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We will not be posting from this blog again.
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Hi folks. Remember me? I know, I know. It has been a bit of time. But, I’ve been here all along….. just apparently really “messy” over the holidays, as things keep falling off my plate….including this blog. 😦
Today, I’m sharing my pet with you. Sourdough starter. This pet (or rather these million pets, a combination of beneficial yeasts and bacteria, if you are feeling technical) is easy to keep. You just have to remember to feed. I call mine Sally and she lives in my refrigerator in a half-gallon blue Ball jar.
Here is Sally in all her yeasty glory.
I have literally shared Sally by giving some of the starter to guests who had an intense interest in sourdough bread. But since attempting to send the real thing to you via electronic signal might get a little messy …. especially for my computer … I hope you’ll be ok with sharing Sally via blog.
I’m somewhat of a sourdough snob in that I believe that sourdough bread should be comprised entirely of my own cultured yeast. Most recipes you find these days call for part sourdough starter and part commercial yeast.
Soon, in this Bygone Basics blog, you will get a recipe for Sourdough bread. I am giving you time to get your own pet in the refrigerator….ready to make bread.
Ever hear the old adage, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat”? There is more than one way to start your own culture. Some include potatoes, some take much longer…
Mix 2 c. warm water (not over 115 degrees F) with a packet of active dry yeast. Then stir in 1 1/2 c. flour. Cover loosely and leave in a warm (not hot) place overnight. It should be a frothy mass, but will not yet have the pungent, alcohol-ly, smell and depth of quality and flavor (some things are best taking the slow-road for). At this point treat just as I describe above (as if it was the fifth day). It is usable as sourdough starter and will develop the same depth of flavor and taste over time as it ferments in the refrigerator. Don’t forget to feed her!
I just fed Sally. I leave her out of the ‘fridge for an hour to ensure feeding. I feel better knowing my pet is alive and the little bubbles tell me she’s doing just fine.
Regardless of how you start Sally, she will live indefinitely as long as you don’t starve her. Her flavor will evolve based on the flours you use and even the wild yeasts that are present in your environment. She will become, one of a kind, YOURS over time.
You can now make bread with her. It is time to store her in the refrigerator. She’ll live in there for 7 to 10 days. Then, if you haven’t used some and refreshed her, you need to feed Sally. Just take out a cup of the starter to make room for the “feed” and add in a 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 c. water (sound familiar?) Every 2 or 3 feedings, I add a tablespoon of honey; and swap the white flour for whole wheat or…another flour every several feedings….but that’s just what I choose to do.
Just don’t forget to feed her every week or so…
“I would say to housewives, be not daunted by one failure, nor by twenty. Resolve that you will have good bread, and never cease striving after this result till you have effected it. If persons without brains can accomplish this, why cannot you?” –’Housekeeping In Old Virginia’ Marion Cabell Tyree ed. (1878)
Soon…..a nice recipe for bread using Sally and no commercial yeast.
To really add depth of learning and wonderful memories, you can come the our heritage kitchen here at Bygone Basics to learn heirloom bread-making hands-on…and/or many other heritage home arts… http://www.bygonebasics.com. You can even stay here at our immersion bed and breakfast! www.amandasbequest.com
A guest blog – by Daughter, Jessica.
My daughter, Jessica, is one of my kitchenaire assistants. I have been known to lovingly and in great fun, call her a scullery maid. Jessica is in the U.S. Army and a tough gal who speaks Russian. No scullery maid she. She is however, a study in conflicts.
She is a pretty, little pixie looking girl – but tough as nails. She is traveled, even living in Kiev in the past – yet enjoys the small town peace and character. She has a degree from MSU in Russian and possibly seeks deployment into scary areas of the world – yet happily dons a “Fetching Apron” and becomes a scullery maid for a day. She reads War and Peace – but is currently helping me write a humorous cookbook.
