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  reading time: 10 min





What is better than freshly baked, crusty, artisan sourdough bread?

HOMEMADE freshly baked, crusty, artisan sourdough bread
😜

And so the loaf affair continues ...

In 2020, our exciting experiment of the year was homebrewed kombucha (still love it till this day, although we usually take a break during the winter months), and in 2021 it was the year of foraging and preserving food – or rather the first year of actually implementing it.


For 2022 it was my goal to add something new to our kitchen habits, and that is making our own sourdough bread using our own sourdough starter from scratch!

So today I want to show you how I
make my easy artisan sourdough bread that is low in gluten, nutritious, and most important of all, delicious! With a lovely crust and an airy inside ("crumb"), yum!


The main character of this loaf story: a potent sourdough starter.

Beautiful rustic crust.


The Bread Baking Schedule:

OPTION 1 – afternoon bread (how I usually do it)

DAY 1 (Friday):

NIGHT: An hour before going to bed, at around 10 p.m., I begin my dough by building the levain. I cover the bowl with a wet tea towel and a plate on top, and set it aside at warm room temperature to do its magic overnight. Then I head off to bed.

DAY 2 (Saturday):

MORNING: As soon as I get up, say 9 a.m., 'cause it's the weekend, I take my bubbly levain and mix it levain with the remaining ingredients to make the main dough. I let it hydrate for 30 minutes, then start stretching-and-folding my dough every 30 minutes for a total of 4 times, so 2 hours.

MID-MORNING: At around 11:30 a.m. my dough is ready to bulk ferment for another hour or two, covered once again with the wet cloth (and plate).

NOON: At around 1 p.m. I shape the bulk fermented dough into a loaf. I place the loaf in a proofing basket, and set aside to proof for another hour. In the meantime, I preheat the oven for 1 hour.

I then bake the bread, and at about 3 p.m. it's ready!


OPTION 2 – bread for breakfast

DAY 1 (Saturday):

11 a.m. Build levain. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 4 hours.
3 p.m. Mix main dough. Cover with wet cloth.
3:30 p.m. Stretch-and-fold dough every 30 minutes, 4 times in total.
5:30 p.m. Bulk ferment for 3 hours, covered with wet cloth.
8:30 p.m. Shape loaf. Place in proofing basket at room temperature, covered with wet cloth.
9 p.m. Place basket in the refrigerator to proof overnight. (Sleep well, little loaf!)

DAY 2 (Sunday):

9 a.m. Take loaf out of the fridge. Preheat oven for 1 hour.
10 a.m. Bake bread.
11 a.m. Enjoy oven-fresh bread for a late breakfast or brunch. (If you want to eat breakfast earlier, you'll just need to get up earlier 😉)


OPTION 3 – bread for dinner

DAY 1 (Monday):

6 p.m. Build levain. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 4 hours.
10 p.m. Mix main dough. Cover with wet cloth.
10:15 p.m. Stretch-and-fold dough every 15 minutes, 4 times in total.
11 p.m. Bulk ferment in the refrigerator overnight, covered with wet cloth and a plate on top. (Sweet dreams, sourdough!)

DAY 2 (Tuesday):

7 a.m. Shape loaf. Put proofing basket in the refrigerator, covered with wet cloth and plate.
5 p.m. Take proofing basket out of the fridge, uncover and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to warm up. Preheat oven for 1 hour.
6 p.m. Bake bread.
7 p.m. Enjoy oven-warm bread for dinner!



All of these different stages of baking and terms like starter, discard, levain, bulk fermentation, banneton, lame, dutch oven, crumb etc. can seem overwhelming. But don't worry about getting everything "right" the first time. Trust the process! Once you get the hang of it, it's really not that complicated, and most of the time is inactive waiting, with only a couple of minutes of actual work 😊
 

 reading time: 4 min





  (...) there they rested for a while and had such a breakfast as they could, chiefly cram and water. (If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys).

The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

 

Today is "Hobbit Day", and in honour of our fur-footed friends we are going to make cram cookies.

Apparently, cram is as tasty as it sounds – which is not very tasty! It is said to be of biscuit-like substance, nutritious (since they were used as sustenance on long journeys) and, well, pretty much flavourless. Kind of like hardtrack which is a biscuit made of flour, water and sometimes salt, that lasts for months, is hard and dry, and commonly used for long sea voyages or as military ration.

