It's been less than a month--
--and here I am updating my journal again. Maybe someday I'll post every week or even more often than that! Maybe I should find some better ambitions. Well, I do have an ambition to finish the 1797 dress that I had planned to wear to the event last weekend. I suppose I should be grateful it is still in pieces on the sewing box, as the event was terribly hot and I sweated through everything. The event took place at a state park in Massachusetts called Borderlands (the original owners called it that because it is on the border between the towns of Sharon and N. Easton) and I would recommend others to see it if they can. Flush toilets! Running water! Nice trails for hiking or walking (not that I could try them, since I stayed at camp to talk to the visitors, but I saw lots of people using them)! The piece de resistance was the mansion and the park staff gave the reenactors a guided tour on Sunday morning, which was a lot of fun for an old-house buff like me. It was a pity that we didn't have any World War I groups at the reenactment, as the house was built in 1910 and they would have fit in nicely.
I am pleased to announce that I have several little pumpkins growing. I had had doubts that any would grow, since I have rather active rodents in the area and I think they like female pumpkin blossoms. The baby pumpkins are all on the vines that grow out away from the garden proper and into the human-frequented areas, which may be what saved them. I dug two potato plants this week and had baby potatoes for dinner each night; two plants remain. I should remember to cut some chives to toss on the new potatoes when I dig the next plant.
I invented a new bread this week. I know "invented" is too strong a word and no doubt other people have been cooking the stuff up for centuries, but I figured out how without aid of cookbook, friend, or Internet and so I feel a bit inventive about it. I am calling my variation "chanani" because it is like a chappatti except leavened with yeast instead of unleavened, and like a naan except baked on a griddle instead of in an oven. In case anyone wants to try it (in case I want to remember how to make it a few months from now), I'm adding the recipe below.
Original recipe for single chappatti: 1/4 c. atta flour, 1/4 teas. salt, 1/8 c. water. Mix flour and salt, stir in water until it clumps together and leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead briefly on a floured surface, cover and leave for 15-20 minutes. Divide into two small lumps and roll out as thin as you can. (If you want paratha, at this point brush the surface of the dough with melted ghee, fold in half and roll out again, brush with more ghee, fold and roll out again, brush, fold and roll a third time.) Heat a griddle (nonstick or lightly greased) until a drop of water dances and evaporates. Put a chappatti on the griddle and flip it after about 20 seconds. Let it bake for a minute or so, until bubbles form, then flip it again. There should be freckles on the cooked side and the chappatti should start to puff up. Encourgage this by pressing gently on the bubbles to spread them (I use my tongs, although a bunched-up paper towel is also recommended). Once it is puffy and browned on both sides, remove it to a towel while cooking the other chappatti. (If the griddle is big enough, you can roll the dough into one large chappatti, but my griddle only fits half at a time.)
For the same amount of chanani, add 1/4 teas. rapid rise yeast to the flour and salt and use warm water to get the yeast going. Knead for 2-3 minutes at least and let sit for at least half an hour in a warm place. I didn't see enough rising to notice when I went to roll it out. I only patted it out because I was too lazy to find the rolling pin, but I did stretch it out like pizza dough, as far as I could. I let it rest again while I finished making dinner and heated the griddle, and baked it the same way as chappattis. The puffing was more marked than with chappattis and I came out with something like a whole-wheat pita bread. Also, the dough didn't stretch as far as chappatti dough (some of that could have been fingers versus rolling pin) and I didn't have to divide the dough to fit it on the griddle.
I am pleased to announce that I have several little pumpkins growing. I had had doubts that any would grow, since I have rather active rodents in the area and I think they like female pumpkin blossoms. The baby pumpkins are all on the vines that grow out away from the garden proper and into the human-frequented areas, which may be what saved them. I dug two potato plants this week and had baby potatoes for dinner each night; two plants remain. I should remember to cut some chives to toss on the new potatoes when I dig the next plant.
I invented a new bread this week. I know "invented" is too strong a word and no doubt other people have been cooking the stuff up for centuries, but I figured out how without aid of cookbook, friend, or Internet and so I feel a bit inventive about it. I am calling my variation "chanani" because it is like a chappatti except leavened with yeast instead of unleavened, and like a naan except baked on a griddle instead of in an oven. In case anyone wants to try it (in case I want to remember how to make it a few months from now), I'm adding the recipe below.
Original recipe for single chappatti: 1/4 c. atta flour, 1/4 teas. salt, 1/8 c. water. Mix flour and salt, stir in water until it clumps together and leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead briefly on a floured surface, cover and leave for 15-20 minutes. Divide into two small lumps and roll out as thin as you can. (If you want paratha, at this point brush the surface of the dough with melted ghee, fold in half and roll out again, brush with more ghee, fold and roll out again, brush, fold and roll a third time.) Heat a griddle (nonstick or lightly greased) until a drop of water dances and evaporates. Put a chappatti on the griddle and flip it after about 20 seconds. Let it bake for a minute or so, until bubbles form, then flip it again. There should be freckles on the cooked side and the chappatti should start to puff up. Encourgage this by pressing gently on the bubbles to spread them (I use my tongs, although a bunched-up paper towel is also recommended). Once it is puffy and browned on both sides, remove it to a towel while cooking the other chappatti. (If the griddle is big enough, you can roll the dough into one large chappatti, but my griddle only fits half at a time.)
For the same amount of chanani, add 1/4 teas. rapid rise yeast to the flour and salt and use warm water to get the yeast going. Knead for 2-3 minutes at least and let sit for at least half an hour in a warm place. I didn't see enough rising to notice when I went to roll it out. I only patted it out because I was too lazy to find the rolling pin, but I did stretch it out like pizza dough, as far as I could. I let it rest again while I finished making dinner and heated the griddle, and baked it the same way as chappattis. The puffing was more marked than with chappattis and I came out with something like a whole-wheat pita bread. Also, the dough didn't stretch as far as chappatti dough (some of that could have been fingers versus rolling pin) and I didn't have to divide the dough to fit it on the griddle.