down to earth

Last week I wrote about soaking your rolled oats before you eat them and the benefits that come from that. Today I thought I'd continue on and talk about soaking other rye and wheat grains before they're eaten; today's post is about bread. The reasoning behind all this is that grains soaked before cooking are easier to digest than those that aren't, and if they're soaked in an acidic liquid such as whey, buttermilk, yoghurt, or water with lemon juice, the grain will release most of its goodness instead of a small portion of it. It's all got to do with humans having only one stomach so unsoaked grains pass through too fast to be broken down. That causes digestive problems for some people and the grains don't have enough time to release all their goodness, which affects all of us. Other grain-eating mammals such as cows, goats etc. have more than one stomach, or several compartments in their stomach, that allow them to process their food a lot longer than we do.

This bread is good on the first day and lasts to a second day but the crust and the bread itself aren't like a soft sandwich loaf. It's drier and the crust is crunchy.

It makes delicious toast and that's how we have it on the second day.

If you don't like that texture, try the rye mixed loaf below which is more like the texture of a sandwich loaf. Both are excellent as toast.

This is the half white-half rye loaf. It's the one I like the most because I think it has a better texture than the white loaf.

If you read about how to make bread in Nourishing Traditions it's a long process that I don't have the time nor the inclination for. I'm sure it produces very good bread but I'm a regular bread maker and need my bread to fit in with everything else I do in a day. I'm happy with the so called five minute bread, that I make up and allow to sit in the fridge for a few days. It's well and truly soaked by the time I bake my bread.

I found very similar recipe in my Maura Laverty classic Irish cook book, Full and Plenty, that I'm going to try this week. Her recipe for "yeast bread (overnight method)" was published in 1960. I'll share that recipe with you next week when I post about the bread I make.

The way I do the five minute bread is to make up the recipe in Artisan bread in five minutes a day, but with a tweak. You'll need a storage container capable of holding the mixture that will sit in the fridge for at least overnight, and for a few days after that. That takes care of the soaking. You can double the recipe quite easily if you have the room to store the dough and then you'll only make up one batch of dough for several loaves of bread.

The book says it makes four one pound loaves (that's just under two kilos).

3 cups warm water
1½ tablespoons yeast
my tweak is to add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the water. OR you could use ½ cup of buttermilk, whey or yoghurt to the liquid before adding it to the mix, but you'll have to adjust the water content accordingly. Mix it thoroughly so it will be easier to incorporate it into the flour.

1½ tablespoons coarse salt
6½ cups unbleached white flour (or half rye and half white wheat flour)

I do this step in the morning, the day before I want the bread.

Before mixing them together, mix the top group together, then the second group together. Then add half the liquid to half the flour and mix together thoroughly. If you have a big mixer with a dough hook you can use that because it takes an effort to mix this. I do it in two batches and use a spatula. When the first batch is finished, tip it into your storage container and start the second batch. When both batches are in the container, mix them together with your hands, put a tea towel over the container and leave it on the bench to start rising.

After about two hours, take the tea towel off, put the lid on but don't press it down to make it air tight. The dough will let off gas and it needs to have some means of escape. I use a Decor long plastic bin and have the top attached at one end and sitting on the top other end. Put the dough in the fridge and store it there until you're ready to use it, but you can use it at any point after this first rise.

The dough after it's been removed from the fridge.

Don't knead the dough. It will develop the gluten and you don't want that. Just fold over the dough onto itself until it forms a smooth top.

When you want to bake a loaf, about two hours beforehand, take a piece of dough suitable for the size of your loaf from the container. Place it on a lightly floured board and fold the dough into itself so you have a smooth top and uneven bottom. You don't want to knead the dough, just bring it togehter as a nice smooth loaf. Let the dough sit to rise and return to room temperature. It won't rise a lot, it will do that more in the oven when it's baking.

Make sure the dough has flour over the top because that will protect it while it rests and rises.

