Make It From Scratch Carnival #40

Bean Sprouts is proud to be hosting the 40th Make It From Scratch carnival. I've decided to include a short quote or a picture from each entry to give you a flavour and hopefully inspire you to follow the link.

Let's start with a bunch of Thanksgiving-related posts. I think we just missed it, didn't we (forgive me, I'm English). But you can bookmark them for next year.

Is pumpkin butter Thanksgiving-y? Amy Allen Clark presents Overcoming My Fears: Canning posted at Amy Allen Clark. Amy was afraid of home canning following a traumatic experience in a home economics class (!), but she says:

The whole process really went smoothly and I ended up with eighteen jars of Pumpkin Butter. I can't wait to give these away as hostess gifts!

Karen Weideman presents Children's Thanksgiving Activities posted at Thrifty Mommy. I'm including a picture for this one rather than a quote, because I loved this jolly turkey. Follow the link to see instructions for this and other activities.


Melanie Ellis presents Pumpkin Bread/Cake posted at Homeschool Help Web. Sounds wonderful. Melanie says:

It's delicious on it's own, or you could bake it as a cake and add a lovely cream cheese frosting to it. Mmmmm......

If you want a main course to go with that, StarXLR8 presents The Leftover Frittata posted at midwest neurotica. Star says:

Would work well with leftover Thanksgiving turkey or ham!

Stephanie presents Homemade Stuffing for Thanksgiving posted at Stop the Ride!. Stephanie says:

There are few food items that I am picky about, but one would be stuffing, especially at Thanksgiving. Serve me the stuff out of the box for a quick dinner, or on a camping trip, I have no problem with that. At Thanksgiving though I am looking forward to something more like my grandma made. The stuffing grandma made was moist and flavorful, and really shouldn't even be compared to the stuff from the box.

I couldn't agree more.

Heidi presents Our not so traditional tradition posted at Butterfly Mama. It's a recipe for Vietnamese salad rolls with peanut chile dressing. Sounds great. Heidi says:

They are so delicious I actually get a craving for them and the peanut sauce is really yummy over rice noodles too!

And here are some recipes that aren't specifically for Thanksgiving.

GP presents Kids can "do lunch" on the farm. posted at Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range. I love this recipe for Montana Muesli, and I just have to include this quote:

I want to see our communities get more and more localized, with more local food produced and consumed, more local goods bought and sold. I want to see local entrepreneurship encouraged. What a win, win, win… our environment, our local economy and… our kids… Yeeha.. eat up

Amen to that.

Teresa presents Corned Beef posted at Changing Seasons. Teresa says:

Our first year here, Daniel and I really wanted corned beef for Saint Patrick's day. However, we are unable to buy it here. So, last year we decided to corn our own beef. It worked well!

Mmmm, I love corned beef.

delilah presents Apples, Apples and more Apples. posted at The Miller Way.... Delilah says:

Here are a few apple recipes that I have tried that turned out fabulous! The Chicken & Apples recipe is TO DIE FOR! I am not kidding it was one of the best things EVER! Everyone in my family gobbled it right up!

Melissa presents Tightwad Wednesday - Stain Recipe & No-Knead Pizza Dough posted at A Penny Closer. Melissa says:

This dough was disturbingly easy to make. ... For the lack of effort/skill/time needed to make this recipe we definitely give it a “thumbs up”.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we can turn our attention to Christmas.

Alison presents Christmas Letters With a Twist posted at This Wasn't in The Plan. Alison says:

I always love reading all the "this is what our family has done this year" letters that we receive in Christmas cards.

Me too, Alison, and I hate all those sad sacks who complain about receiving them. What, you're happy to receive a Christmas card from me but you can't be bothered to read about what I've been doing? If you don't like keeping up with what your friends are doing, you don't deserve to have friends. Cross them off your Christmas list and save a tree, you old Grinch! Anyway...

joanie presents Mini dioramas for Christmas posted at joanie. Got to include a picture of this project. How cute is this?

And finally here are some miscellaneous makes and tips.

Jon Dyer presents Make Your Own Kubb Set For Dirt Cheap - Jon Dyer’s Blog posted at Jon Dyer's Blog. Jon says:

Kubb is a fun Swedish yard game for 2-12 players that is similar to horseshoes or bocce. It always attracts a crowd when we play the game on the beach, and I’ve yet to meet a player that doesn’t want a set of their own after a couple of rounds.

Sounds like a fun project and a fun game.

zamejias presents Bookmark It! posted at Verb. Instead of a quote I'm going to include a photo of Zam's frugal and unique pary invitations:

Laura Williams presents Candlemaking: Making use of those little candle stubs posted at Laura Williams' Musings. Laura says:

Making "new" candles from those little candle stubs is an easy way to use them up and get new life or light from them.

Summer presents Make your own Baby Wipes posted at Summer's Nook. Photo time again:

Tara presents Dry Brushing posted at walkabout. Tara says:

I've noticed benefits that make me miss brushing if I skip more than three days in a row. Plus it meets two of my biggest criteria for anything these days: it's cheap and good for me.

