Tag Archives: bread

Give a man a fish…

Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, the saying goes, but give that man a fishing rod and you won’t see him all weekend.

It’s a bit like that for Men in Sheds – from what I saw today there will be many puzzled women wondering why their days are no longer cluttered up by husbands getting under their feet. Membership is growing and they are now looking to open on another day.

That’s good for us, because today we had a site meeting and we now have a design for our loaf of bread installation (I hesitate to call it a sculpture and it definitely won’t be art.)

If we can secure funding the loaf will be the centre-piece of our Open Farm Sunday display and the education tent at Flintham Ploughing match. If we can’t secure funding we will have to work round it, probably by recycling something. It won’t look as neat, and someone always end us saying “I was going to use that…” but it will still go ahead.

After looking at the cost of new wood it strikes me it will be cheaper to buy a garden shed.

The workshop is looking good after the new sockets were fitted and the Community Payback team spent a couple of days doing things up. It helps that their supervisor is into Health and Safety and has a lot of workshop experience.

We now have two donated chicken sheds well on the way to restoration, someone has just given us the contents of their store shed (which included roofing felt for the chicken sheds – how lucky was that?) and a local livery stable has donated work benches and various other things. We are now in the process of enlarging the back doors so we can get the benches into the workshop.

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The calming effects of bread

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We had our regular Monday meeting after I posted last night. I was planning on slipping away before it started but I was a little slow off the mark and ended up cornered by a man with a clipboard and a mission. That mission was to have a meeting about the meeting we are having today.

There’s no helping some people, they just need meetings. They have a naive belief that meetings get things done.

Don’t get me wrong, the procrastinator in me adores meetings; you can waste so much time arranging pencils and cups of tea that by the time you hand it over to the natural-born filibuster (and all groups seem to have one) their job is almost done. However, procrastination is about me killing my own time. Meetings are about people stealing my time, which is quite different.

So, with another meeting in prospect this afternoon, I am despondent, to say the least. I am also dismayed, downcast and depressed. And downbeat.

In order to raise my spirits I am meditating on bread.

I’m thinking of running a class to make wheatsheaf loaves nearer the time of harvest festival, because several people have mentioned them and everyone seems to like them.

Wheatsheaf loaf

Bread doesn’t waste your time, it doesn’t talk over you and it has no secret agenda. You can punch it, you can cut it and you can stick it in an oven without fear of a custodial sentence. And above all, you can speak your mind to it and it won’t sulk.

I like bread.

Oat and Honey Bread

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We had four for bread, and after I spent last night preparing dough for an overnight rise, I was pleased to see it well risen. That was when the members of the class told me that last time they’d made it they had started it from scratch. The best laid plans…as they say.

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After that things went to plan, apart from me misreading the recipe and trying to bake an hour too early.

We had TESCO biscuits (from the ordinary range this time, though more of them) and a lot of tea. Two of the group have just returned from India and described a place of cheap food, fantastic sights and long distances. Well, they actually described a lot more, but those were the things I found interesting.

Sounds like everyone has had a great time.

Meanwhile, I hear you shout, what about the bread?

Well, it emerged from the oven in various well-browned forms, though I wasn’t convinced it was properly cooked. It’s the browning effect of the honey that does that. I would describe it as a hearty bread, exhibiting, as my bread often does, the big bubbles that denote a lack of knocking back and the dense lower layer that indicates a lack of kneading. It’s still good to eat though. Bearing in mind that I cut it too early so that I could get the photograph, it is really quite good. It’s a little heavy if you want to be picky, but it is full of oats, honey, milk and oil so it’s not going to be fluffy like a cloud is it?

Taste is good, with the salt balancing the honey whilst still allowing a little sweetness to come through.

It was very good with my lunchtime Stilton.

In terms of rising one of the loaves started from scratch rose the best with an overnight one coming second and the others (one of each method) looked pretty similar. The fifth lot was taken home as dough due to alack of time. It seems to be the kneading rather than the preparation method that determined the rise. The mix temperature of the overnight loaves never rose beyond 15 degrees, whilst the ones baked from scratch did get up to 23 -24 due to the use of lukewarm water, just short of the recommended 25 degrees. I could have made this higher when I mixed them last night but I thought I’d use cold water to mix as they had a long rise in front of them.