About 20 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450F/250C and place a cast iron pot with lid in the oven to heat up. After the dough has risen (about 45 minutes) carefully place the dough into the cast iron pot and with a very sharp knife, slash to top of the dough. Place the lid on the top of the pot. You could use a pizza stone to bake on, that is how they bake it in the artisan bread book.

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake until the top is golden brown.

Remove from the pot and place on a cake rack to cool.

The method below is the same recipe, using a cast iron pot, but with the addition of the dough being baked in a loaf pan inside the cast iron pot.

You can leave the dough in the fridge for up to a week if you want to. I think it makes better bread the longer it's in the fridge. I usually make a fresh loaf every second day and I get three fairly large loaves from one batch. If I had a large family or we ate more bread, I'd make up a double portion of the dough at a time. I have to say Maura's recipe looks easier so I'm looking forward to trying it. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll like it. ;- )

If you have trouble making bread it's probably because you don't knead the dough long enough or you under or over proof it. This method takes all that away and replaces it with time in the fridge. If you've never made a good loaf, try this and see how you go with it. Or, maybe you just want to wait for Maura's recipe. And I don't blame you at all for that.

Baking without preheating the cast iron pot

If you're looking for a nutritious and thrifty breakfast that will take only a few minute to prepare, go no further than rolled oats. I'm not talking about quick oats which are processed much more than rolled oats, I'm talking about the plain old traditional rolled oats your grandma used to cook.

Years ago, when I read in Nourishing Traditions that virtually all pre-industrialised people soaked or fermented their grains before making porridge, I related to it immediately. I hadn't been soaking oats before I cooked them but I clearly remember mum and dad, and my grandma, soaking rolled oats in water or milk over night for a quick and easy breakfast the following morning. Almost all cultures used to do this. It was common practice in many African and European countries, the Indian sub continent, Scandinavia, and some Asian countries to soak or ferment grains before they were eaten. I remember that recommendation being on the packet of oats when I was young. I don't think it's there now, which is a pity. If you make sourdough you're doing this by using fermented starter for your bread. It's the same principle.

All grains, including oats, contain phytic acid, which can combine with minerals in the gut to block the absorption of nutrients in the grain. Soaking or fermenting the grains beforehand releases enzymes to help breakdown the phytic acid and gluten which is present in many grains, especially wheat, but oats as well. Oats contain more phytic acid than any other grain so it's important to soak them.

All you have to do is to measure out the required amount of oats into a saucepan, cover them with water or milk, plus another cup, then add ½ cup whey, buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt. Place your saucepan in the fridge overnight. The next morning, you'll see the oats are soft and creamy, like they've already been cooked. Stir the oats, add more liquid if they need it and heat them for a few minutes and serve. They'll be on the table in less than five minutes. If you have a lactose intolerance, use water and a splash of lemon juice or vinegar instead of the milk based liquids. The Nourishing Traditions recipe has ½ teaspoon sea salt in the porridge but I leave that out.

When I was younger and my oats were cooked for me, my parents always added a knob of butter to the oats. Well, it turns out that cream and butter both help with the absorption of minerals contained in the oats. It also allows the oats to be absorbed over a longer period of time. Isn't it amazing what the old folks knew. And I thought they did it for the taste. :- )

And if you'd like a price comparison to seal the case, here are the prices for Uncle Toby's and organic oats at Woolworths:

Uncle Toby's Oats Quick Sachets Original 340g: $4.40 or $1.29 / 100g
Uncle Toby's Oats Quick 1kg: $6.76 or $0.68 / 100g
Macro Organic Oats Rolled 500g: $4.03 or $0.81 / 100g

We use Homebrand Rolled Oats 750g: $1.06 or $0.14 /100g. The Homebrand oats are good quality, Australian and taste just fine. You know how sometimes rolled oats have that powdery material in the bag? That's usually from some sort of insect that's been eating the grains. I've never had a packet of Homebrand like that and always the grains are whole and perfect.