So….that was a long intro….but I wanted you to know the author. She writes about Amanda (and Kyle) who have gone from learning from me at Bygone Basics to create a phenomenal project. At our first session, I actually asked Amanda if she knew how to pare an apple. (she did) My comments are italicized in red (my favorite color):
Bygone Basics was sad to lose Amanda Goudreau, but we all must grow up. Amanda was a celebrated Kitchenaire
Assistant in the days when Bygone Basics was still young and living in the suburbs of Whitehall, MI. (Amanda was my “scullery maid” for a long time and helped me build Bygone Basics into what it is and dreamt the dream of Amanda’s Bequest B&B with me as well. She seems to think I named it after her!! I am forever grateful for her friendship and assistance). After marrying Kyle, who had just arrived back home from Iraq, (his absence nearly drove Amanda….and those of us around her …CRAZY. We are so glad he’s back and safe.) the couple moved to Kalamazoo to attend the university there. To Mom, (Valerie) it must have seemed like one of her chicks was leaving the nest, but I knew that it meant the ideals Bygone Basics was founded on was simply spreading to a new city. And how right I was! ( I really tried hard to talk them into giving up the silly notion of attending University 😉 and having them buy a farmhouse just down the street….)
Kyle and Amanda Goudreau are excited to announce the opening of their community garden. There is a hideous, vacant half-lot directly next to their new house, and a condemned house on the other side of that. Why not make good use of it? If all goes well in their endeavors for the next couple of months, they will be able to use that plot of land to start a community garden….and hopefully they will even be able to remove the mostly-dead tree that stands smack-dab in the center of it. Currently, they are still in the planning stages, but the more community support they gain from the start, the easier it will go for them. Luckily, they already managed to find a supporter willing to fund 100% of their project, and to also help out with any legal matters that may need attending to. (I’m not going to lie, I fought a tear when I watched them find out they weren’t fighting an uphill battle alone.) We were/are SO PROUD of them.
Amanda.
Local people will be able to secure a plot for a very small fee, which has yet to be decided, and will be provided with every opportunity to be successful in gardening their plot from the very beginning. They are also hoping to get some chickens for the garden, so that local children will be able to hunt for eggs, and will have a better understanding of where their food comes from, in all it’s forms. In addition to the garden, itself, Amanda and Kyle will be hosting several workshops, about one per week. They will, of course, be free to attend, and will cover such topics as: drying out seeds and saving them for the following year, vermiculture – composting with worms, animal husbandry – mainly with raising and breeding chickens and rabbits, and plenty of generic ones about gardening that will be immediately applicable on the plot. (Understand that this isn’t just a pretty pipe dream. These two Goodreaus are outstanding and intelligent young people – Amanda is in the Chemistry field and Kyle is studying Medicine. I have zero doubt they will make numerous impacts on the world as they proceed through life.)
Any surplus crops from the community garden will be donated to local food pantries. The over-arching mission for this project is to promote community cohesiveness, and to improve the surrounding area through inspiration.
Jessica wrote this blog a few weeks ago….(yes, Jessica, I know, I know….it took too long for me to post! But at least now I can add this good news follow-up…) A follow-up note from Amanda tells us:
“Well guys, we did it. We’ve been given the green light for the Den Adel Community Garden Project. There are a few last legal details to iron out but we should be breaking ground before the end of the month. That gives us just enough time to get the tree removed, lay the beds, and get a fence up before the ground freezes.”
There may have been occasional silliness occurring in the Bygone Basics kitchen (with Valerie Hanson, Mary Lynn Rabe, and Amanda (Putnam) Goodreau
If you are in or about the Kalamazoo, Michigan (USA) area and wish to be a part of this very neat project, let me know and I will put you in touch with Amanda.
Do you have a desire to learn some of these progressive AND retro (talk about conflicting words) skills (gardening, canning, baking, raising chickens/ducks, soap making, butter churning, composting…etc)? Come visit Bygone Basics at Amanda’s Bequest! Heck….you can even stay here while you learn (true immersion).
CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD HARVEST WISHES TO AMANDA AND KYLE.
Gather ingredients and tools. It is such a disappointing feeling to get part-way through a recipe only to discover you don’t have everything you need.
I think I may have a serious addiction. Pumpkins. They really do capture my attention as they are the source of the pure goodness known as: Pumpkin Pie.Welcome to the second part of the pumkin series.
I love pumpkin pie. I could eat it morning, noon, and evening meals….and the occassional 1 a.m. kitchen raid. In fact, when we married, I didn’t want a fluffy, fancy wedding cake. I wanted pie. 🙂 The bridal cake was a pumkin pie, in case you wondered.
“Pumpkin pie, if rightly made, is a thing of beauty and a joy – while it lasts…..Pies that cut a little less firm than a pine board, and those that run round your plate are alike to be avoided. Two inches deep is better than the thin plasters one sometimes sees, that look for all he world like pumpkin flap-jacks. The expressive phrase, ‘too thin’, must have come from these lean parodies on pumpkin pie. With pastry light, tender, and not too rich, and a generous filling of smooth spiced sweetness – a little ‘trembly’ as to consistency, and delicately brown on top – a perfect pumpkin pie, eaten before the life has gone out of it, is one of the real additions made by American cookery to the good things of the world. For the first pumpkin pie of the season, flanked by a liberal cut of creamy cheeses, we prefer to sit down, as the French gourmand said about his turkey: ‘with just two of us; myself and the turkey.'” –‘The House Mother’
So this blog post is a follow-up to the last one. If you remember, we baked pumpkins and saw how easy it is to get to the point of making a pie. (I’m sure you rushed right out and cooked up pumpkins yourself!)
Pretty nice ingredients. Our free range hen eggs, milk from a local dairy, pumpkin from our garden…mmmmmmm
As I type this, I probably should have done a post on the pastry, but oh well, forward motion.
Pumpkin pie is pretty easy too.
Find your recipe. I hope you’ll consider sharing your favorite one with me in the comments! I use one that has become my favorite. It requires simple ingredients….(no milk product from a can). Now, gather your ingredients.
Two basic rules that will really help you enjoy your time in the kitchen is to prepare (premeasure, make sure you have everything) and clean as you go.
One pie pastry. Line the tin, forming the pastry to the pan. Flute the top.
Line your tin with the pie pastry. In these photos, I’m making a smaller pie that will be gifted to a friend so it is in tin that she doesn’t have to get back to me.
Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. This such a great recipe for requiring very few tools and bowls.
Now is time for the wet ingredients. But first…Did you preheat that oven? I frequently forget so thought you might like a reminder too. A couple of comments on how I do things. You might do them differently, but am sharing them anyway. I bake my pies on a foil lined cookie sheet to catch drippings. I also bake my pies in the lower part of the oven to direct the heat right onto the bottom pastry so it bakes before getting too soggy.
Add the wet ingredients. With Pumpkin Pie, the usual suspects will be milk, pumpkin, eggs, extract. But your recipe may differ. It is really important to get the eggs thoroughly whisked into the filling. If they are not incorporated well, you will have bits of egg white visible in your baked pie.
I whisk the eggs and pumkin in first. Taking care to get a good blend.
Place your pastry lined pie tin on the cookie sheet now if you are going that route.
Now, pour into the pastry lined tin and pop into the oven! Be sure to double check your recipe for baking time.
I line my crust with foil to prevent overbrowning and to help support the pastry until it bakes some. It is so sad to discover your crust gave way and the filling poured out!
VOILA!
The recipe:
3/4 cup Brown Sugar 1/2 tsp Salt
1 TBSP Flour 3/4 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cloves 1 1/2 cups mashed cooked Pumpkin
3 Eggs 1 1/2 cups whole Milk
1 pie tin lined with pastry
Bake at 400 F for 50 minutes
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE? Does it have a family history?