STOP PRESS

This entry was submitted before the deadline but was somehow missed in the initial release - I blame gremlins. HowToMe presents How To Make a Draft Stopper for a Door or Window Sill posted at HowToMe. HowToMe says:

In the autumn, I begin laying beach towels against the inside of exterior doors to stop drafts. This year, I’ve decided to recycle some material and leave the towels in the cabinet. Would you like to make a draft stopper for a door or window? Here is how I made an Evergreen Draft Stopper and a Sand Draft Stopper.

That's it, hope you enjoyed the carnival. Next week's carnival will be at Stop the Ride. You can submit your stories here.

Baguettes

Now that I can reliably make tasty, well-shaped sourdough boules every day, I decided to try my hand at a different shape - sourdough baguettes. Here is my first attempt. A bit misshapen, and rather short because my oven isn't as big as a commercial bakery, but definitely baguettes nonetheless.

Weed of the Week - Brambles

Brambles, or wild blackberries, are obviously a very useful plant. I used to say I'd never grow cultivated blackberries, as there are plenty of wild ones to be gathered for free, and they're invasive so they can be a bother in the garden. However they're a perfect candidate for my edible vandal-proof hedge, and they were given to me free, so the one in the photo is a cultivated variety.

I don't need to list the uses of blackberry fruit do I? In the last few weeks I have used them to make jam, wine, pies and liqueur. You can make a cordial from it, you can eat them fresh with cream, make ice cream, add them to yogurt. They're a wonderfully versatile berry.

The leaves are also useful. Gather them when they're young, dry them for a week then crumble them and use exactly as tea leaves. Bramble leaf tea tastes good (you'll find it in the ingredients list of most fruit-flavoured herb teas) and is reputedly good for diarrhoea and a long list of other ailments. But I prefer to mash the berries, pour boiling water over them, steep for a few minutes, then strain and serve with a spoonful of honey for a sweet fruity drink full of vitamin C.

Brambles are also very important for wildlife. Apparently they form an important part of the diet of deer. They grow into thickets which provide protection for small animals, as Uncle Remus, traditional author of the Brer Rabbit stories, well knew. Birds eat the berries in autumn, when worms and insects are becoming scarce (then perch in the tree in my drive and crap purple all over my car, damn them). And insects such as honeybees consume the nectar from the flowers in spring, pollinating the plants in return.

They spread by seeds, but if you spot a bramble seedling early enough it's no bother to get it out. The trouble comes from the runners. Brambles put out long straight branches which grow along the ground with amazing rapidity. Where the tip touches the ground, the plant puts out roots and forms a new plant which can survive even if the runner is severed. Cutting the plants off at ground level only encourages more suckers. If you have a large area infested with a bramble thicket, as dad has in Ireland, or as Welsh Girl had when she first took over her allotment, you have a major task on your hands to clear the ground. Do wear protective clothing as the prickles are vicious and the tough stems form natural tripwires that lacerate your ankle as they knock you face-first to the ground.

Like nettles, they're such a useful plant that I'm very glad to see them growing wild where I can easily gather them. But like nettles, I don't tolerate wild ones in my allotment or garden, and I keep the cultivated ones in check.

Good Day on the Allotment

It was my turn to be on duty in the site shed again this morning, and I had an exciting time. We'd had a new portaloo delivered with an actual flushing toilet. It may not seem much, but it's a huge improvement on a draughty shed with a bucket in it. You can imagine how pleased the chap is whose job it used to be to empty the bucket.



I also found some raspberry canes leaned up against my compost heap. They're from my lovely friend Hazel, and I'll be putting them in the ground very soon.







And I was given a bag of apples by a nice chap called Stuart, who got them from a neighbour. He's going to try to get me some more, in exchange for a bottle of home-made cider.







Finally I picked up a free magazine from a chap called Terry. All in all, not a bad haul for a cold and miserable day on the allotment.

Mincemeat

I made my Christmas mincemeat yesterday. It's based on Delia Smith's recipe, but with a few changes. I use a bit less of some of the raisins, sultanas and currants, and add some chopped prunes, apricots and glace cherries. I leave out the almonds and use pecans or walnuts instead. And I add a bag of fresh cranberries. Oh, and I use rather more brandy than Delia does (because there are more ingredients in my batch, of course!) I also don't bother with baking it in the oven as Delia says to do. I've never found it goes off as she warns. In fact there's a jar from 2005 on the shelf which is as good as new. I suspect the generous addition of brandy helps - in Delia's recipe all the alcohol must be driven off in the oven, so the only way to preserve it to to heat it and seal it in sterilised jar.

You really should try making your own mincemeat. It's not at all hard. It's not even cooking. It's just weighing out some ingredients and putting them in a bowl. That's it. Mix it up and spoon it into jars and you're all done. And the best thing about it is that you can do this anytime you fancy, because it stores so well. You don't have to wait until the height of the pre-Christmas panic. I like to do it around November, when I'm starting to feel festive but it's really too soon to do much about it.

