Alma's Hearty Health Bread

Here is the a snippet of the e-mail Alma sent to me to provide you with some of the "inside" information and tips she offers. From South Africa, Alma has had to make a good deal of adjustments to her recipes, particularly in measurement conversions in order for us to more easily follow her instructions. This bread recipe is one she has been making for several years and she says that although her family loves it, when she has baked it for some Americans in the past they complained that it was too hearty for their taste. See what you think. I think it sounds great!
When I asked her about Prairie Grain Bread I was surprised to find that she too uses this bread saying ... "I also use the Prairie Grain White because I cannot really bake a better loaf myself, and it toasts and makes toasted cheese beautifully. I have used the 9 grain but I prefer my own brown. "

"This Whole-wheat Bread recipe is my sophisticated version of the original recipe I had from my very first SA cookbook.I used to bake 2 2-lb loaves when my husband was alive but now I do only one, which I divide into two smaller loaves. My bread tins measure 12" by 3 1/2" and are the original ones I brought from SA . There is nothing to be found here that is quite the same size or measurement. However, you can use 1 lb loaf tins.
You will find the recipe seems rather long, but it is because of all the health bits and pieces I add. I would also add cracked wheat but it is a great nuisance because it has to be cooked first and cooled which adds to the preparation time
When I open a new jar of yeast I always proof it first, that is 1 tspn yeast, 1 tbspn water and 1 tspn sugar mixed together in a cup and placed in a warm place. It should rise to at least 3/4 of the cup in about 15 to 20 minutes. Otherwise I just mix the dry yeast straight in with the flour and other ingredients.

Wholewheat Bread
3 cups wholewheat flour
2 cups AP or Bread Flour
2 1/2 tspns Fleischman or Red Star Active Dry yeast
1/2 cup Digestive Bran
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 tblspn ground flaxseed
1 tblspn Quinoa flakes
1 tblspn wheat germ (These last five ingredients are optional. Find them at a Health Food shop or the Health Food Section at Krogers,but this is what makes my bread different)
2 cups tap hot water
2 tspns salt
1 tabspn brown sugar
1 tbspn molasses (this gives a good color )
1 tbspn oil
Set the oven to 400.
Mix together all dry ingredients in a basin, including yeast, and stir well to blend
Dissolve the sugar, salt and oil into the hot water. Make well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in 3/4 of the liquid. Blend all together.If you see it is too dry, add the rest of the liquids gradually ( you will most probably find that uses it all) and start to knead.

IF the mixture is too stiff You may have to add some more water but be very careful, you don't want the mixture to be too wet. Knead well until the mixture comes completely away and no longer sticks to the sides or to your hands, Continue to knead for about 10 minutes. If it seems too slack add a sprinkling of white flour, if it seems too dry add water but only 1 tbspn at a time. With practice one gets to judge when its right.
[Coat your palms with a little oil] and pat them over the ball of dough. Place in a clean basin, cover and put to rise for 2 hours. It should double in volume.

Punch down the dough, cover it with a cloth and let it rest for about 10 minutes. This last step is not essential but the dough is easier to mould if you do it. Divide the dough in half, flatten out with the heel of your hand and by flattening, folding, and rolling with your hand you can shape it into two loaves that will fit into your greased bread tins.
Cover and put to rise again in a warm place. You can cover it with a kitchen cloth supported by a couple of tall glasses. See that it is completely covered, otherwise the top will dry out. The second rising should take about 45 minutes and it should rise about 1 1/2" above the level of the tin.
Bake at 400 for 40 minutes, but look at your bread after 30 mins because oven temperatures vary and it could well get too brown. If you think your oven is too hot, then set it to 400 for 20 minutes and then reduce it to 375. "

New "mini" Market this Morning!

I just got notice at 7:15 this morning from CCL that they will be participating in a very small market that is starting up in Powhatan. Here is the e-mail they sent out....

"I know this is late notice , but we have and problems with both the phone and the computer. We are going to be set up today at a new farmers market that is opening up in Powhatan It starts at 9 until 12 today (Saturday). It is at the Collier water garden. It is very small market that just started up. It is located on Route 60 west just past the Chesterfield Powhatan line(about 3 miles west of the 288 overpass)"

More Nice Ideas For The Holidays

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about alternatives to the shopping mall style gift mania that seem to characterize the holidays these days....
Anyway, a few days later I was invited to a Christmas open house where the host asked that their guest bring food items to donate to the local food bank in lieu of bringing the usual hosts gifts. I thought this was a great way to celebrate, and enjoy the company of friends and family while at the same time sharing some of what you have with others . All of the food brought by guest was taken by the hosts to the food bank the following day.

Another great idea involving food and the holidays came from my friend Liz when we were discussing holiday gifts. She said that for Christmas a couple of years ago she sent her grandmother a homemade, baked treat along with a card that promised a different fresh baked goodie would be sent at intervals throughout the year. (She sent something about every 6 weeks). What a great thing to look forward to all year! I loved the idea of her grandmother receiving something Liz had been baking in her own kitchen just a day or two before. It really seems to dissolve the distances.

