Cool. August. Lake.

That may not be everyone's idea of a great time, but my heart sings over the combination.

Sleeping in. Knitting. Reading.

If I wasn't smiling before, I am now.

Listening to loons. Watching the changing colors in the evening sky. Hearing God's voice more clearly.

Now I'm really onto something.

Add on top of all this, a bit of kitchen fun.

Yes, this is refreshing.

I love preparing meals in this bare-bones kitchen.

Menu -

Kendra's Market Sandwich

Melon

Chips & Salsa

The makings of Kendra's Market Sandwich: Chewy sourdough bread, sliced tomato, pesto, smoked turkey. Other optional additions: Lettuce, cheese...

Now realize, this isn't made with any go-to-the-store-and-dump-things-in-your-cart ingredients. These ingredients are plain good. I'm not just talking about my sourdough bread, either, though I do confess to be a little partial there. Look at that tomato - bright red, juicy, fresh from the garden. For a zippy spread, "Deb's Corner Products" jalapeno pesto can't be beat. And smoked turkey - no paper thin pressed muck here! (I admit it. I am a bit of a fanatic over quality food.)

Hungry yet?

Help yourself.

Thank you, Kendra, for giving me the idea for this sandwich... and letting me have a nibble of your noon lunch.

Rewinding -- Gluten Free I

January 4-6, 2010
Intense days of research. Hopefully I now know enough about gluten-free baking to begin tinkering around the kitchen with brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, etc.

January 7, 2010
A full day in the kitchen. Baked a small bread order, three trial granola bar recipes, and two batches of gluten-free (GF) bread. Learned much; much more to learn.

Also refreshed "barm," my sourdough starter, by adding flour and water. This is a twice a week duty in the winter which increases to three times a week in the summer. Summer is when barm is used and depleted regularly for farmers' market sales.


















Multigrain Gluten-Free Bread -- I can't say the flavor and texture were anything to brag about. Dry and crumbly with an unusual "bite" in the flavor. A caved-in top crust indicates too much liquid.

Brown Rice & Sorghum Bread -- A tired loaf. This is what happens when I stick a thermometer probe into an under-baked GF loaf.

Another Brown Rice & Sorghum loaf. Its sag isn't nearly as pronounced as the other loaf. I was very pleased with the texture of this bread - elastic (not crumbly) and moist. Flavor was quite pleasing, too. I definitely have found a good base recipe here!