A few years ago a friend of mine stated proudly that she made her own mince pies, using shop-bought mincemeat and shop-bought pastry. I'm afraid to say I made her feel bad and bragged that I made mine from scratch. I shouldn't have done that. But it isn't hard to make pastry. And it's even easier than that to make mincemeat.

Cartoon from Climate Cartoons.

10 Reasons Why Everyone Should Make Yogurt

• it's the easiest culture you'll ever make, easier than ginger beer or sourdough bread
• it's cheaper than buying it
• you can have organic yogurt, skimmed milk yogurt, gold top yogurt, goat's milk yogurt, Jersey yogurt - anything you like
• it's fun to know how things are made
• you can make it into soft cheese
• it's delicious
• it's good for you
• you can put a dollop in a chili or curry that's too hot and it will cool it right down
• you can make a quick and low fat salad dressing (just add your favourite seasonings, stor, and use like mayonnaise)
• you can freeze it and make home-made frozen yogurt - now that really is the good life

Anagram Competition Results

The voting is now closed on our anagram competition. The most popular anagram of "Dill's Atlantic Giant" was "Titillating Scandal", with 55% of the vote.

So Frank Marsland wins the windmill palm seeds. Congratulations Frank. Honourable mention to Hedgewizard whose entry "Gilt-clad Snail Titan" was also very popular.

Fred and Ginger

I've still got a little Ginger beer left (from my yeast culture), although we are moving over to Fred beer production (made with the authentic ginger beer plant). I thought I'd show you this picture of the final brews side by side. the Fred beer is on the right. You can see it has a much redder colour. Ginger on the left is very pale in comparison.

There are other differences besides the culture. Fred is fed on brown sugar whilst Ginger has white sugar. That's 8 teaspoons over a week and presumably contributes to Fred's reddish colour. In both cases the final brew is sweetened with white sugar. Ginger has the juice of a lemon in the final brew, which might bleach out a little of her natural colour.

As well as a richer colour, Fred has the better taste, too, which is why we've killed off Ginger. The latest batch of Fred beer is extremely peppery, but the kids still drink it, although Sam has taken to getting a glass of water and a glass of Fred beer. He has a drink of Fred and then takes a sip of water to cool it down a bit.

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

In the past few weeks I have learned how to make better, tastier bread than I've ever made before. My family like it and are happy to eat it, fresh with butter or toasted for breakfast. But we still weren't not ready to stop buying sliced bread. The kids wouldn't have my bread for their sandwiches at school. I don't blame them - the sandwiches were almost two inches thick. That's a lot of chewing when you just want to finish your packed lunch quickly so you can go out and play.

So today I bought an electric slicing machine from Lakeland. It wasn't cheap, but boy does it do the trick. I sliced a boule of yeasted rye bread I made yesterday and the slices came out thin and even. The kids have had jam sandwiches as an after-school snack, and declare that they're happy to have this bread in their lunch boxes.

I think we've bought our last loaf of Hovis.

Hunting Spare Parts

A while ago I blogged about my 50-year-old food processor. My dad bought it for his mum in 1956, and it has been passed down through the family to me. It's a real workhorse - built before companies realised it was good business to build bad products that would wear out and need replacing every 5 years or less.

A few weeks ago a small but crucial part broke. I fixed it with Araldite (as you can see I have carried out repairs on various bits of the machine), but it broke again repeatedly and eventually was beyond repair.

The Braun service centre said they could not help, as it was just too old and they didn't stock the parts for it anymore. So I took it to a small precision engineer in Macclesfield. He says he is sure they will be able to make me a new part and get my food processor running again. I do hope they can. The motor is strong as an ox. I am sure it has another 50 years to give. It would break my heart to have to throw this lovely old machine out, and all the family history that goes with it.

Tread Lightly

I've been asked to let you know about a new initiative from The Guardian called "Tread Lightly":

Guardian Tread lightly is a new community site, which aims to encourage online communities into reducing their CO2 emissions through making weekly pledges and recording their actions against their pledges. The idea is that every pledge is simple, straightforward, and something that everyone can do, so that people who are normally put off doing environmental things because it sounds like a lot of effort will find Tread Lightly a good solution to easing their carbon conscience.

I've had a look and there's some interesting stuff on there. For example there's a chance to win an electric car, and if you complete 12 pledges you get a free eco shopping bag. Why not go and check it out, and maybe pledge to make some reductions in your CO2 footprint.

Natural Fly Control

I recently read a tip about fruit flies and knew I had to try it. You pour an inch of cider vinegar in a glass, and a bit of washing up liquid.

I tried it, and within 12 hours there was a layer of dead flies on the bottom of the glass. It's a bit gross, I know, but it's better than catching the damn things in a glass of wine you weren't finished drinking.

Poynton Against Tesco

I took some photos in Poynton yesterday of all the "Poynton Against Tesco" posters I saw. I especially like the shopping bag (bottom centre). I'd have bought one, but the shop was closed, and none of the other shops knew anything about them.

