Our Weekly Bread

Because we (Little A and me) eat a lot of bread around here, we thought it would be good to make some at home instead of always buying it.  So, I came upon a simple, foolproof recipe for Spelt Bread that turns out every time.  It's slightly sweet, very hearty, and it does not have any wheat.  Here's the recipe from The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book (I know, not the first place you'd run to for a bread recipe, but hey it's great stuff):

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 1/4 cups warm filtered water

2 tbsp organic coconut oil, warmed to a liquid consistency

3 tbsp raw honey or brown rice syrup ( I usually do a combo of honey and agave nectar.)

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups spelt flour (final amount varies on humidity)

Mix 1/4 cup warm water with yeast and let sit 

In large bowl, mix 1 cup warm water, liquified coconut, oil, honey, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of flour.  When yeast is bubbly, add it to the mixing bowl.  Beat generously for 60 seconds to develop the gluten.  Add another cup of flour gradually while stirring to make a soft dough.  

Of a floured board, knead the dough for 10 minutes while gradually adding more flour to form the dough into a round loaf.  Add enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the board,  but not so much that it falls apart.  Form into rectangular shape, place it into a greased bread pan, and set it in  a warm place to rise for an hour.  When the dough has risen slightly, bake at 350 degrees for half an hour.  

This makes one small loaf, so I double the recipe and get two loaves out of it.  Enjoy!

Hot Chicks!

After several months of procrastination I finally completed our chicken coop.  We also got chickens.  Actually, the day I finished the coop, we picked up our hens 15 minutes after I nailed the last board.  This was surprisingly fun.  For a guy that has not even built a box and can barely pound a nail without bending it, this presented quite the challenge.  There's something rather gratifying about making something with your hands.  

We got two chickens, which type I cannot remember.  We decided on Spanish names:  Susana and Carmen.  I still haven't picked them up.  They like A much better as she gives them sweet treats of corn cobs and compost scraps.  They've given us four eggs in total, which were promptly eaten for breakfast on a Saturday morning.  They're taking a break, though, and have lost a considerable amount of plumage.  Hopefully they will lay again soon.  

So here it is:

And I forgot to mention that nothing of this coop is new, except the chicken wire.  All of the wood, the aluminum roofing, the screen door, and the window were obtained second hand through friends or at the wonderful Rebuilding Center.  So, even though it doesn't look like much, I'm darn proud.  And it's still standing.  Ha!