Fleur-de-QuietCreekSC

What a difference a weekend makes:

–Two of Rusty’s inoculated shiitake logs are leaning against the trunk of an old spruce tree near my kitchen garden.

–Claire’s method of making oatmeal coincided with a cold front moving into Centre County, so I’ve been making good use of it.

–Sliced a HUGE head of cabbage to start a new batch of sauerkraut, which is percolating on the kitchen counter and headed for the basement for five more weeks.

–Made a DIY vermicomposter for this winter’s kitchen trimmings to keep in the basement. My mother will be OK with it as long as I don’t say the W word, aka WORM bin.

–Seeds collected from the Callaloo plant and Korna pepper will bring a warm memory of Quiet Creek to next year’s Garden 101.

–Cloves of Quiet Creek German garlic and tubers of a red-skinned Jerusalem artichoke are nestled in the soil at my mother’s place, awaiting a long winter’s nap.

–Baked my first batch of whole-wheat yeast bread…ever! Bread baking was always Paul’s role in our family dynamics. I watched Claire, she shared her recipe, and my fear of yeast breads is conquered!

–Clipped some fresh rosemary and mixed it with a stick of soft butter, a la Claire, to spread on the lovely loaves.

Quiet Creek’s Sprouted Whole Grain Bread*

1 T. baking yeast

3 T. molasses or honey

4 T olive oil

1 tsp. salt

3 cups warm water

Mix above ingredients and allow mixture to sit for 10 minutes.

Add:

5-6 cups whole-wheat flour

5 cups of unbleached white flour

1 T. flax seed

1 cup sunflower seeds (soaked for 12 hours, washed and strained)

1 cup wheat berries (soaked for 12 hours, sprouted for 48 hours, washed, and strained, then ground with flax in ½ cup water)

1 T. nutritional yeast (I skipped this because I forgot to buy it and bread still turned out)

Mix all for 5 minutes. Knead for 5 minutes. Add more water or add more flour, as needed. Allow it to rise until the dough has doubled in size. Divide into four loaves. Let rise 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes.

*Prepare wheat berries three days before baking and sunflower seeds one day before baking.

As you can see from the photo, sometimes I stray from directions. I wanted to make smaller loaves, because there are only two of us, but instead of six, I ended up with five…never was good at division! Laurie Lynch