On Books, Food, and Being Intentional

Pickled Beets

There are a bunch of things I should be doing right now, but my immense talent for procrastination is flexing it's muscle.

It's a cold and rainy day here in So Cal, which is rare and I'm enjoying it so much. I love hearing the sound of the rain pattering right outside the window. I think it's a good day for blueberry muffins.

The last time I went to the library I picked up two books by Sharon Astyk - Making Home, and Independence Days. I devoured Making Home and now I'm doing the same with Independence Days. Two wonderful books that talk about being a less consuming household, more intentional in how you live and your place on the earth, and preparing for emergencies, but not in a doomsday sort of way. Very practical, a little snarky, and delightful.

While Making Home is more about living lightly and intentionally, with a small focus on emergencies and preparedness, Independence Day is all about being prepared (at least food-wise) for whatever life may throw at you. And even though the whole message is "be prepared", she offers it up in a way that makes sense - Don't stock MREs for "the Big Crash", just change the way you buy and cook food to accommodate storing it and having it available if something happens. It makes no sense to just have dry beans on hand. You have to change your cooking to include those beans on a regular basis.

These books have been such a nice reminder for me, and have kind of kicked my butt back to where I was a few years ago as far as buying storable foods in bulk and cooking from the pantry, rather than my fridge (or fast food).

Trying to bet back to making all of our bread.

I'm now working on getting an inventory of what we have, what it would take to feed us for an extended period of time if something happened, and researching my options for buying in bulk again, but this time from more sustainable & local sources.

I began doing this at the beginning of last year a bit, and I'm so thankful I did because we had stores when Ben lost his job. Now it's a matter of using what we already have, and filling in the gaps.

I know it sounds weird, but I've really enjoyed Ben being without a "formal" job. It's been so fun to see how creative I can get again. And it has helped discipline me to get out of the laziness I had adopted so easily. Life is more complicated in some ways - mainly in that more work is required when it comes to growing, cooking, preserving, etc. -  but it also seems a lot more simple now. And I love when life is simple.

The Road To Here

It's been 13 months since last January (duh.). That's a long time since I last blogged, and a lot has happened.

In the past 13 months we acquired chickens, rebooted our garden after a year of not caring, had a whole lot of discussions about how frustrated we were with things, and how life had been so much more fun when we were "poor" (by society's standards) and we made everything count.

 

... Aaaaand then Ben lost his job in October. We are currently in what we have affectionately called "Operation: Plot Twist".  And the funny thing is... I have been so excited about it.

Ben has been without a job these past 4 months. Part of it by choice - we wanted to take some time off for family and refocusing. And now, as he has been looking and his industry is all but dead in this town right now, it's not quite as "by choice" anymore, but we're rolling with it.

I love seeing how all these things were put in place to help us through this stage.

 

Those chickens provide wonderful little orbs of (mostly) free protein.

The garden has given us a small amount of fresh veggies, and hopefully will give more this summer.

And our attitudes of wanting to "go back to the way things were" kind of prepped us for this, mentally.

I am loving the challenge. The challenge to not consume as much, to make things work again, to not just run to the store because I had become SO lazy about... Well pretty much everything. To get my entertainment from yarn and the library again, rather than going out. To cook from scratch again with what we have, and not eat out as much (again with the lazy. Oy.).

 

And my favorite part is seeing the little blessings, how God is providing. Like an unexpected tax return. Like Ben being called by his former boss to help finish shutting down the shop for a week. Like the little orders for Bumblewood that trickle in. Like our sweet, wonderful older neighbor who showed up with pounds of potatoes, beets, cabbages and turnips just because he loves our boys and likes to feed us.

The bounty is amazing, despite the lack of normal employment. And I'm so thankful for this little adventure.

Rebooting Life

Hello friend. Long time no see!

 

I think it's time to revive this little part of my life again. I feel like I'm blooming again after such a long time of being stuck in the cold and dark.

The last year has been so busy. So, so busy. And there has been so many Big Things taking up my brain and time and life.Trying to do everything, but not really being able to do anything and finally...

I broke.

I had spent so much time focusing on the things that I thought I was supposed to be focusing on, and had lost all the things that I used to love. The things that made me, me.