There is certainly an amazing strength of feeling against building a new Tesco in Poynton. There is a "Poynton Against Tesco" website, a "Stop Tesco in Poynton" Facebook group with almost 300 members. Our MP supports the campaign against Tesco in Poynton. Over 6000 people have signed a petition against Tesco in Poynton, which is almost half the population of the village.

We don't want Tesco in Poynton. I hope they get the message. We couldn't be saying it any clearer.

Christmas Cake

I baked the Christmas cake yesterday. I always love they way the house fills with the smell during the long slow baking. When it cooled I stabbed some holes in it with a skewer and poured brandy all over it, then wrapped it up in baking paper and foil and put it away. I'll get it out a few more times for more "feedings" of brandy and by the time I come to decorate it and serve it, you won't be able to have more than a small slice if you're driving.

Happy Birthday, Jill

Jill of Who Could Ask for Anything More is 40 today. Happy birthday, Jill. Hope this will be your best decade yet.

Loaf Baked in Cloche

Here's today's sourdough loaf baked in my poor-man's cloche. I'm going to say no more. The picture says it all.

Anagram Competition Poll

You've got 3 more days to vote in the anagram competition poll. Titillating Scandal pulled ahead to an early lead, but Gilt-clad Snail Titan has surged ahead in the last 24 hours, and the voting is now level. Lit in Lactating Lads and Instant Digital Call are attracting no interest whatsoever. You'd think at least their creators would vote for them, but apparently not.

Vote now for your favourite anagram of "Dill's Atlantic Giant" and choose who will be the lucky winner of two windmill palm tree seeds.

Poor Man's Cloche

I'm becoming obsessed with baking sourdough bread. I've been avidly reading all the information and tips I can find on the internet. One tip which really appealled to me is baking under a cloche.

You can buy a baking cloche for about $50. I can't find a UK supplier, so if I wanted one I'd have to pay international shipping. I imagine it would work out pretty expensive.

Or you can go to your garden centre, buy a 10" plant pot and base, a big nut, a few bolts and washers, and make your own "poor man's cloche". Mine came to less than £10 all told, especially since I got a 10% discount for showing my allotment membership card. The arrangement with the bolt and washers has two purposes - one is to make a sort of handle, helpful for handling oven-hot earthenware. The other purpose is to close the hole at the bottom (top) of the pot, to create a sealed environment. It becomes an oven-within-an-oven (although it can also be used for baking bread on an open fire or barbecue - can't wait to try that).

I gave my poor man's cloche a bit of a clean and then put it in a low oven. I turned the oven up little by little to gradually drive out any residual moisture from the pot. This process took about 3 hours. Then I let it cool slowly, and it was ready for its first use. I'll bake my sourdough boule in it today. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Christmas Cake

I started making my Christmas cake today. I weighed out the dried fruit, chopped the glace cherries and candied peel, and poured over a few slugs of brandy. It will sit overnight so the fruit can soak up the booze, then tomorrow I'll mix and bake the cake.

I use Delia Smith's recipe. I've made it every year for well over a decade now. It's one of the few recipes I use unaltered - I usually make a few "improvements" over the years, and my copy of Delia Smith's Christmas is heavily annotated. But this cake is perfect as it is. No improvement is possible.

M is Musick

My choir, St George's Singers, gave a remarkable concert last night. It was an extremely challenging programme of 20th Century English music, and there were quite a few jitters among the choir. I think we would all have liked a couple more rehearsals at least. But under the leadership of our MD, Neil Taylor, (and with a lot of very hard work on the day) we overcame our insecurity and gave a thrilling concert. For one night choral singing became an extreme sport.

Without doubt the highlight for me was singing Benjamin Britten's cantata "Rejoice in the Lamb". Britten wrote some joyfully bonkers music to accompany the completely bonkers libretto by Christopher Smart. Challenging to sing, yes, but once you "get it", it's enormous fun.

For the flowers are great blessings.
For the flowers have their angels,
Even the words of God's creation.
...
For the flowers are peculiarly
The poetry of Christ.

Cartoon from Climate Cartoons.

My Starters Have Arrived

My sourdough starters arrived from Florida today. Each one is just a few grams of dried flakes, but when I mix them with water and flour the yeasty beasties will come back to life and start multiplying. Soon I can make Sanfrancisco sourdough bread, and champagne grape bread (the bread doesn't contain champagne or grapes - the starter was made with champagne grapes).

In return, I have sent some ginger beer plant to the nice lady in Florida who gave me these starters. It's a cross-cultural exchange.

Bannetons

I've had a few people ask where I got the bannetons (proving bowls) that give nice spiral patterns to the bread.

They're from a website called Manufactum. They sell all kinds of strange things, and they seem to be beautifully well-made. For example brass compasses, wooden toys, and their gardening section arouses consumerist feelings in me that I don't normally experience. Have a look. If you can confine yourself to buying only proofing bowls, I'll be very impressed.

