5 weeks break - baking potato bread

This bread is the most amazing recipe as it makes a firm but moist loaf of bread with beautiful texture and a light garlic taste. I've adapted it from I don't remember where sorry.

If you use a bread machine place the ingredients in the order listed. I find it a bit moist and usually have to take out the dough and add a little more flour before its ready to bake. I highly recommend letting it rise and baking in an oven, but feel free to let the bread machine do all the kneading for you.

·         1 cup of water

·      2 tablespoons butter

·      1 egg

·      4 cups bread flour ( I used wholemeal spelt)

·       2/3 cup mashed potato - boil or steam 1 large or 2 medium potatoes and mash with 1 extra tablespoon of butter

·      1 tablespoon sugar

·      1 1/2 teaspoons salt

·      1 clove of garlic peeled and crushed

·      2 teaspoons yeast

      Mix together all ingredients and knead well. Let rise.   Roll out into 2 long sausages. Twist together then place in a lined bread tin.  Leave in warm area to rise again.  Bake until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped, 20-30 minutes at 200C.

  

5 weeks break - Day 16 mushroom foraging

At last its that time of year, the autumn rains have come and the wild mushrooms have begun to appear in the local forests.

Howard and I went out this morning to forage for Saffron milk caps or pine mushrooms. These delectable delights secret a bright orange sap making them very easy to identify.

Its early in the season and plenty of people were out and about but not the number we will see in a few weeks when things get into full swing.  We worked hard for half a basket but got plenty for a few meals.

There is a delightfully simple way to cook these pine mushrooms.
Clean with a dry piece of paper towel then slice the mushroom.  Cook over heat in chilli infused olive oil and crystals of rock salt.  Serve on fresh bread toasted to make a delicious bruschetta.

Sorry I ate it all and didn't take any photos of our cooked dinner. Go cook your own :)

5 weeks break - day 15 Harper's Mansion, Berrima

I don't know if you ever play the tourist in your own town but I do sometimes and its fun.  A great way to discover new treasures and see your home through fresh eyes.

In Berrima, a small historic village in the Southern Highlands of NSW, there is a splendid grand old home called Harper's Mansion.  It wasn't open to the public when we moved here and when it did open about 6 years ago we'd spend many an hour in the village already so didn't ever go into the house. Until today.

I had a great time!

I was shown around the house by a knowledgeable guide who told me the history of the house from the mid 1830s until 1970 when the last tenant left and the house was a complete ruin. The Southern Highlands chapter of the National Trust own the house and have restored it beautifully. They rely on donations, ticket sales and use of the property for private functions.

From convict beginnings to this grand house in a few short years, sadly James and Mary Harper didn't get to revel in the splendour for long as James died only 9 years after its completion. Situated on top of a hill, the symmetrical two story house has a straightforward charm and would have dominated the village throughout its history.

The extensive gardens are modern but contain many heirloom roses and interesting herbs.

Pineapple sage

The original well from the 1830s

I walked through the maze. My first ever time in a maze. It was so much fun. I went round and round in circles giggling all the time. The other people going through laughed as they kept bumping into people from different directions to the last time they saw them.  The maze is made from Leylandi and it smelt gorgeous, trimmed to perfection. I want to go back and do the maze again.

If you are in the area I recommend a visit: www.harpersmansion.com.au 

5 week break - Day 14 cultivating oyster mushrooms

Back in 2013 I did a course with Milkwood Permaculture in cultivating mushrooms.  I have neglected it over the past year more or less but hey, as I'm on leave I've had the time to start up my cultures again.

Mushroom science 101:

Take an existing mushroom, cut some tissue from the inside and place in a petri dish of agar (seaweed gelatin and food for the growing fungi).  Leave until the dish is full of fluffy white fungi.  Transfer to grain to let it grow some more, then straw and let the mushrooms, or fruit of the fungi, to grow.  Add humidity along the way.

The course was wonderful. Day 1, I was convinced that I could never learn it.  The science hurt my head. If this was what high school science class had taught me I would have loved the classes.  All the theory in the world is useful if you can see no useful application for it. Please hear that science teachers out there.

Overnight I got determined and went back to the course with renewed vigour.  Some wonderfully detailed notes later as well as some practical experience and yes I can cultivate mushrooms from a tissue sample. See some of my other mushroom stories here.

So I got out my kit today, prepared my agar plates and let them cool. Then I took samples from my fresh oyster mushrooms.

Now I wait. I hope I achieved a suitable level of sterility so no foreign matter contaminates my dishes. I'll let you know when I get to the next stage.

5 weeks break - Making soap

5 weeks leave - Day 12 the weather has turned cold and wet

The cold, wet weather has really set in for a few days.

I've used some of my new firestarters already keeping warm.  Today I just stayed home. It was a great day for a sleep in, some reading, yoga in front of the fire.

I am half way through my second week off and I am content with myself all day. The last few nights though ... I wake in the early morning with the remnants of disturbing dreams colouring my mood for a little while. All the dreams have had a common thread of work, of frantic running around and deep feelings of anxiety.  My days are calm and quiet although I have not yet given myself over to a day of complete nothingness. I feel I have to achieve something.  I'm trying to keep a balance between doing and being. I am tired of my sleep being disturbed with that frenetic energy and anxiety though.

I cooked some basil pesto, made a batch of soap too.  But then I took myself and my doggies for a long walk into town. I rugged up against the chill and off we set. It was nice, we walked quickly. No point to it but to get out. Oh and to get some exercise.  We all liked it.

Tonight I am watching the last season of Dr Who and well, blogging.

The other thing I did today was make spinach and ricotta gnocchi which I enjoyed for my dinner.

5 weeks break - Day 10 rainy day tasks

Phew!

We got all the mulching complete before the rain came in again. Just as well its been pouring.

So plenty other tasks to move on to:

Howard stripped the paint off a vintage metal rocking chair. I found it at the tip shop a few years ago and repainted it but our local weather isn't kind to metal. The fog wraps its tentacles around everything and makes it rust. All our outdoor furniture needs repainting - on the list for my 5 weeks off.  This chair is a particular comfy favourite.

Meanwhile I decided that a change in weather was on the cards and made a big batch of firestarters.  A lot of people round here sneer at the whole concept of firelighters but when your kindling is damp, or the wind is simply blowing in the wrong direction, some days its hard to get the fire lit. And when you've been at work all day and the house is cold a firelighter is a welcome cheat.

Made from empty egg cartons, wood shavings and melted wax these firelighters are fantastic.  My suggestion - make a production line of it and it doesn't take long to make several dozen. 

My prediction - there won't be enough to get through winter, although I'll come close, so I'll need to do another batch in a few months time.