Thursday, January 25

Farm Photo 1/25/07: It's Just Not the Same Without Her


Lucky Buddy Bear in the Haybarn

Yep, I'm still sick. It's only a cold (I think), but apparently it really, really likes me. Thanks so much for all of your supportive and kind comments and e-mail messages. I'd probably be all better by now if I'd been slurping up lots of warm and tasty homemade soup, but (even after extolling its virtues just the other day) I haven't had a single drop. How embarrassing. I did manage to churn out a couple beautiful loaves of what I now fondly refer to as Braindead Bread--because even if you're completely spaced out, you'll still end up with a delicious finished product.

This time around, though, my dough was very, very wet, and instead of adding more flour to it, I simply left it as it was (making sure I put tons of flour on the tea towels and wooden peel to keep it from sticking). The resulting loaves had the largest air holes yet, bearing an uncanny resemblance to photos of Italian breads I've seen. I found them quite nice, but be warned: certain people may question why on earth anyone would want gigantic holes in their bread--especially when you don't know they're there until you've sliced into it. (Note: these people will probably be yammering on about this after having polished off half a warm loaf.)

I baked three gorgeous, golden loaves of Farmhouse White, too (in my favorite new pans), but if I mention that bread one more time without offering up a recipe, the e-mails are gonna get ugly. Oops. I told you I was braindead. Update: The recipe is here!

Oh, and one more thing. I'm currently averaging about a two-week reply time to e-mail messages, so if you're waiting to hear from me and haven't, that's why. Thanks very much for your patience.

A year of Farm Photos ago:
1/25/06: Dusk From A Different View
1/24/06: Slash
1/23/06: Watered Down Handmade Fence
1/22/06: Not Stuck, Just Resting (I still love this photo.)
And WDB #18: Lucky Buddy Bear Up Close & Personal

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16 comments:

  1. Susan, love the pic !

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  2. Nice picture!

    Get better!!!

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  3. aww!!! feel better better better!!!

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  4. Sometimes you have to be braindead to create wonderful things!! :)
    I Hope you feel better soon, and meanwhile: just follow your hands...
    :) :)

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  5. Have you got a shot of the holey bread to share with us?

    Your pup has a gorgeous shiny coat. Is he on a raw food diet?

    Feel better soon!

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  6. Hooray! Delighted that you are back in the world- so sorry that cold desires you so intensely. Was going to email you some baby goat pics but since you are 'whelmed right now will hold off a bit. Suffice to say - Patchy Cat now has a caprine namesake. She is a beaut. Please continue to take care - we feel much like Bear looks - missing YOU!

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  7. It sounds like you might be starting to feel a little bit better, anyway. Don't over-exert yourself!

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  8. My deepest empathic thoughts - I also suffer from a nasty cold with all that follows. And now I´m here, I want to thank you for your contribute to the very special, global blogworld :-)
    Love...

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  9. I'm sorry you're still feeling a bit pooped. But I am not at all surprised by your email reply wait time. This is what it's like being a rural superstar. You had better get used to it!

    Hee hee!

    Love Cherry

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  10. I'm sorry you're feeling rotten.
    It would indeed seem that wet dough=lovely giant radish sized holes in a chewy bread- for those of us who love that sort of thing-nothing better.
    My most recent variant on brain dead bread has been to add some malted wheat flakes, which I love. I have finally got down my technique for using my reed banneton with it.
    I turn the risen loaf out onto a circle of parchment first, which makes it easy to drop the loaf into the middle of the hot iron pot (as opposed to up one side or down the other-which I was prone to do with the direct dump.)
    I just leave the parchment there- doesn't seem to have any effect at all, and I get the nice banneton bee-hivey imprint on the bread.
    Get well soon.

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  11. get well soon chickadee :)
    puggie kisses x0x

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  12. Hope you're feeling better soon, FarmGirl. Colds this year seem to be worse than in past years; most of my students are sniffling and sneezing like crazy, and have flu-like achiness to boot.

    Take it easy and get well soon. We [heart] FarmGirl Fare!

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  13. Aww, what a great picture!
    Braindead bread sounds like the perfect recipe for a novice breadmaker like me. Thanks.
    Get well soon!
    -Signed another Susan
    Food "Blogga"

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  14. Susan have missed your posts. Sure hope that you are feeling better!

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  15. Feel better soon, nothing like fresh bread to wake your senses back up.

    *sending you virtual chicken soup*

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  16. The photos and contents are so natural. That's why i like your blog.

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December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!

Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.

I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!