This Moment

Playing along with Amanda today... in her words: {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A Bread Book

I am a nerd.

I admit it.

Now it's in writing. I am not ashamed. I am who I am.

I love books.

I love history.

I love cooking and baking... and I love books about the history of cooking and baking. That's right.

A few months back, my mom treated me to a thrifted copy of The Blessings of Bread by Adrian Bailey.

Because my life is what it is, it took me those few months just to read it... page by page, chapter by chapter, sometimes weeks between the chances of reading a few lines. Those chances, however, were always moments I intentionally savored- the quiet (however brief), the beverage of choice I held in my non-page-turning hand, the feel of the large, aged, lightly floured pages as my fingers skimmed over them, the heft of the thick, hard-covered book itself. I especially enjoyed the quirky beauty in the choices the author made in depicting the history of such a taken-for-granted staple...

 

As I read, I couldn't help but be transported back to an ancient hearth, around which laborers gather to eat the only meal of the day, before heading out into the fields (pre-dawn, always) to work at least 13 hours... a meal which centered around the only thing they could afford that would also sustain them through that much back-breaking labor... and then, 100 years later, at another hearth, where a peasant family mixes together ingredients that have evolved much yet changed little, to produce a very similar product- just as important to them- but within its sustenance grows a weapon for the branding of their class... then, as the centuries roll by, I follow and watch the tides turn, causing the reversal from a food of peasants to the food of kings, and then, finally- with the help of modern machinery- to the food of every man.

It is humbling to think just how far such a seemingly mundane staple has come, how long it's actually been around, and just how important it's roll was then, and still is now. It gives me quite a bit more respect for my morning toast, to say the least!

At the very end of the book are the recipes, and they're not just ordinary recipes... they're ancient recipes, with methods intact from pre-industrial revolutionary Europe, and the simplicity one would expect from those times. I made myself finish the history part of the book in it's entirety with nary a peek at the recipes until I was through it all.

It just so happened that I got the opportunity to read through those recipes, and even to try a couple of them, the morning after I finished the book- without 'helping' hands- thanks to an involuntary 5am wake time (ahem).

So... in the silence and still of the pre-dawn hours that so many bakers of antiquity knew too well, I had the pleasure of meditating on the smell of cool morning air, the sound of birds waking, the taste of fresh coffee, the warm glow of my own 'hearth,' and the feel of bread dough under my palms.

Always cut a cross in your loaves to let the devil out... or so they say

For a moment, standing in my quiet kitchen, I felt connected to the generations, cultures, and classes of centuries of bakers- both amateur and master- that baked bread daily, not for the experience or the superior flavor or the novelty of it, but for their survival, and I marveled at the power of such a simple staple... and felt infinitely thankful.

>I've always enjoyed making my family's bread, and before this book, I was terrible at it... once I understood some of the chemistry and 'why' behind the 'what,' though, I feel like I got the hang of it pretty well; however, it's easy to get stuck in a rut with so many things in this life, and bread making is not an exception. I came out of my comfort zone a little with these recipes, and my verdict is this: great flavor, fun to make, but a little too low-moisture for our area, perhaps? I found the crumb on both loaves a little dense, and they 'proved' in a strange way when they baked. However, the book has so many more little gems I've dog-eared... I'm not going to let the texture of my first try stop me from trying the others!

"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight." -M.F.K. Fisher

Right Now

Right now, I'm loving...

 

 

...every excuse I can find to "put the kettle on" and bring out my new teapot
...family-wide enthusiasm for multiple teatimes, exotic teas, and the snacks that go with them all
...sweet hugs, kisses, and little piles and messes all around, made by Littles who just want to be near
...quiet, cool, early mornings out with hot mug in hand, bare feet, and sun breaking through heavy gray clouds here and there
...quiet, breezy, gray evening walks with my sweet loves so full of wonder
..."sleeping in"
...rain, rain, and more beautiful, intense, uninvited but oh-so-welcome rain
...being the one all family members turn to when something unexpected appears, and being able to turn the startling and scary into something full of wonder and beauty
...sitting back and feeling an ache so deep and beautiful from the gratitude that comes from knowing just how good this life really is
...Mother's Day flowers

Right now, I'm loving feeling loved and doted on (still) from a Mother's Day weekend that has created such a warm glow of gratitude and blessing that, in starting the week, it lingers still. May a sense of all that has been given to make this life possible stay with us all as we start this week, and may it serve to help us savor all that we have. Happy Monday.

Spring Fever

This morning, I got up a little earlier than usual, got stuff going (laundry, coffee, breakfast...), opened the back door wide, and stepped out onto the porch. The air was fresh and crisp, with a cool breeze still blowing from the little cold front that blew through a couple days ago. Something about cool, early spring air reminds me of walking the campus at my Alma Mater, and I stood out on the back patio remembering my frequent, early walks all over University.

As the long morning shadows slowly shrank into the brightening sunshine, I did my best to feel my feet on the ground, hear the birds, and soak in the little things around me that makes this small spot in our neighborhood ours.
 

It's hard to explain, but there's something deep within me that feels restless... maybe it's that little piece we all have, leftover from all those years of evolution when our very survival depended on keeping pace with the natural world around us, that's awakening and longing to stretch and reveal brighter colors and more vibrant fullness... Maybe it's intuition- sensing another scorching summer fast approaching- crying for action, production, and attention to everything within grasp in this moment before it all becomes abruptly inaccessible, just as one's environment might be affected by a blizzard.

Maybe it's something still intangible, though it seems palpable enough to start a tingling of the senses, a wandering of the eye, and an almost urgent racing of thought to place a point of origin on this spark that's filling me up.

This call to action... this feeling of change... this springtime restlessness that may become irrepressible sooner rather than later... so much on the to-do list, yet so much uninspiring.

So I sip hot coffee and force myself to stay in the moment, to keep my mind open to whatever cue might reveal itself and explain this undefined feeling of anticipation. Maybe something great this way comes... and maybe I'm just picking up on the energy of the season... there certainly seems to be enough of that to go around...

"It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, you want - 

oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, 

but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"  ~Mark Twain

Right Now

Right now, I'm loving...

...the latest obstacle conquered

...box play

 

...digging, picking, and sauteing the spring veggies that are surviving

...my new dishwasher (not the machine...)

...evening walks, even though it's now warm enough to make us all work up a 'glow'

...this

Right now, I'm loving all I can about the first weekend of May that already feels like June, and trying my hardest to keep from thinking about June. Aaah well, at least it makes for some great evenings... always a bright side, right? Happy Monday.