BAKING BREAD

We have a fantastic little Irish cookbook in our library. Got it off a remainder table I don't remember when. The recipes are ok but the descriptions of the family kitchens are what really got to me. The author described the kitchen in her grandmothers old cottage. Her family had lived there for nearly two hundred years and for most of her life she cooked and baked in an open fireplace. When she finally hit her nineties she finally had to move in with one of her children. This lady absolutely refused to leave the house until a piece of the hearth fire had been taken to her new home and kindled. Family history claimed that the fire on that hearth had not gone out during those two hundred years.

This is image I had in my mind when I chose the title for this journal. There is nothing more basic than gathering in the kitchen surrounded by the smell of fresh bread or a good meal. I've probably baked more bread since the first of the year than I've done i the last five years. I got this recipe for a cheese and onion bread from a great little book called The Village Baker. If you don't go for cheese and onion bread, you can just stop with the challah, which is one of the traditional Sabbath breads.

CHALLAH

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Makes 2 braided 1 ½ pound loaves

 

2 packages active dry yeast. One tablespoon plus one teaspoon of yeast.

2 cups warm water

2 whole eggs or 4 beaten egg yolks

3 tablespoons corn or soy oil (I use olive oil)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

6 cups unbleached white or all purpose flour

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk for the glaze

Poppy seeds or sesame seeds for topping

 

Proof the yeast in a little of the warm water and, when it is creamy add it to the rest of the water, the eggs, oil, and sugar. Mix the salt in the flour and then start adding the dry mixture to the liquid mixture by handfuls while mixing with a spoon. Continue adding the flour until you have only a few handfuls left and the dough has come together. This can take up to ten minutes. I tend to use more flour than the recipe calls for.

 

Empty the dough out onto a work surface and knead the rest of the flour into the rest of the dough over about 5 to 8 minutes. I have good luck leaving the dough in our nice stoneware bowl and turning the bowl while using a spatula to work in the flour. Not nearly as messy.

 

When the dough is soft and satiny, round into a ball and let rise in a large bowl or other container covered with a damp towel. It should double in size in an hour to an hour and a half.

 

Use half a batch of dough to make the cheese and onion bread.

 

2 cups finely diced or shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

½ cup minced green onion

You can also add rosemary, thyme or oregano. Say a tablespoon of dried herbs for a batch.

 

Punch the dough down after the first rise and let it rest for fifteen or twenty minutes. Gently stretch the dough out into a square the size of say a medium pizza. Sprinkle the cheese and onions over the dough and gently push it into the dough. I have luck folding the dough over in thirds and continue working until the cheese pokes through the dough.

 

The original recipe calls for shaping the dough into twenty rolls. You can also divide the dough into three parts, and roll the sections out in a rope. Braid the dough. It can be left as a loaf or shaped in a wreath. Line the pan with parchment paper. If you are using a stone put the loaf on parchment paper and allow it to rise on a cookie sheet or peel. Allow the loaf to rise in a warm place until it’s about half again as large as it started. Say a half hour or so.

 

I know, the usual instructions are to let the loaf double, trust me.

 

Preheat the oven to 375. Using a spray bottle spray the loaf and place in the oven. Quickly spray the inside of the oven until it’s nice and steamy. Wait for two minutes and spray again. Repeat this twice more. Watch this dough carefully. Because of the sugar and egg it will start to brown fairly quickly. Rolls will take 12 to 15 minutes. A loaf will take closer to half an hour. If it’s browning too quickly reduce the temperature to 350 and cover the loaf with a sheet of foil. The loaf is done when it sounds hollow when you tap on the side.  

 

Try to let the loaf to cool for about half an hour before cutting, this allows it to finish baking. However………….  ;-) I've had good luck using a tradtitional French bread pan lined with parchment paper to bake this. The parchment helps protect the oven and the pan from the melting cheese.

 

This is much better (I think) than the cheese rolls you can  buy at the store.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I wrote this just about a year ago. I was rereading some of my old entries and I think I'll post it again.

I owe a lot of this to Joseph Campbell. Joe, wherever you are, I think someone just wiped the grime off that little pane of glass over in the far corner.