So there you have it. Yet another food item that is as convenient as the modern version but more nutritious, and so much cheaper. So don't believe the advertising that tells you that you need the expensive quick oats and a microwave. Just soak your oats instead and you'll have a much healthier breakfast.

How do you prepare your oats? Will you try this?

After we changed how we lived, going from crass consumerism to a more mindful way of living, I looked around and thought that Hanno and I might as well be living on an island because we'd isolated ourselves so much from our friends and neighbours. All that mindless buying was still happening in the general community and in the rare instance of telling someone what we were doing, I was always asked the most pointed of disheartening questions: why!?!

Rye loaf with carraway seeds, made in a cake tin.

I knew I had to connect with like-minded people and the only way I knew how to do that was to volunteer to work in my community. I started working as a volunteer in a local neighbourhood centre and very soon after that, was appointed manager. We helped people with food parcels, warm blankets, clothes, budgeting, we offered a place to be during the day to connect and have coffee. I taught bread baking, soap making, and cooking from scratch. We set up a Centrelink office with a visiting worker one morning a week, we offered free workshops, a sewing circle, community garden, counselling and we had a variety of free services such as parenting support and playgroup, a free legal service, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. There was a Flexischool attached, with 25 students. Although I was tired at the end of every day, I was happy that I was surrounded by good people who shared many of my values. During the time I was there we moved twice, from one old house to another, and then to a magnificent two million dollar purpose-built facility. I stayed there for seven years and only left when Hanno nearly cut off his hand with a chain saw and he needed me at home.

Delicious butter cake.

Quite a few things changed while I was there. I stopped judging others, made myself available to help whoever came along and I began encouraging and supporting those around me. I'm still proud of those personal changes because I believe they made me a better person, but I'm far from ideal and still have a lot of improvements to make. The biggest change was in 2008 when the global financial crisis hit. Many jobs were lost and although Australia faired better than most countries, many people were in dire straits here. The community relied on the neighbourhood centre more and after I left there a couple of years ago, it continued to grow to be a significant part of a caring community.

Last year's flowering kohl rabi.

Surrounding yourself with like-minded people can happen in many different ways. Often there aren't the people in the community that you want to befriend but you can find them online. There are many people who comment here and the mutual feeling of friendship and support that has built up is amazing. I don't reply to as many comments as I'd like but I build up an idea of people just by reading their comments.

Volunteering in your community can place you in the middle of a group of people you'd never have met otherwise. It can be challenging but you can make it less threatening by joining a group whose values you support, such as the CWA, WI, a local craft group or church.

Support and encouragement can also be found in books and blogs. There are many others like me who write about the lifestyle changes we can all make. You might never meet the people who write what your read but just knowing you share similar tasks and seeing how others work can be incredibly motivating.

I'm heartened by seeing the changes that have happened in recent years. There are more people thinking about the consequences of consumerism and climate change and making positives changes to move towards simpler lives and sustainability. Farmers markets, local food and micro businesses have slowly moved into the mainstream making some food and lifestyle changes easier and cheaper.

Luffas waiting to be skinned.

There is no reason to feel isolated any more. Of course you have to make the move to connect with those around you, and it will take some effort on your part. If you're buying all, or some, of your weekly food and groceries at small businesses who make good soap and green cleaners, local producers of milk, vegetables, eggs and honey, the farmers of free range meat and chickens, then I'd be surprised if you remain isolated. The people who run those community business, and those you meet when you're shopping, will be able to tell you about community gardens, free workshops and activities you can get involved in. And when you do that, there will be no turning back.

How have you connected online and in your real life? What have you done that made a difference.

A few readers have asked me to do a post about blogging, which I'm happy to do. I think the internet is one of the most powerful changes that ordinary people have had access to in my lifetime. The internet is one of those systems that is usually controlled by governments, and mere mortals like us don't often get anywhere near such influential and important technology. I'm pretty sure that if they'd known what it would develop into, there would have been government controls and we'd be paying through the nose to use it now. But here we are, able to Skype each other from one side of the world to the other, we can see how total strangers live by reading their blogs and just by writing what we want to write, we can publish those words to the world simply by pressing a button. It's the stuff revolutions are made of. It's truly remarkable.

