Thursday, July 24, 2008

A Bit of Everything....

I found a great recipe the other day over here for 'beyond easy beer bread ' and just had to give it a go....
I added some mixed herbs and grated Parmesan to the basic mixture and it turned out absolutely delicious..... I still can't get over just how super easy this bread was to whip up, not even an hour and that's everything!!! Give it a go I'm sure you'll be amazed too...
There is one catch though, if you only enjoy the lovely fluffy white bread that you buy at the bakers or reproduce in the bread oven at home after several kneads and rises than this bread may not be to your liking.... It has a fairly heavy texture that resembles savoury scones so be prepared for more of a damper than a bread (maybe I've done something wrong here, let me know if you get a different result).....
I'll definitely be making this bread again!! It's just perfect served with a steaming hot casserole in winter (which is how my little family enjoyed it the other night)... I tried to toast it the next day for breaky but wasn't too happy with the result... I prefer it still warm from the oven lathered in real butter....YUMMY!!!!
I'd love to hear about any of the yummy bread recipes that you may have hiding in your favourite cooking book.... I'm dying to give this recipe a go over here... It looks sooo delicious!!!
On the farm front, we gathered up the old girls on Sunday so we could mark their babies... For those non-farming bloggers out there I won't go into too much detail but this is the process where the lambs are ear marked and taged, castrated, and have their tails docked (tail docking helps to prevent fly strike)... While the little princess was in the shearing shed 'helping out' she stumbled across a container of used oil that DH left laying around at just the right height for little girls to reach..... WHAT A MESS!!!!
Even though the nights and early mornings have been absolutely freezing compared to usual for this neck of the woods the days have been divine.... With both DH and I finishing work early yesterday, for a change, we loaded up the trailer and headed out with the little princess wood cutting for the afternoon...With all of this extra cool weather we seem to be burning a lot more wood... A trailer load that would normally last 2 weeks is bearly making it through one at the moment.... DH loves burning a bit of hollow wood in amougst the solid stuff, he thinks that it helps to get the fire roaring..... What do you think??? Do you have a wood fire? If so what's your wood preference????

Take Care.... :)

14 comments:

  1. Hi Jodie...that bread looks delicious, I have a recipe for a Coconut Bread it's a Bill Grainger recipe you will find it on my blog under My Kitchen...it's more of a Desert bread.....I miss my wood fire we had one in sydney for 10yrs & then at port macquarie for 9yrs, it's wet & miserable here today & a wood fire would be just lovely.
    Enjoy yours
    maree

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  2. The bread looks yummy, the docking is necessary and those oily hands look like so much fun.... LOL !!!!

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  3. Bread looks great! Lots of soap needed,or should I say degreaser..
    Hollow logs are great but boy they re rough on the chain!
    We ve had nearly spring weather here,back to shirt sleeves,
    Ive spent abit on some nice fleeces to spin (having a carder and being game to wash the fleece has been wonderful) Im looking back on when I had the pick of the shed and lament on lost wool,LOL
    Keep the piccies coming,love seeing the bush there!

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  4. Awwww, the little princess looks soooo cute with those little dirty hands LOL! That will be a fun pic to show her when she gets older. Your bread looks delicious. I've been really anxious to try the no-knead bread too!

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  5. aww I love reading your blog and about all the 'country' things. lamb marking.. things we don't do here on the coast.

    mmm that bread loaf looks so yummy! my mum's owned a bread maker for as long as I can remeber and it's true fresh and still warm is the best way to eat it! When I was about 6 my best friend loved our home made bread so much she asked for a loaf for her birthday (she was only 7). So mum baked her a whole loaf and took it to her party as part of her present and she (with us girl's help) finished off the whole loaf in one sitting!

    we also have a wood fire it's so lovely to just sit there sometimes when it's cold outside and just watch the flames isn't it? :)

    The photo of your little princess made me laugh too what a mess!

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  6. hehehehehe we have had very similar oil episodes occur here too! Just wish I had the camera handy like you did! Look out for the nappy cream when your next one comes along!
    I am posting you another bread recipe. two actually.
    Bec xxx

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  7. I've made that bread too - it's delicious! I really like to do foccacia with Jamie's pizza recipe - rosemary, Maldon salt and olive oil - delish! http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta/pizza_dough

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  8. Hi from across the ditch. your bread looks divine and your "cold weather" not too bad either.

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  9. Hi Jodie: I usually burn mixed hardwood and find that if I save the bark (especially birch bark) that comes off the well seasoned logs that is a really good firestarter. In our area - Eastern Canada - once you start your fire in the fall, it rarely if ever really goes out totally, so it is easy to get it roaring again in the morning. The bread looks yummy and I'd rather you than me in getting that small girl clean again!
    Have a great day.
    Janet

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  10. Hi Jodie
    Just love your princess...that one is priceless! Can't beat the farm for raising children.
    I used to make my own bread when my children were young (a life time ago) but haven't done so since...yours looks great though. I think there is nothing like a good heavy bread....the stuff from some bakeries you could shoot peas through!
    Take care
    Vanessa

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  11. The bread does look delicious. I will have to try it. The only bread I bake is banana bread and it is so yummy too. Always better when it is warm. The lambs are always so cute, my aunt has a farm in Beaufort and we take the kids up from time to time to see them run around.

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  12. Oh my those little black, oily hands made me laugh! Kids just have that homing beacon to find anything messy! I found a half eaten bowl of milky porridge all over one of my good chairs the other morning. I had to laugh!

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  13. Mmmm that loaf of bread looks absolutely delicious (bread is definitely a favourite food of mine, espeically the stodgy, homebaked variety, YUM!

    Re: the fire question... well I was out camping recently and we had a fire going because it was FREEZING (much more and it would have been snowing) and the hollow dead logs definitely helped get the fire going! I think it's because they heated up a bit faster, but stay lit for longer than little branches, and aren't as hard to get started as massive logs.

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  14. I'm with Hubby on the Hollow Logs in with the solid wood they draw better which gets the air circulating more effectively & the Oil Can Incident cracks me up as I have a framed trio of shots taken of my Grandson in the very same predicament in his brand new shoes(*straight in the bin needless to say)which Grammie sent in the mail that week... LOL !

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