Cowpat Bread

If yesterday's sourdough bread was Dali-esque bread, today's bread is cowpat bread. It was even wetter (slacker) than yesterday and just sort of slopped all over the baking sheet when I turned it out. It then rose spectacularly and looks pretty great inside (tastes great too) so we don't mind. But I would like to make bread that looks as good as it tastes.

Someone on The Fresh Loaf suggested dusting the banneton with rice flour to help with sticking. And of course I need to learn to add just the right amount of water to get the light holey loaf I want without the cowpat effect. I'll get there. I'm much happier with this bread than with handome loaves I've made in the past that were dense and chewy.

Dali-esque Bread

Perhaps foolishly, I tried several new (to me) breadmaking techniques all at once. I followed this recipe which promised light, holey bread due to very wet dough and minimal kneading. If you're interested in bread making, watch the video linked to on that page - it's amazing. He just sort of folds the bread over five times. It takes 10 seconds. It's supposed to replace ten minutes of energetic kneading and lead to much lighter bread.

As well as a new recipe using new techniques, I also tried to prove my bread in my new cane bannetons which give this bonny spiral pattern. However my dough wouldn't turn out of them properly. It stuck and formed this strange melted appearance.

I'm a surrealist breadmaker.

But look at what happened when I cut it. That's today's Dali bread on the left, and yesterday's loaf on the right. Look how much more risen today's bread is, and look at all the big holes. It's light and easy to eat. It doesn't make your jaw ache. It's not dwarf bread.

It's a life-changing experience. I'm never making dwarf bread again. I'm never kneading again. I'll have biceps like a normal person, not like Dolph Lundgren. The bread looks weird on the outside but I'm sure I can fix that. On the inside it's beautiful, and that's what counts.

Anagram Competition

The deadline has passed for the anagram competition I announced last week. The challenge was to make an anagram from the words "Dill's Atlantic Giant". Here are the qualifying entries entries (one entry was disqualified as being too rude to print):

• Lit in Lactating Lads
• Gilt-clad Snail Titan
• Titillating Scandal
• Instant Digital Call

I've put them in a poll in the right-hand sidebar and you have one week to vote for your favourite. The lucky winner will receive a packet of Windmill Palm seeds, which grow into 40' high cold-hardy palm trees.

What are you waiting for? Go and vote!

Elevenses

A cup of tea, and a piece of home-made sourdough bread with home-made jam. This is what I mean about "food that makes you go wow!" If you offered me a cream cake, I'd say no thanks, I prefer the bread and jam.

Admittedly, the jam and bread both took a certain amount of time to make. But you can get the same effect if you can find really nice bread and jam in the shops. I don't mean Tesco's Finest. I mean in your local bakery, a farm shop or farmer's market. There might be home-made jam at the church fair or school fete. It's not expensive. It just takes attention, and the will to break the supermarket habit.

Go Ask Alice...

My latest jumper (sweater) animal is this white rabbit with ludicrously outsize ears.


Have you made a home-made Christmas gift yet? Are you opting out of Christmas gifts altogether? Or are you planning to hit the mall for all your Christmas shopping? Vote in the poll in the right-hand side bar and tell us.

Culture Roundup

I've been making ginger beer once a week and dividing my culture each time. Today I weighed how much culture I have and it is less than 100g. I've been advised to try to maintain it at about 150g. So I haven't divided it this week, but I'll try to build it up.

It's a bit like having a pet. You can't neglect it, you have to be faithful in feeding it, and making sure it is at a reasonable temperature, and keep an eye out for its welfare.

I have three cultures at the moment that I'm maintaining - Fred, the ginger beer plant (pictured), Fizz the sourdough bread starter, and my yogurt culture who doesn't have a name.

Slow Food

I've been reading about the Slow Food organisation:

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

I agree with all of that. They seem to have started out as a group of gourmets who were interested in fighting the growth of fast food and supporting fine dining. But their mission has developed and now they also support fair trade, biodiversity, local food, seed banks and heirloom varieties, and organic farming. They oppose monoculture, factory farms and agribusiness, genetic modification, and the use of agrichemicals.

I think it's a great example of how ethical issues and quality of life issues complement each other. I began gardening organically because of environmental and health concerns, but it has had an enormous impact on the flavour and freshness of the food I eat, and has improved my quality of life in various other ways as well. The gourmets and the greenies are on the same side. It's a surprise, but a very nice one.

Bread Tasting

Well I didn't wait until the bread was cold, but it was just warm rather than hot straight from the oven. How did it taste? A bit of a mix - good and bad points. It's certainly bread (rather than a brick of glue like my first attempt), made with only wild leavening, so that's fun. It didn't taste noticeably sour, though. It was white bread, and I'm not a fan of white bread. I tend to find it tasteless. I wouldn't say this bread was entirely tasteless, but nor would I say it was an orgasm on my tastebuds. Closer to "food that makes you go hmmm" rather than "food that makes you go wow!". But I'll keep trying. I'll make bread that makes people go "wow!" soon.

