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for my aunt who is turning 80 - wow - thats a lot of water under the bridge. i found this paper at daiso and love it - it immediately reminded me of anaglypta wallpaper. i bought it in three colourways - green, white and pebble grey. and to top off the gift i stuck on one of the slippers i made for a workshop last year. happy birthday joy-bell!
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we have a lucky dip at our school fair and a friend is organising it this year. i said i would make some bits and pieces. prairie had the button basket out and there they were, calling out. i stitched the buttons together with linen thread. then i cut a small circle of felt and stitched the hair clip to that then glued that to the back of the button.
i made 24 and then glued some paper to light card, punched a hole in it and slid the clip on. sometimes i love doing a little production run - so satisfying.
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around here we tend to eat indian food in waves. we head to mahadeo's to stock up. i love going there - the smells waft out onto the street before you even get inside and once through the door the effect is that of narnia. everything is in bulk and i love seeing it all in such magnitude. my favourite book to cook out of is madhur jaffreys. i must have bought this 20 years ago and it still delivers. off to soak the chickpeas now!
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my pumpkins on my kitchen windowsill are popping up - marina di chioggia and amish pie. i am so excited about growing pumpkins this year.
and the newest raised garden - i had the grand idea of making low hurdles - something i have yearned to do for years though no hazelwood here. we drove in some birch pegs and i set to work scouring the property for lengths of greenwood. its a little organic in structure but i think it'll work once its planted out and the straw is tucked in. the garden is a metre by about three - needless to say all that bending has me feeling muscles that i had forgotten exisited!
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not so long ago i made this bag and i am happy to say that the surgery was successful. i decided that i would donate it for part of the raffle at our school fair which is coming up in early november. i felt it needed a little something extra so i blanket stitched around the edge and stitched on a few buttons to bejewel the top. fair ready!
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prairie can't believe i have used this title but i can't help myself and heres why - my first deli-style rye. perhaps a trifle high baked but the crust was amazing - my crustiest yet and the caraway seeds were not at all overwhelming like i thought they might be.
and my own little take - out of necessity actually - i didn't have time to bake a whole loaf last night for dinner so thought smaller rolls would be quicker - they were and were demolished so i made more for the kids for lunch today
there is flour and cornmeal all over the kitchen now and i keep finding little bits of dried dough on my clothes. time for a clean up!
yesterday i received a smelly package - i bought from the grower and the scent is intensely beautiful. we keep dropping our faces into it. really. you would too. we are all, consequently, quite calm.
i wanted to make some of these - this was whisked straightaway to prairie's bedroom. i steeled myself and broke into the new twine and the new fabric too.
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this is last nights loaf - a peasant loaf that also contains wholemeal and rye. too high in the oven - it rose and hit the element. when we cut into it had a surprise of uncooked dough right in the middle! its a big fat learning curve this bread lark. it seems so simple and in theory it is but the individual elements have to be perfect. i am having a new relationship with my oven alone. i usually put everything in at about 180 celsius but this needs a specific heat of 400 farenheit - they (the authors) insist on having an oven thermometer and it is well worth it.
so this morning i tried to get those details dancing together and came up with peasant loaf #2. no gooey middle but still could have done with another 10 minutes - still - i cannot believe this is actually my bread coming out of my oven.
i am impatient so this is a challenge but i am so loving this journey. i am off now to put down a dough for the deli style rye!
melissa - consider this a nudge! go mix!
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i finally got around to getting this book out of the library and went hurtling into my first batch. i you tubed a demonstration as well which was really helpful. i invested in a bread stone and pizza peel and it really made a difference. we made pizza last night and the crust was well, crusty. this morning i used the last of the batch to make a boule. what a funny little loaf. the oven wasn't hot enough so perhaps this attributes to the odd shape. i'm sure it'll taste good which is what i am going to do right now!
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