I am always looking for new bread recipes and when I find a good one I like to tell everyone about it! I am new to the no knead bread experience, but this recipe really fits beautifully into the non-electric kitchen because it doesn't require electrical appliances to process it! Besides, this one is super easy to make! I found this one on the web, I have had the original bookmarked for a while, you can read it here. This is my interpretation of the recipe.
No Knead Artisan Bread 1 1/2 cups very warm water. (The original recipe calls for 100 degree water. I measured the temperature to be sure it was accurate.) 1/2 TBS salt 3/4 TBS yeast (I used 1 TBS of instant yeast.) 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used a combo of whole wheat flour I made myself and store bought all purpose.) Extra flour for dusting Start with the 100 degree water and add it to a bowl. Then add the salt. Stir a bit to dissolve. Add the yeast and let it sit for one or two minutes. Stir it in. It is OK if it doesn't all dissolve. Measure the flour accurately by leveling off the measuring cup with a knife. Add the flour and mix until it all comes together. I used a wooden spoon. Since you are so dependent on the yeast doing it's thing, I would not use any metal utensils. Wood or plastic are best. Here is a picture of mine all mixed.
Notice the dough is sticky. It won't look the same as a dough ball that you would knead before letting it rise. Once it is mixed together, cover it with plastic wrap or the lid to the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for two hours. This is what it should look like when it is done.
Mine didn't take two hours to rise. I was cooking a turkey to make meals for the princess and the kitchen was hot. (30 pound turkeys don't fit in either solar oven I have.) Turn it out onto parchment paper. Dust the paper with flour liberally first. (For this recipe, you really need the parchment paper.) The instructions say to fold the dough in half twice, then roll it into a ball. I didn't do that, I folded mine half a dozen times before I rolled it into a ball. I guess you can take the need to knead out of the recipe but you can't take the need to knead out of the bread maker!
Leave it on the counter to rise for the second time. It should take about 45 minutes. The instructions say to leave it uncovered. However, the people who wrote those instructions don't live with a princess who can't decide if she wants to be inside or outside. Hence, there was a fly buzzing around my kitchen. I covered mine with plastic wrap.
When it is ready to bake, it should look like this.
Dust the top with some additional flour and slice the dough three times before baking it. This will help the dough keep its shape and make it look pretty. I also trimmed up the parchment paper a bit.
This dough should be baked at 450 degrees. Before preheating the oven, add a flat cookie sheet or baking stone to the middle rack. Also, place a small baking pan on the bottom rack filled with one cup of water. This is what gives the bread a nice crust. Here is mine. I just turned on the oven to preheat it when I took this picture.
BTW, neither solar oven I have will go to 450 degrees. (That is why I want a new one, just out on the market, that will!) Then, when ready, slide the dough onto the cookie sheet. (This is why you need the parchment paper!) Bake 20 to 25 minutes. It's done!
For the purpose of full disclosure, I must state that I had to make this bread twice. The first time I made it, it wasn't successful. Why? Because I got cocky! Normally, I don't need to measure the ingredients accurately. I rarely follow a recipe and add all sorts of extra 'stuff' to my dough. I can tell if the bread will be successful by the look of the dough ball. If needed, I will add a bit more water or flour to make the dough ball 'just right'. Not so in this recipe! The dough remains sticky the entire time you are working with it. My first try, the dough failed to rise properly. For the second try, I measured everything accurately and it worked perfectly! I am going to use this for sandwich bread. It looks lovely and tastes delicious! It really is artisan bread without all the work!
Everyone knows that a full freezer is more efficient than a half full one. But what do you do if your freezer is half full of food and you can't afford to restock it? Fill it with water! I have water bottles stuffed in every nook and cranny possible! Also, as we consume what is in the freezer, I fill the top with additional water bottles. Here is a current picture of my freezer contents.
Later this week I will remove a 30 lb turkey to cook for Molly. (It is down at the bottom and not visible in this picture.) That turkey won't be replaced until winter (when they go on sale). Instead, the space will be filled with a few one gallon water jugs that I save for just that purpose! Filling your freezer with water accomplishes a lot! Not only will it keep you freezer running efficiently (saving you money on electricity and producing less wear and tear on the appliance overall) but it is also a great idea when those summer storms cause you to lose power! The foods in a full freezer will stay frozen longer than a freezer that is only half full. The last thing you want to do is lose money on food that goes bad because you have no power! In that situation, the water will keep the foods frozen or semi-frozen long enough to give you time to figure out what to do with it all. If the power is out for a significant time at my house, my plan will be to cover the freezer with blankets. Depending on how long the authorities tell me the power will be out, I will set up the canner and can as much as possible. Having the water in the freezer will keep everything frozen or semi-frozen until I have a chance to deal with it. Another thing you can do with all that frozen water, is to put it in the refrigerator. The frozen bottles will help to keep your refrigerator cold during a power outage too. It will act like the icebox your great-grandmother had! Whether you lose power or not, filling the empty space in your freezer with water bottles will keep it running more efficiently. The bottom line is, it is an easy way to save money and be prepared for an emergency!
