Making bread, well almost January 11, 2009

 

I have this great bread book called The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown. It has wonderful step by step instructions for making bread at home by hand. Last night Andres and I worked painstakingly to recreate the bread that is illustrated in the book’s first recipe “Tassajara Yeasted Bread”. The process took about 3 hours including the various times the dough was left to rise. We seemed to be going really well, with each of the steps looking somewhat like it’s numbered, illustrated instruction.

I finally got the first loaf ready to go into the oven. I turned the dial on our only oven in the house, our toaster oven, and…click, out went the electricity. I’m sure we blew a fuse, but being 11pm and the first time this had happened we were unable to figure out what we would need to do to get the juice flowing to the house again. The bread, the poor, poor, almost perfect bread. I wrapped up the various pieces of dough, which by this time were in the form of rolls and loaves and put them aside for a time when I would be able to bake it. 

This morning electricity was restored and I put the dough in the oven. I was hoping for something at least somewhat edible so as to not waste 12 cups of flour, milk, oil etc. The rolls turned out small and hard, but edible and I’m sure we will eat the loaves, even though their consistency isn’t what was expected. 

Overall disappointing, but I do vow to try again. I’m kicking myself for not investing in the full sized stove with gas oven. The $80 extra just seemed like so much at that time. Toaster ovens are not ideal for bread in so many ways. 

The machine responsible for the ruined bread and loss of electricity. This is the morning after these rolls should have been baked. They did not get any bigger than this, just a lot harder (see above). Maybe I’ll make breadcrumbs. 

These are two of the loaves the day after they were supposed to be baked. They look very different than they did last night. They would have been much fluffier if they had been properly baked.

The littlest nest January 10, 2009

 

Wandering around our yard yesterday I found the most interesting nest; actually, one of the only nests I have ever found. It is 3 inches by 3 inches and has a beautiful, tiny egg in it. I think the nest is abandoned, but it seems that there were other eggs and this one didn’t make it until the end; which would have been her beginning. The egg is in a blackberry bush. It has such a beautiful, peaceful, tranquil home, exactly what I am looking for.  

 

To give you an idea of the size of the nest, check it out next to a blackberry. 

The yard here is incredible. It is full of fruits and vegetables; avocados, lemons, passion fruit, tree tomatoes, blackberries, corn, cilantro, and figs. Below you can see a picture of a fig from our tree.

I am hoping that when we move to Chile we will have even more fruits and vegetables in our yard.

Stay tuned for the launch of our travel site.

Incredible Views and Tap Water January 7, 2009

The south of Ecuador was just awesome. We spent 3 nights in Cuenca where we got to see the children’s parade on Christmas day. From there we traveled 5 hours south to Loja and then another hour to Vilcabamba. We were able to enjoy an irate drunk man who sat at the back of our bus the last hour, strangely entertaining in a nerve racking way. We checked into a really cool lodge called Rumi Wilco on the outskirts of the small town of Vilcabamba. Our place was super rustic, but very comfortable and fully equipped. It was awesome. We were able to relax for five days where we read, hiked, cooked, drew, painted rocks and sat in the hammock and let the hours pass us by. The days were fully enjoyed and passed so fast despite our pace of life.

 

From there we checked into a hotel called Madre Tierra. This was an unfortunate mistake as the place recently changed ownership and took a complete dive. So now you pay for a 4 star hotel and receive -2 star service. It was bad. I won’t go into it, but if you are interested sent me a note and NEVER go there. 

The one good thing about the place we choose to stay for New Years were the friends that we happen to meet just after our dinner that last night of the year. We were enjoying nice music and good company and began to talk to some other guests from the hotel who were sitting nearby. We ended up not only spending the start of the New Year and the following days at the hotel together, but we have been able to hang out with our new friends since that time as they have been stranded here in Quito due to the heavy travel season and not many flights. It’s worked out ok for us though as we’ve all had such a great time. We’ve cooked together, eaten together, traveled together, hung out for days and just enjoyed each other’s company. They really feel like they could be family.

We are sad to see them go, but are hoping that they can get their university classes that they were supposed to attend yesterday.

We already miss you Shani, Shira and Aviv. 

Fresno in Vilcabamba January 6, 2009

We arrived in the south of Ecuador in a fairly small town named Vilcabamba. It is known as the city of longevity due to the high numbers of people over 90 who live there. Although, a scientific study recently showed that the exceptionally high numbers of seniors was actually due to a culture of individuals exaggerating age for community status. Not sure what the real story is, but we arrived in this southern equatorial town the day after Christmas. We found Rumi Wilco, an ecolodge that provides an awesome rustic cabin called the Pole House next to the river. 

As Andres read the first night I checked out the numerous old books the cabin stored. I found a cool one about snakes. Paging through the book and it’s strange 1960’s text and pictures I came across page 32.   Check out the stamp that was there: 

I had been missing my friends and family from Fresno. How cool to find this in such a remote place. Made me laugh and wish you all were here. 

Love you Fresno.