I spent so much time on Bumblewood, that I wasn't knitting or reading, I wasn't cooking or baking. I wasn't doing all the things that made me start that adventure in the first place. I spent so much time trying to keep together the things that were falling a part that I wasn't looking at the things that were amazing and beautiful and wonderful. 

There was no balance, and I fell off the scale and lost myself.

Well, now - I'm Back! At least, I'm getting there.

The drive is back. The passion for the things I loved before. I reasons for why I was doing what I was doing.

So here I am, writing again. But with a bit of an attitude change:

No demands. No trying to make it perfect. No schedule.

Just sharing what I feel like sharing, when I feel like sharing it. Going back to documenting our journey as it happens, and not trying to keep up with the self-imposed demands and deadlines. I thought about starting new, because I felt like this space wasn't pretty enough. But there is so much life here, so many stories and so much history, and I decided it wouldn't be fair to my past self to hide it.

Because life is messy. And I'm learning to embrace it.

2015 Here I Come

I am so excited for this new year, I can't even tell you. Last year, I pretty much missed the start of the year, and kind of half-assed some goals somewhere near the middle of January.

This year, totally different. I have so many goals and personal desires for this year. I want to make it so much better than the last two years. First, I have picked my "theme words" for 2015:

Grow & Simplify. 

I know, that kind of sounds like an oxymoron, but I can explain! I want to Grow in my knowledge and skills, but Simplify my schedule and how I do things so I don't go crazy. Because I'm tired of feeling crazy.

So! Here's what I'd like to accomplish for us as a household, and my personal goals for this year.

Household:

• Get Chickens
• Get Rabbit(s)
• Payoff Truck (we broke down and finally bought one that will actually fit us all. Yes, it meant going back into debt, but we felt it was needed, and have a goal of paying it off in a year.)
• Eat as much from the Garden as possible
• Successfully grow potatoes
• Put up as much food as possible
• Lower grocery budget to as small as comfortably possible

Personal:

• Paint & Decorate Kitchen (this is a personal goal, since it's more of a desire than a need-to)
• Spin all the fiber that I have right now
• Finish the knits I have half-started and waiting
• Redo current knitting patterns (change name & layout)
• Design more/Write up current knitting designs
• Watch the Creative Live classes I bought 
• Cook through the Essential Pepin book
• Make decent sourdough bread
• Read through my 2015 book list (more on that later)
• Simplify our schedule & routine (includes redoing and utilizing Household Management Binder and creating a work flow schedule for Bumblewood)

Did you guys see that first one? That one that says GET CHICKENS? YES! Ben approved getting chickens, and I am so excited!! I will finally have my own flock of chickens! Our goal for chickens is mostly egg laying, but also a source of meat as well. Not our only source, obviously, but we're trying it out here before we go to a bigger scale on our someday-farm. The rabbit was his idea, we're trying out one for meat as well.

I have a big desire to get back into gardening and putting up food this year. For a few reasons - it's cheaper, it's healthier, and I think it's good for my soul. Hopefully we will be able to grow a decent enough amount to lower our grocery bill, which has climbed a lot the last two years. Four hungry boys means lots of food. I will also be looking for other sources for bulk items, as well as revisiting the price list to get the best prices again.

This is the first time I've made such an extensive personal goals list. I figured this year I should just write down all the things I want to do so that I don't forget, and see how it goes. Since my goal is to Grow & Simplify, writing these down will allow me to schedule these activities throughout the year so that I can make time to accomplish them.

The other big one for the year is to read through my 2015 book list. I'm still adding books to it, but I have a ton of homesteading how-to & lifestyle books, some herbal medicine books, and a few others. I'm sure I'll add more as I find goodies at the library.

I think that's a pretty good list for now, and I'll probably be adding a few more as the year goes on and I think of things.

Do you have any goals or desires for the year? Do you pick a theme for the year?

Back To Basics: Avoiding Food Waste

I really must make this pie again.

I hate throwing away food. Any food. Hate, hate, hate. Ask Ben, I'm sure he'll tell you how many times I say I hate to waste food (he hates it too). I think of it as poor management on my part, so I sort of feel like a failure if I have to toss something. It wastes what we've been given and the time spent on it, making me feel like I've squandered my husband's hard work. And it's darn good food, so why aren't we eating it?