A Few Recipes From Alma

Recently I had the great pleasure of having a Friday dinner with my oldest and closest friend and her family. Her grandmother, Alma was there and she and I got to talking about food. Well, since then we have traded several e-mails and she has done me the great favor of committing several of her favorite recipes to electronic "paper" in order to share them with me, and all of you. I hope you get to try them out and that you enjoy them!

Dear Shannon.....
Here are some more of my recipes. I am pleased to think that someone may be interested in trying something different....

Alma's Bran Muffins
Cream together:2 eggs, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup oil,
Add:
1 ¾ cups milk
2½ cups flour sifted together with ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp mixed apple pie, or pumpkin pie spice, and 2 tspns baking soda
1 cup digestive bran, (obtainable in health shops)
½ lb raisins or golden raisins
Mix all together thoroughly.

Keep tightly covered in airtight container in fridge at least 24 hours before baking. Bake in muffin tins at 425º for 15 minutes.
Mixture will make 22 to 24 muffins.
You can leave the mixture unbaked in an airtight container in the fridge for a month and just bake as many as you need, but I bake the whole lot and keep them in the freezer. They take about 12 or 13 seconds to defrost.

Fruit and Ginger Cookies
Melt together:
4 ozs Butter
2 tablespoons oil
2 tbspns golden syrup or honey
Sift 2 ¼ cups flour, ½ Cup sugar, 1 tsp Baking Soda, ½ tspn Baking Powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp Apple or Pumpkin Pie spice, 2 tsp ginger
2 eggs beaten
1 cup raisins or golden raisins
Mix all together.
Mixture is quite soft and sticky but the oil makes it quite easy to handle. I put about 3 to 4 blobs in a row and pat them gently into two long sausages with my fingers to about 2 1/2” width on a greased cookie pan and bake for approx 15 minutes at 350ºF

- Cut diagonally into 1” slices while still warm but do not separate.
If desired ice with glace icing when cold. I don’t ice them, because my family prefers them plain. These are very popular but do not stay fresh for long. I freeze them within one day.

Buttermilk Rusks:
9 cups Self Raising flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp salt
8 ozs butter or margarine
1 pint buttermilk plus 2tbspns milk
1 egg
25 ml oil.
Sift dry ingredients together. Rub butter into flour (I use a grater ), beat egg, add oil, add buttermilk. Pour into centre of dry ingredients, Knead thoroughly.
Form into buns about the size of a golf ball in pan about 12” X 10” X 2”. Fit them in tightly together.

The recipe should make about 60 plus rusks. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, separate gently with a sharp knife and place on two flat baking tins. Allow to dry out in very cool oven - overnight if possible, takes about 12 hours. You have probably never heard of anything like these rusks but I assure you, they are worth the effort!"

More about the Milk

I was rather surprised to discover this past Monday that just hours after I wrote my post about local milk, NPR broadcast Terri Gross' interview with Anne Mendelson about her new book Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Throughout the Ages. In this 11 minute long interview Mendelson sites the three most important things to look for in quality milk. She list first that it should be locally produced for freshness, second it should be non-homogenized, and finally for it to be pasteurized at the lower temp of 145 degrees (sometimes identified as "Batch pasteurized").
Click Here to listen to the interview in its entirety.

Many thanks

I just wanted to thank our friends for being such great lovers of food. We get numerous emails referring us to stories and events of which we might not have been aware, which we always appreciate. We three of the RFC work outside, (at early hours at that,) so we do not always have the opportunity to hear/ read/ see the news. That is where our friends fit in. Just today, we received an email from a reader who wanted to make sure we heard this story on NPR about new organic standards for milk. Fantastic. Also, my friend Ingrid called, wanting to make sure that I had heard this interview with Michael Pollan about Obama's pick for Secretary of Agriculture. Thank you guys so much for keeping us informed, and feel free to write us anytime!

Tricycle Gardens Gardening Classes

From Lisa Taranto at Tricycle Gardens:

Interested in hands-on gardening workshops in your community?

Check out opportunities with the Tricycle Gardens family of community gardens: www.tricyclegardens.org

Tricycle Gardens volunteers started a community garden in Church Hill, Richmond, in 2001. It has grown into a resource organization for urban issues including gardening, community-building, and sustainability, with four established community gardens to its credit, and another in planning. Tricycle Gardens provides garden building design, resources and technical support, while helping neighborhood volunteers build and manage community gardens.
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LGBG Class Descriptions
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JANUARY, Saturday 24th, 12-3pm
Creative Coldframes and Cloches
Jump start your spring by integrating creative cold frames and cloches into your home garden. We will demonstrate how to build 3 simple types of cold frames, and a variety of cloches. Tapping into our resourceful & inventive minds, and by using new, used and found objects, we will find new & beneficial tools for successful gardens.
Please dress warmly, as we will be outside.
INSTRUCTORS: Danny Finney, Allison Mesnard, Stacey Moulds
LOCATION: Jefferson Avenue Garden (at 24th Street in Church Hill/Union Hill)
COST: $50, 20 spaces available