Christian apologists find something special in “God entering history” at a specific time and place. Somehow, this is unique and never to be repeated. That is, on a certain date and in a specific part of the world a specific person we now identify as God entered time and space. To enter the world, the Creator would have to have been absent, and I’m not sure the Creator was ever out of the world. Was a Gone Fishing sign left over the door or something?

This discrete identity doesn’t make the Creator any more accessible. In fact I believe it cuts us off. By confining a manifestation of the Creator to a discrete time and place, you get a freeze frame. THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE END OF THE STORY. IT’S FINAL, UNALTERABLE, AND NEVER TO BE QUESTIONED. This to a species that pokes, prods, touches, sniffs, tastes, takes apart everything in its environment, and (this is the irritating part) asks why. And as soon as one why is anwered another one pops up. At least until the world of the big people convinces you that this “just isn’t done” or “we don’t have time for this right now.” Not only are we confined to a specific time and place but to one face of Creation. We are told by too many who claim to speak for this unique face of creation that we are no longer free to find the other faces of the Creator in the here and now. And I believe we’re choking on it.

By claiming that this is what God said for now and all time, too many have put blinders on themselves and limited their freedom to perceive the changing face of Creation and left no room for any other creatures at the inn. Not only do they put blinders on themselves, they insist that the rest of us have to wear them too.

Now that I think about it, this is a powerful metaphor. I got what I can only describe as a jolt when I realized this. Talk about no room at the inn. Not only no room for Mary and Joseph, but no room for the rest of Creation either.

STARS

Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672. It can be found in the vicinity of the constellation Dorado, the swordfish. One of Hubble's wonderful shots released by NASA and found on my favorite astronomy site.

THE FIRST RHODODENDRON

This is a small rhodie we've had for several years. It seems to be a natural dwarf. I'm not sure what it's called. And it's an interesting color combo. The rose of the buds and the cream of the open flowers. It's close to the street and gets the most sun, so it's usually one the first of ours to bloom.

Gradually working my way in from the full bush.

We had off and on showers yesterday so the blossoms were still showing rain drops this morning.

Until we get to the closest shot of all.

The God/dess does do a miraculous job, Don't you think?

SERENDIPITY

Had one of those "moments" on the way to work this morning. A large bird swooped down over the center of the highway to check something out. Probably hoping for something to scrounge. Hung a right and flew right over my car. It was an osprey (fish hawk). Flew right over my car. Whoopie.

TOP OF THE WORLD

The newest entry on my favorite astronomy website, Astronomy Picture of the Day is actually a little more earthbound. It's a panoramic 360 degree view of the world from the top of Mt. Everest as you turn to the right. It was taken in 1989 by a climber named Roddy MacKenzie. Note how dark the sky is. The local Nepalese call the mountain Sagarmatha, the "face of the world. "

I'm not sure which direction it starts from but the picture was presented turning as full circle going to the right.

I guess a part of me is happy that there are people willing to climb the mountain and take pictures so the rest of us have a faint idea of how it might look like if we could get there ourselves. But, I don't want to go there. And, it's not because I'm a 57 seven year old, not in great shape woman. Beyond these pictures there isn't really anything there I want to see.

Rocks, snow and cold. It's above the limit of survivablilty. Aside from some possible colonies of algae or bacteria there's no life up there. And it's too harsh to send anyone up to research what might be there. It may even be too high for airborn seeds and insects. From what I understand of the climb, you have about enough time to get up the mountain, take a picture and start back down. There's no time to stop and let the spirit of the mountains become part of you. And since the company guiding you flies you into the base camp, takes you up the mountain and takes you home. If you don't want to or don't have the time you don't have to take the time to hike through the country and let the spirit of the land fill you.

In a couple of hours I can be on a cliff on the Oregon coast and I can stand on that headland long enough be filled by the wind, the sun, the rocks, the seabirds, and the manzanita until there is no "me" just the sun and the wind.

Tags: EVEREST, OREGON, PHOTOGRAPHY

MAY HAVE CREATED A MONSTER

We have a fairly new employee where I work who used to run a small restaurant. She's started bringing in a crock pot of home made soup on Fridays. Last Friday I took the plunge and brought in some of my home made bread. This is what I made.

CHALLAH

 

Makes 2 braided 1 ½ pound loaves

 

2 packages active dry yeast. One tablespoon plus one teaspoon of yeast.

