Soggy Bottom Bread

I've decided to take back control of life, at least in those few areas where it might be possible. So on Sundays I sit down and try to make a plan for the coming week: meals, activities, goals, scheduled events. Last Sunday getting ahead of the game inspired a cooking frenzy - it helped that I didn't have to cook dinner (woe to live down the street from a pizza shop). I toasted grains for baby cereal, baked bread (!), simmered apricots and cooked lentils (more baby food).

The bread part required the most inspiration (and motivation). It was the 5th loaf of bread (4th variation) I've ever made (not including sweet breads - I know, shameful) and I wanted to try a new recipe. I'm on the hunt for the perfect whole wheat or whole grain, everyday bread recipe.  I'm going to try to keep track of the different breads I make here so I can remember what's good.

I tried no-knead bread once - it was too dense and overall unimpressive.  Then I made some Boston Brown Bread (recipe isn't online, but from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Vegetarian Planet).  Yummy, gooey, warm...but not your everyday bread.  All the while I knew there were some serious bread recipes (the type that are 5 pages long and riddled with information I don't have the time to care about) in my really crunchy, all-natural cookbooks, like the elephant in the room, just waiting for me to give in and give 'em a try.  When I finally did take a close look at Cynthia Lair's whole grain bread recipes, I was amazed at how simple they were. They just required time and proper planning, and of course I've got oodles of that....HA!  But I digress...I made the Garlic Herb Quinoa bread and loved it so much I made two loaves the next time around. I would have made that one again, but I figured I should expand my repertoire.  I searched online for a few hours, and finally went back to my kitchen bookshelf and pulled out the trusty old King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, and settled on 100% Whole Wheat Bread.  YUM! 

This week I tried yet another bread recipe: Cracker Wheat Walnut Cider Loaf.  This one came from a friend, so I have no link to share.  And it probably would have turned out great, had I not decided to screw with the recipe.  You see, I had no cracker wheat, so I substituted Farro from the farmer's market.  And I had no cider, so I used apple juice instead.  I also tried "kneading" the dough in my stand mixer, but it was so wet and sticky it just wouldn't come together. In the end, the loaf ballooned out of its loaf pan and came out with a soggy bottom. But it still tasted divine...

Cooling upside down because the heavy top threatened to squish the soggy bottom.

 Burnt top. Soggy bottom. Yummy tummy.

Cracker Wheat Walnut Cider Loaf

3/4 c cracker wheat
1 c boiling water
1 1/2 c walnuts
1 1/4 c apple cider
1 1/2 t yeast
2 T honey (or subs)
1 c whole wheat flour
2 1/4 c all purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 c canola oil

Place cracked wheat in a small bowl and cover with boiling water, stir and let wheat absorb water (About 10 min.)

Toast walnuts and chop coarsely.  Warm up apple cider and add to bowl with yeast and honey.  Let sit till yeast foams, then add rest of ingredients except nuts.  Mix and knead dough about 10 minutes then add walnuts and knead until evenly distributed.  Transfer to an oiled bowl and let rise (double in size), punch it down and form into loaf shape.  Let rise again, about 1 hour.
 

Preheat oven to 385, dust top with extra tablespoon of whole wheat flour and slash top.  Bake about 50 min until nicely browned and sounds hollow.

Picnic, take two

I was going to put up a post (or two) about baking, or how to really f' it up. But since it's taking longer than expected to write something coherent (thanks to Auggie's new teeth...), I'll tide you over with some gratuitous cute pics:

Impromptu picnic on a sunny day. 

Showing mama what's for lunch...

 Greetings Earthlings

The Tongue!

Weekend Roundup

We had a busy weekend and a lot's been happening 'round these parts, so I feel the need to sum up/update/etc.  Saturday was typical gloomy cloudy rainy fickle Seattle weather. Veggie took Punkin to his new soccer class at Magnuson Park, which he LOVES (I wish I had some pictures!) and it's so great to get him running around and learning some hand-foot coordination.  Once upon a time I thought our little dude would never be too into athletics - he's seemed so hesitant about moving his body in new ways even from the get go, taking his time with crawling, then walking. It took many many months before he would do more than just sit on his Skuut bike. And at 18 months he'd never climbed anything till his friend Ellie started teaching him some moves.  Now he's playing soccer, tried skiing, the couch is his favorite tumbling mat, and loooooves his little bike. But I digress....Soccer was followed by a rainy birthday party at the play ground, and we all collapsed into bed, exhausted from so much scheduled activity.

Sunday Seattle's fickle weather produced sunshine and warmth, so guess how we celebrated?? Shopping. Indoors. Ugh.  But it was the last day to get 20% off at REI, so off we went.  Punkin and Auggie had some fun at the little kids indoor playground there, Auggie showing off his new moves: scooting! Not quite crawling, but very close and still quite efficient - hopefully I can put up some video, just as soon as I a) take video and b) teach myself to upload and post it.  Our trip was successful: we bought a new tent and a sleeping bag for Punkin 'cause we're going camping! Ok, technically our only scheduled camping trip so far is in late August. But we're hoping to fill up some weekends between now and then with a few more trips.  Trip #1 will be to a very exotic location...our backyard.  I figure we better test things out all around before we head out to the real world. Besides, it's been 6 years since I last fired up my camping stove, and I'm very intimidated about the prospect of getting both kids to sleep in the tent.

We finished off the weekend trying to take advantage of the wonderful weather and actually managed to accomplish a few things.  The slide is up on our ever expanding swing set (again, pics coming soon), and our poor neglected little raspberry bush is finally in the ground.  Overall, I think the kids had a good but rather exhausting weekend (they're at the age where they thrive on routine, and weekends are anything but).

A

Auggie gets kinda bored when we work in the garden. He livens things up by creeping off his blanket, expanding his palette on grass and sticks (the later don't go down too well).  This pic is from another, colder, day in the backyard.

Grow grow grow!!

We're cheering on our plucky little seedlings and crossing our fingers they make it to replanting time. So far we've lost all our peppers, some of our basil, and the cilantro ain't looking too hot. The fickle weather hasn't helped since our poor little sprouts rely solely on the sun for strength and warmth.  Next year perhaps we'll invest in some fancy growing gadgets (like a heat lamp). But for now, we'll continue our little experiment just as far as it will take us, and try to have fun along the way!

How does your garden grow?

We've started to take gardening and yard work seriously, and with the help of Seattle's early spring weather we've made some big improvements and started some even bigger projects.  First, we're expanding our little outdoor garden to include 2 raised beds in the front yard and an even bigger stretch of garden in the back.  The backyard plot is a 6ft x 25ft swath between the driveway and fence, and was chock full of dandelions, blackberry vines, grass, and other weeds, so clearing it will be an ongoing project.

Punkin and I clearing the land:

We've already planted a fig tree and blueberry bush, and just added 2 strawberries and a raspberry.  Punkin LOVES helping in the garden and finding worms and stealing mama's garden tools.

 We're hoping to add pumpkins and squash this summer. The front yard raised beds will have lettuces, kale, spinach, and herbs in one, and tomatoes, peppers and beets in the other. Of course, the second bed has yet to be built, and first we need to move a rather large boxwood to make room. It's part of our laundry list of to-do's....does every home owner and parent have a never ending to-do list? I swear ours just gets longer and longer no matter how many projects we actually complete.

To add to all this excitement, Punkin and I are trying to grow plants from seed indoors.  It's a new experience for both of us, and I try hard not to measure it by successes and failures, but rather by fun and learning.  But I'll write more about that in another post...

Picnic