I have this restlessness in me lately, like an itch inside my bones, I feel like one of those dogs that runs around the room with her nails click-clacking on the floor, unable to sit still. I've been quiet enough, and I'm normally OK, but sometimes my arms and legs just want to move and if I repress it I feel anxious. My body is telling me to get out of the city and go see some more mountains.
I made bread today, according to Claire's recipe. I put hot water together with yeast and molasses and oil and a bit of salt and enough flour to make it like 'thick pancake batter', then let it sit covered til it had doubled in size. Then I added more flour and kneaded it, and put it in pans and let it rise some more. Claire's main piece of advice: "Once the yeast starts doing its thing, treat the dough like a living organism, give it love! Respect it! Don't tear the elasticy bits!" So that I did, kneading its floppy body with tenderness and admiration. It baked well and we dined on hot steamy fresh bread, along with the veggie soup I had made (potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, chick peas, a chili pepper, and a can of '4 beans'). Dessert was (of course) bread with hot honey on it. There is not much better, I maintain, then fresh bread; in fact the list of contenders probably has about ten entries, if that.
To those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, the next few days are a good time to see the Australian moon. Arrange yourself so that you are viewing the moon 'upside down' (lie backwards out of a window, perhaps, making sure that you are well supported and don't throw your neck out or fall from a great height) and you will see the "rabbit" that us here Down Under see. I know, I know, the man in the moon is much cooler, what with his old-school cartoon smirk, but the rabbit should be given a chance too.
And that concludes todays report/recipe/random astronomy lesson!
|