If you've grown up in the age of Facebook and Skype, you probably take the ability to communicate freely all over the world in your stride. But I'm still in awe of it and probably will remain so till I stop tapping away on this keyboard. I grew up in a time when the only way you could have anything published in the newspaper was by taking a degree in journalism, and even then you had to brave the overabundance of editors and filters before your words were seen by a reading public.

Blogs changed everything. The filters disappeared and we got genuine free speech for the first time; although that has a down side too. All of a sudden there was an easy to use, free platform that anyone with a computer could use. It was too powerful a temptation for me and I started blogging in 2007, this will be my 2347th post.

There are hundreds of websites with so called 'experts' who will tell you how to be a successful blogger but usually they equate 'success' with how to make money. I wanted to blog to get information out and to connect with people who understood what I was talking about. As a result, a diverse community has built up here. Some are quite vocal, some are silent, some email me with their news because they don't feel comfortable writing public comments. That's all fine by me.

If you want to start a blog, I'd suggest you sign up to Blogger. It's a free site, owned by Google, so the site very rarely has any problems with downtime or hackers. You can start off with a very simple template, which gives your blog the look it displays to the world and as you learn more about blog technology, you can modify it to suit your own style. If you have an iphone or a digital camera, it's a simple process to take photos and videos and with a couple of clicks, they'll be published along with your words.

If you were to ask my advice about starting a blog, I'd tell you to write the truth in the best way you know how, to respect your readers, to be polite and interesting and to write about what you know. Decide straight away why you want to blog. Do you want to stay in touch with your family and friends? If so, you can have a private blog and invite those you know to join you. Do you want to develop your voice and an audience? You'll have a lot of competition, you'll have to write well, be interesting, write to your subject in an original and convincing way and in the beginning, you'll have to write every day, often with no audience.

Just to give you an idea of your competition and the work load:

according to Wikipedia, in 2014, there were around 172 million Tumblr blogs and 75.8 million Wordpress blogs. Blogger is the most popular blogging platform in use, however Blogger does not publish their statistics. I've seen an estimate of there being about half a billion blogs world-wide.
bloggers who blog every day have five times more traffic than those who blog every few days or weekly.
quality content and page design are the two main factors in building your audience.
you'll get more links and readers if you use photos on your blog. Readers are more likely to connect to genuine bloggers and photos can be a way of telling your truth.

I didn't follow any of the commonly given advice when I started blogging, and still don't now. I think success is down to two things: good writing and good luck. I certainly think it's a wonderful way to improve writing and photography skills. Here are a few of the things I think are important:

Write well and often.
Know your subject.
Share what you know.
Encourage others.
Don't expect to build up a huge audience writing about your pet bird. Your subject matter needs to be fairly broad to attract readers.
Don't expect overnight success.
If you really think your blog is good but after a year you still have no audience, don't give up.
Visit other blogs writing the same topic and leave comments. If they're interesting comments, other people may follow the link back to your blog.
Don't steal words or photos from other blogs.
Read a guide to internet copyright.

Like most other new activities we learn, blogging takes a bit of patience, some applied psychology and a willingness to do your best. Apart from that, it just takes time. Good luck!

Having a blog like this is like having a top notch psychologist on standby, 24/7. When I blow a gasket about something and mention it on the blog, all you lovely tender hearts ride in on white stallions and lift me up again. Thank you for your comments over the weekend. It's really nothing that it happened but it's everything that you reacted to what was said in the way you did. ♥︎ I've said it before but it's still true, my readers have the kindest hearts and I'm thankful every day for it.

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With not much time over the weekend, I've chosen to do another pictorial post today. I recently restored thousands of daily life photos from a portable drive to my laptop. I hope you enjoy browsing through them.

