Today, I Bake…

 

Last night I made the poolish (starter) for the focaccia I’ll be baking today. Once I have this going, I’ll make my usual farmhouse bread in anticipation of Handsome (and Carly’s) return tomorrow. 

I’m planning to top the focaccia with caramelized onions, fresh herbs and bacon. Because I don’t know what time he’ll be home, this will be part of dinner as a side for homemade soup. I think he’s going to be a happy guy to return to home cooking, as most of his meals the past four months have been takeout or restaurant food. Wife will take good care of him once he gets back here!

I hope you have a great day planned. It’s time for me to take care of critters, and then put on my baking apron. See you tomorrow!

Sunday At The Farmhouse...

Delicious Food At The Farmhouse

Yesterday couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was out, the weather was warm, and I joyfully spent the day in the kitchen. 

I began the day (after taking care of the Barn Girls) making a batch of hickory syrup. Once that was done, I mixed up the makings for focaccia. Focaccia starts with a wet mix called "poolish" that needs ten to fifteen hours to ferment. I made that on Saturday afternoon.

After the poolish is fermented, it's added to the rest of the ingredients and that begins a series of further fermentation until it's ready to form into pans. Fully formed and fermented, I added cooked Italian sausage, hand-grated Parmesan cheese, and caramelized onions. Top with a little basil and red pepper flakes, and it was ready for the oven. I also made a tomato/onion/green pepper mix that I roasted as a side dish for the focaccia.

As the focaccia was fermenting, I took another twenty minutes to hand churn some butter. I hadn't tried that before, but I'd purchased a Kilner churner when we first moved here, and I decided it was time to take it for a spin. Handsome helped me turn the churner crank when my hand got tired, but it really didn't take long for the butter to take shape. 300ml of whipping cream was turned into 3.5 ounces of salted butter, and 3/4 cup of buttermilk (which is the perfect amount for a batch of buttermilk biscuits later this week). 

All the photographs in the mosaic show 1) finished hickory syrup, and then clockwise 2) focaccia - before and after, and 3) butter - after and before. As always, you can click on the mosaic to enlarge it for a better view.

I'll be working in the studio today, but yesterday in the kitchen was really wonderful. I must make a point of doing that more often. I'm going to get the hickory syrup labeled, and an order of it packed and shipped first. I'd better get busy!

Weekend Update...

Brynwood Needleworks - Apples From Our Old Tree

 

Much of last weekend was spent indoors. We did hit the yard tractors on Saturday afternoon to mow our yard before the rains came early Sunday morning, and it looks better outside because of our efforts. Before I could mow the side yard (I usually do the lower front and side yards, and Handsome does the upper yard and the huge mound for our septic system.), I needed to pick up apples.

The apples looked really nice, so we brought them inside, and planned to use them before the weekend was over. We actually collected another five gallon bucket on Friday, so I offered those to Shelly. I think she'll be turning them into applesauce.

Brynwood Needleworks - Homemade Focaccia

Late evening on Friday, I made up the starter for focaccia. It needs at least twelve hours before it's ready to use, so Saturday noon was my starting time. As I waited, I vacuumed through the house (man, those pups shed!), and then prepared the toppings that would go on the focaccia before I put them in the oven.

It took about two hours for the dough to settle enough to add the toppings, and then another twenty minutes resting. These two beauties came out of the oven at six o'clock (pm) Saturday, and then I headed out to help Handsome finish the yard.

When we came back in a eight pm, all I needed to do (besides a shower) was make a small side salad for each of us, and put a portion of the focaccia back into the oven to reheat. The rest was divided and frozen (except the portion we gave to Andy and Shelly). It will make for a great, quick dinner when we're busy outside most of the day, or I'm in the studio getting projects completed. 

 

Brynwood Needleworks - Farmhouse Sandwich Bread and Apple Pie Filling

 

Sunday afternoon, I made two loaves of Farmhouse sandwich bread and these jars of apple pie filling from those lovely apples. Handsome was eating his breakfast and said the apples were getting a little "strong" so I couldn't delay my canning any longer. That reminds me of another story...

When I was in the yard, picking up the apples, I came upon a strange sight. I could see something moving along the edge of the lilies under the apple tree, and thought it might be an injured bird. Once I got closer, I saw that it was a little, fat mouse.

Mousie would walk a few steps, slowly roll over, and then right himself. I thought, "Oh, great. I don't want to dispatch a sick mouse." So I stood and watched it for quite a while. It was surrounded by scores of apples that had rotted because I couldn't see them among my lilies. The mouse continued to tumble around as I watched and contemplated what to do.

All of a sudden, it clicked. Rotting apples = fermenting apples = drunk mouse! Sure! That was it. This silly little mouse had been eating his fill of the apples under the tree, and he was plowed! I broke out laughing, and then said, "Mouse, you're drunk. Go home!". Whereupon that small furball made his way to the base of the tree, where he quickly disappeared. I'm giggling all over again, just thinking about it.

Handsome always helps me with cleanup, even though I try to keep up as I'm making. It's nice to have most of the used utensils, pots and pans ready to put away, once I get the jars into the canner. When the bread and pie filling were done, so was most of the kitchen cleanup.