2 cups warm water

2 whole eggs or 4 beaten egg yolks

3 tablespoons corn or soy oil (I use olive oil)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

6 cups unbleached white or all purpose flour

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk for the glaze

Poppy seeds or sesame seeds for topping

 

Proof the yeast in a little of the warm water and, when it is creamy add it to the rest of the water, the eggs, oil, and sugar. Mix the salt in the flour and then start adding the dry mixture to the liquid mixture by handfuls while mixing with a spoon. Continue adding the flour until you have only a few handfuls left and the dough has come together. This can take up to ten minutes. I tend to use more flour than the recipe calls for. I also get good results with two teaspoons of yeast per loaf and substituting a cup of whole wheat flour for one cup of the unbleached flour.

 

Empty the dough out onto a work surface and knead the rest of the flour into the rest of the dough over about 5 to 8 minutes. I have good luck leaving the dough in our nice stoneware bowl and turning the bowl while using a spatula to work in the flour. Not nearly as messy.

 

When the dough is soft and satiny, round into a ball and let rise in a large bowl or other container covered with a damp towel. It should double in size in an hour to an hour and a half.

 

If you are making challah, divide the dough in half then prepare the strands for braiding. Allow the dough to rise for a half hour to forty five minutes depending how warm the room is. Glaze the dough with egg mixture and sprinkle with the poppy or sesame seeds.

 

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven. This is how I bake. Spray the loaves with water just before you put them in the oven. Spray the oven interior for steam. Respray the oven at two minute intervals. Do this four times. Loaves are done when they sound hollow when you tap them on the side or bottom. Watch the bread carefully. Because of the egg and sugar it may start to brown too soon. Reduce the oven temp to 350 and cover it with aluminum foil.

 

Now on to the monster maker.

 

Use half a batch of dough to make the cheese and onion bread.

 

2 cups finely diced or shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

½ cup minced green onion, might be able to use fresh onion chives if you have them.

You can also add rosemary, thyme or oregano. Say a tablespoon of dried herbs for a batch.

 

Punch the dough down after the first rise and let it rest for fifteen or twenty minutes. Gently stretch the dough out into a square the size of say a medium pizza. Sprinkle the cheese and onions over the dough and gently push it into the dough. I have luck folding the dough over in thirds and continue working until the cheese pokes through the dough.

 

The original recipe calls for shaping the dough into twenty rolls. You can also divide the dough into three parts, and roll the sections out in a rope. Braid the dough. It can be left as a loaf or shaped in a wreath. Line the pan with parchment paper. If you are using a stone put the loaf on parchment paper and allow it to rise on a cookie sheet or peel. Allow the loaf to rise in a warm place until it’s about half again as large as it started. Say a half hour or so.

 

I know, the usual instructions are to let the loaf double, trust me.

 

Preheat the oven to 375. Using a spray bottle spray the loaf and place in the oven. Quickly spray the inside of the oven until it’s nice and steamy. Wait for two minutes and spray again. Repeat this twice more. Watch this dough carefully. Because of the sugar and egg it will start to brown fairly quickly. Rolls will take 12 to 15 minutes. A loaf will take closer to half an hour. If it’s browning too quickly reduce the temperature to 350 and cover the loaf with a sheet of foil. The loaf is done when it sounds hollow when you tap on the side.  

 

Try to let the loaf to cool for about half an hour before cutting, this allows it to finish baking. However………….:-)

 

From The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz. (a very good book with artisan style recipes and techniques.)

Anyway, the large wreath I brought in was gone by about 12:30 or so. That's the kind of food I like. Disappearing. The office manager basically said "it's official, she's in charge of soup, you're in charge of the bread." Heck, if I'd known a batch of half way decent home made bread would raise the cheerfuless level of the place I'd have done it a long time ago.

So I guess I have an office full guinea pigs. I promise to be kind.

Tags: BAKING, BREAD, ARTISAN BAKING

DO SOMETHING

 

One of Pat Oliphant's wonderful cartoons. Downloaded from the Go Comics site. The message is self explanatory, I think. I really like the little bird in corner and his buddy. LOL

Tags: GLOBAL WARMING, POLAR BEARS, EDITORIAL CARTOONS

COMBINED JOURNAL

I posted this over on Pixels so I don't miss anyone.

