CRAFTY THINGS, ART & HOME BAKING

This site is has been a gradual work in progress, due to my wife's accident and limitations. It is mostly about our Miniature American Shepherd pups, as is most of life in general, in our home. But, from time to time, we manage to do things that don't involve dogs.

 

This part all began when my wife got this notion to do sourdough, some time ago, and every husband who has ever had such a wife, knows it doesn't end there. Next they want goats, and chickens, and rabbits... There is no end. And, granted, with so much change in her life, she needs things to do that are manageable with chronic pain... Things that don't matter if they don't get done for a month, or a year, because pain prevents them from happening. So, when it comes to big things, like raising animals -- which, is predominantly my job (and the help of our offspring) for aforementioned reasons -- we have an arrangement that we must be in agreement. (There is a particular cat story dating back 20 some years ago that required such a rule. Maybe one day I will tell it).

 

Goats? Just. No.

Chickens? Not a chance.

 

Thus, having weighed my options (and considered the alternative of her boredom), I blessed her when she decided to learn the art of sourdough bread-making. She named the two jars of starter -- too much of which sees the inside of the garbage can because no one can eat that much bread and dogs can't have that many treats -- old-fashioned name, since the starter is over 70 years old.

 

Matilda. And Fred. Yes, that's who sits on our counter every day, loafing around, fed and watered regularly, contributing only the occasional sourdough. 

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Not long after starting this delightful hobby -- in fact, immediately after the first attempt -- my wife announced that the spasms and pain were simply too much. Yet, too stubborn to give up, she insisted on making sourdough. Fred & Matilda must not die or go to an early grave. (She and I have long disagreed on whether she is stubborn or not. We can easily agree that one marriage partner is stubborn and the other determined. We simply cannot agree on which of us is what. And, since neither of us are willing to budge a smidge on our view, we delight ourselves in the level of agreement we are able to attain. And, thus, we stay madly in love). Enough about that... My point being, she continued to try, and I would watch her lean back in agony, whimpering in pain throughout the process.

 

That is when I announced that I had wanted for some time already to learn the art of bread-making. This was the truth, but a risky thing to say, given how her love for bread-making began in the first place. She was about 7.5 months pregnant with our first, at that restless can't-get-comfortable stage that keeps a husband up all night for her tossing and turning. One such morning, in the wee hours of the morning -- if one can call those hours morning -- while I was still blissfully asleep, there was a rattling and clanging and banging in the kitchen. Afraid to investigate, I waited until my alarm went off quite some time later. There, in the kitchen, rising on our countertop, was the first batch of what would be hundreds of loaves of bread over the years. How she saw past that 7.5 month belly, I can't even imagine! But the way she rattled and pounded in that state, and later admitted she was taking her frustrations out on the dough as a punching bag.

 

Well, taking that from her, all these years later... Let's just say it took a lot of courage. She needed a punching bag far more desperately now than then. Thankfully, at half-way to one hundred, and not pregnant, she laughed. Yes, she laughed. Then she mentioned shock. And finally agreed to teach me how to make bread. 

 

So, crafty things, various arts, and home baking it is.

 

I, the Chief Cook, Bottle & Floor Washer (CCBFW) -- this also because my wife is no longer able to handle these tasks -- manage the  aftermath of the whirlwind. And that feels like a very important role. 

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The crafty things, that's all her, except the heavy(ish) lifting and the aforementioned aftermath. That's my role, along with mixing the sourdough. Mind you, I was only promoted to Sourdough Bread Maker, because a bit over a year ago, much to her surprise (and likely dismay) I told her I would very much like to learn to make bread. First she let me watch. Then she let me mix and knead under close supervision, and by 'close supervision' I mean taking over at times. Now, a year later -- at long last -- we have graduated to her peeking over my shoulder to ensure I follow the rules. Because any sourdough that doesn't turn out gets toasted in strips and becomes dog treats. She's not keen on the dogs eating better than us. 

 

My wife makes things -- like crafts and messes, and paints things, as she is able. Said items collect in our home because she has no avenue for moving them out. (Hence this page. I need my space back! I am hoping some kind and curious soul will beg to take these off my hands. Did I mention I am highly organized by nature, and hate clutter?) Baking, that part we do together, except not her homemade bread. That's hers. Because bread is one of her favourite things to bake. New York Cheesecake, fancy-schmantzy other cheesecakes (including the tiny sort that amounts to barely a mouthful), cookies, parfait, creme brûlée, brownies -- you name it -- she makes all the delicious things. But it is bread she loves to make most. Throw in some oatmeal, or quinoa, maybe some multi-grain and poppy seeds -- or all of them in one loaf -- and it (almost) always turns out.

 

When tragedy struck, robbing her of the ability to make bread by hand, she started making it with a mixer. And it is just as delicious. So, whether it is a Christmas wreath, a painting, a loaf of bread (or 10), or some other baked goods, we look for glimmers and highlights in the day to day. And, one day, she dreams of recovering enough to teach others these simple joys, and pass on all the little tricks and secrets she has learned over the years. She was always a doer, busy about helping people, going places, studying and travel, travel, travel -- for work and friendships -- and, with that taken from her, she does these things as she is able, to find purpose and focus. Not daily. Not weekly. But as I am available to help. she does more, we will update pics and items as we make them. All pictures are from our own kitchen. 

 

That all expounded upon, if it's a puppy you need, to help you eat all that food, or lick up crumbs, visit our Current Litters page to see what little furry friends we have available at the moment. And, if you are especially lucky and come to pick up your puppy on a day we are baking, you will be sent home with some goodies.