I suspect the overnight loaves have probably developed more flavour, but don’t have away to check this – should have thought to cook one from scratch this morning.

The recipe is now in the Recipe section (that’s under the Resources tab).

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Bread, baking and bad behaviour

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Third post of the day, though I use the term loosely. I started it while I was allowing 5 kilos of dough to relax. I then went on to finish the kneading, went home, fell asleep in front of the TV, had a meal produced my Number 1 son (who is still in a chilli phase), drank milk, did a few jobs and sat down to complete the blog. Of course, it now needs re-writing.

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Thursday is bread day, as you may have guessed from the fact I was preparing dough. We only have four people coming because Gail is still away. She has trained under Andrew Whitley and at Ballymaloe: I taught myself from a book. Even the promise of a cute puppy hasn’t tempted many in.

It’s bread with oats and honey tomorrow. I’m not exactly sure what to call it as it is mainly white flour, with wholemeal, oats and honey. It’s not an easy bread to knead (I did it by hand because I’m too lazy to clean the machine), you can’t get a good windowpane test and it’s deceptive in cooking, as the honey makes it look brown before it’s really cooked enough. Apart from that, it’s a useful loaf to make as it keeps well and lends itself to overnight preparation.

It’s originally a Jeffrey Hamelman recipe but I’ve lent my book to somebody so I can’t consult it for full details.

The group worked hard this afternoon, preparing raised beds, making lion masks for Chinese New Year and playing with the new puppy, though they continue to be more argumentative than they used to be. We’re still not sure why this should be, as they are making progress in other ways.

I had been worrying that this may be due to us passing our stress on to them (we are, as usual, juggling finance and dealing with various random obstacles) and have been trying to stay positive and cheerful at all times when they are about – even though cheerful and positive aren’t my normal settings.

Listening to them, it seems that several of the are experiencing problems in other groups too, so I’m thinking it may be the time of year or just a coincidence. I’m hoping it may pass as Spring approaches. If it doesn’t, we will have to put some thought into it, and again, thinking isn’t my normal setting either.

Cute animals produce results

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I just had notifications from the Thursday Bread Group telling me three people are coming, two of them because they want to see the puppy. It seems that wit, charm, erudition and the ability to cook a honey, oat and wholemeal loaf aren’t enough – you need a cute puppy. This was a lesson driven home by the spike in my activity stats on the blog yesterday (45 hourly views compared to my average of 0).

Before that it was the lambs.

So that’s it, the way to blogging success is to have pictures of cute animals. Forget all that work you put in to quality of writing, or free gifts or cunning headlines – just take pictures of cute animals.

Not that I’m bitter – I’ve a farm full of sheep, goats and poultry so I’m well ahead of the game.

I’m going to go against the trend with some travel photos instead. Not mine, but some from the bread group tour of India. Looks like they ate well.

Artisan baking – the inside story

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It was a depleted Baking Group today, a mere shadow of its normal self, as many of the group are in India. There has been a distinct lack of contact from any of them, which leads me to believe that they are probably enjoying themselves far too much. We certainly did.

Everything went fine until the bit where we left the dough to “double in size”. It didn’t. In fact it was hard pressed to show any sort of interest in rising at all. That was probably a fault of the room temperature. It had been below freezing last night and wasn’t much better this morning. That in turn, was a fault in me, because I hadn’t anticipated the temperature.

As a result, the flour was cold and the air was cold. Even I was cold and I’m insulated like a walrus. With hindsight I should have warmed the flour. I should also have turned up an hour earlier and warmed the room. I don’t suppose our Indian contingent are having these problems.

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The proving did not go well, with only one out of four rising properly (there’s always one, isn’t there?) Even after standing the bowls in the door of the oven, the extra heat only warmed the top if the dough, the underside remained determinedly cold. The three of us with underdeveloped dough decided, after two pots of tea and a patient wait, that it was time to proceed regardless of the rising. Things actually turned out quite well despite this.