So, I try very hard to make sure I avoid throwing things out. Now, this doesn't mean eating things that are... coming alive. It just means planning ahead a bit, or changing the plan to accommodate things in the fridge that need to be used.

I think it also goes along with the Back to Basics approach. If you are wasting less, you are buying less, and your life is simpler and easier both in saving money and time.

On one hand it's easy if I have a simple, bare ingredient. Oh, we need to eat the lettuce before it goes bad so we'll have a salad with dinner. Or, just changing the plan at the end of the week and instead of fixing a whole new meal we just have a leftover night. But generally, the big parts of a meal - even if leftover - get eaten up, leaving me with little bits of whatever. Meat, breads, potatoes, etc.

How do I avoid throwing away good food? Recycle!

Leftover Mashed Potatoes: They never get eaten around here for some reason and even though I try to make just enough for one night, we usually have at least a cup left. What to do? Make potato bread! Or use in potato soup. Or, if you have enough (or feel like mashing another potato to round it out) Shephard's pie is always a goodie. In fact, Shepard's pie works double time if you have leftover potatoes AND ground meat!

Along the same lines, leftover baked or greasy potatoes can be used as breakfast hash browns or in a scramble or burrito. In a casserole (Country Casserole, anyone?), or just mash them and use the above ideas!

Leftover Bread: I usually have extra biscuits, french bread, or corn bread from any given meal. Instead of making a new batch of bread product for the next dinner, a lot of times I'll just re-serve the ones from the night (or two) before so they get eaten. Easy! If a lot of bread is going stale, I'll either save it for bread crumbs or make a bread pudding.

Also along the same lines, leftover grains like oatmeal and such can be thrown into the bread dough for extra goodness.

Leftover Rice or Pasta: When I make rice I make a big batch. Either plain or with chicken bouillon for extra flavor.  Any leftovers usually just get served with the next meal (even if it doesn't really go) so it gets eaten. It's a really good filler. Same for pasta. And both can be thrown into a batch of soup.

Leftover Meat: Most of the time, I try to have leftover meat. For example, when we have a whole chicken for Sunday dinner I have already planned on the leftovers for a chicken casserole or some such for later in the week. But if you've not planned on extra bits of meat and now have them, you can put them in a casserole, on a pizza, in a soup, a salad, a pie, a sandwich, mix with beans to stretch it and use for tacos... Gosh the list goes on for using up extra meat. If it's a tiny bit, stick in the freezer and stockpile it until you have enough for whatever dish you'd like to make.

Leftover Whole Dishes: If it's something like a casserole, a pot of beans or soup, or a Chicken Pot Pie (things that are more complete, than just ingredients), those are easy to dish out into single serve sizes and pop in the freezer. Next time you need a quick lunch or fast dinner just pull them out a reheat! Putting things in the freezer for later use is my ultimate "Don't waste it" move.


How do you use up leftovers to avoid wasting food?

Happy Cooking,
Meg

P.S. - Our kitten total ended at 5! We have 2 grey kitties, 2 black & brown stripey kitties, and one black kitty. So... Who wants a kitten (or 4)? :)

Canning :: Water Bath Vs. Pressure Canner

I made chicken stock yesterday, and was wondering if I could can it, rather than putting it in the freezer like I normally do. A quick look in my Ball Home Preserving book showed that yes, indeed, I could can chicken stock. (Which I'll share later.)

But it had to be done in the pressure canner, rather than just a water bath.

I never really knew why you had to do some things in the pressure canner while others could just be boiled until I started getting interested in canning things myself.

So here is what I've learned, just in case anyone else is curious.

Naturally high-acidity foods - like tomatoes and fruits (or recipes with tons of vinegar) -  can be water bathed because the acid will kill the botulism spore that would otherwise invade your body like a S.W.A.T team can swarm the house of an arms dealer on a coke bender. A water bath will heat up sufficiently for the rest of the germs the acid doesn't get.