Oh…the joys of Spring and Summer are upon us….no? It’s Autumn, you say? Really? Where’d my Summer go?!!
You might also feel that way…just a bit?
These little 3 to 4 pound beauties make the best pies!
This post really brings me into reality. I just realized it was time to bake the pumpkins. (still shaking my head that it is autumn)
“Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourd-ish squash has its own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin…. We anxiously anticipate it every year.” ~Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, October 2010
I usually prefer to bake up actual pie pumpkins and my favorite one is the little “Winter Luxury” pie pumpkin, as smaller tends to mean sweeter. I get the seeds from the Jung Seed company in Wisconsin. But since my unofficial motto is (according to my husband) “Can it before it rots” I pretty much put-by food regardless of pedigree. I rather enjoy carving a huge jack-o-lantern and baking a pie from the face parts I cut out. It brings a chuckle to any kid in your home to be eating “face pie” on Halloween. I also will use hearty sweeter pumpkin like squashes like Red Warty Thing and hubbard as pumpkin mash as they are pretty much interchangeable in recipes.
Pumpkin is the one thing I don’t can. Instead I prefer to freeze it. The pure density of squash leaves too much question about whether the pressure canning process brought the center of the jar up to the right temperature and for long enough. Additionally, I prefer to take it out as ready to go mash. NEVER, can mashed pumpkin as it is too dense for safe home processing.
So….this morning, my house was 59 degrees. By George, I am NOT lighting the furnaces in September. That makes it a perfect day to bake pumpkins. Here is what I do:
Just halve the pumpkins and place on a cookie sheet to bake.
Preheat oven to 325 (you can do 350 for a faster bake, but don’t go higher). You want to slow simmer the flesh, not bake it crispy. Take a long carving knife and slice the pumpkin in half. Scoop the seedy center our with a spoon and …in my case at least….feed that yummy center to the chickens and ducks! Lay the halved pumpkin face down on foil covered (for clean-up ease only, foil bottom not necessary) cookie sheets and cover with foil.
Boy…that took all of 5-10 minutes. Really…this isn’t that hard or time consuming. I might lose my day-job if people realized how easy some of these very heirloom activities actually are….
Bake for 1 to 3 hours, depending on how much you have in your oven and how big the pieces are. Smaller equals faster.
You know the pumpkin is done when a fork slides easily in all the way to the shell as if warm butter.
You know they are done when you can sink a dinner fork like into warm butter until it reaches the shell. Take out and let cool a few minutes. You probably can read half of “Fifty Shades of Grey” during this effortless time and people will thing you slaved to make them a pumpkin pie from scratch. Your secret. 🙂
After baking let the pumpkins cool just enough to handle. It is easier to work with when warm.
Next is up to you. At this point the pumpkin is ready to use in recipes. I don’t like the texture of the occasional strings in the flesh. So here is what I do:
With a soup spoon I scoop the now soft and warm flesh into my old food mill. Press it with a few turns of my hand and it deposits into the bowl underneath. Any strings are strained out by this extra step and it is also not time consuming. Warmer is better.
If not using it right away, stir and premeasure into freezer containers or bags, writing the amount,date, and of course, contents on a label. 100% pumpkin.
SO EASY. AND, it is your family food quality control … You know what is in that pumpkin puree and what isn’t. You may not have read that aforementioned book, but I get a lot done when baking pumpkin and I adjust the oven temp lower if I have to run on an errand that is longer than an hour or so.
This food mill may be old, but it sure does a quick job of sending pumpkin through.
It is very easy to scoop out a baked pumpkin.
Mine almost entirely goes into pumpkin pie. Which should be another post perhaps. Equally as easy, but oh so tasty! My favorite pie. I actually had it be my “wedding cake” when I married. I love it that much.
Do you bake your own pumpkin? What is your favorite variety for it?
Ready for the freezer!
