Oh, what a blessing it is to have the first salad leaves on your plate. Especially those young leaves which are tender and tasty. As a beginner vegetable gardener last year, I found it a pity to take leaves of of these tiny plants, but now I now better. They shall grow on and deliver an abundance no matter what. So a few leaves in early spring won't harm them. And I do have got loads...
When I had a rental apartment with a very small post stamp of a garden due North, I promised myself; whenever I buy a home, it must have a big garden facing south, where I could grow my own vegetables. And the thing I pictured in front of me, was rows and rows of unions and carrots. And at harvest time I would get the unions out of the ground. Lay them on my patio to dry and braid them in long strings. And so I did...
The trouble I have is that I do like coffee, while my ways and methods to make it myself are always highly disappointing. So I got a new coffee pot from my parents. You'll never know. I might succeed making something very tasty with this one. And if not, it is highly beautiful
Each Sunday, I rise at 5 am and knead my bread. I use the same recipe for several years. I can almost perform with my eyes closed. 320 ml of hand warm water, one table spoon of yeast. Mix gently and sing to your yeast (they are living creatures after all). Add 600 grams of flower to a bowl, add a tablespoon of salt. Mix. Add the water yeast mixture and a drop of oil. Mix, first I do this with a fork, so I don't get my hands all dirty. If it gets a bit coherent then I go. In the soft light of a little lamp I sprinkle flower on my kitchen top. The lumb of dough is toppled out of its bowl. And then the slow magic happens. Kneading and kneading, stretching and folding, gently..o so gently. Then it may rest and grow. Sometimes I peak below the towel into the bowl in which it is resting. My baby grows and grows. Until its time to knock knock knock. I scare it, I know. But it is needed. After I knead it for a second time, it feels even better and grows more. But I need to be careful. If my baby grows to big it won't fit into my little oven. If the weather is good, I go and sit outside to cut the bread into slices. I like that, because birds like that too. They come already towards me and sit on trees and walls nearby. Waiting for the moment they feel safe enough to pick the bread crums.
Yes they do look a bit funny. And no, it is no mold on the sides. These are just bread crums. The cake inside does taste great and can be stored for quite a while. Always handy if you have unexpected company.
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AuthorHi, I'm Bregtje. Here you can find me with my head above the kitchen stove. But I also can be found with my head up side down in the garden or my head in a newly home made cupboard or even between piles of paper, sticking stuff in arty albums and brushing away with paint! And now I'm developing a new hobby to add to my ever growing project list: blogging about it all! Please find my Garden blog, Kitchen blog, Homemaking blog and Arts blog here! Archives
August 2021
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