Low-acidity foods - like vegetables and meats - need to be pressure canned because they don't have the added germ killing power of the acid, so they need the extra heat. Regular water-in-a-pot canning can't get hot enough to kill the beasties just by itself, since these foods need to be heated to 240 degrees to kill the botulism spore, and water only boils at 212 degrees (if you're at sea level. Lower if you're elevated higher than that). But by adding the extra pressure the water can super boil (basically), ensuring that your home made goodies are fine and safe to eat.

From the Ball Book of Home Preserving:

To safely preserve low-acid foods, a device called a pressure canner must be used. This equipment has a lid that is locked in place. As a result, when water in the canner is heated to the boiling point, it produces steam faster than the steam can escape from the vent and thus pressurizes the canner. The pressurized steam creates hotter temperatures, which surround the jars and cause the temperature of the food within to rise to 240 degrees.

So, be sure to check your recipes and follow whichever method they tell you to use. And if you're unsure of how to can your goodies, just remember that High acid = low temp, and low acid = high temp.

Because Botulism is never in fashion.

Happy Canning,
Meg

Back To Basics :: Canning

Not my picture.

When I was a little girl (she says like it was a terribly long time ago), I remember canning fruits and "vegebles" - as my kiddos call them - with my mom and grandmother. It was just a part of my younger life.

We would buy boxes and boxes and boxes of corn from a distribution center (I think) somewhere out of town. We would get green beans either from the garden or somewhere else, and we would spend hours snapping them. We would get boxes of apples as well and I loved making the little piles of apple skin "spaghetti" - even though it took forever to get them all peeled. We had peaches, and would go to a "Pick Your Own" cherry orchard to get the wonderfully red fruit. Then we would spend all day cooking and canning.

I think the biggest memory I have is of my baby brother sitting in the open door of the dishwasher eating a cob of fresh corn. We have a picture of him there, grinning back at the camera with corn milk dribbling down his chin.

I wish now that I had paid better attention back then. We stopped canning sometime in my early teens. I'm not sure why. Maybe it just wasn't worth it when you could just go down to the store for "fresh" (I question the validity of that sometimes) anything now. Or maybe it was because our house was always under construction in some fashion or another, and the work took up too much time. Or something else took up too much time. I don't know. I'll have to ask my Mimi.

Anyways, I think because it was instilled in me in such a young age, this is why I can now and I have no fear of it, really. I read people talking about being scared of canning, and that's just something I grew up with! Granted, I haven't done nearly as much as I've wanted to in the last years. And I haven't wanted to in the last years as much as I do now. The extent of my canning as a young adult and homemaker so far has mostly been jams and jellies, with a batch of my paternal great grandmother's chili sauce thrown in.

For my birthday a few years ago Mimi gave me the best present she has ever given me. And probably the best one she ever will. A gift that was not just a thing, but a memory, and an addition that would be most helpful in the way I want to live my life taking care of my family and being self-sufficient.

She gifted me with a pressure canner and The Ball Book of Home Preserving.

Now, the year she gave it to me I was so busy having little babies, and we were in a small apartment that didn't really allow for a garden. Thus no immense amount of produce to preserve. So I put the book away, and only pulled out the canner a few times to make the aforementioned jams and jellies - and that wonderful sweet chili sauce.

However, this year we've planted our garden and I'm very, very excited to can things this year. I have plans for not only jams and chili sauce, but tomato sauce, relish, hot sauce, maybe some pie filings - whatever I can get my little paws on. I'd like to supplement with the Farmer's market and stock our pantry with so much canned food I have to give it away just so it gets eaten.

I'll be posting a few recipes here and there as I preserve my way through this year's harvest (my own and other's). And I want to encourage everyone reading this to either give canning a shot if you never have before, or pick it back up if it's been forgotten.

Try a new recipe. Can something you've never canned before. Set a goal of preserving one month's worth of food - or more! Or just try a small batch of jelly.

Believe me, it's so worth it. And there's nothing better than running out of something and all you have to do is walk to the pantry and get another jar.

Happy Preserving,
Meg

What's Cookin': Yogurt

Here it is! My first attempt at yogurt making, following the crock pot method. (Go there for the actual recipe.)

