Baldur

Once back at the Chez I removed a pound or so of dried lima beans from the cupboard and put them on to soak.
Tomorrow they will cook slowly in the beanpot in a tomato broth with some, onion, rosemary, bayleaf, a bit of olive oil and lots of garlic and black pepper. That will be Satyrday night dinner, Baldur will need to make a small homemade loaf of bread to accompany it

marius

Thanks for comment on my pic, Baldur. Methinks the puzzle WAS hard.
Mealsothinks (+10) that baking bread while working on a cryptogram is the answer for this dyslexic person. Well, that a a few other un-related activities like playing with the cat and staring out the window. Thanks for the fun, again, dear Baldur.

marius

Speaking of food ... my honey wheat bread with sunflower seeds, bugar wheat, wheat berries, wheat germ, etc. came out great. Hadn't made it in at least ten years. Used to be a staple before I married. Forgot how much it made and put it in small loaf pans ... so these are top-heavy loaves and look kind of funny. Oh well, taste is divine ... esp on cool cloudy day.

And ... Baldur, you must get ALL veggies, etc. from store? For some reason methinks you canned veggies. We freeze our green beans, some corn and can tomatoes. Although, must say the canned tomatoes do not taste any different to me than store-bought. (spouse would die to hear that - he does the canning.)

Baldur

Most of what we grow are flowers.
In the past we've had bumper crops of tomatoes or winter squash at times. I would puree the tomatoes with basil and freeze them.
The pumpkins and squash were left as is and stored whole.
The exception being any jack-o-lanterns that i've carved which would be cooked, pureed and frozen on November 1st.
This year was a bad one for gardening here in Primrose, the season started with 40 days and 40 nights of rain, with hardly any sun.
Seeds rotted in the ground, plants bolted, warm weather crops turned to mush. Generally it was a mess.

Baldur

This year the pumpkin vines took off rather late but are still going strong. Many of the fruits on these did not set until midSeptember.
That being said I do have a beautiful medium sized Marina di Chioggia pumpkin still growing, and several other undersized pumpkin/squash of assorted heritage.
One is the famous giant blue hubbard squash. These are known to grow to mammoth proportions. Mine is now at a size that would be somewhat large for a lemon, though not shockingly large.

Baldur

The peach trees did well, though we were not overburdened with the amount produced. Baldur planted semi-dwarf trees to stave off the need for home canning.
We gave some away to neighbors but nothing was wasted

Baldur

We also got 4 perfect Beurre Bosc pears off a very young tree.
They were absolutely delicious.
Pears are best if left at room temperature until somewhat soft, they never seem to ripen perfectly while still on the tree.
We ate the last one this morning at breakfast.

Baldur

My first successful attempt at bread baking came in the early 1980s when I found a recipe in 'Cuisine' magazine.
It was in an article on traveling across Croatia and was called 'Crusty Croatian Bread'. I do not belief I still have a copy of the original recipe but it matters not. That recipe taught me how to make bread and Baldur can still produce it from memory, varying ingredients left and right as I go.

marius

Love crusty breads. Can Baldur write it down and share? I'll post my honey-wheat in the recipe thread (sparing Robin a copy and paste.)

Dragon

Here's another one for your cryptgram Baldur.
http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=64540

solosater

I to have solved the cryptogram but not being familiar will do no pic!

Had fun though, thanks for taking the time to come up with the puzzle. Perhaps I will become familiar now…

Dragon

Ya, I had to look it up, but it's nice!

marius

Just want to say - it's a great day to be alive! Wishing all at Baldur radio and beyond - good food, good friends, good health, and hoping for another cryptogram ... but think it should be introduced on Wednesday's to give Robin a fair shot. : )

And wondering, where on earth did Baldur find that "Goblin Market" poem?
It was a wild adventure, to be sure. Sounded almost Irish. Yes? No?

Baldur

I first read a collection of Christina Rossetti's works way back when I was in high school, though it was not assigned reading. Baldur believes he just stumbled across it.

Oddly years later I found out about her more famous brother, painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. One normally hears of him first, and only if you delve into his life story do you learn of Christina. That is unless you enjoy 19th century poetry.

The were raised in England and were enthralled in the PreRaphaelite movement along with William Morris. Eventually this led to the English Arts & Crafts era and when you hop the across the pond Gustav Stickley and even Roycrofters all fit into the puzzle.
Very complicated.

The bread recipe looks wonderful, though likely Baldur would skip the sunflower seeds and add some other type of chopped nut, maybe walnuts.

Baldur

The recipe for crust Croatian bread went something like this:

Dissolve I tablespoon yeast in
1+3/4 cup tepid water (you may use milk for part or all of it)
add 1 tablespoon of honey
and 2 ounces of soft butter (Baldur generally uses olive oil instead).
Stir until the butter and honey are pretty much melted into the mixture.
Do not worry if they are not completely dissolved.
Measure out 3 cups of all purpose white flour (you may use half of a whole wheat flour, sometimes Baldur adds 1/2 cup yellow cormeal or even oatmeal for part of this)
Add approximately 1/3 of the flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the liquid.
Stir until the flour is thoroughly moistened.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm spot until the batter becomes foamy.
*******
A little at a time stir in more of the remaining flour until you get a workable dough. You may not need all of the flour. Once Baldur actually needed to add more flour because it was so sticky.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead it until smooth (perhaps for 10 minutes)
Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn the dough over so it's top surface has a thin film of oil coating it. Cover the bowl with the tea towel once more and place it in a warm spot until doubled in volume.
****
Turn the dough out onto your floured work surface once more and punch it a couple times to deflate it. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and knead each portion again for another 5 minutes or so.
Form each into an oval loaf approximately 10" in length and place side by each (a Woonsocket colloquialism) on a greased baking pan.
You want to position them so that that grow together as they rise.
Place the pan in a warm spot until the loaves have doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
Just before placing the dough in the oven brush the surface of each loaf gently and liberally with warm water.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack and try to let it cool before eating it.

Baldur

Baldur just did a little reading on Christina Rossetti and found an interesting tidbit of trivia.
She wrote a poem called 'In the bleak midwinter' which was later set to music and has become a popular Christmas carol

maddyjean08

Really? Is the carol called "In the Bleak Midwinter" or something else?

Baldur

Yes it's the same name.

Baldur

In the Bleak Mid-Winter
Christina Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter,
frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him,
nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter
a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels
may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
thronged the air;
But His mother only,
in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him,
poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man,
I would do my part;
Yet what I can give Him: give my heart.

Baldur

Heavens, that was a bit too ecclesiastical for Radio Baldur.
I feel the need to compensate:

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