It doesn't sound very enjoyable, to say the least. But of course, Hobbits are fond of anything edible – and in The Hobbit the dwarves and Bilbo eat cram to sustain them on their journey to the Lonely Mountain. (I've always identified as a Hobbit – or a halfling: small, squarish, with dark blonde curly hair and a preference for a simple life, sitting in an armchair, gardening, reading and eating, that sort of thing, lol.)

Bilbo and the dwarves are ready to munch on some cram after a long unexpected journey. (source)


As we learn in The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gimli tastes Lembas for the very first time, cram is similar to the Elvish "waybread", though much less pleasant and not quite as filling.

But don't fret: My take on these "press cakes" is way more tasty than their flavourless and uninspiring original!
They are more like firm crumbly cookies that are very snack-friendly and great for hiking or long roadtrips.

Speaking of hiking, if you ever need a cheery hiking song, definitely check out the Hobbit Drinking Medley by Peter Hollens feat. Hank Green if you don't know it already – it's one of my favourite nerdy collabs of all time!


But back to the biscuits.

I based my cram recipe on the Italian almond biscuits biscotti, which – as I mentioned in my Beorn's honey cakes last year – are possibly where Tolkien got his idea for the various twice-baked hardtracks. The Latin (panis) biscoctus literally means "(bread) twice-baked". I combined that with the English Hobnob oat cookies, which are actually called "Hobbits" here in Germany.

And there you have it! My very own cram cookies. I'm sure Bilbo would take a bite at once.

By the way, how do you like my One Ring? It's actually my Dad's wedding ring, haha!

 reading time: 4 min




Until recently I always associated homesteading with owning a large piece of land, growing your own food, owning farm animals like chickens, goats, cows etc., and basically being self-sufficient. However, when looking at the term "homestead", none of that is actually needed in order to call yourself a homesteader, or to participate in a homesteading lifestyle. According to Merriam-Webster, it means no more than "the home and adjoining land occupied by a family", and, according to Wikipedia, "is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craft work for household use or sale."

In fact, it does not even matter whether you own a "home and adjoining land". What matters is your lifestyle.

So here are some – smaller and bigger – ways to homestead that don't depend on having a farm or a garden or even a permanent home! Some of the listed ideas do require a backyard or a balcony, but most of them don't.

I am definitely not saying that you need to do everything on this list in order to be "homesteading". Do what you can and what fits your personality, your preferences, and your lifestyle.

And who knows, perhaps you will – like me – find that you are already a homesteader after all!

If you want to know some of the ways that I myself practice homesteading, check out my blog post on
Why Homesteading? + Homesteading on a Small Scale.



KITCHEN

  • Eat seasonal foods
  • Cook from scratch
  • Buy locally (e. g. from local farmers)
  • Preserve foods (dry, can, pickle, freeze etc.)
  • Grow kitchen herbs indoor (e. g. mint, basil, parsley)
  • Make fermented foods
  • Make your own jams and chutneys
  • Make apple butter and apple sauce
  • Bake your own (sourdough) bread
  • Make kombucha at home
  • Make yogurt at home
  • Stock up your pantry for the winter months
  • Make your own broth from kitchen scraps
  • Compost your food scraps and garden waste
  • Make your own Bokashi fertilizer using food scraps (including cooked ones such as rice, pasta sauce etc!)
  • Start vermicomposting (great for kitchens or for balconies – can double as seating area)

GARDEN *

  • Grow kitchen herbs or medicinal herbs (e. g. mint, rosemary, dill, garlic mustard, garden sorrel, chamomile, calendula)
  • Grow your own vegetables (e. g. tomatoes, radishes, potatoes, beans, squash)
  • Learn to identify edible wild herbs in your garden (e. g. dandelion, nettle, ground elder, creeping charlie, plantain) 
  • Grow strawberries
  • Plant berry bushes and/or fruit trees (e. g. raspberries, blackberries, apple tree, peach tree)
  • Grow pollinator plants (e. g. calendula, lavender, cosmos, nasturtium, echinacea, chamomile)
  • Set up a compost for your food scraps and garden waste
  • Set up a worm bin for vermicomposting (also great for balconies or indoors)
  • Keep backyard chickens
  • Use a rainwater tank to water plants (this can also be done on a smaller scale on a balcony!)
  • Install a water pump
  • Install solar panels (again, also possible for a balcony)
  • Put up an insect hotel
  • Set up a watering station for bees and other insects
  • Set up a bird bath
  • Save seeds for future crops


    * If you don't have a garden, almost all of these things can be applied to a balcony or a roof terrace, using raised garden beds.


