Well, when I read back my last post written in early January and think that I thought the world was in crisis then, who’d have thought that in just a short few weeks it would become even worse? I hope all of my readers are taking good care and are able to stay safe and healthy in these strange times.
We are extremely lucky here, we have the garden to get out into and we are surrounded by countryside if we want to take our daily exercise. We have planted a few seeds in the greenhouse – salad leaves, radish, peas and broad beans and have loads more to plant when the weather warms up a bit. We have also had time to prepare the veg patch, which we failed to get round to last year because life was so busy. So, fingers crossed for some future meals from the garden.
Talking about veg patches, my cookery school, Veg Patch Kitchen, came to a standstill on March 20th, the day the girls finished school for the foreseeable future and we made the decision that we are not offering an essential service, so classes booked for the remainder of March, April and May were deferred. I am unsure when we will be able to open again, but as soon as the government advice is that we can return to normal we will be back. For now, I am hoping that maybe over the Easter break, my teenage girls will help me with the technicalities of doing a couple of YouTube video showing the basics of bread making. It has been something that we have been meaning to do for ages, so we might take the opportunity now. At the moment, the girls have a list of homework a mile long, as the teachers try to keep them up to date with the curriculum. Some days are easier than others for that one, but they are doing some work each day and we are focusing on staying sane and happy.
I am doing a weekly bake for local friends and whilst I was lucky to put in a flour order before all the madness well and truly kicked off I know that lots of people are finding it hard to source flour and yeast. I put a few tips on that subject of yeast on the cookery school blog, so if you want ideas for making sure your supply of yeast lasts hop on over for a read. You can also make bread with plain flour if you can’t get your hands on strong bread flour and it may be easier to get hold of more unusual flours such as einkorn, emmer, Kamut and spelt. I wrote about Kamut bread a long time ago on here, but it is a lovely bread and if you have one of the other flours mentioned just add the water until the dough is softly sticky as each of the flours absorb water differently.
It is an unprecedented and weird time, but I hope that you are able to make the best of your situation and that you can fit in some baking therapy. Please take good care of yourselves.
Kath x
You too. We’re lucky to live in a village, so lots of country walking at a Social Distance is possible. You seem as if you’re taking a positive spin on things too. Stay healthy! x
I am definitely trying to stay positive. Sending much love to you and yours Margaret. x
So good to hear from you. And like you I feel very lucky and in a fortunate place compared to many other people across the world. I look forward to seeing your YouTube video showing the basics of bread making if it comes to fruition and i hope it does. I will check out your links esp. as i nearly didn’t get hold of yeast for breadmaking. Please don’t ask me what happened to the sourdough starter either 🙁
I won’t ask then, it’s OK, you can always make a new starter when you are ready. We are very lucky and I hope that you and D and the rest of your family are staying safe, and keeping sane. Much love from here to you. xx
Happy Easter Kath. Strange times they are indeed, but the weather is good and as you say it’s a good time to get some gardening done. We too are in a fortunate position now with a garden that needs a lot of attention and an allotment too. Glad to hear you’re planning on getting the bakery school back up and running as soon as it’s feasible to do so. Take care, stay safe and enjoy your Easter.
The trouble is the more time I spend in the garden the more jobs there seem to be. I have been very good at ignoring them for the last 18 months. Lots of catching up on the poor neglected space to be done. Enjoy the garden and the allotment and I hope you and CT can stay safe and happy. Sending you both love. x