~At Home with Doreen Frost~: Punch Needle Club

Showing posts with label Punch Needle Club. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

~Rain showers & cool breezes~

Goode afternoon. As I sit here at my writing desk a cool and gusty breeze is rushing in through the open windows. The humidity has packed it's bags and headed on out of town!!!! Thank HEAVENS!!! The a.c has been turned off, the fans, though still running are on their lowest setting and the sounds of bird song and the rustle of leaves, as the tree's dance to and fro, can once again be enjoyed. I love it.

A quick little journal entry today as I've still much to do before my workday is finished.

Harriet (my sourdough starter) was given a pre-bake day float test and I'm afraid she did not pass. :( According to Amy Duska, a tablespoon of the sourdough starter should float in a glass of room temperature water when it is ready to bake with. I did this with Harriet this morning after her daily discard and feed ...and, well, she sunk right to the bottom of the glass!! SO, we shall continue to feed and discard until she is ready :).

Much to do in the studio before I leave on Friday (orders, club kits, etc.) Speaking of club kits...The photo above is this months kit ~ Mrs. Sarah Ann Sturbridge. I just LOVe her!! I do hope my club members enjoy creating one for themselves as well.

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together" ~George Eliot

Take care, doreen

Monday, July 29, 2019

~As July Comes To A Close~

Goode morning everyone and thank you for dropping by my new At Home With Doreen Frost journal. The sun is warm, here in Vermont this morning as I write this entry. The air is muggy and a gusty breeze is blowing unable, it would seem, to choose a direction. Oliver & I are just in from our morning routine of weed, water and walk. A bit of weeding, a bit of watering, a bit of walking. Each morning the enjoyable time is much the same; a chat with the herbs & flowers, a goode morning to our newly blossomed and sprouted vegetables, a grand HELLO to the tiny little pie pumpkins, of which I am so excited about. Oh the joys of pumpkin pie made from my own, homegrown, pumpkins!!! Oh, the delights of cooking and baking with my beautiful herbs, the enjoyment of my carefully tended and harvested Eucalyptus & Sweet Annie hanging from pegs and hooks inside our home. Life is goode.

Next on my list;

Discard and feed my sourdough starter (recipe and link in the column on the right). I will share more details in tomorrows journal entry.
Tidy house.
Studio work; two orders to print, pack and pop in the mailbox. Finish packaging and shipping this months club kits. Pack and ship wholesale shop pattern order.
Dinner on the deck this evening; Tossed green salad made with fresh garden lettuce and herbs and farm stand tomatoes. Grilled chicken and Crusty bread.
Feed starter this evening before bed.

Until tomorrow ~ wishing you a joy-filled day, doreen

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

~Me~ Just in case you wanted to put a face with the name :)

I am a mom (of two amazing kids and two precious fur kids), A MIMI (to the most precious little man on the planet) a wife (to a very sweet man who LOVES to play practical jokes..often to my dismay)...Avid Baker, cook, gardener, Artist, rug hooker, punch needler, wool dyer and dabbler (in many different mediums). I also write short stories when they pop into my head :). I believe kindness matters, life is short and in minding one's business. Winter is my FAVORITE season, Christmas is magical and the world has so much more to offer, if we let it :).

~Sourdough Resources~ June 2020

I am SO happy to hear you are interested in joining me on this wonderful Sourdough Bread Baking Journey. There are lots of great websites, blogs, YouTube channels, tutorials and COOKBOOKS out there covering the subject of sourdough. It has grown tremendously in popularity, over the last few months, due to the quarantine which I think is wonderful. I have found this sourdough journey of mine very distracting in such a wonderful way. I am a home body anyway ~ so I guess you might say I had a leg up when it came to staying home and staying safe ~ however, it still had its challenges, changes, hardships and things to figure out. Sourdough gave me a busy and comforting distraction to focus on and truly ~ it helped me settle into all of this. I credit my wool applique to part of this as well and am quite sure it was an equal combination of the two. Baking & stitching = peace of mind in my opinion.

