Beautiful Day

Well I have been under the weather but after getting some medicine I feel pretty good today. I was able to get up early and get busy.

   One of the first things I did was to go out to my garden and see how everything is doing and I discovered a plant that I didn't know I had. It was a wild Iris. Very pretty and delicate.

   I have also been experimenting with polymer clay so I could have some beads etc for necklaces I want to make. I am making my first necklace today and I will post the results.
   The other thing I have been doing is to make some rosemary bread from some rosemary a friend gave me.

    My friend has a hugh plant in her yard the has the largest branches I have ever seen on a rosemary bush. The plant looks like a small tree and it is pretty amazing. Another thing about the plant is the fragrance. I don't think I have ever smelled a rosemary bush with such a wonderful scent. I just had to make some bread.

    The recipe I use is enough dough to make one loaf. Here is the recipe I use for my rosemary bread.
                                                      3 Cups unbleached flour

                                                      11/2 teaspoon sea salt

                                                      1/4 teaspoon  dry yeast
                                                      11/2 Cups water
                                                     2 to 3 Tablespoons fresh rosemary minced
                                         I mix everything together and place it in a container with a lid and let it sit 18 to 20 hours. Next I turn it out onto a floured board and spread it out into a rectangle and fold it over on itself like an envelope.Then I shape it into a ball and place it in a  medium size wicker basket  that I have lined with white cotton cloth that I have dusted with flour. I let the dough rise for a couple of hours and when it is finished I prepare my oven and baking pot. The pot I use is a heavy enamel cast iron roasting pot with a tight fitting lid. I heat the oven to 500 degrees with the pot in the oven. Then i turn my dough into the pot put on the lid and bake the bread for 30 minutes. The I lower the temp remove the lid and bake the bread for another 15 minutes or till the bread is a golden brown and sound hollow when taped on the bottom. I remove the bread from the pot and let it cool on a cooling rack.
                                  This is one of my favorite breads . Some times I add garlic to the bread or thyme.
 Here is a pic of the loaf I made. The other picture is a photo of the fermented poolish that has set for 20 hours.