Week 4 of Online Teaching Wraps Up

Happy Friday. It is almost another weekend, and boy did this week go by fast.

But I survived another week of online teaching and even wrapped up another quarter of the school year. We're all (teachers I am in contact with) still wondering if we'll be home for the rest of year.  But the state epidemiologist  is saying we haven't yet peaked here in New Hampshire, and of course going down the curve is no different than going up the curve for needing social distancing, so my guess is that we won't. Maybe we'll find out next week.

But one thing I have discovered is that bread making works great around an online teaching schedule. You make some dough, go teach while it rises, go back and work it some more, teach again, and by the end of the day you have a loaf ready to bake.

It is getting better every week as I make more.

And warm breead sure tasted good last night when our rain turned to this.

And here was the other afternoon which was just gorgeous.

And even the grass is getting green.

And when I took a late afternoon walk that day I noticed more of these yellow flowers blooming on the side of the road.  I still don't know what they are, but they aren't dandelions. 

Spring is such an exciting season to see everything coming back to life. 

And CJ had asked for my sourdough bread recipe, so here's the one I've been using.

2 cups (16 ounces) ripe sourdough starter

5 cups (21 1/4 ounces) of all purpose flour

3/4 cups (3 ounces) of whole wheat flour

1 3/4 cups (14 ounces)  room temperature water

21/2 tsps. salt

1) Combine starter, flour and water in a bowl, and mix well. Add extra flour or water as needed until the dough is soft and tacky.

2) Cover and let dough rest for 20  minutes. (I have let it sit as long as an hour with no noticeable difference)

3) After the rest, add the salt and knead the dough  is smooth and supple, though still somewhat soft and tacky. Put in  a bowl, cover and let it rise for about an hour. (Like the last rise I let it sit a bit longer)

4) Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.  Gently flatten it a bit, and then fold like  you would fold a business letter. Turn the dough 90 degrees and gently flatten again. Fold again like a business letter. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover and let it rise for an hour.

5) After this rise, turn the bread onto a lightly floured board and divide into 2. Shape into rounds or ovals and let rest for 20 minutes. 

6) AFter the 20 minutes, tighten the shape and place each loaf into the pan or basket with the seam side up. Let rise for 2-2 1/2 hours.

7) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. If you have a baking stone you can also heat that up in the oven. (I haven't used one yet). Also take an old pan you don't need for anything else, put water in it, and place that on the lower oven rack and let the water heat in the oven also. 

8) The recipe says to take the bread out of its mold/pan and bake it on a cookie sheet. I have done that also also left it in the loaf pan.  I have baked it in the pan and also on a cookie sheet. 

Bake for 30-45 minutes until it baked and sounds hollow when you knock on it with her hand. 

That's it's for me today. Have a great start to your weekend.