Oat Bread Days

  

              In our house, we rotate through seasonal foods. First the fruits and veggies, eating whatever is ripe and fresh every day until it is out of season (or every other day, when it is zucchini). But we also have seasonal baked goods, like pies and quick breads. It started years ago, when there were too many yummy things in December and Mark suggested that we just shift some of them to other seasons. Now, we spread various lentil soups out over months of winter and early spring and quick breads each have their season. We just finished the zucchini bread season, and I broke out the oat bread recipe last week, before we went camping. It is perfect because we are often purchasing fresh oatmeal and wheat berries in late September, so it reflects the harvest season.

Oat Bread

1.5 c oatmeal

1.25 c buttermilk

6T oil

.5 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1.25 c fresh ground whole wheat flour

1 t BP

.5 t salt

1t BS

1 cup small dried fruit—currants, blueberries, raisins….

Soak the oats in the buttermilk for a couple of hours. Mix in wet ingredients, then the dry. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake in 400 degree oven until done.

Equinox Rains

                The rains came down last night, silencing crickets and drunks around midnight. I could hear the drops pounding on the greenhouse roof and then running off into the flower beds below, all night long. The gardens drank deeply. This morning, we woke up to grey skies, damp grass, soft rain. The house was chilly. While Mark showered, I chopped potatoes to roast in the oven and started a fire in the fireplace. After closing the windows and the doors to both bedrooms (we have an oddly old New England house for the West Coast), I pulled the chairs close. Mark made tea and set up the folding table. Each cat claimed a chair.  I found an ancient hand-knit heavy sweater from the era when my sleeves were way too wide but left my feet bare to soak in the heat from the fire.  We ate toast and canned peaches and potatoes by the fire, listening to NPR.

 Outside, the butternut squashes I harvested on Thursday and resting on a garden bench. I will bring them in today, out of the rain. I need to pick tomatoes, too.  The figs are taking up the moisture and turning into fig bombs; hopefully we picked enough low down and the cedar waxwings ate enough high up to minimize the mess. The chickens are sulking on their perch—they went from sun and a run to rain and a confined space last week and they are not happy about it. The grass is greening up.  Fall is here.

Oat Bread: The Fall Equinox Quick Bread

1.5 c oats

1.25 c buttermilk

6 T oil

.5 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1.25 c fresh ground whole wheat flour

1t BP and BS

.5 t salt

1 c currants or dried blueberries

Soak the oats and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients and mix well. Mix dry together, then add to wet. Bake in 400 degree oven until done. If you have a pan that tends to stick, line it with bking parchment first.

October Work List

October is the end of the gardening season, the time to put the garden to bed for the winter and to snug in the house as well. It is also time to sit in the sun, on the top of a hill, looking down on mountain lakes, preparing the soul for the long dark time ahead as well.

·       Leaf collection and mulch.

·       Compost veg plants in the hoops; compost flower beds in place.

·       Clean the dehydrator screens and put them away.

·       Close down greywater systems, collect hoses.

·       Place bulk orders for Fill Your Pantry in early November.

·       Clean out the larder before filling with squashes, pumpkins, onions, and apples.

·       Carve pumpkins.

·       Take one more hike in the mountains.

·       Wash the windows and hang the storm windows.

·       Rake leaves.

·       Parent teacher conferences….

·       Clean the fireplace so that we can have fires inside.

·       Find the orange glass candleholders for the mantle.

 Oat Bread

1.5 c oats

1.25 c buttermilk

Soak for an hour or so.

6T oil

2 eggs

.5 c brown sugar

Add and mix

1 c whole wheat flour

.25 c bran

1t BP

.5 t salt

1 t BS

Mix and add

Pour into a bread pan and bake in 350 oven until done. Eat with apple butter.