Update

Planting garlic:

With the pocket of my hoody full of garlic bulbs I felt transported to a mystical world. Perhaps this is because, unlike tiny seeds, they are more substantial in size.   The weight of the bulbs transforming them into little magical beings.  I as guardian bestowed with the task of creating a safe little cavern in which each can sleep through the cold winds of winter.  Only as the sun travels higher in the sky and warms the soil will the transformation awaken in them.  Pushing out into the light among the first sprouts of spring to invigorate, thaw, and awaken my own enthusiasm for the world.  

Joanna Newsom:

Last night I drove up to athens to see Joanna Newsom at the 40 Watt club.  I realize now that I can’t remember ever having seen someone play the harp live before.  Her hands moving along that instrument with all its ornate archaic beauty.  Pulling and plucking the strings with such precision as she wove the songs.  The size of the instrument fitting in a bizarre way with the tiny woman in a bright pink dress decorated with folds of cloth like scallop shells across her chest.  Every part strange and ornate.  Her voice like no others escaping out of her tiny frame strong and wild through strange facial expressions.  Eyes gazing off into infinite distance.  Her lyrics only proceed to pull you deeper into the bizarre and magical world that her presence creates.  Gypsies traveling a road of infinite imagination.  Textures become emotions and words become a map.  

The Leonid meteor showers:

After the show I drove home.  It was around 2 am when I got back to my house.  Zoe and I put on our coats and headed out side.  I pulled a chair onto the porch facing the darkest part of the sky.    Laid a blanket down in front of the chair and wrapped zoe up in it.  Then I sat down and wrapped myself up in blankets.  With zoe at my feet, listening to the night, I looked skyward.  I couldn’t escape the light pollution of the city, but I did catch a glimpse of a a dozen or so meteors.  Mostly very faint, but one was a long very bright trail of light.  I sat outside for over an hour.  Eventually sleepiness took over and I headed in for bed.   

Ok Georgia

Ok Georgia you've just revealed to me some of your hidden beauty and simultaneously reveal my own blinders.  Perhaps it's because I was so accustom to the wildly overt grandeur of the southwestern landscape that captures your heart unfolding like an epic painting in front of you on the most mundane of errand to the supermarket.  Everyday engulfing you and not once letting you forget that you are very tiny in the scheme of things.  Or perhaps it was the fact that I grew up along the northeastern shores of the Atlantic. Even in winter it would beckon me down to it's edge to look out on the vast pallet of grey blues.  Endless expansive emptiness as far as the eye could see.  In these moments I felt more alive.  Here in Atlanta I have found small moments like this.  Often in my garden.  A microcosm.  I would get lost in the pedals of an Iris in full bloom or the intricate folds of a rose.  I've often felt trapped here.  The deciduous trees heavy with kudzu looming overhead, the horizon full with buildings and people everywhere.  I gave up.  I thought that there couldn't possibly be anything here or within a short drive that could compare to the sensation of those aforementioned places.  It turns out I wasn't trying hard enough.

     When I found a little wild wren that had gotten into the house.  Injured it had been hiding behind a pile of books all night.  I place the small bird into a box and drove to a rehabilitation center.  By the time I had reached the center the bird had died.  I was upset and drove home to bury the bird in the yard.  As I was leaving I noticed the signs for trails.  So today I decided to try and explore the trails.  I put zoe in the car and we somehow found our way back to that same dirt parking lot.  I really didn't know what to expect.  I guess I was expecting some dirt trails in a forest.  That would have been nice, but would not have stirred my heart the way this has.  As we came around the first grouping of trees there was this expanse of granite.  Smooth, rolling, worn the way large slabs are along the ocean.  With pits full of water like tidal pools.  I was so surprised and intrigued.  As we kept walking the landscape was climbing higher.  All of the sudden we were on this bare rock above the trees.  From that vantage I could see the forest unfolding for miles.  It felt so good to stretch my eyes to the horizon.  I have been blind to the hidden beauty in my own backyard.

Sourdough Bread Day 4 and 5

     At this point the sourdough had doubled.  Then in the bowl of my kitchenaid I put 1 and 1/4 cups bread flour.  With the bread hook attachment I set the speed on 2.  I slowly added 2/3 cup of bottled water.  Just bringing the dough together.  I ended up having a little bit of water left in the measuring cup.  I kneaded the dough for 3 min at this speed.  Then removed the dough ball from the mixer and set it aside to rest for 20 min.  

     I had to do this six times because of my initial decision to use as much of the starter as possible.  I figured the more bread the better.  I can always freeze some.  Next time though I might just take her advice and throw some of the starter out as I go.  If it were not for my Kitchen Aid I would be very tired at this point.  I never knew it was possible to love an inanimate object so much.  

     After 20 min rest.  I returned the dough ball to the mixer.  Then I pulled the sourdough starter out of the jar.  Removing 2/3 cup and tossing the extra.  Then I tore the sourdough into equal pieces and added it to the bowl of the mixer.  On a low speed I kneaded the dough for 2 min.  At this point you add 1 teaspoon of salt.  Then continue to knead the dough for another min.  The dough was very smooth and elastic.  Removing it from the mixer I placed it into an oiled container.  

     As you can see from this picture I had six batches of dough.  So the above instruction were repeated six times.  The tuperware containers would be the best, but I only had two available so I used some regular bowls.  At this stage the dough must rise for an hour or so.

     After an hour I removed the dough from the container and place it onto a floured board.  Pushing the dough out I did what Rose Levy Beranbaum calls a business letter turn two times.  When I first started using this book for what ever reason this concept or her description would not form in my mind.  So for those of you who need pictures like I do I am including a step by step of the business letter turn. 

     After doing that I actually placed the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper.  She suggests placing back into an oiled container, but I didn't have anymore containers and the ones that I had just used were very sticky with some of the dough that had clung to the sides.  So to save time I just used a sheet of parchment and covered all the dough with a kitchen towel.  After one hour I did exactly the same thing again.  Two business letter turns later I returned the dough to the parchment.  Covered it again for another hour.  After this hour I then carefully took the dough and shaped it into a round loaf.  Trying not to deflate it at all.  She suggests placing the dough into a rising basket,  which I guess is a basket with a floured piece of cloth inside of it.  I didn't have anything like this so I just decided to place the formed loaves onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.  I then covered the loaves with a towel and let them rise again for another couple of hours.  

     She asks you to preheat the oven to 350 for an hour before baking.  She also wants you to use a stone baking sheet and preheat the stone.  I don't have one of those although I really wish I did.  So I just used a metal baking sheet.  I did not preheat the baking sheet.  I had already let the loaves rise on the parchment lined baking sheet so I just place the sheet in the oven on the lowest rack.  I did however place a small metal pan in the bottom of the oven before preheating.  So when I put the loaves in the oven I took a 1/2 cup of ice and threw it onto the metal pan and shut the oven door very quickly.  This creates steam in the oven and helps to create a nice crispy crust. 

The end result.  Very very tasty bread.  It had all the subtle flavor that sourdough bread should.  Warm out of the oven.  Crispy, sweet, tangy, and some what addictive!  Added bonus my house smells amazing right now.  Cool fall air coming in from the open windows met with the warm fresh baked bread smell.  A fresh cup of coffee.  This is a joyful morning!  An ode to fall and the shifting of seasons.