I have been “off-line” lately due in part to the immanent birth of our daughter’s baby. (And that cooking & canning classes have really booked me up, along with our bed & breakfast. I am pleased to announce the birth of twin granddaughters!! Photo to follow soon.
I have a question to pose readers this week.
I make a living (or rather am working hard at building a living) from my recipes both food and home art. Creation of good to eat victuals and healthy home products from heritage and/or natural ingredients are a passion for me. It is so thrilling when someone asks for a recipe or how to make a specific soap. What is the saying?
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” (FYI: Charles Caleb Colton originated this in early 1800’s)
Some of my kitchen tools.
But truthfully, it is conflicting. When it is a recipe printed in a cookbook I have, originated in recent times, it seems right to share it. The requester could likely look it up (on the ‘net usually) and by sharing, I enjoy helping that person. Is it right to share out of a cookbook? Is it a disservice to the author of the cookbook?
Here’s were it gets personal. When it is a recipe I have invested a lot of time and resources (failed attempts, come to mind 😉 …my apologies to husband John who has to eat the …umm…less than stellar results). It is a unique recipe and customers are willing to purchase the product I have developed, how should I respond? Is it constructive or detrimental?
After all, I love to be helpful and see the many wonderful people in my days happy.
So I query you. Out of curiosity. Out of a desire to learn and grow.
What is the appropriate response? Many of you are incredible chefs and cookbook authors. I’m just … me.
Your comments are most welcome!!
Abraham Maslow said that we could define therapy as a search for value.
Toasting the walnuts, tossed with cinamon sugar.
By the time the cookies were going on the cookie sheets and being baked, I was thinking more deeply about the recent events. My brother had chosen an unusal passage for his wife’s funeral service. It began “Rejoice Always. …In all circumstances, give thanks,…” (Thes 5:16-24). He had explained that when he was at his lowest point, when it was obvious Mary was slipping away, he heard this passage at Church. It angered him at first, and then, it served to bring him out of a very angry and dark place. It caused him to look around and find that there was still good in his life. His children especially. His family was brought close by this.What did I have to rejoice in?
What gift has Mary’s passing given me?
The example set by my sister, Suzanne. Not too long ago, she lost her own husband to cancer at 41 with a young son at home. It was a long and hard path to (and from) his passing. She endured a lot that I can’t even imagine. Yet, there she was, the first one to understand that our brother was alone several states away and needed help. Placing her job in jeapardy, she made two extended trips to help him. I was blessed to go with her. Even though it caused her to relive her own deep pain, she cared for our sister-in-law with such depth and consideration. She talked with our brother on a level that only those two could understand. She cried at night and was a pillar in the day. She made sure our young nieces had what they needed.
I loved my sister before. But now, I rejoice in the heart and soul of such an amazing woman. Her selfless example of care will live on in me and in my priorities in life.
Add the oats, toasted walnuts and chocolate chips
Such was Suzanne’s lesson for me.
I feel better. The cookies are baked. I’ve had a bit of an epiphany. I even went on to get my french baquette order done and restarted the Sourdough starter.
…..Heck, I might even feel like doing my blog. Hope I don’t get to philisophical….. 😉
By the way…Did I ever tell you that I have started to “Tweet”? Find me at @ApronsRUs. (Yes, it is an odd twitter name, sometimes, I just can’t help myself…my humor is a bit …quirky.)
“And now have a look at you! You’re so pretty … wearing a fetching apron, of course, and your hair’s neat and beautiful, held back by a ribbon”
The title of this post comes from a line (the rest of it is above) in one of my favorite interests…older cook books.
Aprons are fun and VERY handy. I am not sure why they fell out of use. This is one of mine.
This one in particular is special. It was my first foray into old cookbook land. I bought this First edition 1955 “Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book for the Hostess & Host of tomorrow” about 15 years ago at a yard sale. My daughter Jessica was getting interested in the kitchen and I wanted to encourage it. At the time she really didn’t see the charm in the old book, like I did.
