Fresh bread, hot out of the oven

Because here in the forest, that's how we roll.

Served with lashings of butter

Recipe
This bread is THE easiest bread you will ever make, because you don't have to knead it. It takes about 15 minutes of preparation time, just rises very slowly - rises twice for 6-8 hours each time. So yes, you need to plan ahead a bit, but ultimately, it’s almost no work at all, no kneading, but it takes a while. Worth it though!

Mix together thoroughly
- 1 & 3/4 cups warm water
- 1 scant tablespoon salt (good celtic or himalayan salt)
- 1/4 tsp instant yeast (yes, that's all)
- 1 cup all purpose flour - unbleached, organic white flour
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
(for the flour I've experimented with using spelt, rye, etc... some work better than others but they all seem to work, try what you like.)

Cover loosely & let sit 6 - 8 hours. Mixture should
be risen and possibly bubbly. It may have risen & fallen and be
sitting on top of a bed of liquid. This is called a "poolish". If you wish & you're able to, you can go on to the next step as soon as the poolish becomes bubbly, but it's all right to let it work till it gets to the "sitting on liquid" stage.

Add & mix well with spatula:
- 2 cups flour (For the basic recipe, I use half whole wheat & half unbleached white flour; you can experiment as you wish)
At this point you can add any ingredients you'd like:
herbs, seeds, nuts, olives, cheese, sun dried tomatoes, dried fruit and spices, chocolate chips, etc - be creative

Cover & let work till risen (6-8 hours or over night). At this point
the dough should be doubled in size and you should be able to see
large bubbles just below the surface.

You can bake the bread now, or delay baking by doing the following:
Sprinkle top & edges with 2 TBS flour & fold sides in to centre all the around the bowl. Fold the dough over a few times. Set aside for another 3 hours or so.
(If you don't have time to bake the bread at this point, you can
repeat this step. The flavour will develop further if you do, but
will still be good if you don't. I usually don't)

baking:
pre-heat oven to 260C. Bake the dough in a covered pot/ tin for 30 minutes. Then uncovered for 8-10 minutes at 230C. I usually line the tin with baking paper; works really well, and just cover with aluminium foil. 
(note that times may vary depending on the size of the bread - I often use this recipe to make rolls, but this time is about right for a "standard" loaf.

This is traditional baking at its best - the minimal yeast and slow rise time make for a better bread, without the need for chemical bread improvers or loads of yeast. super super easy, and super super yummy.

Tiramisu Divine

Littletree and I decided to make a surprise for Aquacat’s 44 1/4 birthday – Tiramisu with fresh organic whipped raw cream and my home made coffee and orange liqueurs.

First squeeze 1/2 cup of orange juice... well, squeeze all the oranges, and take out 1/2 cup for the tiramisu, and serve the rest to Aquacat while she’s having a lie-in.

 

Then brew 2 cups of strong coffee and mix with the OJ, set aside to cool.

Slightly whip 300ml cream (well, slightly less than 300ml cream, because the container wasn't completely full).

Separate 3 eggs, beat the yolks together with 1/3 cup caster sugar till it's pale and thick, then whip in the cream and 250g Mascarpone cheese. (Yes, I use an original 1967 SwiftWhip hand beater for this, because I'm just that cool)

Whisk the egg whites till they are forming soft peaks, and then gently fold into the cream mixture.

Now take out the coffee and OJ - pour in a healthy shot of coffee liqueur and orange liqueur (about 1/4 cup of each). Quality control is important here, make sure the liqueurs are good all the way to the bottom of the bottle (adult supervision is vital for this step; kidlets aren’t allowed).

Then soak in Savoiardi sponge biscuits - let them soak up loads of the liquid and then line the base of a serving bowl or deep tray with them.

Then you layer - a layer of soaked savoiardi; a layer of cream mixture. rinse repeat. Well, don't actually rinse. You should get three layers, finishing off with cream mixture.

I grate chocolate slivers onto the top, but you could top with anything - a dusting of cocoa, chocolate-coated coffee beans... or just dunk your face right into it.

Cover and leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours, and then...

NOM!

Aquacat was ecstatic

And the taste… mmmmmmmmmm

Purple Cauliflower

Littletree’s favourite vegetable at the moment is raw cauliflower, and one of her favourite colours is purple, so when I was at the supermarket this week and I saw a purple cauliflower, I thought: ooooh Littletree will think that is awesome!

It did cross my mind that it might be some sort of weird coloured or genetically modified icky vegetable, but I figured it would be cool to bring it home anyway, at least for the interest factor.

Littletree was pretty amazed

And a quick googling led us to learning that they’re not dyed or genetically modified in any way, but a hybrid - which may possibly have more nutrients because of the purple colouring.

Awesome! Which fits in perfectly with what we started learning about a few weeks ago – genetics, the studies of Mendel and selective breeding. We’ve been talking about recessive genes and genetic disorders, and how that relates to our every day life; such as how we got from wolves to dogs as various as Chihuahuas to Great Danes; and how we get so many varieties of vegetables; blue eyes vs. brown, etc. Littletree is particularly curious about being a redhead and how those recessive genes work.