WARDROBE & BEAUTY

  • Sew your own clothes, pillow cases, lavender bags etc.
  • Mend your own clothes
  • Purchase clothes second hand
  • Choose practical clothes that fit your lifestyle (I prefer natural fabrics such as cotton, wool or linen)
  • Make your own beauty and skincare products (such as lip balm, rose water or herbal hair rinse, which are all great for beginners)
  • Make your own toothpaste
  • Make your own sunscreen


OTHER

  • Focus on a quiet, slow, simple life
  • Do grounding activities (digging in the dirt, picking flowers from the garden, baking bread, cuddling your pets, going for nature walks, reading etc.)
  • Read books on homestead topics (permaculture, fermenting, beekeeping etc.)
  • Keep a homesteading/homemaking schedule
  • Go to a pick-your-own farm
  • Go wildcrafting
  • Propagate your plants (and give away or sell)
  • Make your own pottery
  • Make your own candles
  • Make your own cleaning supplies
  • Make your own laundry detergent
  • Dry your clothes on a line or a drying rack
  • Make a campfire in the summer, and cook over the fire
  • Keep a first-aid kit (with homemade goodies)
  • Purchase plastic-free / unpackaged foods
  • Maintain, repair, install and build household objects
  • Reuse, recycle and repurpose items
  • Collect grey-water from your sink/bathtub/washing machine and re-use to flush the toilet
  • Purchase items second hand
  • Sell decluttered clothes and other items
  • Give away or sell homemade products (e. g. healing salve, hand soap, rose water, jam etc.)
  • Make homemade gifts for birthdays and holidays
  • Invite friends over and host a (homegrown) dinner
  • Volunteer / work on a nearby farm or orchard
  • Partake in community-supported agriculture (CSA) or cropsharing
  • Trade your skills/products for other skills/products (literally skill-sharing!)


What are small or big ways in which you are homesteading? Is there anything else I should add to this list?


♥

Maisy

 reading time: 2 min





I recently spotted a vegan copycat "chunky monkey" ice cream at our local supermarket which I had to take home with me of course, and I also had a few blackened bananas sitting in the fridge, so this chunky monkey banana bread was the only logical next step! 🐒

This recipe is of course based on the popular Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavour, and it's a vegan adaptation of Serene's chunky chocolate chip banana bread over on House of Yumm. It's moist, tender, with an intense banana-chocolate flavour and crunchy walnuts.

You can also substitute the walnuts with pecans or peanuts, but it wouldn't officially be a chunky monkey banana bread then 😉

So if you have any overripe bananas lying around in your kitchen, don't throw them away – save them for this delicious nutty chocolaty banana bread!!

Honestly, this might be the BEST banana bread I've ever made (except for the "best banana bread" of course which is sugar-free and equally amazing)! But see for yourself.


 reading time: 3 min






It's officially pumpkin season here in Germany! Carved pumpkins; pumpkin spice lattes; pumpkin pies; pumpkin soups; and, of course, pumpkin bread – I love them all.

This recipe uses yeast, so you could say it's a German-American hybrid. It's definitely a super yummy recipe, and an easy one to make, too – just a bit of stirring and mixing, pop it in the oven, and, in about half an hour, you'll have a house smelling of sweet autumn spices and a scrumptious pumpkin loaf. 

I've been looking for the "perfect" pumpkin bread for a while now that is both sweet, but not too sweet, soft, but not too moist, and fluffy. During my research I tried a bunch of German vegan recipes, including this sweet pumpkin bread from Gruenartig (which turned out a bit too moist for my liking) and this juicy pumpkin bread from Heavenlynn Healthy (which was a bit too dry for my liking and didn't have any autumnal spices). So what I did, basically, was combine the two recipes into one – and the result was ...

... the perfect vegan pumpkin bread!!!

Soft, sweet, and fluffy. It's slightly moist, but in a cakey way, tender, and wonderfully pumpkin-y!

This pumpkin bread goes great with (vegan) butter, jam,
plum chutney, honey (or honee), homemade apple butter, or just plain. Perfect for a Sunday breakfast in bed!

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THIS IS ME

Well, hello! My name is Maisy (pronounce: macy) and I’m the creative spirit behind this blog. You are welcome to join me on my journey to a more natural, slow-paced & healthier life!

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