Homemade bread and meat loaf. One of my favourite sandwiches.

There is often food-related work happening in our kitchen. Here is Hanno helping get nectarines ready for jam.

These apples were just a few of the dozens of apples we were given a couple of years ago. I forget what I did with most of them but I know there were a lot of apple turnovers and pies made.

Above and below: making pasta.

Want to walk down memory lane with me? Here are my sons, Shane and Kerry when they were little boys. Shane (right) would have been six there, and Kerry, five.

And here we are in this torn photo from the late 1970s. I still have a giggle when I see this photo.

There is always a drawer to be cleaned and tidied.

And cook books to read.

Tricia made this very pretty table cloth one year when she was visiting. It's made of scraps, old tea towels and pieces from my stash.

You've heard of Sarah plain and tall? This is Kathleen frizzled and round.

These gawky girls didn't know what to do on the first day they arrived to live with us.

This scene is a few minutes from our home. Yes, they are zebras and giraffes.

It's Australia Zoo, the home of the Crocodile Hunter. This is a crocodile waiting to be fed.

I often write about Jamie being here but here is Alex when he stayed with us last Easter. I don't see him nearly as much as I'd like because Shane and Sarndra live a few hours drive away, but I think of him every day.

Sorting through our vegetable seeds.

Time for morning tea and a homemade biscuit, and always fresh bread ready to be sliced.

I was asked recently what is the secret to a happy life. There is no secret. It's a long time since we earned the big dollars, but life is better now. It doesn't take much effort to make a happy life. Usually it's paid for in work rather than dollars and it is made better by sharing with our family. And that, my friends, is it in a nutshell - family, hard work and sharing.

We've lived here for 18 years, longer than we've lived in any other home. Before we arrived here, we'd moved 22 times. We're still refining our home, still settling in and allowing ourselves the luxury of changing things to suit our age and idea of ourselves. I still think of my home now as 'the new place". I guess I feel that because so many things changed when we moved. We developed a new way of living here and changed ourselves right down to the core in the process.

When we moved in we spent a couple of thousand dollars on the garden, we bought new furniture, added a bedroom and a new kitchen. We were supposedly putting "our stamp" on our home. Funny, no matter how much we spent, it never felt like much in those early years. My life was caught up in work, I didn't think about home; it was part of my life but it wasn't part of me. Of all the surprises that came my way in the past 18 years, knowing the relationship I have with my home now is one of the biggest. I feel that the house and land are a part of me now, part of my family and part of my history. I have no doubt that on the last day I'm alive, I'll be here, enjoying the birds, the aroma of the pine forest and the splendid feeling of warm, comfortable isolation I feel every day I live here.

We eventually put "our stamp" on our home but it wasn't by buying furniture or an instant garden. It was by living our ordinary days here. By doing house work and weeding and collecting eggs. The house knew much better than I did that buying things to feel at home is just temporary gloss. What it needed was time and love and years of bread baking in the oven and soup simmering on the stove. It needed the soft glow of candle light, the sound of newborn babies crying, the experience of hearing so much good news and some very sad news. I think all that living has been drawn into the fabric of the house now, even though it stands as a silent witness to what happens here.

Soon there will be the sound of another newborn baby's cry here, there'll be more out of tune renditions of "Happy Birthday", more garments produced with soft organic yarn, more Christmas trees being decorated, many more twinkling lights on humid summer evenings, more story books being read and maybe more books being written. And Hanno and I will live many more ordinary days here being totally fulfilled and made happy within the boundaries of our land.

A few years ago, I wrote that we should all bloom where we are planted and over the years since, many people have told me that they took that to heart. I think I wrote that with such passion because that is what we've done here. Our twenty-third move was our last because this home compelled us to slow down and just live. There was no other requirement, no need of fancy furniture and appliances. All it needed from us was to work within these walls, to take the time to notice and appreciate what is here and to add many more memories as the years slip by.