I had barbequed baby back ribs on the menu, so I went out and lit the grill. At the end of a long day weekend, we sat down to ribs off the grill, parsley-buttered potatoes, and a small side salad. I admit I may have had a celebratory beer, too.

Whew! That was a tiring weekend! I'm taking tomorrow off, and Tag will be back to regale you with another of his colorful tales. I'll be back on Wednesday with some news to share. The crew will be here any minute, so I'd better finish my coffee and get ready to swing into another week. I hope yours is a good one, too! See you Wednesday.

Farmhouse Renovation - Porch Project - Day Seven...

Brynwood Needleworks - Farmhouse Renovation - Porch Project - Day Seven

Day Seven started with rain. The plan was to get all of the posts installed and remove the supports holding up our porch roof. It rained hard for about and hour and a half, but the weather finally cleared so the guys could get back to work.

Brynwood Needleworks - Porch Project - South and East Exposure

It was really interesting watching the process to install the posts. Each one sits on a secured base. The roof was raised enough (using a jackpost next to each post location) so the permanent post could be placed. Then, the jackpost was lowered, letting the roof down onto the post. Of course, the posts were then secured before going to the next one. After the posts were placed, the supports were removed. It's getting easier to see just how everything will look when completed.

It's funny how often I wanted to just go out onto the porch to watch the posts being installed, only to remember that...there isn't a porch...yet. (face palm)

The posts were also placed in different locations from the originals, because the southern entrance will now be treated as a main entry. There is a post framing each side of the entry area, and the stairs to the porch will be centered on that door, too. Of course, three posts (one at each corner) were predetermined to be able to properly support the roof, but after the entry posts were situated, the rest of the posts were placed equally around the porch. There will no longer be stairs on the front side of the porch (facing east).

Brynwood Needleworks - Porch - Southern Exposure

Our son (the carpenter) came up yesterday, too. He's going to be building our porch rails, so he came to meet with Tom (Wendels Construction owner) about their respective requirements as the concrete, stone work, and railings progress.

The guys knocked off early, but they accomplished their goal for the day. All the posts are secured in place and the supports that previously jutted out into the yard are now removed. Everyone will enjoy the weekend, and next week will be the start of the next phase.

Brynwood Needleworks - Lemon Balm Jelly

I promised to show you the beautiful Lemon Balm Jelly today. Handsome put some on his toast yesterday morning, and gave it a big thumbs up! Isn't it pretty, too?

This is going to be a bread making weekend. I'm making focaccia today, and sandwich bread tomorrow. I mixed up the starter for the focaccia last night, and it has to sit for ten to fifteen hours, so I'll begin mid-morning tomorrow. The house is going to smell great, for sure!

Weekend Bread Class...

Brynwood Needleworks - Focaccia and Pretzels

My sister and I had a great time at class on Saturday. We attended my second Artisan Bread class together, along with Kathy D. What we made was completely different from the first bread class I took last fall.

In this class, we made focaccia (topped with caramelized onions, red potatoes, mushrooms and three cheeses), homemade pretzels with a beer cheese dipping sauce, and three bread doughs (French, chiabatta and a sweet dough with raisins). Twelve students shared the doughs, taking our choices home to bake.

Brynwood Needleworks - Chiabatta Rolls

 

I chose the chiabatta dough (which Kathy and I mixed in class) to bring back to the farm. I baked it up after I got home, and it turned into the most wonderful rolls! Unlike most of the store-bought varieties I've tried before, these were so crispy and light that, when I picked up a finished roll, I thought they were empty shells!

 

They were crunchy on the outside, yet soft and chewy on the inside. I waited until they were cooled, and then chose a few small ones to eat with my dinner. The rest were vacuum sealed (along with the pretzels) to mail to Handsome. I froze the focaccia so we can share that as a meal with salad when he gets back home.

 

All in all, I'd say the class was a great success. My sister has a cottage bread baking business, so she learned a lot from our instructor. He was eager to share his vast knowledge of the industry with her, as well as some money-saving tips (that we could all use). We'll likely take another of his classes in the fall.

 

We still have another class this month, taught by a different one of the technical college's teachers, to learn how to make Sheboygan hard rolls. If you've never had this Midwest favorite, you don't know what you're missing. I'll be looking forward to the class, and then making them to hold our summer grilled hamburgers.

 

I worked on my embroidery and knitting over the weekend, but made minimal progress. I attended a musical treat on Sunday afternoon. Steven March-Torme' (Mel Torme's son) performed with the Fond du Lac Symphonic Band in the city's beautiful Performing Arts Center, followed by dinner out. 

 

I wish I could have shared my weekend with you...and Handsome. It won't be long before he's back home (I'll see him in 19 days, but who's counting?), but not soon enough to enjoy this lovely weekend with me. I did purchase two of Mr. March-Torme's cds, and plan to play them while Handsome and I share a meal (to include fresh bread as a side). 

 

Tag is looking forward to chatting with you tomorrow. I'll be working on my embroidery, as I'd like to finish it in the next day or so, to get to the next phase of my project. I'll show you what I've done so far when I come back on Wednesday. 

 

Have a great week!