Fall? Bread.

I love autumn. It’s my favourite time of year. My birthday falls in the fall. I slip and fall less in the fall because it’s not quite as cold as the winter, not as careless as the summer, not as wet as the spring, and.. oh that’s all of the seasons. Right. Anyways, I took that picture in the summer, so I guess it’s kind of unrelated – but I just love what these look like when the wind hits them.

Anyways, for some reason, whenever I think of the Fall, I think of bread. I also think of bread when I think of summer, winter, spring, or giraffes. Bread is delicious. If I love it so much why don’t I just marry it? I’m not sure – probably because I ate all of it before it got the chance to pop the question.

While not a loaf of bread per se, I made this pizza dough the other day, and it was amazing, and doubled as a delicious foccacia: http://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe.lasso?recipe=1116. I used a cup of whole wheat flour and just a bit less flour over all, and about a pack and a half of yeast in mine, so just kind of feel it out. For the record, when I’ve used too much whole wheat before, it hasn’t risen as well – haven’t figured that one out yet! I don’t have a picture because I was too busy eating it… It rose beautifully and was deliciously crusty. I am starting to think that I posted this recipe before. I am pretty sure that I did – and with good reason.

Another fun thing I am doing this fall is a show in Ladysmith, on Vancouver Island on Sept 23rd. If you’re around there, I’d love to see you! It will be the anniversary of a lovely local couple there, as well as my company’s 10th anniversary celebration. Who knew?!

At any rate, while there are no pictures of food on this post on this food blog (oops), here’s a poem about bread, and autumn, and night time, and baths, and pyjamas (how do you SPELL that word?!), and tea, and stuff.

–

I gave up on the sun long ago,

choosing the moon’s soft assurance to bring me down

the sun’s wide eyed smile

nowhere near the beauty of the moon’s soft frown

less bold, quieter, a safer place

to cough these devils from my throat

 

cool, dry comfort in borrowed blankets

wild eyed lovers given way to sleepy faced companions

everyones egos dropped

for shakin heads and shrugged shoulders

tension releasing as dawns day lets go to the nights dusk

and settles in

kettles boiling, steeped herbs steaming the air

sweet perfumed comfort – a deep breath – first in, then out

as frost lands first delicate on blades of grass

 

yeast within tepid water

honey to feed it, time to watch it grow

flour sprinkled somewhat indelicately

learning this dance a bit better with each batch

dough kneading in and out and around

when with cloth settled,

filling its bowl with puffy clouded girth

punched down, breathing a sigh of relief

 

it wakes again to become the sweet heady scent of home

crust flaking, inside a yield

warm and melting the days ration

in to a golden sun of passion

every bit tasted on its way to filling bellies

 

soaking bones and skin in cozy water

flowers and extracts, salts and oils

wringing hair clean and new

dried with fluffy towels enrobed in clean cotton

drifting off to sound and precious sleep.

–

Happy autumn, everyone!

take care,

Allison :)