Perfect Pairings

Twig Farm Goat Tomme (from West Cornwall, VT) with a 2010 Black Opal Shiraz Cabernet (SE Australia).  No, the wine was not local and it was a gift, but the earthy rind and deep complexity of the cheese balance perfectly with the spicy berries of the blended wine.  Alas, out of Triscuits, the cracker with few ingredients.  (I stopped buying crack, I mean, Cheese-Its, after I read the side of the box and decided I preferred salt and rosemary to MSG.)

Other perfect pairings: Phineas and Ferb.  My family loves the show.  But why watch imagination at work, when you can LIVE it?  My daughter wanted to "go to outer space for REAL" so yesterday we made her space suit.  I had been keeping large Styrofoam packing material in the basement for years, waiting for the right moment.  I even held on to the torn flex hose when I replaced it for the dryer.  Some silver paint, aluminum foil, lots of duct tape, and caps and other junk of various kinds, and two hours later, voila! Cost of project: $0  Value: Priceless.

The materials, along with my daughter's "Perry" hat.  Use heavy-duty clippers
for flex hose and duct tape edges to avoid cuts.

Painting Styrofoam and wrapping in foil.  Do not use spray paint on Styrofoam;
it may melt! (I discovered this at age 12, sculpting foam by melting it with
nail polish.  Maybe it's the alcohol.)

Fitting #4

Fitting #6

"I can't bend my arms!"

Ready for space!

Here's one more bit of technology you can use today: Hot, humid weather is the best time to make bread.  Why?  I throw a damp towel over the dough and leave it outside, the deck bench my personal proofer!  Since I have two more kids this month and they are not used to eating "healthy, whole" foods from scratch, I made my multigrain bread, but replaced the multigrain cereal and wheat flours with just unbleached flower.  I did keep the oatmeal in, and the vital wheat gluten necessary for the texture.  5 minutes to mix, ten minutes to knead, left outside 2 hours, reshaped and pounded into the bread pan, another 1 hour rise outside (where it almost overflowed!), then 40 minutes in the oven.  I did time it to bake in the cool evening.  Really, it's 20 minutes of your time if you're planning on being home for 4-5 hours anyway.  Another great pairing: Warm bread and butter, honey, or preserves.  Try it!

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Vegetarian/Vegan Option

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Multigrain Bread

Taste of Earth 

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Prep: 25 minutes  Rise: 3-5 hours  Bake 40-45 minutes

Cool: 1 hour  Makes one loaf

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

4 tsp. vital wheat gluten

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup multigrain cereal (such as Bob’s Red Mill)

1 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup warm water (100ºF-115ºF), divided

3 tsp. active dry yeast

1/4 tsp. sugar

2 tbs. olive oil

1/4 cup local honey (or substitute brown sugar)

In a large bowl, whisk together first six ingredients.  Dissolve yeast with sugar into 1/4 cup of warm water in a separate bowl.  Let sit about ten minutes, until foamy.  Incorporate remaining water, oil, and honey, then make a well in the flour mixture and stir wet into dry.  Flour hands and counter and knead bread about 10 minutes, until elastic.  Place rounded 6” X 4” dough back in bowl and cover with hot wet towel.  (I use my turned-off oven as a proofer.)    Let rise 2-6 hours, or until dough has doubled.  Grease bread pan and punch dough down.  Transfer dough to bread pan, reshaping if needed.  Let rise 1-2 more hours.  Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Bake bread 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped.  Cool one hour.