Grinding Whole Grains for Flour and Breadmaking


Grinding whole wheat berries with the Kitchen-Aid

As I mentioned previously, we started buying whole grains from a local, organic farmer to feed our goats (Windy Acres is the name of the farm, if you live in TN and want to check them out. We love them.). We sprout the whole grains and that’s what our goats eat on the milking stand. Sweetbreads wrote about the process last week.   

But enough already about what the dang goats eat, this post is about human food. 

It so happens that the local grain farmers also sell cleaned grains for human consumption. We use whole grains in our daily cooking (wheat berries, spelt, barlety, etc.) Wheat is the most consumed grain since we make bread using wheat flour. So the last time we were out at the grain farm we picked up a 50lb bag of whole wheat berries and bought a Kitchen Aid attachment to grind them with.

I tried making 100% whole wheat bread and it turned out to be a bit of a brick when it came out of the oven. I finally got my recipe to work after I substituted one cup of all-purpose white flour, reduced the water by 1/4 cup and increased the yeast by 1/2 a tablespoon. 

Making bread can be intimidating. This recipe makes it easy.

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Nevat, Our Newest Adopted Baby Animal

Nevat, following us to round up the milkers on a particularly windy day

Following the tradition of adopting small, white, baby animals, this past week we welcomed Nevat to Little Seed Farm. Our neighbors found Nevat a couple miles down the road in the forest. She was howling in the woods like a coyote and was far too cute to leave to fend for herself. Despite an unhealthy coat full of fleas and ticks our neighbors knew a beautiful puppy lay beneath. They also knew she could find a happy home with us.

As our herd expands next year and we experiment with running the milkers and the kids separately, Sophie will get promoted to full-time goat protection instead of her current perimeter job. That means we’ll need another dog to run with Sheba on the perimeter. Sheba alone would have a hard time managing the 50+ acres of fields. By April Nevat will be ready to join the patrol team. Hard to believe she'll be so big so fast.

Nevat after her bath time

We think she’s a Great Pyrennes somewhere in the 5-8 week range, but we’ll know better once she visits the vet this week. She has double-dew claws, which is a Great Pyr trait. Full white coat that’s very thick and fluffy.

The name Nevat comes from a Spanish (bloomy rind) cheese, available in both sheep's milk and goat's milk versions. It resembles a meringue and is one of Sweetbread's favorite cheeses. The word "Nevat" translates to "snowy" from Catalan, which is fitting for both the cheese and our little white fluffball. We took the picture below while in the caves at Murray's Cheese in NYC. 

Always fun to have a joyful little animal running around. Maybe one day we'll have a little one to name after our own bloomy rind.

Grandpa's Visit and The Tale of Billy Whiskers

As many of you know, we had the extreme honor of hosting Sweetbreads’ 100 yr old Grandpa George a couple weeks ago. He flew from Florida by himself and was accompanied at the farm by my Mother In-Law, who it wouldn't have been possible without. She made the visit seamless.

It was an amazing experience to be able to sit down and chat with someone who had been through so much and was still lucid about each aspect of history. George was a chicken farmer back in the 30's, a jazz musician, and always an active member of his communities. He is quite a remarkable man, and who knows, maybe he’ll be back!

I wanted to share with you one of the highlights of the trip for all of us. Once the sun went down out came the book "Billy Whiskers, The Autobiography of a Goat". Since we don't have TV, and listening to the radio gets a little old after a while, I read a few chapters out of Billy Whiskers each evening. 

You'll have to read the story for yourself, but as you can imagine, it's the tale of a mischevious and adventuresome goat. It was written in 1903! Quite a wonderful and hilarious tale (although parents these days would probably throw a fit over some of the descriptions of the incidents...).

Below is the link where I found to the story. Maybe one day I'll come across a hardcopy. 

Best enjoyed on a cool winter evening with a warm glass of mulled wine.

http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/Billy_Whiskers/pages/001_Billy_Whiskers.htm