My sis-in-law wanted pictures, so I snapped a few on the way.

You start out with milk in the crock pot. The recipe called for half a gallon, but I didn't want to waste that much if it flopped, so I cut it to one quart (4 cups).

Set it to low, then let is sit for 2 and a half hours. Then unplug it and let is sit for another 3 hours.

You'll need a plain flavor yogurt starter that contains "Live/Active cultures". At the risk of squeeming you out, it means the little beasties are alive and will multiply into the rest of the milk. If you don't have active cultures in your yogurt you'll get... milk with yogurt in it. I used 1/4 C (remember I'm cutting the recipe in half.)

At the end of the 3 hours, mix the yogurt starter and about 2 cups of the warmed milk together.

I've heard that making yogurt this way usually comes out a little thin, and Ben prefers a thick yogurt, so I added a half packet of gelatin to the starter/milk mix. Add the mix back into the crock pot, stir and recover.

Then wrap your entire crock pot in a heavy towel (I actually used two... and forgot to take pictures). Listen to husband ask questions about what is living on our counter. Let it sit over night, or for 8 hours. Once I got to it, it had actually been about 11 hours.

In the morning, if all went well, you have yogurt! I have to say, I was quit amazed it actually worked. I was kind of skeptical. It's very tart, and very bland. I thawed a few strawberries, mashed them up and mixed them into about a half cup with a tiny bit of sugar for sweetener. It was quite tasty, despite the fact that I really don't like yogurt (it's a texture thing). I'll probably be using this mostly in smoothies, since Ben said the taste was good, but it's still not as thick as he likes. Maybe more gelatin if I do it again, or I'll go the "strain through cheesecloth" route with this batch.

Now for the fun part.

We buy yogurt in the little 6 oz thingies. They're easy for Ben to take to work that way, and I know buying a large container would go to waste before we ate it. He prefers store brand, which are $0.33 each ($0.06/oz).

Milk has been $2.70 a gallon (128 oz) lately = $0.02/oz
The live culture plain was $0.40 for a 6 oz = $0.07/oz

I used 32 oz of milk = $0.64 (32 x $0.02)
I used 2 oz of starter = $0.14 (2 x $0.07)
I am not counting the gelatin since I'm not sure I'll use it every time.
So, 32 oz of homemade yogurt costs me $0.81 to make (not counting electricity, but I'm not that anal), or $0.03 an oz. Half price!

Add in the fact that you can make a new batch using your previous homemade as the starter, it reduces the price even more, until about the 3rd batch where it evens out to $0.72 (give or take a bit for the price of milk) per batch from there on out.

Happy Eating,
Meg

Back To Basics :: The Road to Self Sufficiency

The only three tomatoes I got from our tiny (failed) attempt at gardening last year.

Self Sufficient
–adjective
1.able to supply one's own or its own needs without external assistance: The nation grows enough grain to be self-sufficient.

One of my big goals this year is to become as self sufficient as possible.

One reason is to save money to pay off our debts, and save towards future goals.

Another reason is that I think we, as a society, have lost the "art" of taking care of ourselves, and now rely on others - be it grocery stores, department stores, fast food restaurants, government, whoever - to take care of us. I don't know about you, but the idea of needing to rely on someone else makes me uneasy. I'm not saying getting things from other people is bad, I just think it's not a good idea to rely solely on others and not on one's self.

And being self sufficient goes along with my thinking of "the fewer steps it takes to get into my body, the better". Super cooked, super preserved, and super processed foods just... ick me out.

So along with the bread making and scratch cooking, I've already been doing, there are a few things I'd like to try, or have started trying, in an effort to support ourselves for - need and enjoyment. Because I really do like being an old fashioned "homesteader", if you will.


Cheesemaking - I've already started this with a small batch of Ricotta. I created a batch of buttermilk last night, and I'm starting a batch of yogurt as I type this. I've ordered some rennet so that I can start making "hard" cheeses. I'm very intrigued by cheese making and I'll be posting progress, as well as price comparisons as I go along.

