hobbies!

what is it about the word "hobbies" that makes me feel like i'm about 12 years old? do you ever have to fill out a questionnaire (like in RS) that asks what your "hobbies" are? does the question sound to you like, "and what kind of useless little activities do you spend YOUR little leisure hours on"? or am i just cranky?

(sometimes sara joy looks at me out of the side of her eyes when i'm spluttering about something on the radio and says, "somebody needs a nap.")

sometimes i want to make up hobbies that sound important. like "hunting nazis." or "tracking the progress of the killer bees." "having a bake sale to raise money for the national debt." (what kind of a little face can you make with punctuation marks that would be appropriate here, besides *^&%$*&^%%$#?)

rather than actually lie about my hobbies (okay, you all know my deep dark secrets. i crochet. i make bread. i paint gourds, for pete's sake. so i can't lie to you.), i've decided to just rename them. after all, anyone who checked up could find out that i haven't left my property in 14 years, and that sort of lets out hunting nazis.

so what about "watching trends in merchandizing"? (i.e. sitting on the toilet looking at catalogs), or "food storage," (no one needs to know that i'm storing it "on the hoof"), or my favorite, "preserving memories" (i.e. watching those informercials for time-life 1950s CD collections, like "the teen years." i love seeing those great old washed up sad singers). there's also "standing for truth and righteousness" (disapproving of everyone), and "improving my brain age" (trying to be sure i DO remember my address and phone number before i go out. oh, and my name).

i'm thinking of writing a book, hobbies for zombies. or hobbies for slobbies. or bobbies, mobbies (might sell in chicago), or sobbies (for the depressed). (will somebody please take this keyboard away from me before it's too late??????????????????????????? what do you think?

dear julia

"dear julia" is not to be confused with "dear ruby," elder nelson's newest great granddaughter. are we prepared to try dear julia's fransh bread? ("fransh" is what you say for "french" if you are attempting a spurious french accent.)

i found this recipe, not in dear julia's cookbook, but online at this site: breadchick.blogspot.com the particular post is "The Sour Dough: Ze Daring Bakers Conquer French Bread ala Julia." (this is in case you want to go back and get ALL of the instructions.) the ingredients for this bread are flour, water, salt and yeast. period. when i printed out all of the instructions, it came to 25 pages. i will leave out what i think is superfluous (about 24 pages).

don't disdain this lovely bread because of the simplicity of the ingredients. the flavor is marvelous, with a tiny bit of "sour" flavor. this is because of the length of the risings. a really long rising allows the yeast to produce a tiny amount of alcohol that makes this subtle sour flavor. i will put up my own version of this recipe, which contains sour dough starter and is more sour that this version, tomorrow.

dear julia's french bread

1 pkt (2 1/4 t.) yeast
2 1/4 t salt
1 3/4 c warm water
3 1/2 c unbleached flour

(i use a kitchen aid to mix and knead my bread, but do whatever you like about that.) put water and salt in the bowl add 1 c flour with the yeast stirred in. stir. add the rest of the flour and stir or work with your hands to make a soft, sticky dough. turn out onto a kneading surface and let the dough rest for 2-3 minutes. start kneading, adding a little flour here and there to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. knead until the dough is elastic, about 10 minutes. let dough rest for 3-4 minutes.

put in greased bowl and let rise to triple its original size, about 3-5 hours.

dump risen dough out onto your kneading surface. if the dough seems damp and sweaty, sprinkle it with a T of flour. flatten the dough firmly into a circle, deflating any gas bubbles by pinching them.

return the dough to the bowl. let rise again until not quite triple in bulk. turn the dough out again onto your kneading surface. if damp, then flour.

with this dough, you can make 3 long loaves, 5-6 thin long loaves, 10-12 rolls, 2 medium round loaves, or one large round loaf. cut the dough for the type of loaves you want to make. let dough rest for 5 minutes.

form loaves (most of the rest of the instructions are about how to form a loaf "properly," but i'm sure you will be pleased with whatever you do to make loaves, rounds or rolls out of this dough).

place finished loaves on greased baking sheets that have been sprinkled with cornmeal. let rise one last time about 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 hours. about 1/2 hour before your loaves will be finished rising, preheat oven to 425. also put your teakettle on to boil.

wet the outside of the loaves with water, either with a spray bottle or with a pastry brush dipped in water. put a pan (such as a metal cake pan) on the bottom rack of your oven, and fill with boiling water (you wondered what the teakettle was for, didn't you?). put in your bread and let bake for 3 minutes. then pull the bread out and wet the crust again. put it back in for three more minutes, then pull the bread out and wet the crust again. bake for three more minutes and wet the dough one last time. then remove the pan of water, put the bread back in, and set your timer for about 16 minutes. after 16 minutes, your all-day project of making french bread is finally finished! your crust should be thick, chewy and crunchy. the inside should be soft, coarse, and slightly sour tasting.