We managed one plait, one fougasse, a flat bread and a boule, using rosemary from the garden. I use those names to add credibility to what we produced, and provide a clue as to what they were meant to be. They all managed a second rise in the oven, producing slightly larger than life varieties of what had been intended. That’s the beauty of hand made bread, it never turns out badly, it’s just “artisan baking”. If it had been a bit rougher round the edges it would have been “rustic”.

Fougasse and boule

OK, to be honest, the plait was a bit rustic, as it pulled in rising and produced stretch marks where the pattern crossed. I’m going to have to do better before the next class.

I’m not sure about the other bread because I’ve only cut into mine but I’d say that it looks more dense towards the bottom so there’s a lack of kneading as well as a lack of proving going on. Having said that, the dough felt good and produced good windows when stretched. It also tastes good, which is really what home baking is about.

Plait, complete with stretch marks

Final verdict – has its faults, bit rough round the edges but great taste. Bit like me really.

Bread and good company

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Where does all the time go?

It only seems like yesterday that I was writing about Saturday’s events on Monday and now it’s Thursday.

That means that not only has the week gone, but it’s left me without much time to finish my week’s work. That seems to be constant at the moment – like elementary subtraction I always seem to be borrowing one. In this case it isn’t from the next column but from the next day.

Monday was a blur, partly caused by a flare-up of arthritis and partly by lack of sleep from the day before. It wasn’t a very productive day either, which always seems to be the way when you have too many jobs to fit the available time. Tuesday, I went to a funeral while Julia hosted a day in the country for 20 kids in foster care (and pinged one on the electric fence to bring her year’s total up to 3). On Wednesday I caught up with Monday jobs, juiced some apples and made soup.

Today I attended the bread group, ate the soup with them (it’s pumpkin soup – hence the jar of seeds in the picture), bottled juice, made more soup and emailed Men in Sheds to remind them about the soup.

I have so many jobs to do, and am getting so few of them done, it seems like my ears are moving further apart to accommodate the stuff crammed in my head. I’m assuming this is untrue, as my glasses still fit, but I’m definitely feeling like I need to find a free day to catch up.

Here are some pictures.

Looks like people were enjoying themselves…

Personally I wouldn’t have done it this way

Or this

Sitting down for soup and companionship – the “com” and “pan” translate as “With bread”. Seems right to me.

Hand made, artisan, rustic…

A blog in in which fingers are mentioned

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I’ve been sleeping badly for the last few nights because I have a painful finger. Yes, that’s right, the large bearded man is whining about his finger. Sorry, but it hurts and I can’t get to sleep.

I know it doesn’t measure up to the pain of childbirth and stuff like that, and I realise that having to open bottles with my left hand isn’t officially recognised as a disability but it’s amazing how a little thing like that can affect your life.

Probably the worst thing is the uhtceare. (Read the list behind this link by all means, but if you are one of those people who thinks in pictures, do not click the link in Number 9). Yes, fitful sleep causes a constant state of uhtceare, and for a man that has a lot to regret, this is not good. The result was that I travelled to work this morning wishing I didn’t have to go. This is very unusual.

Now, just in case you are thinking of telling me, as Julia does, that “it’s just arthritis”, stop and pause a minute – I don’t want to be told that bits of my body have entered old age.

Anyway, things got better when I reached the farm. The new apple press and scratter have arrived! We can now travel with and demonstrate pressing in schools (if anybody wants us while we have apples) and we can use it for the juicing days (starting from 12th September) instead of having to set the big one up to do a bucket of apples. That’s why the picture at the top of the blog shows two cardboard boxes. Not a very interesting picture by most standards, but quite exciting for me.

We had a nice steady flow of breakfast, there wasn’t much I needed to do and it was all very relaxed.I met the author of the nottsvillages blog, showed several people the visiting Painted Lady (it came back!), secured the offer of a moth trap, found a volunteer to do the job of Santa (let’s face it, I’m not a natural), took details from someone who wants to help with the bread group and took £10 after we were supposedly closed.

As if that wasn’t enough, I also took the name of another baker, persuaded someone to come and do crafts at our Winter Event and had a good look round Project Molish (which started this weekend).

That, in the language of my youth, is a result!

I’m tired now – time for tea and cake, I think.

Catching up

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I just added a recipe for Fat Hen soup on the recipe page. It’s slightly misleading as there’s no hens in it, though I used butter to soften the onions so there’s plenty of fat.