Bread (and other "grain") making - I am already pretty good at basic breads. I'd like to expand and get better at french bread, try my hand at some other rustic breads, and start making others. Tonight, I'll try homemade corn tortillas, and I need to try flour tortillas and pasta again - it's been a few years since I've done those. I figure the more I can make, the more I can take off our grocery list. (In fact, I have a pasta attachment for my kitchen aid that I really need to figure out how to use.)

Gardening - This is the year! Ben told me "Oh no, we are getting a garden this year!" when I started talking about waiting until next year. I have plans for a at least large tomato crop to supply our tomato sauces, dry shelling beans (like pintos) to dry and eat in soups and other dishes, and then the ridiculous amount of other veggies to eat fresh. I am hoping to not really buy much but dairy and maybe the occasional meat once our crops come in.

Sewing - I don't really sew. I made a Halloween costume when I was 17, and I can patch jeans, and sew a straight line if needed. But I'd like to start making more of our things around the house. Like pillows (and pillow cases) maybe try making a few t-shirts for the boys. It's a basic skill that I need to refresh on and have around, just in case.

Do you have any plans for becoming more self sufficient?

Happy DIY,
Meg

Back To Basics :: Menu & Grocery Planning

I'm not sure if this could really be considered a Back to Basics post in the sense of it being a "back to our roots" kind of thing. But I think it's a good practice that allows one to live a basic, simple, less hectic life more easily. My life runs so much smoother when dinner is already planned out.

One of the nice things about removing most of the internet from my life means getting back to the things that I really enjoy. In this case, menu and grocery planning. Yes, I actually do enjoy the planning. I figured I would share how I do it.

I shop on Wednesdays, which means planning happens some time on Tuesday (or maybe Monday if I'm feeling frisky.) Unfortunately, our grocery flyers come out on Wednesday, so it makes shopping the sales a little difficult, but it works out.

Here's the Short List, for those who don't want to read the long post:

• Print out blank calendar and write menus on that.
• Print out grocery list and use to mark weekly needs.
• Review items needed for meals and mark things on list that we need, but don't have.
• Mark unplanned essentials/staples on list like milk, eggs, flour, etc.
• Total up price/estimated price of items to see if they meet budget for week.
• Go to store! If there is room in the budget, get sale items, usually meat, to stock up.

Now, the long version.

I start out by printing a blank month's calendar from my email program at the beginning of the month. Just from the 1st to the last day of the month. In this case, it's March. I print it without the bills or other scheduled things, but leave birthdays and holidays on so I can plan for those. I have tried weekly one-sheet planners, but I have found that this works best for me. It allows me to see what we've had recently so I either don't repeat too often, or I can get inspiration from the past meals that we liked.

Also at the beginning of the month, I print out a few copies of my prefilled grocery list that I created. (It looks like that^.) It's a list of the things we use the most, or what I like to keep on hand. It stays on our fridge through the week and as we run out or need things, we mark them on the list. It comes up again later after I plan the menus for the week.

Then on Tuesdays I sit down, sometimes with the help of Ben, and write in our dinners for the coming week onto the calendar,  including any sides or special things I want to fix. Usually I'm planning for Wednesday to Wednesday. For example, tomorrow is Tacos, Thursday is Spaghetti, Friday is homemade pizza, etc.

I try to plan my menus with what I have on hand first. We've been having tacos a lot lately because I was able to get a mass of ground beef on sale. (And Ben loves tacos.) If I have chicken the in freezer I will plan meals with that, or pork, or whatever. My goal is to not only use what I have because it needs to be eaten, but it means a smaller grocery bill for the week.

Once my menu is filled out I go through, meal by meal, and mark on my grocery list what I don't have for the meal and I need to buy. This week, I have ground beef, tortillas and onions for tacos, but I need to get jalapenos so they go on the list. I also need to get a jar of spaghetti sauce for Thursday, and a package of cheese for pizza on Friday.

Then I go through the list and mark down any essentials we need, like milk, eggs, flour, sugar, snack produce, etc. I created the pre-filled list so that I wouldn't forget to check things. Rather than just writing on a blank page and getting back from the store and remembering I needed to get sugar.

