We’ve been busy this week. Mostly busy in the kitchen, that is! The last few weeks, we have started ‘hoarding’ cook books, mostly the little specialist cook books, which are sold in our Second Hand Store (Kringloop) for 20-50 ct each, sometimes a bit over a Euro for the large coffee table types. And we love them! It’s great to just sit down in the evenings, with a cup of coffee, leafing through these little gems, adding little post-its to recipes we want to try out.
One thing this has resulted in, is us dusting off the bread machine. It’s seen plenty of action over the last week! The first few loafs we made with our ‘basic’ bread recipes were total duds. Until I used some new yeast. Turned out that my big box of yeast had finally died and gone to heaven. I had bought a pound of yeast some time last year (or the year before, who knows) during my previous bread baking frenzy, and after opening and closing the jar a few times too often, the yeast decided enough was enough. I’m now on the little packages, but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to cycle past the bio shop and pick up a package with a larger supply of yeast. I had looked at the wholesaler’s (Makro), but was surprised not to find any there…
After we started using proper yeast that would make the bread rise properly, we were on a roll! Look at these beauties!
Loaf number 1
A yummy ‘vloerbrood’, not baked in a tin (as I did not have one large enough, just cake tins, resulting in tiny baby loafs, haha).
Loaf 2, braided
A braided loaf, made with Hannah’s help. She was a bit disappointed that you couldn’t see the braids when you cut it and put it on your plate, but I think she has made her peace with that now.
Homemade bagels, with Philadelphia and salmon, of course
And bagels! Yes! Bagels! First boiled in hot water and then baked. Still a bit doughy, so with room for improvement. But toasted and with some cream cheese and salmon too yummy for words… Made a dozen, so there are still a few left. No more salmon though
The fish for the fish pie
And this was a definite achievement! We like eating fish, but the words ‘fish pie’ always made me go a bit queezy. And more than one person here will start gagging when the word ‘leek’ comes up in a conversation. It was a lot of work – cutting up loads of leek, boiling the fish, straining the juices, cutting up, boiling and mashing the potatoes, and waiting for it to cook in the oven – and resulted in a lot of dishes (yes, we love our dishwasher), but it was delicious. Even Hannah ate her fill, and is now enjoying seconds for lunch. Sam, well… Sam was being Sam and refused eating anything warm and not looking like bread with peanut butter/chocolate spread… Sigh… One day he will cave. He will! The recipe was a success, and will be patiently copied into our family recipe book. For those who want it, drop me a line
Our soap nut supply for the rest of the year
And this is our latest eco-friendly effort! We’re now using soap nuts for washing. We tried them a few weeks ago and it was such a joy using them, we bought 2 kilos of nuts. That ‘should’ be enough for the rest of the year, at a fraction of the price of normal detergent (and it’s better for the environment too, great combo!). We also got some lavender essential oils, and by adding 2 drops to the laundry, it comes out smelling lovely. Without it, the laundry also smells nice, but just normal and soapy, and being a 21st Century family, we expect some type of smell when we sniff at our clothes. I expect that as soon as the laundry can hang outside again (no time soon, the weather is still horribly cold), we can forego on the lavender.
Well, that’s it for now! Next time more news about Moss-a-lot, but for whoever wants to read about what seeds we got for it, you can go to our special ‘Amy Goes Green’ blog at: http://amygoesgreen.wordpress.com. Yes. Another blog