Littletree has been having a recent resurgence in playing with a doll that was her favourite since she was about 18 months old – she used to carry Sigalit everywhere, even carrying her in a sling, but she kind of grew out of playing with her till recently.

Lately, Littletree has taken to calling Sigalit her daughter, and I often have to “babysit”, being the grandmother. Littletree pointed out that since Sigalit has purple hair, it must be from a recessive gene, as no one else in the family does!

But back to the cauliflower, apparently it tastes exactly the same as a regular cauli. Yum!

I’m makin’ waffles!

Littletree has been begging asking to make waffles, so we decided to get a waffle iron. After a full day traipsing around every shop we could find that might possibly stock waffle irons, and finding only a massive assortment of specialised appliances for things that don’t need a specialised appliance – there was a brownie-maker, a cookie-maker, a cupcake-maker, even a hot-chocolate-maker! But no waffle iron, ironically waffles are the one thing you actually need something to make them with.

So we went online. I found on eBay a gorgeous original 1970s retro Breville waffle maker… so very funky! But also out of my budget, so we settled on a cheapo one and waited for delivery…

Thankfully didn’t have to wait long! Littletree was ecstatic!

We found a recipe that’s simple enough for her to make herself and that we can get all organic ingredients for – after discussing at length the ins and outs of separating eggs so one can whip the whites, and what happens to the egg protein when it’s whipped.

Seems everything turns into a science lesson with this kid!

But the end result… mmmmmmmm

Served with fresh, local raw cream, maple syrup, and bacon! So glad we have a local organic butcher!

Homemade Harvest

The past month has been such a frenzy of homemade awesomeness. Harvesting yummy veggies from our garden

Including cassava so we can make our own cassava chips (as well as so many amazing delicacies)

Amazing, delectable, organic, home made cherry liqueur, which tastes like an explosion of fluffy bliss bubbles in your brain

Hannukah Sufganiot

Homemade Bailey’s Irish Cream made from local, raw, organic cream, and served with my organic, raw macadamia and honey ice cream

Gingerbread yoni cookies made by my neighbour

And last, but not least, a local farm stall gave us a massive box of “seconds” tomatoes for only $2! What to do with such a tomatoey abundance?

Tomato Chutney!

In between the moments of madness, there’s been SO MUCH AWESOME!

I love eating locally, I love eating food that we grew ourselves, I love making from scratch all the things that even our grandmothers have forgotten how to make :)

Gluten-Free Pizza

Ariad came over for a visit, and since she commented about wishing for a gluten-free lactose-intolerant pizza, I set about making one. I’m just that awesome. And I love Ariad :D

So I made up a huge batch of regular pizza dough, and a smaller batch using organic gluten-free flour. I made a yummy pizza sauce, and instead of cheese I put crumbled up fried tempeh, and topped with mushrooms, garlic and olives. Heart-shaped, of course!

Yum! And the pizza was delish too!

Of course, I made loads and loads of pizza, so we invited all the neighbours in to join us with all the left-over Guinness from the weekend’s party (yes, we are aware that we’ve let the Irish side down by having beer left over)

Super-awesome fun :) and Ariad was even polite enough to not mention that gluten-free cheese-free pizza kinda sucks LOL

Goji Goodness

A few years ago Purple and I started experimenting with making our own liqueurs based on the cherry wine recipe that was handed down from Purple’s grandmother.

The cherry wine was simply divine, and we quickly found out that the cherries can be substituted for cranberries, which was fantastically delicious. As was apricot, mango, chai, pineapple, lemon, date and various other yummy liqueurs we tried making. My all time favourites remained the original cherry and the cranberry

When we moved to Australia, dried cherries and cranberries weren’t as easy to come by as they were in Israel, but still we kept on experimenting…

And now we’ve come to the best ever – Goji Berry liqueur. Oh it’s AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!

I started with a cup of organic Goji berries (AKA wolfberries) in a bottle cleaned out with boiling water.

To which I added 2/3 cup of organic sugar, a cup of white wine and a cup of vodka

Put the lid on the bottle and give it a good shake

Then let it sit in the cupboard, giving it regular shakes, for several weeks, until it’s ready. This batch was perfect after 6 weeks.

Sadly, the process has a by-product: alcohol-soaked goji berries. So my poor guests have to suffer through being served my organic, raw, homemade ice cream with adults-only goji berries. And goji berry steamed puddings. And all sorts of delectable delights.

Of course it’s all healthy and good for us, because the goji are so packed with antioxidants and amino acids and whatnot.

New Articles – Unrestricted Eating

It seems I’m a bit behind in the times. Several of my Natural Parenting articles have been published lately – shows how much I’ve been checking the Essence of Life website where I work since I stopped managing the forum there.