Wow! Was this an easy cake to make! To top it off, it is a Weight Watchers recipe! It is a wonderful light cake - perfect for summer barbecues! Here is the original.
It took all of 30 seconds to make. No joke! Then you bake it for 35 minutes. Even better - it only has two ingredients!
Pineapple Angle Food Cake One box of Angle Food Cake mix One 20 ounce can of crushed Pineapple. (I used one with no sugar added.)
Granted, I used a packaged product, (I do have a recipe for an angle food cake using whole wheat flour) but I purchased this last winter at a buy one, get one free sale. The directions for making this cake can be summarized into three words: pour, mix, bake. Empty the box of angle food cake in a bowl. Pour in the entire can of pineapple, juice and all.
Stir just enough to moisten the cake mix, no more. Mine took 20 seconds. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. I started with a slightly smaller pan and when I put it in the oven, it started to rise so much that I had to remove it and pour it into a larger pan. While I was doing that, I was eating the leftovers from the bottom of the bowl and forgot to take a picture! So here is a picture of it in the larger pan, in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.
One of the reasons this post was published so late in the day is because I wanted to bake this in the Sun Oven. I set the oven outside at about 10:00 a.m., hoping I could preheat it to at least 300. It was scheduled for thunderstorms all day and up until it rained, it was partly cloudy. The clouds were light and I was sure the oven would heat up. Unfortunately, it didn't. I couldn't get it to go above 250 degrees. Not hot enough to bake an angle food cake. So late this afternoon, I gave up and put it in the oven. 35 minutes later, the cake was done. However, the top of my cake looks like the face of the moon with lots of craters and hills/valleys.
This is because I baked it for about 10 minutes in a smaller pan, then switched to the larger pan you see here. Next time, (and there will be a next time - I am going to bake this again the next sunny day we have!) I will use an angle food cake pan. Mine was raising nicely in the oven but while it was cooling, collapsed a bit. I believe, if I used an angle food cake pan and turned it upside down to cool, this would not have happened. Still, it tasted heavenly! While it was baking, I made an icing to drizzle over it. I didn't use a recipe, just added everything to taste. I used water, powdered sugar, powdered milk and a touch of cream cheese.
I really do love my garden, but I will be happy when I can take a break and just watch stuff grow for a while! I have been working quite steadily at it, but alas it still isn't done yet! Here is an update: Some of the peanuts are up. Here is a picture.
These are Spanish peanuts. They are doing well. The Virginia Jumbo had to be replanted. They were eaten. Mister Chipmunk managed to pop the mouse trap without getting hurt and ate all the peanut butter on it. Then, he proceeded to eat every Virginia Jumbo seed I planted! We need to think of another way to rid us of this creature. The green beans I planted are up too.
Now I need to move the raised beds that will hold the other half of this year's crop. That is on the list to do next. In preparation of moving the raised bed, I harvested both carrots and peas that were growing in the old bed! Not many mind you, but anything is better than nothing. These were the replants I planted so late in March. I really didn't expect to get a harvest at all! There were not enough for canning so they went into the freezer.
I put up the rain barrels for the summer.
The only thing I must do now is find the hose that hooks them together. I put it away last fall in a ''special spot' (so it wouldn't be misplaced) and now I can't find it! I still want another rain barrel. Because I won't pay retail price for another one, I must wait until I can find something that will work. Most of the herbs are planted too! I only have the parsley and tobacco left. Well, plus one pink flower and the new woad I started from seed.
I harvested the garlic too. I am very pleased with the garlic this year. Some of it was left over fresh garlic from the store. (I planted what I didn't use.) Some of it I bought from a seed catalog company. I am going to save some of the cloves to plant this fall. The crop is stable enough now that I won't need to purchase any more garlic cloves to plant.
Onions are still in the ground. They should be ready by the end of the month. Then I will plant the squash in their place. To help with the crop rotation next spring, I think I am going to build another raised bed on the other side of the yard. That should leave at least one bed available at all times, and I won't have to skip any crop (or plant it late) because I don't have room for it. The tomatoes and peppers are growing well. Although, nothing interesting to see yet. Here is a picture of some of the corn. I am quite excited to be growing popcorn this year. I can't wait to eat it!
I am really looking forward to harvesting all of my summer crops this year!
