Fruit/Nut Bars, Filming 5-Minute Bread

Hey! I thought I’d go back to making my own entry in the Tuesday Twister separate. (Come on, Wardeh, make up your mind!) For now anyway…

My kids are still out of town. Still just Jeff and I.

I made some failed cheese. No picture, understandably. I had raw Jersey milk in the freezer. Pulled it out. It took all day to thaw — so it was nighttime by the time I cultured it. I figured I’d try culturing it overnight, instead of for one hour. I’m not sure that’s why it failed — could have been that it was separated after thawing. I proceeded anyway. Definitely didn’t set with the rennet like it should have. So I tried making soft cheese out of it. Ick. It tasted so bad. So, off to the compost it went!

Christina came over last Thursday and we filmed variations of her sourdough 5-minute bread all day. Quite a long day, but so fun. We always have a great time. And what was really cool was it was just us. I haven’t hung out with a girlfriend like that forever. We made free form loaves, pita bread, cinnamon rolls (which Jeff said were the best ever), and English muffins out of the same easy dough.

There was one loaf’s worth of dough left — so a couple days later I made a loaf for sandwiches and such. Turned out really good. Done inside and soft and chewy. I was pleased!

These are some sourdough dried fruit and nut bars with which I’m experimenting. I’m trying to get them like some bars we used to get at Trader Joe’s ages ago. The first batch was too sour after souring for 24 hours. Made a fresh batch this morning — much better. I could have added sweetener, but we’re trying to cut back. The cinnamon (heavy on it) lends a nice sweetness. You’ll be seeing these again, when I get them right. They definitely need more “stuff.”

So that’s it for me! What’s been twisting in your kitchen over the last week? Head over to today’s Tuesday Twister post to link your post up!

A couple of newsy things:

• Sourdough eCourse — first lesson is up! Log in, check it out, and get going on making your very own starter!
• Probiotics: Every Meal — Lunches is tomorrow. What are your ideas for getting probiotics into lunch?
• Simple Lives Thursday begins this Thursday. Link up your simple living posts — gardening, natural cleaning, home cooking, home sewing, animal care, saving a buck…
• Donielle’s eCourse on natural conception and fertility support began yesterday. She is so cute, knowledgeable and inspiring in the first video. The first week’s topic is detoxification, something I definitely need a kick in the pants to do. She’s still taking students until the end of the week. Sign up now and don’t miss out on this chance to support your body’s health and fertility.
• I love, love, love the name and topic of Katie Kimball’s new ebook — Kitchen Stewardship in the Big Woods: Family Camping Handbook. I will be reviewing it soon, but in the meantime, check it out. Like Healthy Snacks To Go, this book is a bargain at $4.95. Less than $5 — can’t be beat!

I shared this post with Two for Tuesdays, which is hosted by 6 blogs now – wow!