In the freezer are containers full of boysenberries, raspberries and strawberries. In the winter garden, rhubarb! Pudding like cake with summer boysenberries stored in our freezer. There is a cake recipe that I have adapted to make the most of my fruit harvest. This...
Panettone I made my best panettone this year. And over Christmas and new year my family, friends and I snacked on it till there was no more. The process for making panettone is really simple once you know how to make bread. I make sourdough bread and hence I make a...
Naturally leavened bread baking class. Time: 9am -5pm Date: Sunday 15th September Cost: $95 ORTO Straw Eco Farm, Blampied (just outside of Daylesford). Overview Learn to make your own delicious sourdough bread loaf to take home. We will also make flat bread to have...
Naturally Leavened Bread Baking for Beginners Class I really love baking bread and I really love teaching. Come and join me at my home in Blampied. 9:45am-5pm Sunday August 4th. Cost: $95pp. Max 6. All tools and ingredients provided. Each participant will take home a...
I have had a great summer. I must thank all my volunteer fairies for without them I would not be able to do all that I do. No way. There are so many tasks that take hours and hours to complete, such as harvesting herbs, stripping their leaves and placing them in...
I really try and make the most of summer...it is the most productive time of the year on our property. A time to restock the larder and discover new foraging opportunities. During summer I think about water a lot. Every time I harvest, every time I water my trees, I...
All the garlic, minus a few heads have been planted. I hope to double my harvest this year. Ralf moved some of the rich top soil mounds and spread them to create a second kitchen garden. At first I kept thinking, how am I going to manage so much space...how will I...
Thank you For sharing this year with me. It has been an experientially rich year. There have been many aspects that I have loved and am deeply grateful for. And I want to list some of those here. I am grateful to all the people that bring together community and that...
There is a list and sketches on a drawing we made. A drawing of our land and our dreams. Pigs on the south paddocks. Native wind breaks to the west, south and east. Establish a wetland and create habitat around it. Plant oaks and nuts to provide long term food...
I moved to Melbourne at 18. It was the very best thing to do. The diversity of people there meant that there was someone for everyone. The subcultures to be found in each suburb ensured that eventually I would find my tribe. At the time I was singing in a band playing...
Before departing from my city life I made one last loaf of sourdough bread and it was one of the finest I have made. Now three months have passed and I miss my bread. I am trying to stay out of the kitchen as I want to focus on planting trees and establishing a...
So what is that feeling? That excitement and anticipation. How is it that such simplicity can bring about in me...such feelings of grandeur and lilt? A quickness in my step and pending exaltation. I mean who could have imagined that after a year of mixing grain and...
Ken is a friend from the CERES days. He has spent decades working with bread and calls himself a bread builder. He tells me that bread like buildings needs structural integrity: gluten strands need to link and align. McGee's book on food and cooking by Harold McGee...
700g bread loaves are all the rage at my house at the moment, it's the perfect size for a family of five and keeps for over a week. After a year of bread making I feel free to make up the recipes as I go which is my favourite way to cook. I simply ask my stomach what...
During December, and over the heat, my bread making energy had died in a heap. But after a few months of eating just air: bread at the supermarket just made me stare. I regained my focus, I reset my compass, I jiggled the kitchen and fired the sour, and in a tiny...
Now I am creating my own bread recipes. I added two tablespoons of cocoa to the sourdough basic recipe, a large handful of sultanas, and a large handful of hazelnuts. A tbs of honey too. A bitter flavoured breakfast bread with a tinge of sweet.
Bread fever has not died. I am as keen to make bread as ever before and I am getting faster too. On the weekend it was fresh bread heaven. We sat 6 at our table. The loaves of warm bread sitting on the cooling rack ready for slicing. The table was laid out with...
Like a pet it is, the bread I make. A constant fixture that I bake. I never tire of making it, watching the rising and kneading the mix. At night I start, by day break its full, bloated and ready to be halved in two. The tins make toasting easier and sandwiches ripe,...
I really enjoy learning from friends. From friends most of all because an intimate relationship has been established that makes the learning process very gratifying. There is also an opportunity for me to learn not only about their craft but to learn more about them...
I am slowly working towards perfecting my bread making and baking...I have gleaned from here I have gleaned from there... Ken tells me stories, Lise and others too... there are different approaches to making bread and you choose the approach you want according to the...
For a change or because wheat is bloating you, then try spelt. It is more expensive, about $28 for a 5k bag, where I shop, compared to $13.50 for a similar size bag of wheat flour, but it is really delicious. It is easy to work with and rises very well.