copy of "Mastering the Fine Art of French Cooking", here's the next best thing ... although Julia would probably beg to differ.

TOMATO BRUSCHETTA

Source:  Mother Earth News, April/May Issue 2008, p. 109

12 slices of whole wheat bread, about 1 1/2 inches thick.  (They used a baguette loaf in the movie.)

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup virgin olive oil

2 cups red tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp. capers

1 Tbsp. sweet basil (or more to taste), chopped

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese, grated

Make your bread slices small enough to hold easily in your hand, about 3 to 4 inches wide, and toast them golden brown on both sides.  Mince the garlic very fine or force it through a garlic press, then combine it with the olive oil in a work bowl.  Add the tomatoes, capers, sweet basil, lemon juice and seasonings.  Spread the mixture on the toasted bread and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.  Serve immediately.