kneadless post & run

    
According to the gospel of "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" one needn't knead bread to have fabby, freshly-baked bread suffusing one's house with amazing smells, one's mouth with happy flavor and texture, and one's wallet with extra $$.

We'll see.

 My old friend, yeast (the "a"s and the alphas of undergrad). Looking like so many lemmings crowding the cliff's edge, then plunging into the sea (of flour). They are such tiny little tubes! Looking very bacterial, I must say....

Kneadless domestic scene.

Bought fancy bread flour, just for the heck of it.

Blended all 7.5 cups of flour (!) et al., including the wheat gluten I showed you earlier. Hoping that the fact that one of the two yeast packets expired 3 years ago doesn't hamper the results. (gulp)

Guess we'll find out!

Buying fresh yeast today, in BULK, thank you very much.

So, then you add warm water, stir so there's no dry patches, cover it "loosely," and let it sit for 2 hours.

Apparently, if there's no crack for impending gases to escape, bad things can happen.

I figured I'd make the crack using the last of the 2007 packet of yeast--its last act of service; it will be replaced today and summarily chucked.

So, I'll keep you posted. Now I venture forth to buy bulk yeast, seeds to sprinkle atop the (future) loaf, and try and cajole myself into a run at the gym.


Speaking of motivation re: running, something to ponder (get out your hip waders, it's gonna get deep):

The best reason I've found for running, the most profound motivation I've found so far is: Because I can. Or maybe "While I can."


On the numerous occasions I've been injured mid-running-mode I'm SO BUMMED I cannot run. SO bummed. I miss how much it refreshes me. Flushes all my stress. Calms me down, and clears my brain. And it's usually the most alive I feel all day.

And then I think "when I'm healthy and can run, I'll totally devote myself. I'll really appreciate it."


I'm not saying it always works. Or that I'm in any way a regular runner (tho' maybe starting back up?). Or that I even think about it every time.

But I do try to remember the joy of simply moving and being healthy, and how lucky I am to experience that. While I can. Since it's really just a matter of time until I am incorporated back into the carbon cycle. And then running is no longer an option.


biobabbler

they don't call me biobabbler for nothing...

   
it has been SO HARD to NOT talk on Mumday. Yikes. So, won't post till Tuesday, but must write now.

SUMMER PANIC/baking blather

1. Who turned on the "HOT" and "IT'S SUMMER" switches while I was away? Holy cow!

2. I now MUST buy the swimming pools for my hens, who can experience heat stress at 80-something degrees and it's already hitting 90. And it will def. get over 100s this summer, like every other summer.

3. I am NOT kidding re: kiddie pools. They LOVE to cool their feet in the cold water and drink it up. It's adorable. And then they stop standing with their wings held away from their bodies, and their beaks open. It's good. And, really, SO adorable.

4. I'm not ready!

5. My garden isn't started!

6. Farewell to spring (the flower, a.k.a. Clarkia spp.) is on OUR PROPERTY! Spring is OVER! =(

7. I need cooler clothes. Jeans are WAY too hot. And I never shop. Hm.

Anyhow, we didn't make it to Yosemite Valley Sunday.

Had some required chores 1st thing and by the time we would have left, it would have been Major Zoo, so skipped. I'm thinking I'll try to get there this week some time M-F so it'll be quiet. Might need to bring my swimsuit in case it's bakey.

I'm also thinking of taking up biking 'cause it generates a breeze and is different and fun, so maybe I'll see if I can get my bike a tune up (and new tire) and bike my buns around the valley.

Okay. So, I am now vowing to YOU to get the YARTS bus schedule so that I can take public transportation to the park this summer, also bringing my bike if possible. How cool would that be? And of course my camera for y'all =). And $$ for the world's largest iced tea.

Got (as in bought) my Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book (Hertzberg and Francois, St. Martin's Press) and I'm psyched to try it.

A wee bit warm for baking, but why not? Life's too short to adhere to seasonal styles if they don't suit you. =) Just so long as it doesn't mean you're taking the planet down with you (as in eating blueberries from another hemisphere...). Actually, talked with a friend re: you wanna bake bread when it's cold, but it rises better when it's warm. So, there ya go.

To show you that I am actually serious, here's what I bought today, and I'd not even HEARD of it until I read it in my new book yesterday. =) More yeast experiments coming up!

Okay, is it me, or does Bob's Red Mill rock hard, or what? They have the coolest stuff, sometimes fairly uncommon ingredients that I suspect would otherwise NOT be locally available to me in the sticks, so even we hillbillies can bake cool stuff. AWEsome.

And their Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (which happens to be gluten free) is AMAZING. Honestly. YUM. (I assume you'd guess but this blog is SO not underwritten. Mostly powered by enthusiasm and chattiness.)

So, how's that for your random update?

=) bb

P.S. Are there any summer (or winter for you down southers) traditions you've already busted out for the season? What are they? Any you're looking forward to?
P.P.S. We may go to "the east side" this weekend (Mono Lake and vicinity). Hoping!! (that's a summer tradition I adore!)

a eukaryotic single-celled fungus is determining my bed time....

    

Yeast-- it's why I'm not going to bed. urf.

In college I knew a ridiculous amount about the little creatures. Apparently my teachers thought it was important. According to wikipedia, it still is. I was glad to read that the one factoid I still retained about them (besides amazing toughness re: storing in dried out state forever), that the two genders were "a" and alpha, is still accurate.

Anyhow, I am staying up late, as my bread dough did not rise as desired so I had to give it more time, then change strategies. And then it has to rise again (1.5 hr). And THEN it has to bake. And it's after 10 p.m. now!!

You see, it's a cold day, so 75-80 degrees F (what this yeast wants to rise) in the house was tough to find. So, I have another 1 hour before the bread MIGHT be ready to bake...

The above and next one are shots of my first loaf of bread ever baked totally by moi (and baked on a warm day, thank you very much). Did this quite recently. Not exactly sure why I waited so long to do this, but I had the impression that yeast is a major pain.

It's not.

Only if you start it LATE and your house is cold do problems, mm... schedule changes, arise.

The result of my first attempt: glorious. SO beautiful. SO shocked. SO stoked. SO posted it (facebook).

Notice bread knife RIGHT behind the trusting, unsuspecting creature.

Today, so far, not looking great.

Witness hillbilly innovation: getting dough to rise at 10 p.m. in a house with no electric heat on a night that will probably plummet to 30-something (again), possibly freezing.

Woodstove comes to the rescue again. Took the picture in virtual dark, so didn't notice oiled fingerprints till just now (from oiled loaves & fingers). Nice touch.

The pots are there to add humidity to the house (so hair doesn't burst into flame as I pass by) but they're empty as am out of practice re: woodstove protocol as it's, oh, I don't know, ALMOST JUNE?

=)

So, as I'm sure was the case in undergrad learning the biology of yeast, I am up later than I hoped, because of yeast.

And the yeast, ever wise, would probably gently remind me that in both cases, if I'd not procrastinated, I'd be in bed by 9.

And the yeast, of course, would be right.

=)  biobabbler