So, there’s an extended version of my post on Children learning when they’re ready HERE

And an article on the Unrestricted Diet part of Radical Unschooling, which I allude to frequently. You can read the full article HERE

It’s basically talking about the idea that if we trust children to eat what they feel (as we do as adults), then they will be confident to trust their bodies and be healthy naturally. If we put a lot of restrictions on them, we’re showing children that they can’t be trusted to know their own bodies and make healthy choices.

Cavity-Free and Full of Ice Cream!

I went to the dentist today. Yeah, you all probably cringed a little just reading that, but don’t worry; I ate a whole bowl of ice cream before I went!

Forgive me Dentist, for I have sinned. It’s been over a year and a half since the last time I went to the dentist, when I was told I have eight teeth that are decaying and need filling. At the time, I decided not to get the work done, but to start following the Weston A Price traditional diet recommendations.

I bought the book Nourishing Traditions, and started making bone broths and chicken stock and eating organ meats and raw, organic, grass-fed dairy; I started taking good quality Cod Liver Oil and High-Vitamin Butter Oil. It was quite a diet-shift! But I didn’t give up sugar or acid foods. I still eat loads of cake, as always, and my awesome ice cream, which I believe is actually good for teeth, as well as sinfully delicious.

So today, I went to the local dentist for a cleaning, and he looked at my last-seen-ridden-with-eight-cavities teeth, and declared:

“Your teeth are in perfect condition and I think if you keep taking care of them they’ll last you the rest of your life.”

My jaw nearly hit the floor! I pressed him, “Are you *sure* there’s no decay? 2 years ago I was told I need some fillings”

To which he replied, “Oh, you have one tiny brown spot on one tooth, but that’s nothing to worry about; it should be fine.”

WOOHOO!!! I went skipping out of the dentist happily! Who would have thought ice cream would be better for cavities than getting fillings?

Garden

We’ve been working on our garden a lot lately, Purple has been building retaining rock walls and reinforcing the beds, and I’m starting a new herb patch with valerian, motherwort, skullcap, plantain, pennyroyal, sage, chamomile and room for more.

The garden is quite long and narrow, we have cassava,

Chilli, aloe vera, comfrey (and potatoes under the matting)

Pineapple, cherry tomatoes, mint

The frame I built for the spinach to climb up on is made with only natural materials – bamboo poles and cat’s claw vines to hold it together.

Littletree has her own flower bed that she takes care of

And a strawberry patch!

Littletree got to eat the first one yesterday!

I’ve also planted a few trees – a blueberry bush, a japoticaba, a red raspberry bush, a lemon myrtle, and a lemon tree.

I Scream! Raw Ice Cream

Littletree and I made raw, organic ice cream last night.

It’s SO outrageously delicious, and it was so easy.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw organic cream

3 cups raw organic milk

2/3 cup raw organic rapadura sugar

3 raw organic local fresh eggs

Put all ingredients into a bowl and stir, stir, stir

Keep stirring till it’s good and frothy, then put it into the freezer. Every 15 minutes or so, take it out and give it another stir with a beater or fork to break up the ice crystals

Keep freezing and stirring till it’s ice cream! The finished product:

And the result?

YUM!!!

Yeah, that’s Littletree eating our super healthy, raw, organic, fresh, home-made ice cream on a crapola Home Brand cone… funnily enough, she refused to eat the cone, but wanted it anyway, to hold the ice cream LOL

I can’t wait to start experimenting with flavours… mmm mocha swirl, carob fudge, fresh berries…

Say CHEESE!

For about a year I've been getting into the Weston Price dietary recommendations, in an effort to stop my teeth from decaying. This involves eating raw dairy products, lots of dark leafy greens and things like bone broths and organ meats.

Raw milk is fairly easy to get most places around here - you can even get organic, unhomogenised milk in the supermarket - heck the major supermarkets have their own brands of it! But raw cheeses are a little harder to come by.

Lately I discovered Fromart. It's a small company run by a Swiss guy who makes cheese by hand in the traditional way, and also imports cheeses from Switzerland.

They were having a special deal last week, so I ordered the 1kg deal as well as a 300g sample pack of raw cheeses. It's pretty pricey, especially compared to generic brand cheddar from the supermarket, but I think it may be worth it for the sake of our health. And it's definitely cheaper than a root canal ;)

Anyway, my package arrived, and I opened it up excitedly... inside the post bag, on the bubblewrap, was a hand written note, "you were lucky". I didn't know what that meant, but it was exciting.

When I got through the layers of bubble wrap I found out why - they had run out of the special deal cheese, and in it's stead, sent me a 2kg selection of 9 different kinds of cheeses!!! Woohoo!!

It was like cheese heaven. So we invited a couple who just moved in down the road to come over and enjoy a cheese tasting with us :)

mmmm

Littletree liked the Mont Soleil best, our new neighbours (whom I will call the Barefoot Doctor - BD and M) liked the Gruyere, Purple's favourite was the D'alpage. I couldn't pick a favourite. The Truffle one was good (it has shavings of truffles in it and truffle oil!) and the Jura Mountain was yummy too.