Bread dough as art and a living thing.

Pain de Campagne
Country-Style French Bread

Day 5
The second refreshment

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic, unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour
1/2 cup (4 ounces; the size of a tangerine) levain from the previous step
1/2 cup water

The second refreshment is made in much the same way as the first. Use the entire levain, discarding any crust that has developed on top. Combine the 2 types of flour and hold back 1/4 cup for kneading the final dough on the table. The dough should be moist to the touch but firm enough not to stick to easily to the hands.
Let the levain rise, covered in the container, for between 10 and 12 hours. At this stage you will see the levain take on a new life. After about 4 or 5 hours, it will sit up nicely in the container. By the end of about 10 hours it will have almost doubled in bulk, and, eventually, it will stop springing back when touched with a finger. At this stage it is ready to be mixed into a bread dough.


Stay tuned for Day 5 part 2, Tuesday evening!

you'd think she'd know our names by now...

Last night during devotions when Hailie was praying, she said, "Dear Jesus, thank you for daddy and mommy and him and him and her and her and him and her and him and him. In Jesus name, amen."

drugs, books, questions and rain

Being in the transportation department, my employees and I are considered to be in safety sensitive positions, and are therefore in a pool of 500 for random drug and alcohol testing...guess who was one of 29 that got called today? It was my first time for a BAT...I didn't get to walk the line though, since my test came out .000 :) I was there over an hour, but I finished my book while waiting, so it was worth the bother.

Which reminds me to mention that this is the second book I've finished this week; CS Lewis' The Great Divorce and Greg Bahnsen's Theonomy in Christian Ethics.

Guess what it's about to do outside? Remember my post yesterday morning? It was clear out when I made my prediction...I have the power!

( And the answers to your questions... )

I think I'll make some coffee and do some TS preparation....ooooh! Hilary read my post about Hailie pics, and took some incredible photos today. Maybe I'll make some coffee and make userpics...I'll post some of the photos later, because they are too hilarious to not share.

If you do nothing else this afternoon...fly! :)

Thank you, Hilary!!

Icons with the cuteness that is Hailie.

( And from our budding photographer... )

Hailie quotes...

"I'm like Holly! She's little, and I'm little!"

"Holly is a great sister! because she loves us today!"