She was 10 and the cookbook was “soooo….yesterday.” 🙂
If you can get past the chuckles you’ll have at the quaint language and gender assumptions, older cook books are fabulous peeks into our history. They are windows into how family life was conducted in homes during period in which the cook book was printed. By reading them, we are peeping-toms of a sort. Through the ingredients, we learn what were common staples in the pantry. In the description of tools to use, we know how much time was spent in the kitchen, or how tricky cooking over a wood burner or early gas or electric range may have been. Even the portion sizes change over the eras.
I love my old cook books. I have a lot of them, including one from the White House circa 1901, filled with hand written notes and old news clippings. (and yes, I do wear an apron. We have many of them so our guests can put one on too when they are experiencing our heritage kitchen.) What makes me sad is that the recipes don’t please the average U.S citizen’s palate today. The cook books of today use far more sugar and shortenings in recipes. The scone of today certainly isn’t the scone of a 100 years ago. I wonder why we have an obesity epidemic in the U.S…?
1 lb. gr beef
1 tsp salt
1 egg
12 soda crackers
6 wooden skewers
3 slices bacon
The Drumstick recipe. Easy for a child...and adult.
Set oven to 450. Put beef, salt and egg in a bowl. Mix. Divide into 6 parts.
Shape the balls of meat around skewers to look like drumsticks. Roll in crumbs; place on greased baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.
Cut bacon slices into 4 pieces. Put on meat. Bake 15 minutes more.
This recipe is what a little girl of 9 – 12 in age could be expected to do in 1955.
If you have older cookbooks that are at least 40 years old, have a look at them with an eye toward looking at the home and family life. It is a unique way to look at cook books and may just inspire you to make a dish you’ve never tried before. Share your own cookbook discoveries and new old recipe attempts in the comments area below or by emailing ICan@bygonebasics.com.
A side note of news for you….I’ve completely redesigned our Bygone Basics website. Please, have a look at it and tell me what you think. It is easier to navigate, cleaner, and uses photos to show people what an experience is like here at Bygone Basics.
Check it out: www.bygonebasics.com
Parting quote from the old cookbook:
You’re about to turn the page to a heap of fun. So…hands washed? Have on a pretty apron, and is your hair looking mighty smooth? O.K., Kitchen, here we come.
And a parting photo…how fun!:
Boys and girls can have fun in the kitchen...even in 1955. Though, it would seem from the photo that boys do take a bit of a back seat ...
“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness” ~Jane Austen
Heirloom Depression era pie recipes...in person.
Since opening our licensed kitchen, creating wonderful heirloom foods, I have made a LOT of pies. I was efficient before, but boy, let me tell you, when running a “made-to-order” bakery that gives each customer the freshest and most delicious product possible, you learn to be even better. Yes, there is always room in our heads to learn more. My customers often comment on how hard making pies is for them, or time consuming…or both. I’m very glad I can make pies for them. 🙂 I love it and feel blessed to be able to do “work” that is a passion.
Not only do I sell baked goods, but I have also spent years teaching people heritage cooking and baking.
Practice does help, but so does the simple fact…knowing it isn’t that hard.
The intent was to take a photo of a nice pie. My family had other ideas...when I came back to take the shot...there were a few holes in my plan. I suppose that is a compliment.
If I could inspire novice pie makers, I would somehow help them to see that they are “creating” and engaging with the natural world by transforming flour and butter into pastry to hold something as beautiful as an apple or peach. They are “knowing” their food. They are serving their creation to others for enjoyment and nurturing. Pretty cool.
Recently, to dispell myths about how difficult pie making can be, I made two videos and put them on YouTube. Mind you, they are unusual to say the least.
My point was…HAVE FUN IN YOUR KITCHEN! While showing some basic techniques.
Click the Links below to open the videos on YouTube:
Click the logo to go to the Bygone Basics website
Click the logo to go to the Amanda's Bequest Bed & Breakfast website
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