 

Awhile back Lisa suggested a sort of combined blog involving several of us. Each of us contributing what we could. We all thought this was a good idea and that’s really as far as it went. The best reason being that is was Lisa’s idea and she’s been working seventy odd hours a week. And that’s just at the café, that doesn’t include house keeping, cat supervision and finding time to spend with her wonderful husband.

 

And congratulations Lisa and having three great days back to back. Hey, what’s fifteen bucks less on day three? That is so wonderful.

 

Sooooo, I’m going to make a suggestion. At least to get the ball rolling. Most of those who read Lisa’s Coming to Terms stop by my journals once in awhile. One of us, me maybe I’m open to suggestions, could propose a topic, we’d have a week or two to work on the idea if it’s something we’d be interested in, send the entries to that person and they would post them in a separate journal. I’m going to jump in with both feet and suggest mirror sites, one on AOL and one on Blogger.

 

I suspect our interests are very similar, and it would be fun to see how each of us would handle a topic.

 

Obviously I’ve been turning this over and have some ideas that might be interesting to kick around.

 

Certain politicians and pundits speak about a “culture of life.” What does this mean when we support companies that try to insert a terminator gene into plants so they can make more profits selling seeds? Of even the whole concept of factory farming plants and animals.  Drug companies and their advertising.

 

If we don’t believe in war how do we remain faithful to our beliefs when we’re faced with those who are willing to kill their own people to oppose us?

 

If we’re fighting a war for oil, what does it mean to use precious fuel to bring fresh produce and seafood in from the other side of the world? Would you spend time and money to go to a restaurant that served only local products and cuisine?

 

Most of us have a Christian background. What does the Great Commission mean you? Do we look for similarities in beliefs and work from there or do we believe in converting everyone to our beliefs. Now, there’s a patch of quicksand for you.

 

If you could plant the ideal garden, what would it be?

 

What do you think of when you hear the word family?

 

Is there a book or books that mean a lot to you? Is there a special reason?

 

The same with movies.

 

Do you bake, or have time for some other craft? Why do you do it?

 

As a matter of fact. Why are we doing this in the first place? Why do we write? My first journal is nearly three years old and some of you have been doing this longer than I have. So, what are we doing here?

 

So, what do you think? I’m not trying to run the show but I do work a job with nice regular hours and I don’t have kids. I do believe it’s good idea and I believe all of us could do something really great if we could just figure out how to get the balloon off the ground.

 

PLAYING ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY AGAIN

Sifting throught Astronomy Picture of the Day archive this evening. Absolutely spectacular barred spiral galaxy designated NGC 1365. This gem can be found in the constellation Fornax. The light we're seeing started on its journey nearly 60 million years ago. Just about the time the first flowers were starting to bloom, birds were making a bid for dominance in place of the dinosaurs and mammals were still little ground and tree dwellers. The trees were still giant tree ferns, no evergreens. No maples, birches, or great oaks to silhouette the skies. Ah, how the world has changed.

Scientists estimate the galaxy is about 200,000 light years across and is believed to have a super massive black hole in the center. The glowing blue clouds of gas in the arms are where new stars are born. Of course since giant blue white stars have very short lives measured in tens of millions of years rather than billions, the stars we see a borning now have probably lived their lives, gone nova and spawned a new generation.

BLUE MOON

A shot from the International Space Station taken in July of 2006. Absolutely beautiful shades of white and blue. And the totally fantastic shots of the clouds from above. As the atmosphere thins it fades to almost black. So many beautiful colors. this is from my favorite astronomy site. I don't get over there often enough.

WE CAN'T STOP WRITING

PANGUR BAN

 

I and Pangur Ban my cat,

'Tis a like task we are at:

Hunting mice is his delight,

Hunting words I sit all night.

 

Better far than praise of men

'Tis to sit with book and pen;

Pangur bears me no ill-will,

He too plies his simple skill.

 

'Tis a merry task to see

At our tasks how glad are we,

When at home we sit and find

Entertainment to our mind.

 

Oftentimes a mouse will stray

In the hero Pangur's way;

Oftentimes my keen thought set

Takes a meaning in its net.

 

'Gainst the wall he sets his eye

Full and fierce and sharp and sly;

'Gainst the wall of knowledge I

All my little wisdom try.