What do I need to change? The Silverton book has recipes that include flavouring ingredients such as olives, walnuts, cheese etc. I'm sure any of those would be tasty. But I want the bread to be "wow!" bread, not "hmm" bread with tasty ingredients. I might get a better flavour with a different starter. I'm still waiting for them to arrive from the States. When they arrive I can experiment, and perhaps that will provide the wow! factor. Or I can try making wholemeal bread instead. I like wholemeal bread much better than white bread (it's fair to say I like wholemeal anything better than white anything. I don't understand why people choose to eat polystyrene, whilst brown rice, wholemeal pasta, wholemeal flour etc. have a grungy hippy image. I like my pasta, rice and bread to taste of something.)

I'll probably try different flours then. Wholemeal flour, rye flour, spelt flour. I'm having lots of fun learning this new breadmaking technique. And these loaves are at least edible, not like my first sourdough loaf which went in the bin. I'll feed some to the kids when they get home, and if the worst comes to the worst I'll make it into cheesey bread pudding.

Sourdough Loaves - Attempt #2

My first attempt at making sourdough bread was not a success. The instructions told me to make my starter and then use it exactly the same as yeast. It didn't work, probably because my starter was not active enough at that point, and also because sourdough is not yeast. It needs totally different baking techniques, including (but not limited to) much longer proving times.

So I fed up my starter and when it was very active I tried again. This time I followed the very detailed descriptions for sourdough bread from Nancy Silverton's sourdough bible, Breads from the La Brea Bakery.

This attempt is much more of a success. The bread behaved as Silverton said it would. Primarily it rose as it should. They don't have that nice spiral pattern because my proofing basket hasn't arrived yet, so I proofed them in mixing bowls lined with tea towels. They have taken the shape of the folds and creases in the towels, and are somewhat misshapen and asymmetrical as a result. When I dusted them with flour, I think I used too much. I slashed the loaves with my sharpest knife but the cut is still ragged, because the surface of the bread was tougher than I expected. Silverton recommends the use of a tool called a lame, which is like a razor mounted on a stick. Perhaps I can make my own. My loaves are also darker than I expected, and I'm not sure why that is. I didn't bake it as hot as she said to, because my oven doesn't go up to 500°F. Is my bread overcooked? Or is sourdough bread supposed to look like this? Silverton says:

If I had to choose a Crayola-box crayon to describe its colour, it would be burnt sienna.

Yes, you could say this bread is burnt sienna. Or maybe it's just burnt. I'll know when I taste it, but I'm not allowed to eat it yet. Silverton insists I must wait until it is cool. I don't think I can wait that long.

Sourdough Pancakes

I've been feeding up my sourdough starter, and it's grown pretty big. I don't need this much starter to make bread, but that's OK - there are lots of uses for surplus starter. For example, we've been eating sourdough pancakes.

Sourdough Pancakes

To a cup and a half of sourdough starter, add a beaten egg, a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of melted butter, two teaspoons of ground salt, two tablespoons of milk and beat well. At the last moment, add half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and beat in, then make your pancakes. (The soda reacts with the lactic acid in the starter and makes bubbles of carbon dioxide. These expand in the hot pan and make the pancakes rise. The end result is somewhere between a drop scone and a crumpet). Drop a dessertspoon into a hot frying pan with a little melted butter. You can probably fit 3 or 4 of these little pancakes in your pan at a time. Cook until golden brown on one side, then flip over. Cook for less than a minute until golden brown and serve hot with syrup. My kids devour them, and my husband is very keen, too.

(If you haven't been following the story so far and you're wondering what "sourdough starter" is, it's a mixture of flour and water which is fermenting. You use it to make naturally leavened bread, without store-bought yeast, although there is "wild" yeast in the starter, along with other microorganisms. You can buy sourdough starters, and you can make your own. I made this one. If you don't have one you can't make this recipe. You could substitute a batter of flour and water and you can make some pancakes, but they won't be sourdough pancakes and they won't froth up as I described.)

Sourdough Update

I made bread with my home-made sourdough starter but it wasn't a great success (that's not it in the photograph). My loaf didn't rise well and so was very dense with a gluey texture. The taste was intriguing, though - certainly different from bread made with commercial yeast. I was following the instructions in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr's book, The River Cottage Family Cookbook, and I think maybe that's the problem - I need a specialist sourdough bread reference.

So I bought Nancy Silverton's book Breads from the La Brea Bakery. It's supposed to be "the I am" of sourdough baking. But I didn't fancy her instructions for making a starter because the quantities were too great - you end up with 7lbs of starter! That's great for a commercial bakery, but crazy for home use.

I decided to build up the starter I have already made, using the principles in the Silverton book, but with smaller quantities. So I have been feeding it two or three times a day, and stirring it in between times, in the hope of making it a bit more active. It's definitely working and today I have taken the plunge and tried again to makebread with it. This time I'm following Silverton's instructions. Again her quantities are too big - I am making two large loaves of bread. What's more, the whole process takes two days. This really is not a book for someone who wants to whip up a little bit of bread for their own family without too much bother. But I've invested in the book and I'm hoping to learn some general principles that I can simplify for my own situation.