Next to each item I've marked on the list I write the price if I know it, or the estimated price if I'm not sure. Then I total them all to see if I've met my budget, blown it, or am under. If I've met it, cool. If I'm under then I know I have room to grab a couple sales items and stock up - typically meat to use in the future. If I'm over I have the choice of either taking away superfluous items we don't need, or taking it out of next week's budget. I typically worry more about the month's total budget (which is all I get), rather than week to week since it can change depending on the meals.

And that's how I do it! It's a bit different than the "oh shop the sales and plan from that", but it works for us and I feel I stick better to the budget this way. It took me awhile to get to this system, so if you're trying to come up with the perfect strategy, just keep trying!

If you'd like a copy of my grocery list you can download it via Google Docs here:

Grocery Shopping List

Just select "download original" from the file menu in the top right corner if you'd like to change it. Once you've opened it in your word processor you can change the items to fit your family. Or, you can print it as is from Google using the "Print (PDF)" option in the file menu. Once printed it folds into fourths to accommodate fitting into a purse or pocket.

Happy shopping (and eating),
Meg

Back To Basics :: Bread Making

Let me start this off by saying I am totally not a bread expert. Well, maybe when it comes to eating bread. But when it comes to making it I've just got the little bits I've learned over the past 4 years making bread for my family and researching how to get what I want in a loaf. I'm sure there are plenty of other tips and tricks, so shout them out in the comments if you've got 'em!

This post is going to focus on yeast bread, since biscuits and quick breads are a different breed that I'll get to later. I'm not going to include a certain recipe, just the basic tips I've learned on how to get a good loaf.

Proof First - The first thing I learned about making bread was to proof my yeast first. I used to follow the recipes and add the yeast in with the dry ingredients and I had a few disasters of no-rise dough. Now I ALWAYS proof first, no matter what the recipe says. Proofing it first allows you to make sure your yeast is alive and well, and that your water is not too hot or cold. And if you wind up having bad yeast, at least you've just wasted the water a bit of yeast rather than a whole batch of dough.

To proof your yeast mix it with the warm liquid called for in the recipe. Add a bit of sugar (about a teaspoon or so) or a bit of flour to give the yeast something to eat. Let it sit for a few minutes to become bubbly and happy. If it doesn't bubble, something is wrong and you should toss it out. Your yeast might be dead, or the water temperature wasn't right.

Hold the Salt - Salt kills yeast. (Another reason I didn't understand mixing the yeast with all the dry ingredients.) Keeping the salt away from the yeast as long as possible while it's feeding will give you a better chance at a good rise. I usually just mix my dry ingredients and then add my yeast mixture. But if you're still having problems I have read that you can hold the salt until after the first rise. Then knead it into the dough when you are shaping your loaf.

No Chlorine - Chlorine can also kill yeast, so if you are using tap water and consistently have bread fails, that might be why. My luck with our tap water has been just fine - we must not have a ton of chlorine in our water. But if you're running into problems try filtering the water first.


Oven proofing - Trying to find a "warm, draft free" place to put the dough to rise can be difficult anytime other than summer. During the winter I will put the dough on the hearth, next to the fire. Or you can try the oven trick. Turn the oven on for a few minutes (3-5 or so), then turn it off again. Place the dough in your oven to rise. The insulated box will keep it nicely warm for a good long time. You can probably get both the first and second rise with just one warm up, depending on the insulation your oven provides.

Crunchy Crust - Allison asked how to get a crunchy crust on bread. I've only done this once, as I usually prefer a softer crust on my bread. But for french bread it's perfect. You need a method of creating steam in your oven/on your bread. There are a few ways of doing this. I've put a baking dish into the oven, on the rack below my bread rack, and allow it to heat up with the oven. Then when you put the bread in, toss a handful of ice cubes into the dish before you close the oven. They'll melt and provide a good amount of steam. Or, you can spritz the bread with water every 15 minutes while cooking. You can also just put a bit of hot water into the aforementioned baking dish before you heat the oven, rather than tossing in ice. Try to avoid brushing the loaves with water, as this can make them too soggy and you won't get much of a crust at all.

The steam allows the outside of the bread to stay moist for a longer period of time. This will not only allow for a larger loaf because it can expand farther than if the crust had already set, but you get a thinner, crispier crust.  The actual crisp itself comes from the caramelization of the sugars and proteins in the dough, so try letting it go a bit longer and darkening up a bit more, in addition to the steam, if you're trying for a super crisp crust.

