What do ya know?
Normally, the answer is ........ not much! But recently, I've been putting my teacher's apron on and hitting the road.
So I've been learning a little more every day ... as Martha would say, it's a good thing.
Wednesday night .... it was mozzarella cheese class in the sewing room/art studio/postal drop/ kitchen at Miss Eff's. Three fabulous women looked past the dust bunnies and the fuzzy purring creatures that create them ... and made cheese.
Cheese making is, without a doubt, my favorite subject to teach. You are standing there, watching milk in the pan warm .... which is pretty much akin to watching corn grow. And suddenly .... Pop! ...... cheese becomes reality!!! It is soooo frickin' magical!!
I never cease to be amazed!!!
So ... it is fun to see magic happen for others! And you get to eat it! Yea .... it is all good.
But last night .... for Scott Community College .... I taught Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
The first thing I say (after I explain to every one that I am not a chef. I'm not a teacher. I am just a good ol' farm cook!) if you have never baked bread before ... GREAT!!! If you have, forget everything you previously learned.
ABin5 (as we in the know call it!!! Yea ... like I would be in the know of anything!!) has an extremely high percentage of water to flour. It is going to be sticky. And the sooner you accept that ... the better your final product will be. There is no kneading ... proofing.... no keeping it in a draft-free area. It's so different than traditional bread recipes.
I love making a traditional bread recipe. One of my favorites is a Swedish Rye bread that takes 3 risings .... makes 4 loaves of bread ... and is incredible!!!!
But I can't find the time to do that every day. And I still want incredible bread every day.
We tried a bread machine. First ... the mixes weren't going to make the cut. I searched and searched for recipes that I liked. I hated the hole that the paddle made. I started using it to mix the dough and then bake in the oven... better but I still wasn't happy.
ABin5 gives me a product that I am happy to serve at anytime ... and its easy.
So its a joy for me to share that with others. And share we did. I used the Master recipe to make 7 different products .... and I could have done even more (if as they say on television... time allowed!)
We made ............
1) boule.
2) crusty dinner rolls
3) baguette
4) crusty sandwich loaf
5) onion and rosemary focaccia
6) pita bread
7) caramel hazelnut sticky buns
And we ate and we ate and we ate. And we spread Picket Fence butter on EVERYTHING. Really. (you're not surprised, are you???)
That was so much fun .... I still want to do another class at home. But I also want to do a Brioche class.... you know, Blue Gate Farm honey, Picket Fence butter and Miss Eff's eggs. Yea ...... This may be Iowa but that's heaven!!
So watch that on my class schedule..... and thanks again to 23 fabulous people that let me show a little bit that I know .... and you taught me a lot that you know!!!!!
So today ...... the answer to What do you know? has changed.
So I've been learning a little more every day ... as Martha would say, it's a good thing.
Wednesday night .... it was mozzarella cheese class in the sewing room/art studio/postal drop/ kitchen at Miss Eff's. Three fabulous women looked past the dust bunnies and the fuzzy purring creatures that create them ... and made cheese.
Cheese making is, without a doubt, my favorite subject to teach. You are standing there, watching milk in the pan warm .... which is pretty much akin to watching corn grow. And suddenly .... Pop! ...... cheese becomes reality!!! It is soooo frickin' magical!!
I never cease to be amazed!!!
So ... it is fun to see magic happen for others! And you get to eat it! Yea .... it is all good.
But last night .... for Scott Community College .... I taught Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
The first thing I say (after I explain to every one that I am not a chef. I'm not a teacher. I am just a good ol' farm cook!) if you have never baked bread before ... GREAT!!! If you have, forget everything you previously learned.
ABin5 (as we in the know call it!!! Yea ... like I would be in the know of anything!!) has an extremely high percentage of water to flour. It is going to be sticky. And the sooner you accept that ... the better your final product will be. There is no kneading ... proofing.... no keeping it in a draft-free area. It's so different than traditional bread recipes.
I love making a traditional bread recipe. One of my favorites is a Swedish Rye bread that takes 3 risings .... makes 4 loaves of bread ... and is incredible!!!!
But I can't find the time to do that every day. And I still want incredible bread every day.
We tried a bread machine. First ... the mixes weren't going to make the cut. I searched and searched for recipes that I liked. I hated the hole that the paddle made. I started using it to mix the dough and then bake in the oven... better but I still wasn't happy.
ABin5 gives me a product that I am happy to serve at anytime ... and its easy.
So its a joy for me to share that with others. And share we did. I used the Master recipe to make 7 different products .... and I could have done even more (if as they say on television... time allowed!)
We made ............
1) boule.
2) crusty dinner rolls
3) baguette
4) crusty sandwich loaf
5) onion and rosemary focaccia
6) pita bread
7) caramel hazelnut sticky buns
And we ate and we ate and we ate. And we spread Picket Fence butter on EVERYTHING. Really. (you're not surprised, are you???)
That was so much fun .... I still want to do another class at home. But I also want to do a Brioche class.... you know, Blue Gate Farm honey, Picket Fence butter and Miss Eff's eggs. Yea ...... This may be Iowa but that's heaven!!
So watch that on my class schedule..... and thanks again to 23 fabulous people that let me show a little bit that I know .... and you taught me a lot that you know!!!!!
So today ...... the answer to What do you know? has changed.
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