I am still waiting for the two starters which a kind person on the Yahoo Sourdough group has mailed me from Florida. I've also ordered a baking stone - that's a heavy stone slab you place in your oven when baking bread or pizza. It recreates the conditions in stone-built bread ovens, and is supposed to make a big difference to your finished bread. And just for fun, I ordered a cane proofing bowl. It's a spiral basket you put the boule of dough in for it's final rise before baking, and it's what give the loaves in the picture their characteristic spiral pattern. It's fun to play with a totally different way of making bread.

Weed of the Week - Comfrey

I think my favourite thing about comfrey is the name. It's one of those words that is pleasurable to say. Say it out loud - comfrey. Com - frey. Ooh, lovely.

It's also a very useful plant. Its deep roots bring up nutrients from the subsoil, especially potassium. Think of it as non-smelly manure you can grow. You can add the leaves to your compost where they will speed up the decomposition in much the same way as fresh farmyard manure. You can stick bundles of leaves in a bucket and cover with water where they will rot down to a really foul smelling "tea" - you then dilute it to the colour of black tea and pour it on hungry plants as an organic plant food (you can also do this with fresh manure - see what I mean?) Or you can just stick the comfrey leaves in a bucket with no water where they will decompose spontaneously to thick black slime, which is just an even more concentrated form of the same plant food. It absolutely stinks to high heaven, so the manure analogy continues. If you dig a trench you can drop comfrey leaves all along the bottom, as you would well-rotted manure, and then plant crops such as potatoes in there. Or if you are planting out a pot-grown plant or seedling you can shove a comfrey leaf or two in the bottom of the hole. And you can lay a few leaves around your seedlings where they will act as a mulch to prevent water loss and enrich the soil - just like well-rotted manure. This is especially helpful for tomatoes which guzzle the potassium. Don't feel afraid to cut as much as you need - even as far as cutting back the whole plant. It will regrow with amazing rapidity, and seems to come back stronger every time.

It's clearly invaluable to an organic gardener, but it is also prized for its healing powers in humans. One old name for it is "knitbone", and scientific research has confirmed that it is beneficial in bone disorders. However it must not be taken internally as it can have very bad effects on your liver. If you come across any old herbal remedies that advise you to drink it as a tea for example, you should know that this is now considered a very bad idea. But preparations of comfrey for external use, such as oils, ointments or the fresh leaves, are used for skin conditions such as acne and rashes, for bruises, and for broken bones and sprains.

So why is this "weed of the week"? Why not "Very useful and beneficial plant of the week"? Well, if it's growing somewhere you don't want it to - bad luck. It's very hard to get rid of. Its deep roots which give it such useful properties also mean you'll have to dig an enormous hole to get it out. The roots are very brittle, so if you don't dig a deep enough hole, you'll snap the tap root and leave a bit behind. And sure as God made little apples, this will regrow. Don't think you can just cut it back either. As I said earlier, the more you cut it, even cutting off every leaf, the stronger it seems to get. It doesn't spread terribly fast, although if you let it set its pretty purple flowers, seedlings will appear. Deal with them quickly before they establish.

The best approach seems to be this one: if you have comfrey growing in your garden or allotment, declare that place to be your "comfrey patch". Erect a little sign if it makes you feel better. Fence it off if you like. Consider yourself lucky to have a healthy comfrey patch, and don't neglect to make much use of it. Because you probably couldn't get rid of it even if you wanted to.

Jumper Rabbit

I learned a lot from making the creepy jumper monkey and I think this blue jumper rabbit is much cuter. I'm sure my nephew TJ will love it.


If you've made a home-made Christmas gift, don't forget to vote in the poll in the right-hand sidebar.

Bonfire Night

We went to a bonfire and firework display on Saturday, even though bonfire night is actually tonight. My sister Lindsey and her husband Andrew joined us, and we went to the local display at Poynton Pool as we have done every year since we moved to Poynton.

We met in the local civic centre, with a hundred or so other people, as it got dark. At 6pm a local brass band struck up and we all followed them in procession to the local park. There were a few fairground rides set up in the park, people selling illuminated toys like lightsabers and flashing deely boppers. Fortunately our kids are well trained and only whined that they wanted these things once or twice. There were also a few stalls selling hot dogs, chips, donuts etc. Many more people turned up and there were several hundred there at least when the bonfire was lit at 6.30pm. We stood and watched it burn for a while, and bought some bags of donuts to share.

At 7pm the firework display began, and we all enjoyed these. I'd much rather pay £5 go to an organised display and watch hundreds of pounds worth of fireworks go off in fairly quick succession, rather than go to a backyard display and watch twenty or thirty pounds worth of fireworks go off one at a time. The Poynton bonfire is organised by the local Round Table and the profits go to local charities, so that's nice, too.