Too Wet Dough - I've made a few recipes where I put in the full amount of flour called for and the dough is still very wet (and it's not supposed to be). I've also made the mistake of dumping in another half cup to "fix" it and wound up with overly dry, too dense dough.

For most recipes, you want to get to the stage where the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball (whether in a stand mixer, or by hand in a bowl). If you're at the same point - that you think the dough is too wet - you can try two things. Add the extra flour now, just a tablespoon at a time and making sure to stir it in completely before adding another tablespoon. It doesn't take much to get that ball stage. Or if you're going to turn it out and give it a good kneading, the flour you spread on the table should be more than enough to soak up the extra moisture. When in doubt, err on the side of slightly wet so you don't end up with the dense, overly dry loaves that I have.

Homemade bread is really the best thing since... well. You know. I bought a loaf of store bought the other day because I hadn't had a chance to make bread for the week. I then made my usual batch later, and Ben told me he loved my bread, especially after "having to eat" store bought.

I hope this helps y'all on the road to wonderful homemade bread!

Happy Baking,
Meg

Back To Basics :: The Idea

I have an idea.

But first I have to tell you how it came about.

I've been struggling lately with blogging. I've felt pretty brain dead in that I can't think of what to write about. I know part of it has been the dreary weather. But even with the gorgeous, sunny, warm weather we've had lately I still feel like I have nothing write about.

I've been trying to figure out why. Why am I lacking in ideas? Did I just fizzle out? A year of blogging and I'm done? Am I just that boring? Am I too busy knitting to talk about anything else?

And then I was listening to Meghan's latest episode of the Stitch It! podcast and she was talking about how she loved the beginning of her podcast "career" when she was learning so many things and sharing it with others and how she really wanted to get back to that.

And I realized - that's exactly it. I love teaching (and I didn't even know it!). I love sharing things I have learned with other people. I get giddy when someone asks me how to do something and I get to explain it to them. And I love learning new things. (Remember, Never ever stop learning.) I posted so much and so often when I was sharing things on budgeting and finances, and cooking when I was trying new recipes, and knitting when I was newly getting into lace.

Thank you for the epiphany, Meghan!

So once I was able to pinpoint my lack of content, it inspired my idea.

I want to create a Back To Basics series. My passion is the simple life, and simple times. While I enjoy certain aspects of technology, I love the simple pleasures of cooking, creating, gardening - just living life as it's meant to be lived.

I want to share the basic ideas and skills of life with everyone. My idea is to focus on a certain aspect of a skill with each post. For example, I've thought of doing a "How To Knit" section of the Back To Basics. One post would be the knit stitch, another post the purl stitch. Maybe a third could be lace, or cables. I'd like to do a cooking section, where one post would focus on bread making, another on sauces, etc. Specific parts of each section of life.

I want to share the little bit I've learned in my life so far, and I want to learn more. Since teaching apparently seems to be what I need to keep being creative and to keep myself learning more, I'll embrace it.

But there's more to it.

I want to involve everyone. Knowledge should be shared, not kept to one's self. And different people have different aspects and techniques on each subject. So I'd like to have continuous input from everyone with ideas and suggestions. I'm thinking maybe I could have guests posts from those who are more knowledgeable about a subject. Animals? I'm not so good at. But my mother in law knows chickens. (Heh, how's that for putting you on the spot?)

Let's get back to simple, basic things and share what we know. So what do you think? Interested? Have ideas, suggestions, questions? Want to guest blog?

My first idea was doing a post on bread baking. What's more basic than baking a good loaf of bread? Tips and tricks for a good rise, good crumb, different flavors, etc. I'd love any input anyone has. Or if you feel you're up to it, write me a whole post! I'm thinking I'll do the bread post on Monday.

I don't know how often I would post in the series. I suppose it's up to my whims and inspiration. But the more input and questions, the more I'll post.

And if you have a question on how to do something, and I don't know the answer, I would love to learn along with you and share the process.

Happy Friday (and inspiration),
Meg