We’re going to taste test it at lunchtime with fresh bread rolls that we’re cooking with the kids. (Fourteen kids of mixed age, half a dozen parents and two kilos of dough – what could possibly go wrong?)

Here’s a picture of the “staff”. We’ve been having trouble with the toaster. It’s difficult getting staff when you don’t actually pay, even worse when you promise them toast and marmalade and the toast bit doesn’t happen because the toaster will only do one side at a time.

It’s hedgehog rolls today (another misleading recipe title) for the kids and a bread roll for the soup if the parents want to make one. I will be making spares anyway because I need to get back in practice.

I’m slightly worried about the dough. I used a half measure of yeast and put it in the fridge last night. The result is three balls of dough that have risen but not risen quite enough. They aren’t actually refusing to rise but if they were human you’d think they were typical truculent teenagers. Apart from the fact that they are out of bed at 10.25am.

After bread rolls and soup we’ll be making woodland masks and (possibly) toasting marshmallows.

Have a look at @QuercusCommy if you want a progress report on the baking. We also have some pictures of the harvesting that started yesterday, including a shot of the combine cutting between the rows of apple trees in the agroforestry field. I say trees, but you might have to squint a bit as they are only two years old.

I’ll put some pictures up on the farm page to show a bit more of the field and harvest.

The Sourdough Session

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The sun was shining, the temperature has once more returned to sanity and the venerable yogis in the centre were saying “om”. I don’t think they would object to the word venerable for although it contains overtones of age it is also a mark of respect. Anyway, some of them are quite old (one is over 90) and a number of them do have to sit down to do the exercises. That’s actually quite a worry for me as some of them, though 20 years my senior, are a great deal fitter and more supple.

In the distance goats bleat, birds sing and the the chirruping of the guinea fowl can, like the song of the biblical mourning dove, be heard throughout the land. At the kitchen a group of people have gathered to bake sourdough bread and eat pizza for lunch. To this end the outdoor oven is smoking gently and salads are in preparation.

This is the sort of day that you rarely experience, the sort of day that calls for the sound of leather on willow and John Betjeman talking of muffins on the Light Programme.

It’s a pleasure to come to work on a day like this and a temptation to post a “this is the view from my office window” picture on Twitter.

The group is baking sourdough today, and in the lull where they wait for it to rise they are going to make pizza and cook it in the outdoor oven. The Bread Lady is in charge today; so many people call her that now in recognition of her great bread-making knowledge that I have decided to go with the flow. In passing, I shall mention that I am known as the Fat Man these days, though in truth I have no special knowledge of lard or polyunsaturates.

Bread Lady and sidekick

That, at least, was the plan. The bread-making, as you can see from the pictures, was a success.

Air kneading

Cutting the dough

The finished article

So was the salad selection, including foraged green salad (though it may be slightly immodest of me to say so) and the salad dressings seemed to go down well too, particularly the blackcurrant vinegar. Expect more recipes to appear soon, and and a bit more in the Wild Food section.

Mallow, Fat Hen and Nasturtium with borage, flowers, chive blossom and daisy and marigold petals.

The pizza oven fell victim to the farm’s command structure and parsimonious attitude with regard to wood, which, I must point out, DOES grow on trees. Once again we were faced with inadequate temperatures and long cooking times (so long that most people gave up and cooked them in the oven).

Despite this it was an interesting session and as I said to the Bread Lady afterwards, it’s amazing how well the group has gelled and how far we have come in technique in just a few years. This is proved by the way that they have worked so hard to run the catering at the last two Open Farm Sundays. (Do you think the word “proved” could look a bit like a weak pun in this context – it wasn’t intended).

She said: “You’re only saying that because they gave you free pizza.”

The words “Bread Lady” might convey the impression that she’s a softer, crumbly version of the “Iron Lady”, but as you can see, she still manages to be both tough and accurate.

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Life after the Care Farm

Tag Archives: bread

Give a man a fish…

The calming effects of bread

Oat and Honey Bread

Bread, baking and bad behaviour

Cute animals produce results

Artisan baking – the inside story

Bread and good company

A blog in in which fingers are mentioned

Catching up

The Sourdough Session