Spring is in the air and I can’t open a window! That is definitely in the whine category but it is like this: Our windows are good and airtight and less than 10 years old, but they do require a bit of “ommppphh” to move them and the required “ommppphh” is the sort of “ommppphh” that I should not do.

I did bake bread today.

No Knead Bread (from Chef Michael Smith) –
http://www.chefmichaelsmith.ca/en/home/default.aspx

For 1 normal loaf
2 cups of all-purpose or bread flour
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of any multi-grain mix
1/4 teaspoon of dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
1 5/8 cups of warm water

1. Whisk the dry ingredients together thoroughly. Add the water and stir until a wet dough forms. Continue stirring until the dough incorporates all the loose flour in the bowl, about 60 seconds in total.
2. Cover the bowl with a towel and rest in a warm place for 12 to 18 hours. It will double in size, bubble and long gluten strands will form.
3. Knock the dough down, oil it slightly and form it into a baking pan.
4. Rest the dough a second time. In 2 to 3 hours it will rise again and double in size once more.
5. Bake 45 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven.


I love to bake bread but the kneading, or even lugging the Cusinart out, is not in my cards for a few more weeks at least. But the above can be made by anyone with no kneading and the bread is very tasty (plus I can score a point for contributing to domestic operations without having to clean out cat litter boxes yet) .

Today my wife took me on a field trip to Galilee Centre in Arnprior, where we stuck our collective noses into an Icon Painting Class and then sat in on a Mass by Father Jack, where I was able to participate in a more formal thanks to my healers and caregivers. It is a bit strange as a non Roman Catholic and a person weak in spirit and understanding to do so, but it very much feels right to do so.

I really like Father Jack. He complicates religion, he makes your stretch for faith, he questions more than answers. If you want God as a mouthful of mushy Pablum stay away from him. But if you think that any understanding of a Power Greater Than Yourself as being at least as amazing as a mid summer thunder storm then Jack is your man. Wear spiked metal shoes and bring a long , tall, conductive pole.