bon appetit! as dear julia would say.

stirring information

stir up your sourdough starters, ladies, i have two kitchen tested recipes for you to try.

in case you missed the post about how to make sourdough starter, here is a recap: put equal parts of water and unbleached flour into a quart sized mason jar (or other glass or plastic container). stir together. most sourdough recipes call for 1 c sourdough starter, so start with at least 3/4 c flour and 3/4 c water. let it sit on the counter for any time up to a week. i like my starter pretty sour, and i leave mine out about 4-5 days. when it has some alcohol on top and has a pleasant sour, or beery, smell, cover and put in the frig. (be sure to cover with something NOT metal. so that means no lids and rings. i use a sandwich-sized zip-loc bag laid over the top of the jar and secured with a rubber band.)

when you're ready to use it, pull it out of the frig and let it come to room temperature (about 8 hours). after you measure out the amount you need for a recipe, feed with 1/2 c unbleached flour and 1/2 c water. stir it all together and let sit out overnight, then back in the frig until you use it again.

this is a nice mild sourdough-flavored bread. i use it for sandwich bread because it slices so nicely and stays soft. (i call a bread "sourdough-flavored" if the recipe uses yeast besides what's in the sourdough starter. that's pretty much what i make, because the natural sourdough yeasts are S-O S-L-O-W.

sourdough sandwich bread

1 1/4 c sourdough starter
1/3 c warm water
3 T sugar
2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 t salt
2 t yeast
3 c flour (my favorite way is with 1 c freshly ground whole wheat and 2 c unbleached white)

mix all ingredients except flour in mixer. add flour until the dough is smooth and firm but not dry or hard. grease, oil, or Pam a bowl. put in dough and flip over so whole ball of dough is coated with oil. put in a warm place, cover, and let rise for about 1 hour or until double in size. punch down well, put in greased bread pan and let rise again until bread rises about 1 inch above side of pan. bake at 350 for 30 min, then tent with foil and bake 15 min more. remove from pan immediately, brush with butter if you wish, and let cool. yum.

onto julia's wonderful french (fransh) bread tomorrow.

preview of coming attractions

i am testing my own version of julia child's wonderful french bread which adds a little bit of whole wheat flour and sourdough. the first couple of versions had various problems, but i think i've got it (by george!). i am also experimenting with making yogurt in a slow cooker (well, in a jar in a slow cooker).

in case you're interested.....

sour dough starter: mix 1 C unbleached flour with 1 C warm water. every 24 hours throw away half of mixture and feed it with 1/2 C unbleached flour and 1/2 C warm water. after about four days it should have a pleasant sour or slightly beery smell. if not, carry on a couple more days. if so, put it in the frig. to use, take out and bring to room temp. add 1/2 C unbleached flour and 1/2 C water and mix well. it is ready to use in any of your sourdough recipes. be sure you leave some behind to keep feeding for next time.

yogurt: 3 C whole milk, 1 C half and half, 1 t. unflavored gelatin, 1/2 powdered milk, 3-4 T yogurt. you can adjust the fat content (not everyone wants high fat yogurt like i do) by using any kind of milk you don't feel guilty about, although i hear that full fat yogurt is in style this year. blend the powdered milk into the other milk. soften gelatin in 1/4 C cold water. take everything (EXCEPT THE YOGURT) and put it in a pan. heat just until it starts steaming. let cool off to lukewarm, then gently mix in yogurt. this yogurt will yog (YES, yog) nicely in a yogurt machine, or you can put it in a canning jar in a gas oven, the pilot light will keep it warm enough. i even tried it with a heating pad once (forget it, it didn't work). yogging it for 12 hours will make a very sharp flavored yogurt. 6 hours for a mild yogurt, and anywhere in between for whatever you want. i left it in for 17 hours once and it took the enamel off my teeth.

sweet potato slips. take a sweet potato from the grocery store, suspend it in a jar of water with toothpicks (yes, just like you did when you were a kid). when you get a 3-4 inch "slip," cut it off with a little piece of the sweet potato attached and set it in potting soil. collect as many as you want/can. then when not only the danger of frost is past but the soil has warmed up (may in north carolina) plant your slips. they like to grow on a ridge covered with black plastic in cooler regions, to keep their roots nice a warm.