You will want to sift through all the info out there and find what clicks for you however, I will share with you the things (websites, blogs, Instagram and cookbooks) that worked for me and helped to finally, make this sourdough journey work for me. **Of note..I will be posting my journey with tips, tricks and notes on exactly what I did soon** In the meantime, these links are where I started. :)

I believe my success was a combination of all of the links below however, if I had to choose a starting place, to suggest to someone just getting into the "business of sourdough," it would be the wonderful cookbook I've listed below.

Here's my list;

COOKBOOK; Artisan Bread Made Simple by Emilie Raff ~ oh this book is gorgeous. The hard copies are currently sold out right now which is completely understandable, considering how amazing it is (OH THE RECIPES and gorgeous photo's in this book). HOWEVER, you can purchase the digital version, which is what I did, via iBook's, Kindle, etc. :). You can also find Emilie's recipes on her website; The Clever Carrot.https://www.theclevercarrot.com/cookbooks/

ONLINE CLASS ~ Gartar Stitch Farm. This is what got me started on this journey, once again, so it was a huge help in my success. Kat's very laid back so her approach is great. She has an online class that you can pay for or you can follow her instagram and follow along with her free "recipe stories"
https://garturstitchfarmshop.com/collections/shop-1-online-courses/products/everyday-sourghdough-the-online-course-level-one

https://www.instagram.com/katgoldin/?hl=en

SOURDOUGH UNIVERSITY ~ This is tremendously helpful in many ways. Mike is funny and down to earth and breaks things down in a real and manageable way. He also gives fantastic sample schedules for making a loaf of bread which was a huge plus and SO HELFUL. He is also great in helping to figure out all of the math and science behind sourdough. There is a rhythm and timing to this life being called sourdough starter and though it is not difficult, like anything else, there are do's and don'ts and keys to success. https://sourdough-u.teachable.com/

KING ARTHUR FLOUR ~ Sourdough Baking, The Complete Guide. KAF is #1 is all things flour and their starter recipes, schedule and recipes are fantastic!!! You can't go wrong! https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/guides/sourdough

WEBSITES; These are my two of my favorites;

AMY DUSKA OF Little Spoon Farm ~ Another wonderful starter tutorial, schedule and recipes. Amy would be my 2nd choice for a beginner :).https://littlespoonfarm.com/

MOLLY SHEPARD of withmolly.com. Another person that breaks things down simply with an easy to follow tutorial and great recipes..including discard recipes which I find essential as I do not care to throw away my discard after feeding my starter. :). https://withmolly.com/tag/bread-basics/

FOOD52 ~ Like KAF, you can not go wrong with Food52!!! I've not gone through their sourdough tutorial but it comes with a great recommendation from Dianne Yvon :). https://withmolly.com/tag/bread-basics/

I believe that is everything. I hope you'll join in on this fun journey ~ you will LOVE it. Keep me posted and share your journey.

Hugs, Doreen

My Favorite Gingerbread Cookies

**For the holidays, I like to roll these out and cut them with festive cookie cutters. For everyday use ;)..I simply roll the dough into balls, then roll the balls in sugar and bake**
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Shortening or Butter (I use butter)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Molasses
1/4 cup fresh brewed coffee (can use water if you do not have any coffee on hand)
2 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
3/4 tsp. Salt
3/4 tsp. Ginger
1/8 tsp. Allspice

Preheat oven to 375* Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the coffee and molasses and mix until well combined. Mix the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine. Stir into wet ingredients. **DO NOT OVER- MIX them once you've added the flour** as it will make the cookies tough. Now..you can simply roll the dough into small balls, roll them in sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet (I use a baking stone) and bake for 10-12 minutes. OR... Roll out mixture onto a floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with desired cookie cutter, place on ungreased cookie sheet (or baking stone) and bake for 10-12 minutes until a light golden color (be careful not to over bake). Immediately remove from oven onto a cooling rack. Cool completely. ~Orange Maple Glaze~ In a small bowl stir together 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 TBL softened butter, 1 TBL orange juice & 1 TBL maple syrup. Drizzle cooled cookies with glaze and enjoy..YUM