Notes From A Nester: The Slow Rise
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a blogumn by Debra Barlow
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about slowness. Maybe it’s brought on by the hectic pace of my life, the years rolling by faster and faster, work and goals that pile up but never seem to get fulfilled or the economy causing every increasing anxiety, my mind has been drifting toward slow things. I long, some days, for a slower pace of life. An idyllic country life. But the reality is I live in one of the largest cities in America and life is anything but slow. So, I’ve decided to take slow where I can find it.
One thing that really intrigues me is slow food. Or at least my interpretation of it. Strictly speaking, slow food is a movement that encourages people to look to regional, organic produce, traditional foods and biodiversity. The actual slow food organization’s anti-globalization views are a little too leftist for my taste, but their ideas about slowing things down and learning more about the food you eat and paying attention to where it comes from really appeals to me. In my interpretation, it’s more about returning to the roots of the foods we consume and finding ways to make your own as opposed to the fast, conveniently packaged versions at the supermarket.
I’ve already talked about making your own pasta. It’s a staple of my diet and knowing that I can make it at home makes me feel like I have more control. So it was only a matter of time before I conquered another staple – bread.
As I think I’ve mentioned, I have a great fear of yeast. It smells weird and it’s strange to me to be cooking with a living organism. There’s just something gross about it. But I love the resulting bread, so I put my fears aside and made my first loaf. I’m not sure if the yeast was bad or the water was too hot, but I could not get the yeast to proof (i.e. get creamy and foamy, apparently a desirable quality in yeast). But I forged ahead and the bread rose and was baked and tasted…okay. I’d never had that bread before, it was just a recipe I found online, so with no basis for comparison I did what any great cook would do and blamed the recipe.
With the next batch I had no excuse. It was my mother-in-law’s white bread recipe, which I had eaten with gusto many times at her house. This time the yeast frothed and proofed and I thought, ‘hoorah! I’ve cracked it!’ Then I mixed it with the hot milk and killed every last bit of it. I forged ahead with the bread and I can only say I wish I had pictures to share. It was a comedy of errors that consisted of me trying desperately to knead a sticky, gloppy mess of bread dough. I kept adding flour and finally had something that resembled the right consistency. I baked it and it tasted…okay. This time I couldn’t blame the recipe, instead it rests squarely on my shoulders. But I haven’t given up on bread – I’m committed to figuring this yeast thing out. And no bread makers for me, that’s too fast.
Next up on my quest to slow things down: homemade cheese.
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MMMM now I want to try making bread! Your article on making pasta inspired me to finally break down and purchase the pasta attachment to my mixer (thank you, BBB gift card and 20% off coupon!). Now I am just waiting for it to arrive!
If you want slow, I will have to get you my sister's sour dough recipe. Apparently it took 26 hours to make, but the photos she posted looked fantastic!
MMMM now I want to try making bread! Your article on making pasta inspired me to finally break down and purchase the pasta attachment to my mixer (thank you, BBB gift card and 20% off coupon!). Now I am just waiting for it to arrive!
If you want slow, I will have to get you my sister's sour dough recipe. Apparently it took 26 hours to make, but the photos she posted looked fantastic!
yum. i want white bread AND pasta NOW! here's another recipe for ya. these are amazing. a labor of love (and hours of rising), but worth every last morsel!
http://www.saveur.com/article/Food/Georgenes-Fluf…
yum. i want white bread AND pasta NOW! here's another recipe for ya. these are amazing. a labor of love (and hours of rising), but worth every last morsel!
http://www.saveur.com/article/Food/Georgenes-Fluf…
Mmmm… homemade cheese. And wine.
Mmmm… homemade cheese. And wine.
I love the idea of purposefully taking on slow activities. I don't think my general nature would actually allow me to do this, but man does it sound romantic.
I will say this. Bread was one of the few things that I excelled at when I was a teenager and I wonder if you're overthinking the process. I think bread is one of those things that has to be done with a laidback attitude. If you fuss over it too much, it kind of turns out bad — I hold the same theory about helicopter parenting.
Making bread is also a very spiritual practice, so the making of it is often more important than how it turns out. Every bread making experience teaches you something, which is why it's so wonderful.
Also, back when I was making bread regularly, I used cookbooks from the 60s and 70s – not on purpose, but b/c that was what my Home Ec teacher gave me when I told her I wanted to take over more cooking at home — which is a whole nother blog entry. I think old-fashioned recipes are better than the new ones for these things as I found those books more practical and less fussy than today's glossy, commercial affairs.
I love the idea of purposefully taking on slow activities. I don't think my general nature would actually allow me to do this, but man does it sound romantic.
I will say this. Bread was one of the few things that I excelled at when I was a teenager and I wonder if you're overthinking the process. I think bread is one of those things that has to be done with a laidback attitude. If you fuss over it too much, it kind of turns out bad — I hold the same theory about helicopter parenting.
Making bread is also a very spiritual practice, so the making of it is often more important than how it turns out. Every bread making experience teaches you something, which is why it's so wonderful.
Also, back when I was making bread regularly, I used cookbooks from the 60s and 70s – not on purpose, but b/c that was what my Home Ec teacher gave me when I told her I wanted to take over more cooking at home — which is a whole nother blog entry. I think old-fashioned recipes are better than the new ones for these things as I found those books more practical and less fussy than today's glossy, commercial affairs.