No knead, hot oven, long ferment bread

This rainy Sunday I baked the no-knead, long rise bread I started yesterday.

The recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html, I followed pretty closely. All whole wheat flour. Baked in a hot oven in a preheated cast iron skillet with a makeshift lid for the first half hour. Crusty, chewy. Here photographed on JB Blunk's wood board made from drift wood and Rufus Blunk's Bishop Pine shelf (in progress), just drying in the house now before patching a few knot holes and voids. And below that in one of these photos the Bishop Pine floor boards Rufus harvested and milled, now worn after twelve years of life and sun. Crusty, knotty, earthy, slowed life. It's good.

Apple Varieties

Gloucestershire

Ingrid Marie

Gloucestershire, Jonagold, Boskoop, Ingrid Marie

Food and Homeschooling converge in great powerpoint presentation

Found this on a Raw Milk Google group I subscribe to -

In front of a large audience in an auditorium, Birke Baehr, an eleven-year-old
homeschooler, executes a brilliant presentation of his PowerPoint on What Is
Wrong With Our Food System? Bold Birke says, “you can either pay the farmer or
pay the hospital."

http://wp.me/phmll-1cH

Silas makes wood boards

Silas and his friend, Tano, spent a number of days making wooden boards to sell at the Inverness fair. The ones in front here are made from Dutch elm. They also used madrone. Rufus helped them salvage the pieces - staying away from cracks, rotten parts, and blemishes. They did a rough cut then planed to the right thickness. They marked with a pencil and cut with a jigsaw. Rasp the edges with the surf form tool and finish the edges. Then fine sanding with an electric sander and hand sanding. Oil with food grade oil.

Tension and bad press in agriculture

Visited Rancher John yesterday. He tells me of the negative publicity around agriculture. How one or two negative stories in the press leave a bad impression broadly. In some ways the classification of organic - which tries to redefine agriculture - also diminishes agriculture. That both the organic and the other agriculture is part of one unified thing. There's a tension emphasized by the negative press yet the whole of agriculture needs to be supported. Back when my grandfather had a ranch, most people had some experience of where their food comes from. Or at least they weren't more than one or two people removed from an experience of agriculture.

Breakfast

Wake in the morning. Lemon and lime juice in water.

My homemade French style ORIGINAL yogurt.

Ground flax seeds.

Ruth's fresh figs.

Plus cup of coffee with cream.

Not a caterer but well-connected to good food

I was asked to prepare the lunch for a storytelling workshop in Point Reyes Station this past weekend. Served under a large bay tree.

Quiches, cookies, and bread from Tomales Bakery. Organic produce from our garden and from the Civic Center Thursday Farmer's Market. Served on platters and in bowls crafted by local artist Rufus Blunk (www.rufusblunk.com coming soon).

David Darling, Martin Shaw, Coleman Barks (not pictured, Lisa Starr)

Coleman Barks and Martin Shaw tickled by Bay Laurel tree.

Fiddleback bay wood bowl

Bay wood

Strawberries and nectarines on bay platter.

Carrots and Meyer lemons on bay platter.

Caoba platter (from our time in Nicaragua in 1986) holds Tomales Bakery bread.

Cutting board (madrone wood). The cleaver was a gift from Ed Brown a few years back.

All photos by me, Elizabeth Barnet.