What to do during the covid 19 virus lock down? Why, bake of course!
Will is reknown for his muffin baking, date and oatmeal, fresh fruit with wholemeal are his most popular recipes. Before we got really busy with our tours, all of the baking came off our wooden topped kitchen bench. Now BV Gourmet are our caterers. Their professional catering has lifted our tours to a new level!
During the covid 19 virus I found we were low on bread. I decided to put the skills my mother taught me as a wee lass to the test.
We were packing to leave for our new home in Kaikoura when the government announced that we were to ‘stay home’. So mum’s recipe was somewhere in the back of a 20 foot container. Hmmm.
Google to the rescue! I googled french loaf, as my bread pans were also packed away. The recipe required 2 hours for the dough to rise, then it was modelled into a French loaf shape and given another hour to rise.
I thought this was a recipe that took too long and then remembered that I had no other appointments, so what the heck!
I was pleased that is was 50% wholemeal flour as Will and I try to eat as healthy as possible. To make the crust crunchy I sprayed inside the oven twice with water.
Oh joy, it worked! Just as well as I did not panic buy and my flour has become a respected commodity. The pandemic has given me a new respect for the attitude passed down to me by my mother and grandmothers to not waste food.
We had the fresh crusty bread with a bowl of spicy pumpkin soup. So a happy day was had by all in our little house with Bonnie our sheep dog warming herself by the fire.
As Jamie Oliver would say “Happy days!”