After the display Lindsey and Andrew went home, and we all went and got fish and chips from the chip shop. This is also part of our bonfire night tradition.

I love it all very much. It's exciting. Brass bands are always exciting. Big fires are exciting. Fireworks are exciting, too. I love meeting up with friends. I love being out in a large group of people after dark. I love the smell, the noises, the fish and chips at the end, all of it.

If you're going to a bonfire tonight, have fun and stay safe.

Jumper Monkey

I've taken up my own challenge to make a home-made Christmas gift. I made this jumper monkey from an old jumper that used to fit me when I was a couple of sizes smaller. What's more, I shrunk it in the wash. So it's really never going to fit again - time to re-create it as something new and useful.

To be honest, I think it's turned out kind of creepy. But both Sam and Eleanor love it, and are begging to be allowed to keep it. So I'll stick to my original intention and give it to my niece Rebecca for Christmas, with any luck she'll be as fond of it as my own kids are.

The instructions came from Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book by Ziggy Hanaor and Victoria Woodcock, the same source as our recycled cake stand. It took perhaps two or three hours. I'm also planning to make a jumper rabbit for my nephew TJ.

Please vote on the challenge poll in the right-hand sidebar, and tell us whether you've made a Christmas gift, or if you're going to buy all your gifts, or if you're not giving any gifts at all.

Cartoon from Climate Cartoons. Click for a larger version.

November Challenge: Make a Christmas Gift

If you're going to make any home-made gifts this year you really need to do it now. Realistically, December is too late - who has the time? So enjoy that smug feeling of being ahead of schedule, and start making any gifts this month.

Don't overdo it, either. It's a big mistake to say "All my gifts will be homemade this year!" Homemade gifts take a long time, so just pick one or two simple projects, for one or two special people. Everyone else will be perfectly happy with shop-bought aftershave or whatever you usually give them.

Last year, my sister Steph made these sock monkeys for her children and mine. She said they took about 2 hours each (she hand-sewed them. If you have a sewing machine it'd be even faster). So if you know any small children who would like a unique and characterful cuddly this Christmas, why not make a sock monkey?

Don't forget to vote in the poll in the right-hand sidebar - but only when you've finished your hand-made gift.

Pumpkin Seeds

Ed's Dill's Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds arrived in the post today. He wants to grow giant pumpkins next year, and this is the only variety to grow. Every world champion pumpkin since 1979 has been an Atlantic Giant.

The online supplier that sent the pumpkin seeds also sent us a free gift - two windmill palm seeds. These are cold-hardy palm trees that grow up to 20-40 feet tall. I don't really have any use for a 20'-40' palm tree, so I'd like to offer these seeds as a competition prize.

I will post the palm seeds to whoever emails me the funniest anagram of "Dill's Atlantic Giant". Remember to include your address - the seeds are very light so I don't mind posting them anywhere in the world. I'll publish all the anagrams in one week's time (November 9th) and the winner will be chosen by a poll.

Tetrapak Challenge Results

85 people voted in the October challenge poll. The challenge was to recycle tetrapaks, either at your nearest recycling centre that accepts them, or by mailing them to the manufacturer.

The votes were as follows:

• I've gone green! I pledge to recycle my tetrapaks in future! 19 votes
• I was already green! I've been recycling tetrapaks for ages! 29 votes
• I don't want to! It's too much hassle! 3 votes
• I'm greener than thou! I don't buy any tetrapaks! 29 votes

Thanks to all those who took part. A new challenge for November is coming soon.

Recipe: Ginger Muffins

The sediment of the ginger beer plant contained yeast and ginger, so I thought I'd use some to make some yeast-risen muffins. They turned out really well, and the kids have been devouring them. The best thing about the recipe though is the smell as they cook. So don't forget to take a few great big lungfuls and enjoy.

Ginger Muffins

Mix a couple of heaped teaspoons of the yeasty/gingery dregs with half a pint of warm water and one and a half cups of plain flour (all-purpose flour). If you don't have an expired ginger beer plant, you could just add a packet of instant dried yeast and a couple of teaspoons of ground ginger. Let it sit somewhere warm for half an hour or so, it should froth up so make sure it is in a large container or it may overflow. Cream 300g of sugar with 200g of butter, beat in 3 eggs one at a time. Beat in half a cup of treacle (molasses - or if you don't have any, substitute Golden Syrup, or honey, or corn syrup. It'll taste different to mine but it will still taste good). Add two teaspoons of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, a pinch of salt and a bunch of chopped nuts (I happened to have these in the cupboard. Could as well have been sultanas, chopped crystallised ginger, or just nothing). Mix it well, slop it into muffin tins and bake it at 180C for 25 minutes or so until the muffins are springy and done.

It's a big batch - I made about 30 muffins with it. And sorry for the weird Frankenstein mix of ounces and grams, weighed measures and cup measures. It's a bit of a Frankenstein recipe.

I still have lots of ginger beer plant sediment left, so I plan to do more experimenting with recipes that need ginger and yeast. I was thinking some kind of spicy tea bread next.