 

When a mouse darts from its den,

O how glad is Pangur then!

O what gladness do I prove

When I solve the doubts I love!

 

So in peace our task we ply,

Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;

In our arts we find our bliss,

I have mine and he has his.

 

Practice every day has made

Pangur perfect in his trade;

I get wisdom day and night

Turning darkness into light.

 

    -- Anon., (Irish, 8th century)

 

I first ran across this in Andrew Greeley’s May the Wind Be At Your Back. It’s a series of meditations on some Irish prayers and religious themed poems. This one is one of the latter ones. This little verse was found in the Monastery of Carinthia in the margins of a copy of Saint Paul’s epistles. The poem is sometimes also known as “The Scholar and His Cat.”

 

This Irish monk can no more not write than his cat can refuse to chase mice. A cat chases mice. To deny that is to deny the gifts of the Creator. Greeley writes as an Irish American. The joys and tribulations of being a writer and trying to remain not only in the Irish community but the religious community. (He’s a Jesuit, a sociologist, and a writer)

 

I think some of the long time members of the journal community are finding this is true. They may have to put the pen or keyboard aside for a little while simply because of pressures from family, illness, or work but they can’t stop for very long. Even if it’s a picture and the story that goes with it, they can no more give up writing than they can quit breathing, or Pangur Ban, whiskers twitching and tail held high, can let a mouse go by without pouncing.

TURNING PEOPLE INTO NUMBERS

In there early seventies there was a remarkable  series on PBS called the Ascent of Man. Basically, it was a series of thirteen televised essays that covered subjects as diverse as human evolution, architecture and genetics. It was the brainchild of mathematician/biologist Jacob Bronowski. I loved it then, I love it now but one sequence stuck with me for years. It was a short sequence set in the remains of the death camp at Auschwitz. I added the captions to the screen grabs.

 

 

I discovered this week that I can capture shots from my DVD’s with the player on my laptop. These are shots from that sequence in one chapter of  the Ascent of Man. This is the text of the voiceover for the shots from the camp.

 

 

 

“There are two parts to the human dilemma. One is the belief that the end justifies the mean. That push-button philosophy, that deliberate deafness to suffering, has become the monster in the war machine. The other is the betrayal of the human spirit: the assertion of dogma that closes the mind, and turns a nation, a civilization, into a regiment of ghosts – obedient ghosts, or tortured ghosts.

 

Archive pictures from the camp.

 

 

 

 

'It is said that science will dehumanize people and turn them into numbers. That is false, tragically false. Look for yourself. This is the concentration camp and crematorium at Auschwitz. This where people were turned into numbers. Into this pond were flushed the ashes of some four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave. This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods.

 

Science is a very human form of knowledge. We are always at the brink of the known, we always feel forward for what is to be hoped. Every judgment in science stands on the edge of error, ad is personal. Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible. In the end the words were said by Oliver Cromwell: ‘I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken’.

 

…….I owe it as a human being to the many members of my family who died at Auschwitz, to stand here by the pond as a survivor and a witness We have to cure ourselves of the itch for absolute knowledge and power. ………..We have to touch people.”

 

 

This is the shot that stuck with me for so long. I can't even imagine what it would be like to stand in that place where so many of your family died and were discarded like so much garbage.

 

Bronowski was talking about one of the horrors of recent history. But the words could describe any of the recent horrors from the front pages and the headlines. To hear so many people speak or write so callously about discarding or attacking or killing or even putting people in camps is horrifying to me.

 

 

 

PAINTING WITH WORDS

I attached this as a comment to my last entry and decided to make it as an entry.

There's an old, old Bonanza episode. I forget if the man was a friend or a friend of a friend who needed someplace to get his bearings. He was an artist who'd lost his sight. He was outside by the lake with one of the Cartwrights. Ben, I think, but it's been years since I've seen this. And it's one of the few episodes that's stuck all these years.

The artist asks what's around them. The usual, trees, water, grass, sky. Then he starts asking for a more detailed description. Not just green, but what kind of green? Not just blue but what kind of blue. Are there clouds? Are they reflected in the water? He comes to understand that he may not be able to paint with a brush anymore, but he has a life time of memories of places he's been and seen and he can still paint them. With words.